My preliminary task

My mock up of my music magazine cover

This is my final version of my mock up of the Q magazine I copied; the original copy is also shown below. I feel quite confident with my final piece of my mock up magazine front cover just disappointed that I could not include the image I had taken because the colour clashed with many activities going on, on the front cover. I have found very similar font, colour and style for my front cover for the story lines.

 I have recently looked closely at my mock of the magazine and the original front cover of the magazine and have noticed the font sizing and positioning would need to be more concentrated on. For my own cover of my music magazine I will make sure I concentrate carefully on the positioning and size of the text so that it is perfect for the reading audience and make sure I am considering the smallest details. 

I am happy with the way I used the adobe facilities I now feel much more confident in using the different tools while completing my mock up magazine. Even though I could not include the photo in the magazine cover, I am happy with the way I used photo shop to delete the background to make it clear and to blend in however there was an issue with what the model was wearing and her hair which clashed with my front cover. I feel much happier to use various facilities on adobe to change the style of font, colour and effects.

 Also when I create my own mock up magazine I will look carefully in to what layer will be the different boxes with either texts or images making sure no text are covered as this will have an impact on the audience.

 In doing this mock up magazine of Q it has helped me understand layout, codes and convention of music magazines and has given me ideas for my own music magazine. Everything I have learnt in my mock up magazine will go towards my own music magazine.

Contents page

Notes on music magazine covers

MUSIC MAGAZINE COVERS
The ImageIf there is a person/ group on the cover, what do they represent?
Are they a stereotype
How has this stereotype been constructed? (posed carefully; props, special effects etc)

The Gaze The Gaze refers to the direction in which the person on the cover is looking
Are they looking straight at the audience?
Are they smiling- enticing the reader in?
Do they look friendly or cool?
Do they look seductive?

Representation is key!!
Magazine is going to include one or more people, no image is going to contain no more than five models.

-Explain what kind of music magazine you hope to create by focusins on genre and style
-Explain the audience thaty you are trying to target
-Give a brief overview of the contene of your magazine
-Describe the tone and attitude of your magazine
-Explain the role that you think your magazine will play in the lives of its readers

Choosing a genre for a music magazine.

I will be looking at a few different magazine genres to decide what genre to choose for my magazine.
A genre I would preferbly choose would be Pop this is because Pop magazine is what I am mainly into as it has the latest gossip and songs from artists in the charts.

POP magazine



This is a POP magazine that is very popular, mainly for females. The codes and convention of this magazine is slightly different to other pop magazines as normally on the mast head they will have the word POP somewhere. The colour schemes for all pop music magazines are very similiar, they mostly use feminine colours as that is the magazines main audience. Also on the front of the magazine they give you information about other artists that will be mentioned in the magazine this is what will draw the readers in as it could be gossip, photos on their favourite artists. I am interested in creating a magazine with a POP genre because it is interesting, colourful and exciting.

CLASSICAL magazine



CLASSICAL music magazines can be quite popular and well known in the classical world, this magazine is a very popular magazine. Classical magazines are clear to read, they use similar colours for each classical magazine red and white! They have a simple layout which I quite like, as I do not like my magazine covers cluttered. I have decided not to do Classical music magazine as I am not particularly fond of classical music and could find some difficulty.

ROCK magazine



When I was researching rock magazines this was quite a popular one, the masthead is plain and simple. I prefer mast heads with colour and quirky font not bland. Codes and conventions for rock magazines are often very similiar they tend to use red, black and white Also the layout is full of content that will appear in the magazine, however for me this is to full. I will not be using the genre Rock for my magazine as it does not appeal to me and my colour scheme would not fit it.

The contents page questions

The contents page homework.

 

1)What is the function of a contents page?

The function of a contents page is to show little parts of the most popular stories that will feature in the magazine. This gives the reader a little bit of information of what to expect, normally they would be exciting stories on the contents page because this will draw the reader in. Also on the contents page next to the stories readers will find a page number, this will help the reader to find the page they need to look at. The two magazines above represent this.

 

2)How does a reader use a contents page?
A reader will use a contents page to look at the most popular stories that will feature in that specific magazine as the contents page will give you a basic idea of the story inside. Also on the contents page their are page numbers which refer to a specific story or celebrity this is handy for some readers as they might only be in to certain stories.

 

3)What is the conventional layout for a contents page in a magazine?
Most magazines will usually have to the same layout and structure such as a few popular stories, images, colourful texts, page numbers etc, however magazines do have slight differences. The heat contents page is full of images, colour, text, adverts also many cover stories on one celebrity 'Straggly hair', 'Cheryls style slump' and many more main stories on Cheryl, this shows the reader that the most popular story is on Cheryl Cole.

 

4)What is the conventional design for a contents page in a magazine?
The conventional design for a contents page in a magazine is basically the same for all magazines, you can see this from the two example of content magazines above. These show the design is of images, text, cover stories and blurbs of each poplular story that the magazine company want you to get dragged in to also almost every contents page have page numbers. Almost all magazine contents page follow the same design but individually have different text, images, colour and they way it is laid out.

 

5)How much information does a contents page contain?
Differnet magazine contents page will have different amount of information on the contents page. The two examples I have used above both have titles, cover lines, images, page numbers but Heat for example has alot of information after its cover stories on Cheryl Cole. Heat also has 'Tv', 'Starstyle' where as Q magazine only has 'Features' with alot less information.

 

6)What information does a contents page contain?
A contents pafe contains summaries of the most popular stories in the magazine and popular stories globally. The contents page also contains page numbers so the reader knows where to look for a particular story.

 

7) How are images used in a conventional contents page?
Images are used carefully in a conventional contents page, images are used if they are the main story in the magazine or one of the main stories in the magazine. Images give the reader a visual sense of what to expect in the cover story. For example on the Q contents magazine they only have one image and that is of the band Oasis, this shows that they are the most main story throughout the magazine. Images on the contents of a magazine can say alot for a magazine as that is what the first thing readers looks at before looking in rest of magazine.

8) How is language used in a conventional contents page?
The language used in a conventional contents page is used to advertise the story, the editors do this by using words/ language that would attract their target audience. Another way magazines use language is by using slogans, mottos and sarcastic or jokey words, the right language will draw the right target audience in to the story.

 

9)What are the key codes and conventions of a contents page?
Key codes and conventions of a contents page are images and text, images are vitally important on a contents page as it gives the reader a insight of what they will be looking into, also images which are bright, funny, quirky, important will attract the reader.

 

10)How does the function of a contents page affect its layout and design?

Homework

Answer sheet, no less than 3 magazines of your choice.

3rd lesson on indesign

This is my third draft of my school cover magazine using Adobe indesign. Since my first draft many things have changed with the postition of text, layout, pictures, flashes, change of colour etc.

School cover magazine using indesign second lesson.

Homework- 15th October

Homework.
Create the necessary images for your front cover by monday 15th October :)

My first lesson on indesign

Functions for todays lesson

You will need to understand how to us the following functions:

1. Create a new document A4

2. Show document grid

3. Use rectangle frame tool

4. Use type tool

5. Select font

6. Change text size

7. Use colour picker

8. Create text effects using the stroke function

9. Use layers

10. Import an image using Adobe bridge

11. Change image size

12. Crop an image

Media Questionnaire

MEDIA QUESTIONNAIRE

1)      What year group are you in?
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Year 11
Year 12
Year 13

2)      What gender are you?
Female
Male

3)      What masthead (title) would you prefer as your front cover of the magazine
Ysgol Brenin Harri’r

King Henry VIII
KHS
Schools out
King Henry

Other (if so, please state other)

4)      What colour scheme would you prefer?
Black and gold
Navy and white
Red, green and white
Burgundy and gold

5)      What motto would you prefer on your front cover?
To cool for school
We can do it as HSM!
King Henry has talent
Saved by the bell
What’s going down..
Other(if so, please state)

6)      Do you think the schools motto should be stated on the front page of the magazine? ‘Respecting tradition, embracing the future’
Yes
No (if no, state why)

7)      What main image do you think should be on the front cover?
Upper school
Lower school
Sixth formers being enrolled
Year 7
Year 8-10
Year 11
Last year’s GCSE/As results

8)      Please circle stories you would be interested to see on the front cover of the magazine?
Uniform debate
Sixth formers uniform
Sixth formers
Key stage 3
Key stage 4
New teachers
New lessons
Sport activities
Achievements
GCSE results
As results
Teachers gossip
New facilities

9)      How much would you pay for a school magazine?
99p or less
£1.00- £1.49
£1.50-£1.99
£2.00-£2.49
£2.50-£2.99
£3 or more (state your price)

Would you buy the school magazine?
Yes
No (why wouldn’t you?)

Analysis of my school magazine front cover.

I chose to put a banner line along the top of my magazine cover as it is the motto of the school.

On the front cover of this magazine there are many coverlines representing what has gone on in school recently and praising students and school. When I redo the cover of my school magazine I will add a main coverline with a main image to go with it.

The main image on the front cover of my magazine should be of a student enrolling for sixth form (couldn’t get picture in time) Preferably I would have a photo of a boy and a girl sixth former enrolling looking happy on the front cover of my magazine. I would put the main image of this magazine in the top left corner underneath the masthead as people tend to read from left to right, I would choose to enlarge the photo.

I have not put a price on the front cover on the magazine as it is a school magazine that would be handy and helpful for parents and students it would not be fair asking them to pay for it. When I do my final draft of this school cover magazine i will charge a price that will suit everyone.

The colour of this magazine does not look interesting enough and would not draw the readers in. When I redo the magazine cover, as the background I would use the main school colours as people will recognise that.

I chose the masthead of this magazine to be King Henry School in welsh. I chose to put this in welshas it would be quite different and showing the school support both languages; English and Welsh.

Homework

For homework;
Create a questionnaire no more than 10 questions that will allow you to determine how succesful your front cover is.
Record yesterdays work.

Analysis of Q magazine.

The masthead of this magazine is just the letter Q, the title of this magazine is the top left hand corner. It is a big, bold and in a large font title with a bright background to stand out to the readers. I think the title of the magazine has been put there as most readers read from the left to the right. Under the masthead in much smaller font than the actual title is 'Discover great music' I think Q have put this under their masthead to try and attract new readers and show them they advertise good music, this under logo would attract customers as it is something different to any other magazine.

The main coverline of this magazine is Adele, readers know she is the main coverline as she is the only image with text on the front cover. The main coverline is 'If you've got it, flaunt it, Adele blows us away'. Q's main coverline does not really tell the reader much about the story that Adele has shared with them, it only gives the reader a snippet of it. Q are quite clever the way they have worded their main coverline, the way they say 'Adele blows us away' makes the reader want to look into the story even more and find out what is going on. 

The main image of this magazine is Adele. The way this photo has been taken is quite clever, because in the coverline it reads 'blows us away' and in Adele's photo her hair looks like it is been blowing away. With Adele being the main image on the front cover of this magazine, she is most guaranteed to have a few more photos and a big story in the magazine.

There are not that many coverlines on the front cover of the Q magazine, including Adele's main coverline there are 7. The coverlines are all in the same font, for the music artists name they are in a much larger font that the rest of the coverline they go with. All coverlines on the front of the magazine are in red, black and white this shows Q's colour theme throughout their magazine. One of Q's coverlines is a line up for a gig, if you like the band or singer that is on the front, you might want to buy this magazine to see tickets, events etc. There are no additional images that go with the coverlines.

On the front cover of this magazine it has two flashes, but one main one. This would be 'The 300th issue' This flash looks like it has just been stamped on using a stamp as it is over the masthead and image background. Also it is in gold which stands out alot compared to the colour scheme of this magazine, if a reader saw the colour gold they would think 'This is a special edition magazine'.

The price of this magazine is £3.99, for a magazine that is quite expensive. When you look at the front of the magazine you the reader or target audience might think this price is fair as it is full of different artists. The magazine comes out on sale on every second Wednesday of the month, so the price of this magazine is quite fair some may think because their is a big gap between the new magazine being released.

Analysis of Top of the Pops magazine.

Analysis of Top of the Pops magazine.
The masthead of this magazine is called Top of the Pops, the title of the magazine has part of an image covering the two middle words. This magazine tries to target young children, the font it uses attracts younger ages as it is quite quirky. The title of this is in pink, suggesting that it is generally more of a girls magazine. The logo of Top of the Pops is just above the title, when readers who are into this magazine or Top of the Pops in general they will know that logo, it signifies the magazine in many ways.

The main coverline is the picture and text of Justin Bieber. 'Justin's body hang-ups, I feel really self conscious' This magazine doesn't really have one main coverline, it has a variety of coverlines, none of the coverlines seem strong enough to be a main coverline. I chose Justin Bieber as the main coverline because he has the biggest image and text bubble, this coverline could be he has the most interesting story inside the magazine or his would be the most favourited. 

The main image is of Justin Bieber, this could possibly be the reason as most young girls admire him so would buy this magazine as there is a big picture of him on the front of the cover. Also there would be more images of him in the magazine.

There are many coverlines on the front of this magazine with different celebrities on. This might be because they have a variety of singers or groups on the front different variety of youngsters would buy this magazine. It has eight coverlines including Justin Bieber this backs up my reason for different people buying this magazine. The coverlines vary from celebrity fashion advice, cute photos of singers, real life stories and just about bands that youngsters would love. There is not one coverline in my opinion that would not make the reader want to read more. For example Aston Merrygold says 'I was so naughty' What reader would not want to read closely into that. The front page coverlines gives the reader a good taster of what is going to be in that magazine, this is helpful towards new readers so they know roughly what to expect. 

The price of this magazine is £2.35, for a music magazine that is quite expensive especially as it tries to target youngsters who would not have jobs. From the front cover of this magazine you can see they look at alot of celebrities so for some youngsters and people it is worth buying. This price could be a fair price some weeks as it could include posters, stickers, nail varnish etc. 

Heat magazine analysis

Analysis of Heat magazine.
The masthead of this magazine is Heat and is shown clearly as it is not covered by any images that appear on the front cover on the magazine. The title of this magazine is in red this is significant because the word heat makes you think of fire and the temperature is hot. In a celebrity gossip magazine it's significant having Heat as it's title because in a celebrity life there is often something fiery, heated or excited going on which gets the reader wanting to find out more.

The main coverline on the front cover of this magazine would be the picture of Cheryl Cole and the story line 'The secrets of Cheryl's explosive new book' For Cheryl Cole's photo she has 2 story lines that would attract the reader to read in closely about her celebrity life. Also it says 'EXCLUSIVE' this is trying to pull the reader into the magazine to buy it and find out what is happening. The word exclusive means a story published by only one source, this would bring the readers in if they were interested in specific celebrity life.

The main image on the front cover of this magazine is Cheryl Cole. With Cheryl Cole's photo being the biggest photo on the front cover this is telling the readers this might be significant because it may mean her story is the biggest gossip of Heat. Also that is quite a serious story as the main image of Cheryl is not smiling. 

There are many coverlines with additional images on the front cover of this magazine, altogether including the main cover line there are seven coverlines about different celebrities. Each coverline has a different situation; Katherine Jenkins and David Beckham's is a fact situation as she wants the readers to know the truth, that she did not have an affair with Beckham. The second coverline is Team GB girls do spice girls this is a happy and patriotic situation. The coverline about Rihanna and Chris Brown shocks the readers as of the celebrities past with one another. Due to the number of coverlines on the front of this magazine the readers know that this magazines target audience is people who are interested in day to day celebrity life.

The price of this magazine is £1.65, for a celebrity gossip magazine that is fair price as journalists have to pay to hear a celeb story. Without the price of this magazine on the front cover the company is not going to make any money. This magazine is full of celebrity gossip you can tell that from the front cover images so to price it quite low is generous. Heat might of priced it as that price due to competitors and their target audience might be a variety of different people. 

This magazine has one particularly obvious flash on, 'FREE, Harry centrefold poster' The image and text it has been meant to look like it has just been cut out and stuck on, giving some of the target audience a extra bonus to buy the magazine.