Initial Ideas for Music Magazine

Front Cover Flat Plan


After analyzing several different magazines front covers, I initially decided that this standard layout would best fit my music magazine. I believe that following a trend of other magazines by including things such as an insentive to buy my magazine would be hugely beneficial. I also think that having my image central to the front cover would appeal to any readers more as it stands out rather than placing it in other places.

Contents Page Flat Plan


Once I had checked through a few different magazines contents page, I personally found that by having a simply laid-out contents is the best option for my magazine. I decided that by placing the text which is the essential part of the contents page on the left, any reader will easily be able to find the information they need. However, I thought that to leave the page with just text would be too plain, especially since it is a music magazine, so adding a few images to the right hand side of my text would be a good idea.
 Double Page Spread Flat Plan

Double Page Spread Flat Plan

After analysing several different magazines double page spread, I believe that the plan created below is the best for my particular magazine. I thought that by keeping the layout of the contents page simple, would enable the reader to take in all of the information very easily, and that by having 2 images it would not overwhelm the viewer but add a couple of eye-drawing parts to the spread. Without the images I believe that my double page spread would not appeal to any readers unless they are particular fans of the artist the content is on, where as an interesting image or two would encourage the reader to find out some more information.

Q Magzine Analysis

                                       

Above is two examples of one of the biggest music magazines in the UK - 'Q Magazine'

Although Q Magazine covers mainly 'rock' music, in general, quite a few different genre's crop up throughout. This can be realised by simply analyzing the advertisements for rankings such as "The 100 Greatest Albums" and "The Greatest Rock and Pop Miscellany ... Ever!" - lists are a regular part of the magazine (usually on the front page). The "The 100 Greatest Albums" title clearly shows that the magazine is analysing music as a whole or it would have been "The 100 Greatest Dubstep Albums" - which would restrict it to one genre of music.

Throughout the magazines series, the house colours of black, red, white and gold are used.


Left-Hand Magazine
To the left, the magazine's front cover is very simple. In the top left hand corner of the magazines front cover is the logo of Q magazine, which is consistantly placed in the same place throughout the magazine series. The image, placed centrally in the page, which is surrounded by a rich gold colour (a house colour of Q Magazine) is of a vinyl cd which is known worldwide as a symbol for music, as originally this is what music would have been played off instead of mp3's and cd's, which instantly says to the reader "classic" and "music", which coincidently the magazines front cover is advertising. The title to the magazine is "Best Albums of Q's Lifetime" which also backs up the original assumption from just looking at the image as the first Q Magazine dates back to 1986. Just underneith the image is the header "As voted by you" which makes the reader feel a sense of involvement. This is because of the word "you" in the sentance, which includes anybody reading. In the top right hand corner of the magazine is a small box which is rotated slightly and placed on a white background to stand out from the other attractions of the magazine. Within this box there is a list of the different bands and artists which are discussed within the magazine, giving the reader an insight as to what they will be reading about should they decide to buy the magazine.

Right-Hand Magazine

The magazine to the right-hand side is a lot more complex compared to the left hand side one. There are still similarities between the magazines, such as the house colours and logo in the top left are maintained, as expected, however the page feels a lot busier. The main image which is again located centrally, is a picture of a member of the Foo Fighters band (rock genre) with an orange coloured splat coming out of his mouth with other members of the band, who look to be performing. The writing just below the image of "This Will Kill Me!" certainly goes along with the image as he poses with a face which looks as if he has been brutally hurt, and when something orange is coming out of your mouth it is never a good sign. There is also a heading of "FOO Fighters" in slightly larger, white text which stands out on the page. The "Foo" part of the text is in capitals which makes it stand out from the rest of the page, which I assume would catch someones eye if they were scanning a rack of magazines. There is also the text "Dave Grohl Saves Rock. Again" which will make any reader interested in rock, or especially Foo Fighters want to buy the magazine to find out just how he has saved rock. There is also the usual advertisements places to the left and right of the front covers image, in the same house coloured-text. The advertisements give readers further insight as to what is inside the magazine, listing some music artists such as Biffy Clyro and Nikki Minaj who both are more geared towards the "pop" genre than the usual "rock" of Q Magazine. This allows Q to cater for more than just one segment of the music magazine market, as any Biffy or Nikki fans may also be interested in buying the magazine. On this particular issue of the magazine in the top right hand corner there is also an incentive to buy the magazine, as they are offering "FREE Exclusive Unheard Foos Album!" which is definitely going to appeal to any Foo Fighter fans. This is a very clever way of advertising I think, because the Foo Fighters are one of the most popular bands of more recent times, however, they have not released any new albums of late, and since this magazine was published in 2011, Foo fans would love to hear any kind of new music they are producing.

Preliminary coursework

Original Attempt - 

Magazine Front Cover (School)

Magazine Contents Page (School)

My first attempt at a magazine front cover was simply a shambles. Most of the creation could be better/is not following the general trend of a usual magazine cover.
For a start, the image has un-necisary background detail, for example the cut-off desk with an xbox disc on the side. This, along with the shadow can potentially be cut out so the main focus of the student playing a game can be enlarged to fill most of the front cover.
The text to the left of the image is also not usually existant on the front cover of magazines, and is newspaper like. On top of this, the title of the magazine "St. Cook's Grammar School could be a lot more enlightening, especially since children are more than likely to be the ones reading the magazine, it needs to appeal to a younger audience.

For my contents page I analysed some other contents page from magazines and decided that a plain layout with some images to liven the page up at the side would prove effective for a magazine which is to be read by students as well as parents. The key information (the page numbers) needed to be obvious and easy to read, which in a black font and placed away from other distracting images I believe it is. I decided that by placing an image of a happy-looking student working on my contents page would have a positive effect for the parents and students, as it portrays the school as a happy and enjoyable place to be. I also found from my research that a lot of contents pages have an image of the front page, which is why I chose to place one on my contents page as well.

I am going to attempt to correct these mistakes in my music magazines front cover, which I hope will be a lot more successful.

First Attempt for Magazine Front Cover Picture

My first attempt of a picture for my magazine front cover was definitely not a success. I wanted to incorporate the open, green space shown with someone who had a serious look to their work, which my model could not convey. I placed a book and some sheets next to him and had a laptop for props but do not believe I placed them rightly. If I were to do this again I would have made the model sustain a serious facial expression and had the book and sheets placed alongside his bag, but more in the background of the image.

College Magazine Front Cover Analysis