Task 3: College magazine layout plan

Task 3: College magazine anlaysis

Task 3: Initial research into a magazine contents page

• Masthead featured at the top of the page, showing the link between the cover and the contents page. 
• Issue number and date also featured at the top
• Main features of magazine listed on the right hand side along with page numbers
• The image of the singer on this page does not match with the cover photo which is an unconventional feature. 
• Pull quote, description and page number below the image of the singer.
• Description and page number of cover person Bob Marley on the bottom right corner.
• Colour scheme of white and red throughout.

Task 2: Research and Planning : Case study 1 – CLASH magazine

Front cover:

The front cover of Clash magazine is kept very simple and classic. To start with, there is one large image that covers the whole page. The shot of the singer is close up. Clash magazine uses house style in the most of the issues where almost all the shots are close up or medium close up (MCU). Mise en scene is used with a very limited amount of material for the audience to look at. Lighting is used as the image is bright and we can see the cover star looking towards a light. Due to the shot type, costumes and props are not present in the image, but we get an insight of what the cover star is wearing. This connotes the genre of Indie as we can see a ‘hippy’ look from the artist. Everything is in frame. The denotation of the image is that the singer is looking up. However, this may connote the aims and success the lead singer of the band is heading for, as he is looking up.

The masthead is used at the top of the page which overlaps the image of the cover star. This may come across as unconventional as usually in most magazines the image of the cover star overlaps the masthead because the audience is expected to recognise the magazine, and the importance of the cover star is reinforced in this way.  The masthead is the largest text on the front cover and is bold with a simple, clear font style. All of the cover lines are aligned to the right also with a simple font style. The main cover line is ‘The 1975’ which links to the image as the lead singer of the band ‘The 1975’ is featured. It is written in a large font with a vintage style for it to stand out so the audience recognises that the cover star belongs to that band. Skylines are featured at the top of the masthead where the different sections of the magazine are named. The denotation of the front cover is that the lead singer of ‘The 1975’ is featured. However, this connotes the Indie genre as he is a recognisable iconic star. In addition to that, a caption: ‘Working on a dream’ is featured just above the main cover line, which gives the audience an insight of what the magazine includes about the band. Again, the house style is kept on the front cover as there is a limited amount of text on the magazine which reinforces the classical view of the magazine. The colour scheme of black, white and grey are used also for the house style purposes. The barcode is used at the bottom right corner along with the price, issue number and issue date.

Contents page:



The contents page follows the colour scheme of black and white from the front cover. On the left hand side the sections of the magazine are divided into headers. ‘The 1975’ has it’s own section under the header ‘Cover’ with a small description and page number. That is followed by sections such as ‘Music’ with page numbers to other artists featured. Then there are headers for the extra information the magazine covers. ‘Contents’ is written in a slightly unique font style and is large in size. Above that, is the issue date of the magazine. There is one main image featured which is on the next page right next to the contents page, covering it. It is not relevant to the contents page, but it is very artistic, reinforcing the classical and simple look of the magazine. The denotation “The future is leaving” does not connote a musical quote, but is used for the artistic look. The page numbers and sections are conventional to the magazine, as just like every other magazine the page numbers and sections is what guides the reader. It is also a part of every issue Clash magazine produces.

Double page spread (DPS):

Above is a double page spread from the Clash magazine. It is the cover story of the band ‘The 1975’. On the left page, the text keeps its simple nature/house style, and the colour scheme of black and white is continued from the front cover. At the top of the left page, the photographer and the stylist’s names are featured with a small sized font. Below that in a larger font size is a quote “Bound to win, bound to be true” by Abraham Lincoln that is the header for the interview which is the denotation. It connotes success and an insight of the interview with the band and what it may be about. The page numbers are in the centre of the magazine which is an unconventional feature. Then there is the main header ‘The 1975’ indicating that the interview is with that specific band. A drop cap is used at the beginning of the text, which is followed by the Courier font style which is similar to a typewriter font. The text is written in columns and are structured orderly. These are conventional features the Clash magazine holds.  The text is also conventional to the magazine and the image of the lead singer on the right page. The text is also aligned to the right, which gives it uniqueness. The mode of address is teenagers and young adults, as the language used is both formal and informal at times e.g. “crazed fans”. However, a lot of facts and figures are given which gives the text a formal tone and structure. For example, on the first column it says “Four acclaimed EPs, a top 20 single” followed by “As Clash calls frontman Matthew Healy he’s 5,864.49 miles away”.

The shot type of the image is medium close up (MCU), again a conventional feature for Clash magazine. Mise en scene is used, and the singer is in a vintage costume reflecting the Indie genre his band performs in. His body language reflects the ‘star’ image he has, as he is looking away from the camera’s point of view. The singer is also representing the black, white and grey colour scheme, which matches the colour scheme of the front cover and the contents page and is all conventional to the magazine.

Clash magazine press pack/media kit and analysis

Clash Music Ltd.

Clash magazine is published by Clash Music Ltd. Clash Music Ltd is a media company, based in the UK that publishes products through the Print and Online platforms. These not only include music, but it also includes other entertainment products such as Films and Fashion. The company publishes Clash magazine worldwide, twelve times a year. It is related to a lot of institutions such as:

·        Nike

·        Ben Sherman

·        Topman

·        Levis

·        Paul Smith

Clash Live also belongs to Clash Music Ltd., where there are gigs and tours launched for artists.
Clash magazine itself represents mainly music, but it also covers other entertainment tools. These are: Clash Music, Clash Film, Clash Fashion and etc. Other types of entertainment tools Clash Music Group provides are clashmusic.com where Clash magazine is read by audience actively, and Clash Creative Projects where new projects are formed through different media platforms for the benefit of Clash Music Ltd.

Task 2: Research and Planning : Case study 2 – Q Magazine

Front cover:

Q magazine does not have the same genre as Clash magazine. However, it gives me good ideas such as the use of cover lines and how they are written which might help me figure out what to put on my magazine front cover which is why I have picked to do some research on it. The front cover of Q magazine is busy with a lot of text over it. The main image is the image of the Arctic Monkeys band and the shot type is medium close up (MCU). Q magazine also uses house style in most of their issues where cover photos are usually took in a medium close up shot. Lighting is used, but again due to the shot type costumes and props are not present. The image is also framed. The denotation of the image is that each and different members of the band are looking in different directions except one to show that he is the lead singer. However the connotation is that they may be looking in different directions in order for the image to focus on the lead singer and to reinforce their ‘rock’ style which is the genre they sing in. Mise en scene is also used in this shot. The masthead is behind one of the band members, which is conventional; as the reader can still identify that the magazine is Q magazine.  To fit into the house style, there is a colour scheme of black, white and red.

The masthead again is the largest text on the front cover to reinforce the magazine name. It is also in a simple font style and format. There is a lot of cover lines which are set out on both sides of the magazine, also another conventional feature of a magazine. The main cover line is ‘Arctic Monkeys’ as it is the cover story and ‘The Q Interview’. There is also a line of description of their interview to engage the reader to read the magazine. On the right hand side the cover lines include other artist names and quotes from them. Below that is the magazine barcode, price and issue date. There is also the use of a skyline above the masthead to show the exclusive pages the magazine includes. The font style is also simple, and clear which fits the house style of Q magazine, and fits into the classy look of the magazine, reinforcing the modern Indie/Rock genre.

Contents page :

The contents page for Q magazine is again busy with a lot of text, which shows that the house style that was in the front cover continues throughout the magazine. There is a use of 2-3 images, all with different shot types, and they have been placed differently on the page to have a different look. However, the image of the lead singer from the front cover has been marked with ‘cover story’, again being the main focus almost everywhere on the magazine as it is the USP for this issue of the magazine. Then there are page numbers with headers and descriptions marked with them, set out in columns, which gives it a clear and structured look.  The font style of the headers next to the page numbers match with the font style from the front cover. At the top is the title of the contents page ‘Q Contents’ with a very simple font style. On the right are reviews by famous artists and celebrities of Q magazine. The music genre is represented very clearly on the contents page as the font styles and the images with artists have the ‘rock’ look, which reinforces the genre. Therefore the text and the images match, where we are again reminded of the house style. The contents have been put into categories with a category for the pages where artists are interview and a category for reviews on Q magazine from other artists. There is quite a lot of information and items on the contents page and it can be considered as ‘busy’ which matches the front cover as again a lot of cover lines are featured on there too.

Double page spread (DPS):

This is the double page spread of the cover story from Q magazine. The band Arctic Monkeys is being interviewed. The page on the left is where all the text is placed. A drop cap is used to start the text off, and the text starts off with a large font. It may be that size to introduce the interview.  Then the font size is smaller where the interview moves on, and is put into columns, giving it a structured look. A drop cap is also used at the start of one of the columns. The mode of address may be young adults as a lot of formal words such as “revitalise” and “depicted” are used. The tone of the text is also formal, which gives more information on who the target audience is. The house style is also applied to the double page spread as the colour scheme of red, black and white continues and the font keeps it simple and ‘rocky’ nature. The page on the right is where all the images are placed. There are 4 images on the page all with a medium close up (MCU) shot, continuing the house style. The members of the band all have a different pose which is the denotation of the image as a whole, but it connotes their ‘rocky’ look to reinforce the rock genre. One of the props used are the sunglasses worn by the lead singer of the band, which again reinforces the genre. These are all conventional features of the magazine. In the centre of the right page is a pull quote from one of the members in the band, in black and red colours. The double page spread gives addresses the target audience in a successful way through the house style as a whole.

Q magazine media pack

·        More of Q magazine readers are males

·        Readers aged 15-25 read Q magazine the most.

·        This shows that the target audience of Q magazine is mainly males that are teenagers or young adults.

Bauer Media Group

Q magazine was initially published by EMAP Media Group. It was then sold to Bauer Media Group, a multinational media company. Bauer Media Group also publishes other music magazines such as Kerrang magazine and has many other magazine projects such as ‘Bella’, and ‘Take a break that’s life!’. The company also has Bauer Radio, and owns half of Box Television which is a TV company that includes channels such as 4Music and Kerrang.

Task 1: Production schedule

Evaluation of induction assignment

When I first started the induction assignment, the first source of research I used was the hand-out. It was a great starter, and it guided me through the assignment, outlining information on file-sharing sites and its history. It also had a lot of facts and figures which helped me to write a structured article for my magazine. To do some independent research, I used Google search engine to search for other artists that agreed/disagreed with file sharing. I reached to websites such as The Guardian that I considered as reliable where I found out more about what artists thought about file-sharing. Doing this helped me build up on my writing and make it relevant to the file sharing issue. We also prepared a debate within our class where we were divided in to two groups that were for and against file sharing. During the preparation, we individually researched reasons for why we would be for or against. I reached to blog sites where people gave their own opinions, and other sites such as CNN. Doing the debate with the research we made helped even more as I took new points from the opposite group and used the points we gathered in my group to write my article. During the research task, my biggest strength was finding the right information from reliable sites. I didn’t have a lot of weaknesses, but finding reliable websites about the file sharing issue was a bit difficult.

My target audience is young adults. This is why I wrote my article in a formal way, and addressed them in a formal manner. I used 1^st person narrative throughout the article to relate to the audience and meet their specific expectations, making it seem more relatable and interesting. I used 1^st person narrative when I was giving my own opinion. An example of this is when I said “I think file sharing is a positive thing, and does not intend to harm anyone”. I also used some rhetorical questions such as: “But is file sharing really a negative form of technology people use to listen to music, or is it just a way of enjoying what we call free music that started off centuries ago?”. The title of my article is a rhetorical question itself: “File sharing: is it really a negative thing?”. I used rhetorical questions because they are useful to attract the audience and give an interesting tone to the article. The strengths of my writing skills were using different techniques appropriately in the right places and using just more than one writing technique. My weakness was the use of my punctuation marks in which I corrected after re-reading.

I then used the InDesign programme to put my writing in a magazine format. I used a title that was big in size and bold to a reasonable extent where it would be eye catching. I also kept the title in a simple font style to address my target audience of young adults. The font style I used to write the article throughout was also simple and readable; again so I could I address my target audience in the correct way. I put the writing in columns so it can fit into a magazine format and so it can be structured. I then used pictures of the artists that I mentioned in the article and wrote captions beneath them saying who they are. I did this because I think it would help the audience to identify the artists.  I kept my background colour white to complete the simple look of the magazine pages. I also used pull quotes between the columns of writing to catch the attention of the audience. In addition to that, I put down page numbers along with the magazine logo NME in order for the audience to identify that the article belongs to that specific magazine.

My strengths for this task were choosing the right font style for my target audience and easily correcting any errors I made whilst using the programme. My weaknesses, however, included extra spacing. I found it difficult to fit in everything on one page, which is why I chose to do it over two pages. Then I had difficulties on trying to fill in both pages which are why I was left with a lot of space. I also forgot to include things like drop caps and headers.

Using Blogger, I posted the first draft of my magazine article. Following that I posted my finished version to show the progress. I posted the two versions very easily and commented on other articles without any problems which were my strengths. When I first signed up for Blogger I had a few problems signing in which was my weakness. I then showed my article to a group of people from the audience (friends). They agreed that I had a lot of spacing, and they said that I should have put more colour and design on the pages. Having this feedback from the audience helped me as I will know what to watch out for next time I start a similar work.

4 targets for improvement:

·         Checking the reliability of the information I take from the internet

·         Continue to re-read work for any mistakes

·         Getting help from the internet when using InDesign for spacing

·         Getting help from the internet when using Blogger

 

Finished version of the magazine induction article

Unfinished version of article