College magazine Front cover Plan

This is my front cover plan for my college magazine. I didn't work on the drawing of the girl because there is going to be a model however I roughly planned out my cover lines. I will also be adding a sky-line and a flash/puff when it comes to my actual magazine. I used my recent post to decide what I wanted to put on my cover lines because these are the kinds of things most students would want to see in a college magazine which means more students would buy it. Also I will be adding issue date, web links, and issue number later on in my real college magazine too.

Pages in my College Magazine

On this recent lesson, we were given this sheet to write down the pages we would have in our magazine. The reason for this is so it would be easier to write the contents page and the cover lines on the cover cover. My college magazine includes things such as the outfits page, healthy eating page, enrichment page, bursary page and even trips + other things. I chose to include some things like this because more people would want to buy my magazine as many people are interested in trips and outfit ideas etc. Also, my magazine is not targeted towards just boys or just girls. It is for both sex's which means I would have included both outfits for boys and girls if I was to create this magazine.

Using Photoshop for the first time

In today's lesson, we learnt how to use some basics on Photoshop. For example, we learnt how to add layers, how to add text, how to erase things( masthead) and more. I've always wanted to learn how to use Photoshop as I love editing, but I never got around to actually learning how to use it. It was a very interesting lesson and surprisingly I did not struggle a lot. One of the things I struggled about was going back to a text to change the font because once you save the font, you have to go back and click on the 'T' to highlight the text. I did not get to finish my magazine cover because I did not have a lot of time. I still wanted to add more cover lines, a flash/puff and strap line. Although I did not finish it, I am happy with the result because I love the colour scheme of my magazine. I am looking forward to learning more in-depth techniques using Photoshop.

Music magazines & College Magazines

Some of the similarities between Music and College magazines:

• Both College and Music magazines follow the traditional colour scheme of when 3 colours used.
• Both magazines have a masthead which can be behind the cover image which usually makes magazine covers look very professional.
• Both magazines have cover lines to give us an insight of what we might see inside the magazine.
• Both magazines have a bar code, both can also have issue date and the price.

Some of the differences between Music and College magazines:

• Magazines covers can be in many sizes, however having a close up image as a cover of a college magazine would look a little weird as the audience would want to see what the person is wearing and the environment etc. Not necessarily what the models face looks like.

• Also, the cover model on a college magazine would usually be smiling with their teeth or have a big smile to suggest that the college is a very welcoming and warm place . Whereas music magazines would have very seductive/ skin showing images to attract audience attention(depending on the genre ).

Good College Magazine Analysis

This college magazine follows the traditional colour scheme of three colours. The colours that are used in this magazine are Yellow, blue and white. These colours are not visually tiring and with the background and the model it looks put together because the lady's eyes are blue, and her hair has highlights which complement the use of yellow.

This image is also a mid-shot and the quality of the image and the whole magazine cover looks a lot more put together. This is because it looks planned out and worked on. 

The cover lines on the magazine does not look bad because they follow the colour scheme and the same font. The use of font in this magazine looks good because it is the same throughout the whole magazine. 

The bar code is at the bottom of the magazine cover as usual and does not have very eye catching colours next to it which will take our attention.

This magazine cover also includes the issue date. In addition, the fact that the masthead is behind the model suggests that the magazine cover is professional as most magazines have this feature. 

Bad College Magazine Analysis

The colour scheme on this magazine does not follow the traditional colour scheme where you only follow three colours. On this magazine we can see green, yellow, purple, blue and red which looks very bad. It is visually tiring and looks very unprofessional. 

The image on the magazine is a mid-shot which okay however the quality of the image is horrible. The person who edited this photo clearly did not do a good job as the cuts are very bad. It looks like someone cut the image and placed it on a white background which then again, looks very unprofessional and unskilled.

The magazine has cover lines and the problem with the cover lines is that they are very big, it looks as if the person tried to make us visualise the quantity , the good info in the magazine but did not achieve their aim as it looks every crowded.The green rectangles that separate the cover lines look horrible because a normal magazine does not have shapes to separate cover lines, the use of the purple colour would have been enough to separate it.

The cover has a bar code which every magazine has however the 'EW MEDIA' makes it look very childish and brings our attention to the bar code area which is not an appealing thing to do as usually the price will be written there.

New= Kerrang! - Front Cover Analysis

Kerrang! is a UK-based Magazine devoted to rock music,currently,publishedby Hamburg based Bauer Media Group. It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper. Named after the onomatopoeic word that derives from the sound made when playing a power chord on a distorted electric guitar, Kerrang! was initially devoted to the new wave of British Heavy Metal and the rise of hard rock acts. In the early 2000s it became the best-selling British music newspaper. Kerrang! attracts an audience of 17-24 year olds.

In most magazines, the masthead is usually behind the artists suggesting that the artist has power, however in this front cover, we can see that the masthead is in front of the artist which may suggest that they want the artist to be behind the masthead just like how he would be under water. The masthead is at the top of the magazine because on magazine shelves, only the top of the magazine is seen which means seeing the masthead would make the audience pick up the magazine immediately. 

The image on this front cover is a mid-shot of Mikey Chapman who is the lead singer of the rock band named Mallory Knox. The fact that it is a mid-shot allows the audience to see his tattoos and his body language. He is looking up to the audience which gives the front cover a goofy vibe and makes him seem intimidating. Also, his hands are opened up almost as if he is acting to hold something which makes the cover line more noticeable. On the image, we can see water dripping off his face,hands and body as if he just came out of shower. This relates to the main cover line which is 'wash away your sins' because he seems like he just washed away his sins which increases curiosity in the audience as we want to find out the sins he washed away.

The main cover line on this front cover is 'Rock Confessions' along with 'Wash away your sins". This cover line is right in the middle of the front cover and it is very eye-catching because of the unique font style which I will discuss later on in this analysis. Also, another factor which makes the main cover line stand out is the fact that it is in between Mikey Chapman's hands as it makes the cover line seem special and mysterious.

The skyline on this front cover is at the top of the magazine where it says 'Guns N' Roses' - "Their untold story by everyone who was there". Guns N' Roses is a very famous American Hard Rock band and as Kerrang! is a rock magazine, many people would be satisfied by the skyline as they would want to pick up the magazine to read more. Also, the fact that skyline is the most visible part of the magazine in the shelves makes the audience become even more likely to pick up the magazine because Guns N' Roses is a famous band and many people are their fans which means they would want to buy the magazine to learn about their 'untold story'.

There is 1 puff/flash on this front cover which is a puff that includes 4 of the 6 posters that are in the magazine. The puff is relatively big which means people have enough visual space to look at the posters that are in the magazine. Also, they may have only included 4 magazines because those bands/singers may be more famous than the other 2 bands/singers. This would mean people that are fans of those specific bands will be more likely to pick up the magazine as they would want to stick the poster on their walls or keep them.

The barcode, issue number/date, website link and the price is at the bottom right of the front cover which means it is the last thing the audience will see as we read from left to right. On most magazine front covers, the price is at the bottom right because they want the price to be the last thing the audience sees so they wont be turned away as it may be expensive. They would want the audience to read the front cover and see it because they see the price as they would be more likely to pick up the magazine.

The colour scheme on this front cover is red,yellow and b&w. There are only two visually bright colours which are red and yellow which complement eachother. The colours red and yellow are only used in specific places where they want the specific writings to stand out. The colour yellow is used in the puff to make the puff stand out so people would be more likely to see the posters. The colour red is used in many places including the word "win" which makes that word stand out out of the whole sentence. Black is used on the main cover line which is bold which also makes the colour stands out as it contrasts from his skin colour.

There are 2 types of fonts used including one of the same font in italic which technically makes it 3. However, it only look like two fonts are used which makes the front cover visually exciting and not crowded. The main eye-catching font on this front cover is the 'Rock Confessions' writing as it is very big in size and has a unique gothic font.

New= Kerrang! - Contents Page Analysis

The contents  page is only made up of one page with an ad on the page before. The fact that the contents page is only one page makes everything look more organised and less crowded and also easy to search.

The colour scheme on the contents page relates to the front cover because the main colours are still red,yellow, black and white. The one main difference is the background being red as it makes the page look a lot more Gothic and dark. The colour yellow is used on places they wanted to highlight like the subheadings and the issue date etc. 

There are not many images on this contents page as we are not overloaded with many images. The main image on this contents page is a mid-shot which is slightly far and this image covers around 3/4 of the page. The artist on this contents page is also part of a band called Panic At The Disco and as they are famous, the contents page is likely to get a lot more attention. There is also an image of the editor which makes the contents page more down to earth. In addition, there is an image of Bring me the horizon who is almost in every single rock music magazine as they are an essential band who are very successful. Having a little image of the band suggests there will be something about them in the magazine which also makes the audience want to read more and more.

This contents page is split into 6 different categories which are highlighted in yellow and this makes everything more easier to search for. There are page numbers next to each writing which means when the customers are interested in a specific thing they can easily go to a specific page rather than having to go trough every single page.

There is only one column on this contents page which makes it extremely easy for the audience to find what they are looking for as it is not hard because they are all under each other. In addition, it makes the contents page look a lot more organised and put together.

New= Kerrang! - Double Page Spread Analysis

The colour scheme on this DPS relates to both the front cover and the contents page. The only difference is the non use of yellow. We can see that the colours black, white and red have been used. There is a diamond shaped box which is white with black writing inside with a hint of red which makes the word 'Confessions' stand out. Also, the word 'Clean' stands out a lot as it is bold and it almost looks like it in underwater because of the added silver shades.

One side of the DPS is a close up of Mikey Chapman who is under water and he looks like he is screaming and almost as if he is trying to hold his head. He looks depressed and looks like he is going through anxiety. The fact that he is under water might represent how depressed people might feel like. The fact that he is under water relates to the main cover line on the DPS as he is trying to become clean of his sins. The close-up shot allows the audience to see his tattoos and allows us to see his facial expressions clearly. He seems like he is screaming because we can see bubbles on the surface on the water and also waves. 

The second page of the DPS is where the actual writing begins. There are 3 columns on this page and there are many references to traditional magazine elements. For example, the use of drop cap brings attention to the beginning of the article. In addition, as this page is in a Q&A form, the questions are in bold and the answers are normal which means the audience can pick out the questions and the answers, it also allows the audience to skip a question if they are not interested in the answer. 

In the middle of the page there is a short insight note about what other articles might be about in the magazine and what other artists you are able to read about in the issue. The names of artists are in bold which allows the audience to easy read it and it also catches attention as other writings are not in bold. This makes it clear that they want the audiences attention to be on the parts where bold writing is used because the bold parts are most likely to be a lot more interesting than all the other parts.

NME’ Front Cover Analysis

New Musical Express (NME) is a British music journalism magazine published since March 1952. It is largely associated with rock, alternative and indie music. An online version of NME, NME.com, was launched in 1996. It became the world's biggest standalone music site, with over seven million users per month. The magazine's paid circulation in the first half of 2014 was 15,830, and has been in long-term decline.Due to continuing poor sales, the magazine will be given away for free from September 2015.

The masthead on this magazine is behind the cover model suggesting they are a well known magazine and that many people would already know which magazine this is without having to see the whole masthead. However, It is not fully behind as more than ¾ of the masthead is shown and this may be done to show the font which I will write about later on.

Also, the issue date is at the very top left along with the writing ‘ Free every Friday’ which means many customers would be attracted by it. This is because on the magazine shelves we can only see the top of the magazine and the fact that is it free would be interesting to many people as everyone would go for cheaper prices, especially if the magazine is for free. Also, the bar-code is not included on this magazine cover because the magazine is free.

The cover model on the front cover is Chris Moyles and the image is a close up/mid shot. It is very close however we can still see his shoulders which makes it a mid-shot. The cover model is tilting his head upwards which suggests he is looking up to the audience but in a goofy way as he looks angry. It almost signifies that he wants the audience to be scared of him.

The main cover lines on this magazine are the only two writings on both sides which is ‘Chris Moyles - Cereal killer’. This is unusual as there are no cover lines. However, it does not look bad because the image is big and it covers most of the space around which does not make it look visually empty.

The skyline of this magazine is not at the top but at the bottom. It writes ‘ The return of the most hated/loved* man on radio.’ This is very eye catching as the audience would want to know why he is the most hated person man on radio. Also at the bottom, it states ‘ *delete as applicable’ which again brings curiosity into the audience’s minds.

There is one puff/flash on this magazine cover which is made to look like a sticker. It writes ‘ Music , Film, Style’ which shows that this magazine features many things. It is not only a music magazine but it also features films and style too. This is an advantage as it means this magazine is high in quantity. However it could also be a disadvantage as many people only want the magazine to feature music related things and not necessarily film and style.

The colour scheme on this magazine also fits the traditional magazine colour scheme where three colours are used. The colours that are used on this front cover are Yellow, white and black. Although these colours might make the magazine cover look blank, the burgundy background puts everything together, and the fact that the yellow puff suits the cereal colour makes the magazine look visually interesting.

The use of font on this magazine is very lively and filling. By filling, I mean without this font the magazine cover would look very blank because there aren't any cover lines. The font on this magazine links to the cereal Chris Moyles is holding as the milk is dripping down from his hands. The font used on this magazine cover is used on the masthead and the main cover line. The bottom part of the font makes the words look like they are dripping, this adds a Gothic and goofy effect as the denotation of this font could also imply blood. As from the cover line, ‘Cereal killer’ is pronounced like ‘Serial killer’ which links to the font used. This is very interesting mysterious.

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NME’ Contents Page Analysis

The contents page is only made of up of one page. The page numbers are not in chronological order suggesting there are many ads on this magazine.

Apart from the use of white, the contents page colour scheme does not relate with the colour scheme on the front cover. There is only a little use of burgundy which is not very noticeable so the colour scheme is different.

Drake is the main image on this page because as he is well known, people seeing a picture of him will be curious about what is in the magazine, other than drake, there is only one image which is an image of the editor and it is extremely small in size compared to Drake because the editor is not well known which means people are not interested.

There are captions underneath the images and little description of what we might see on those specific pages. This means it will be less time consuming for the customers  as they would not have to flick through every single page to find what they are looking for.

There are not many pages on the contents page as in the pages they are showing, which lacks quantity, this may mean there are many ads on this magazine and this makes the magazine lose respect because not many good content is inside.

Also, there is an ad at the bottom of the contents page which again lowers their good content as they get their money from ads, however too many ads means less customers as the old magazine fans may notice the difference after the magazine was given for free and stop reading their magazine.

NME' Double Page Spread Analysis

The colour scheme on this DPS suits the colour scheme of the front cover because we can see many uses of yellow with slight hints of burgundy. The use of the dark background(black) may imply that this band may be a rock/alternative band.

This DPS is visually very busy. We can see that the images look like they were ripped apart with fingers and stuck together which again adds more to the busy feeling. This makes the audience feel like there is lots going on, on this page which is a good thing as we are overloaded with quantity. 

As there are many images, they are a mix of long-shot and mid-shot. There isn't a main focal point on this DPS because there is a lot going on. There is equal distribution of the band members pictures because it is not mainly the lady singer or the guitar player, it is all and they are smiling and some images were taking whilst they were performing which gives a feeling that they are passionate about what they are doing.

There are no pull quotes which is unusual as usually we would see at least one pull quote. Instead the writing 'This band could change your life' is on one side of the page which is very eye-catching and it makes the audience want to find out why this band would change their lives. There is also a short description of the band and the genre of their band which means people that are interested in grunge-pop would want to read it.

The font on the Drop cap matches with the font on the left side which looks very nice and also it links to the whole theme of crafting as it looks like someone painted the letters.

Many people would expect the columns on the second page to have a Q&A structure however it is not a Q&A. It is an info section of the band and their recent concert. In addition, the four yellow boxes have some information about the 4 band members. It includes their age, their favourite band, and a fun fact about them which is a good way to advertise the band as some people may relate to the fun fact and want to know more about them. 

RockSound' Front Cover Analysis

Rock Sound is a leading multi-media new music brand operating across the UK. Having started as a print title in 1999, Rock Sound has evolved into a multi-platform media proposition.Across the magazine, website, and the brand's live events and social network pages Rock Sound reaches over a million music fans every month. Focusing on new music, Rock Sound is targeted at a 15-24 year old core audience with an interest in all rock genres. The publisher is called Patrick Napier

Across the magazine, website, and the brand's live events and social network pages Rock Sound reaches over a million music fans every month. Focusing on new music, Rock Sound is targeted at a 15-24 year old core audience with an interest in all rock genres.

The Masthead is behind the artists suggesting they have many people that buy their magazines, it is almost as if this magazine is for people that already know about ‘Rock Sound’ because the readers would know it is this magazine even though they can only see part of the masthead. It is at the top centre which may be done as when you buy magazines, in the shelves you can only see the very top of the magazine.

The main image(cover stars) on the magazine is a Mid-shot. This may be done because it gives a bigger image of the body language of the artists. It is also taken in a slight low angle to create the effect of the band looking down on the reader. This can signify intimidation and power. It also shows off their tattoos as well as giving more space for more writings on the page. The tattoos can also signify rebelling against the norms of the society. Also, the fact that they are the main image implies that the institution has an existing fan base and is easily recognisable and iconic.

The main cover line on the front cover is the music band's name which is ‘Bring me the Horizon’. The use of font for this cover line is big and bold so that it will catch the audience's attention and if they like Bring me the Horizon more people are likely to purchase the magazine. It is positioned a little below the centre of the magazine because the masthead covers the top.

The skyline on this front cover has a bright colour and is at the very top of the magazine so it would stand out also so that it would get more recognition. The skyline writes ‘Kings and Queens of 2015-Poster special’ meaning there are posters in this magazine which is a definite advantage. They have also added some of the posters that are in the magazine and the rest are just writings of the band names. Only few of the posters might be up there because those few are most likely to be the more famous bands and singers.

There many many puffs/flashes on this magazine because the puffs always stand out and as there are many interesting and exciting info on this magazine, the number of puffs are quite high. There are puffs at the top of the front cover with the Singers and bands names written inside which highlights them and makes them stand out. There are also two more at the very bottom of the magazine in the ‘plus’ section to not exclude the ‘plus’ section and also make that section stand out.

The barcode, issue number, date line, the price + other links are at the right bottom side of the page which suggests that it is more likely to be the last thing the audience sees as we read from left to right. The price is deliberately at the bottom of the page in small font because the magazine is more expensive than some of the other music magazines currently on the market.

The colour scheme fits into the traditional 3 colour scheme where 3 main colours are used. The main colours in this front page are Yellow, Red and white as well as black but it does not count as a specific colour. The colour yellow is used in places where they want the writings to stand out with a slight red as a shadow to again bring out the yellow. Also, the puffs/flashes are red and yellow too which makes the colour link and look presentable. However, the main colour of this front cover is black as the whole background is black to give it a dark and Gothic vibe as it is a Rock/Metal magazine.

There is around 2-3 different types of fonts used on the front cover which makes everything look a little crowded and over done. What makes everything look put together is the fact that almost all the fonts are bold.

RockSound' Contents Page Analysis

The contents page is only made of up of one page. The page numbers are in chronological order on the contents page meaning the numbers go up each time .

The colour scheme on the contents page relate to the colours used on the front cover because the colours red and white are still continued. For example the titles are highlighted in red and the background is white. Also, the colour scheme continues through the magazine as on the side, we can see three of the pages that are in the magazine and the colours red, black, white and yellow(in some areas) are used. Two of the images are dark and lack vividness. This juxtaposes from the white background, making the images stand out and catch the audience's' eye.

There are not wide range of images which is unusual however a good choice. This is because usually in rock magazines, we are overloaded with many images to reflect the quantity however, personally it visually hurts my eyes to see many images. This contents page included three images, which are not even technically images as they are just copies of the three important or attention grabbing pages in the magazine to give us an idea of what we can expect. They are not visually busy like I have stated before, and they are just put one after the other and all three of the images are large so we can get a close view of the images.

There are no captions and page numbers next to images, however they are under categories like ‘News & Regulars’ and ‘Features’ and they have captions and page numbers next to them so the audience can easily find it without flicking through the pages. The is also a short descriptions of what they are about for our information as we will be able to find out more info.

There is only one column on this contents page which makes it extremely easy for the audience to find what they are looking for as it is not hard because they are all under each other. In addition, it makes the contents page look a lot more organised.

RockSound' Double Page Spread Analysis

The colour scheme continues to this double page spread with the colours red and yellow. They have added the colour blue to make it match the blue writing on the ‘Warped Tour UK’ logo. The use of red suits the main singers red tattoo which almost makes him complete the whole page. Also, these two pages do not have a black background which may be because their genre of music may not be heavy metal like ‘Bring me the horizon’ and might be rock or just metal.

The pages are not filled with lots of writing because ¾ of the page is almost covered with the image and the bold writing ‘Scream! Aim! Fire!’. This is probably a positive thing as many readers like to see images and not a bunch of writings. Images makes things look visually interesting and eye-catching. The image shot of the main star is a mid shot to show the tattoos and the dark clothing he is wearing. All black with lots of chains and spiked bracelets which gives it a cool and gothic vibe which is stereotypical rock artist clothing. Also, this is not a professional photoshoot as the image was taken in action whilst he was singing. This makes him seem like a professional musician and it makes him seem like a person who loves what he is doing and that shows his passion towards his career.

The second page of the double page spread is where the actual writing begins. There isn't a specific header text however the header text is almost hidden in the introduction part of the article. As we can see, the whole writing is in black however, the band's name is in red which makes the name stand out, which I think makes it look like the header text.

The page starts of with a drop cap which is a typical way of starting in almost all magazines. The drop cap helps to capture the audience’s attention. Drop cap is used twice in this page which I believe is a good thing because the second time we see it, it is almost like a new beginning/ new topic about the artist. Also, the colour does not break the colour scheme the magazine have used and is still in red and black.

There is a pull quote on the right side which is extremely catchy. It states ‘Nowhere in the world has more love for Black Veil Brides then the UK’. This is an amazing way to catch the audience’s attention and love towards the artist because it makes the people in UK feel more special because they show lots of love towards the band. This is also attention grabbing because people that live in the UK will be curious of the number of people that support them if they are not aware of the band and it will make them want to learn more about the band.

The structure of the page is different because it is not a Q&A. Most people would expect it to be a Q&A because it is about Andy Biersack in specific however it isn't. It is almost like an article gathered with quotes from his interview. Although this is about a band (Black Veil Brides), the fact that Andy Biersack is in the main image and the fact that he speaks throughout the majority of the interview shows his status in the band and proves the fact that he is the main person.

My Completed DPS.

Finished product. (Re-creating the YG magazine)

Analysis of the 'VIBE' magazine

On Friday, we started analysing the 'VIBE' magazine. As a class we learnt about many new terms like 'masthead' , ' strap line' and even 'sky line'.  It was great learning these new terms as some are easy to remember like 'flash/puff'. After we learnt about these key terms, our homework was to analyse two magazine's cover, contents page and double page spread which I will complete soon (make sure to keep up with the new posts!). Overall, we learnt about the importance of the cover star because the colour scheme, fonts, and even the type of shot affects the reader's attention. Here in this post, you can see the 'VIBE' magazine and my notes about it.

I have recently started my double page spread about the changing face of the magazine industry because of the increase in the number of digital technology users. I wanted my double page spread to be featured in the "Kerrang" magazine. My colour scheme is Gothic and eye-catching. I created my magazine using InDesign which I have used before to recreate the YG magazine. I wrote from a journalist point of view and included my own opinions as well as many interesting facts.

Time Toast

This is my first task on InDesign which I will use to create my own magazine later on. It was very interesting to start using this because I did not know anything about it. Most annoying thing about using InDesign is that the is no word check.  What I really liked is that after you export it, getting rid of the blue lines makes everything look so much better and put together. To recreate this double page spread, I added the background before everything else, added the image, then pasted the writings. This was great experience as now, I know how to use InDesign. Also, one of the new things I learnt is using a specific option to make the first letter bigger than others( Drop Cap).

11/09/2015

Hey! Welcome to my blog. I'm Fatmagul, and on my blog I will be posting my AS Media work and the stages of development. Hope you enjoy reading my blog.

 Bye    :)