Contents Page of Magazines

The contents page above is taken from Rolling stone magazine. This contents page focuses on one main artist rather than all of the artists in the magazine. The picture in the contents page is the main feature of this issue of the magazine, like the hip hop connection magazine Rolling stone don’t use a lot of different colours and just have one picture rather than several. I would like to create my contents page to look like this one from the Rolling stone magazine.

The contents page above is taken from Hip hop connection magazine. This contents page is very simple and easy to use, using one photograph and one coloured font it’s easy to understand. I would like to create my contents page to look similar to this one as I don’t think contents pages should look too full and busy they should be easy to follow and give all of the information needed. The font doesn’t catch the readers attention however the idea of putting the photograph of a celebrity on the contents page gets the readers attention. These colours are used to keep the page simple and so id doesn’t have lots of different things going on.

The contents page above is from NME magazine. This contents page looks very busy and exciting however it doesn’t look easy to follow and read. They have used lots of different colours and fonts making the page look exciting, the title of the magazine is also displayed on the contents page and unlike the magazine above it has lots photographs. As the contents page is the first page in the magazine it’s the first thing after the front cover which the readers look at, this contents page shows the magazine contents as being exciting, fun, busy and hectic. However the page doesn’t give a lot of information, when creating my contents page I would like to create it like the contents page from hip hop connection rather than the NME contents page.

Double page spreads from magazines

This double page spread is an example from hip hop connection magazine, the double page spread is an interview with the artist featured in the picture. I would like to create my double page spread in the style of this one, it doesn’t use a lot of different fonts and colours and it looks really simple yet effective as the title and the picture of the artist really stand out in this double page spread. Although when creating my double page spread I want the picture to be the main feature and I would spread the picture across onto to pages rather than just the one.

The double page spread above is from Rolling Stone magazine, it shows a large image and hardly any text, when creating my magazine double page spread I will have more text as I would like my double page spread to be an exclusive interview with a band whereas this double page spread looks more like and advertisement. The double page spread above is black and white, this is effective as the writing really stands out. I like the idea of using very neutral and not many colours in the double page spread as I think it shows the photograph and the text better it also represents the band in the picture well.

I looked at these double page spreads to get ideas on how to create my own double page spread. This example is from NME magazine, I like how this double page spread was simple, there isn't a lot of colours however it still sands out. I also think that it looks feminine and fits in well with the style of the magazine which I want to create. I think that the picture in this double page spread shows the musicians personality and helps bring her character across to the audience. I like the layout of this double page spread as there is still quite a lot of text even though the picture is big. The colours in the background of the picture are neutral and pale and make the artist stand out in the picture. The title is also big and bold making it noticeable to the reader.

Magazine Identity

Magazine identity

The target audience for my magazine is females age 16-25, I think that this is quite a large target audience however not many music magazines are aimed at this specific audience. My magazine will feature more acoustic and pop music rather than rock music like other music magazines.

I will appeal to my target audience by creating a magazine which I feel is most suitable for them, most 16-25 year old females have an interest in fashion and celebrity gossip as well as music. Although my magazine is a music magazine it will include aspects of fashion and celebrities however it will have exclusive interviews and will mainly have professionally photographed pictures rather than paparazzi photographs.

My magazine will be good quality, will contain a lot and will be issued weekly which makes it more like a womens weekly magazine. The magazine won't be priced too high mainly because it is a weekly magazine and the main target audience is students so they wont want to pay a lot of money for a magazine.

Genre of Magazine

Genre of magazine

As I am creating a magazine which isn’t already on the market it doesn’t have a specific genre. I want to create a magazine which is aimed more at females as I after research there isn’t already a magazine like this in publication. I feel that most music magazines are aimed more at males or younger people.

The genre of my magazine gives it its own individual appeal as there isn’t already a magazine out like this. I am going to create my magazine so its like a women’s weekly magazine but with official interviews and based around music with some fashion aspects.

When researching the genre of my magazine I found that no magazines currently in publication cover this genre. This is the main feature of my magazine, its not already available, people haven’t already read it before and its something different appealing to a large audience.

LIIAR - Music magazine

As this this is the beginning of the main task I looked at how the media key concepts could be applied to produce a college magazine using the acronym LIIAR, Language, Institution, Ideology, Audience, Representation.

Language - I will use a bright colourful interesting masthead and headline to attract the readers. I want my magazine to look very simple yet effective to do this I will use a simple picture that doesn't look busy and bold colourful headlines.

Institution - NME magazine is published by IPC, NME is the longest published most respected weekly music magazine, in May 2008 it was redesigned to be aimed at an older readership with a less 'poppy' more authoritative tone. IPC would be suitable publishers for my music magazine because I am going to aim it at 16-19 year olds however it will have more of a pop/fashion theme to it, this is the opposite to NME magazine and there are no other magazines on sale like this, if IPC published a magazine like this they would appeal to a different audience to NME so will have a different range of people buying the magazine.

Ideology – The music magazine which I am going to create will appeal to an audience which most music magazines don’t already appeal to. I am going to aim my music magazine at 16-19 year old females, with the interests of music and the fashions in music. There are not already any well known music magazines in the shop so when creating my magazine I will be creating something different.

Audience – My magazine will be aimed at 16-19 year old females with an interest in music as well as fashion and celebrities.

Representation – My music magazine will represent bands and artists in a positive way with interviews with them rather than ‘celebrity gossip’ found in most female magazines.

Contents Page

Above are examples of contents pages which I would use in my college magazine. I wanted the contents page to be quite plain and simple but easy to use. I also wanted to keep the same colours of the magazine cover in the contents page.

Foundation Portfolio Evaluation

Media Studies Foundation portfolio evaluation My media product is based on fashion magazine Vogue. Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine published in eighteen countries by Condé Nast Publications. Each month, Vogue publishes a magazine addressing topics of fashion, life and design. I wanted to create a fashion college magazine in the style of Vogue because Vogue magazine attracts the audience which I am aiming my magazine at.

My college magazine is aimed at students interested in fashion however it features things happening in the college and subjects at the college related to fashion. I think that fashion is a main part of most students life’s and a college fashion magazine would be very popular as most fashion magazines are expensive.

The population of Wyke college is mainly female so my magazine is aimed at female students although it is suitable for males who are interested in fashion. Most people at Wyke college are interested in fashion and the way they look, the magazine also offers discounts, things happening in the college and trips and visits available, this is how my media products attracts its audience. Students like discounts and to do different things e.g. go on college trips to different places. If I advertise these things on the magazine cover then students will buy the magazine for the discounts inside.

I chose the name of my magazine as 'FUSION' because its meaning is to bring people together. I wanted my magazine to be about students coming together, different activities in the college and opportunities for students all linked with fashion. The name Fusion sounds exciting and interesting and will make people want to read the magazine. I chose to do a sub masthead 'the college fashion magazine' to show readers what the magazine is all about.

When first planning my media product I wanted to make it different from other college magazines and more like a magazine which you could buy in a shop rather than a college magazine about education however I still wanted to include information on education and courses at the college. I think that I have achieved that in my media product, the main picture on the front cover shows a student from the college with the topic being Textiles or Fashion?

After I analysed the 3 magazines I chose certain parts of the magazines which I thought were effective and decided to use in my magazine. I like the way Vogue magazine was very simple with just one picture of a model on the front, a bold title and inside contents on the side of the magazine. I also liked how Vogue magazine had a theme to each cover. This helped when creating my magazine and inside contents stand out I decided to do the main picture in black and white and keep the colour theme to pinks. If I was to create another version of this magazine I would change the colour scheme however I would still choose to have a black and white picture as it looks very effective and stops the cover looking too full and busy.

During the preliminary task I have learnt new skills for example how to edit pictures. This will hopefully help me to create the next media project.