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Aroosa I am encouraged to see that you have made some headway in catching up with the research and planning work. However there are still a number of tasks that you must upload ASAP if you are to achieve well in this area of the coursework (use the checklist).
In addition, you must upload evidence of your production work in progress and your original photographs.

Sketch For Front and Contents Pages

                          

These are my initial ideas for my front cover and my contents page.

Ideas For My Magazine

I would like to produce a music magazine on the genre of Pop, all of the ideas within the magazine that I use will be my own and original.

Why Pop?

• will intrigue a lot of different audiences
• has become very popular within audiences in recent times
• combines a lot of different elements
• wish to expland other peoples knowledge about it
• personal interest
• has a lot of modern day artists

Target Audience:
 Pop normally tends to target the younger teenagers ages betwenn 13-16. Howver in my magazine i would like to target an audince of possibly 16+.


Main artist:
(name not decided yet)- article will be about how it felt like to drop out of school to pursue her career in music and how it was to leave everythng she had behind.

Influences:
Blender music magazine. Covers evrything from dance and hip-hop to rock, alternatives and RnB. It is known for pictorials of females celebrities.

I will make my music magazine stand out from others by using an unconventional colour scheme and by using an eye catching font to attract attention from a distance. By doing this you are automatically appealing to your target audience. I will be using a dominating front cover image for it to be appealing to a wider range of audiences. Also headings that are on the front cover will be linked to the artist and what they are portraying in the picture.

Vibe Front Cover Analysis

A unisex colour (blue) has been used as the masthead to catch the attention of a wider audience, the use of this is very effective as it indicates that the magazine will have features for both males and females. The use of the colour blue also connotes a cool and calm approach which is what RnB is normally portrayed as. The way that the name ‘Vibe’ is written- in both lower case and upper case letters makes it seem more unique and noticeable.

The artist used as the main image is Usher; a well-known RnB singer evoking interest in the audience as they would immediately recognise him and his music. Also some may say that Usher is an attractive man with some sort of sex appeal, this makes it stand out to a female target audience. It can also be seen as being homoerotic therefore also appealing to a male audience. Not only that but because some may want to imitate his looks or relate to him in any sort of way- this would make it appealing to straight men. The shot used is a low angle shot emphasising the size of Usher and making his dominance stand out. The shot makes him seem powerful; this is a desirable image most RnB artists strive for. The use of selective focus to blur out the background of the image ifs effective as it makes Usher stand out more above everything else.

The sunglasses that Usher is wearing makes him look mysterious, engaging the audience, prompting them to read on as they would be curious as to what more there is to him as an artist. We can see that Usher is wealthy as he is wearing what seems to be an expensive watch; however, even though he is wearing ‘bling’ he keeps it to a minimal level to show that he is sophisticated. The tattoo of a star on his hand could be aberrant for the male audiences as they might see it as being too feminine. The star is shown to emphasise his fame and to connote that because of how successful he is he is actually a ‘star’ himself.

The main focal point of the cover is Ushers wedding ring which links in with what the main cover lione is about. ‘…and married with a vengeance’ is what that cover line reads and this is made mpre effective by Usher showing us his marriage finger with a ring on it. Initially when looking at the cover page is seems as thought Usher is swearing, this is done consciously in order to catch audiences attention as its as provocative gesture.

For the main cover line the word’s ‘USHER’ ‘HE’S NO.1’ have been made larger compared to the other few words describing the main article. There is more emphasis on the larger words in order to attract Usher’s fans. Also this marriage finger has become with many uses as he is holding up one finger which also links in with ‘he’s no.1’.

The additional cover line’s gives the audience a taste of what’s to be included in the magazine.  Famous name’s are mentioned such as ’50 cent’ to draw in RnB fans in and so they will buy the magazine. The word ‘sex’ is also repeated quite a few times as it’s a topic audience’s are interested in reading about.

The word ‘swagger’ on the cover is written in a graffiti giving it RnB connotations plus it relates to teenager’s, this is important as they are the target audience because they’re age group are the main one’s that consume RnB music therefore they’re the one’s likely to buy the magazine. The word is also colloquial which again something teenagers can relate too is as most speak in this form of language. It’s also the only word in the front page that’s in red which make’s it more prominent and stand out more than the other words. This word is used in reference to the artist and because of the pose he is doing, it becomes useful.

NME Double Page Spread Analysis

The image in this double page spread takes up a whole A4 page, by doing this and by having such an influential artist who the articles is about, hooks in the reader making them think that the magazine is worth reading. Also by the use of such a large image makes her look powerful suggesting she has a bit of dominance on the music industry. From the pose that Lily Allen is doing, we can tell that she wants to make the audience feel ass those she is interacting with them as he body is facing towards the audience- almost as those she is coming out of the magazine. We can also tell this because she is looking directly at the camera also as though she is having a conversation with us.

Audiences are more likely to read an article about an artist if they can relate to them. In this case, Lily Allen is wearing very casual clothes which are more appealing to a large mainstream audience. However the clothes that she is wearing aren’t very feminine so this could prevent the heterosexual and girlish audiences. The colours of the clothes she is wearing goes with the colour scheme used throughout the page which creates brand identity.

The usage of the floating quote used also takes up quite a lot of space; they have made it noticeable as quotes are normally used to attract audience’s attention and to get them interested in the article. The font that is used for the floating quote reflects Lily Allen’s personality as she is brutally honest- more than some might want her to be. From the floating quote, as it is straight to the point and very sharp the audiences get a feel that she will be honest about her opinions in the article which makes them captivated to read on.

The article is written in columns which is typical for a text in a magazine. The font they have used is simple making it easy for the audience to read it. This particular article is written in continuous flow which is very different to how a RNB magazine for example would write it. They would more likely be in a form a question and answer as it is more personal and enjoyable to read. However, the magazine may attract a younger audience as the language used is very informal.

NME Double Page Spread Analysis

This text in this double page spread adopts the use of standard English and is written in the form of constant prose embedding quotes all the way through. The effect of this is that it makes it more appealing to a sophisticated audience. In the title we cannot gather much information about what the article is about; this makes audiences eager to read on. Using the sub-headings is really effective as it gives out information about the article. Adapting to the more mature audience, the technique used of text throughout the article is opposite to an R&B magazine which generally implements the simple question and answer method.

Intertextuality has also been employed in the title of the article which is: ‘Art of Darkness’. This has been drawn from Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’, perhaps this was assimilated so that readers are able to relate to the subject matter. The letter ‘X’ is frequent in the background and to separate paragraphs, this is been done so audiences remember the band’s name for future references or if they want to find out more about them.

They have used a very dark colour scheme which goes with the genre of music ‘The XX’ and NME produces. The use of the silhouette in the background and the poses that they are doing makes it look a bit enigmatic; this makes readers attracted towards it thinking that there is something to read about in the magazine. In the picture the band is wearing all black following the colour scheme used on the whole page, by doing this we can tell that they would like to appeal to an older audience. Having the female in the main focal point, really subverts the main ideologies associated with rock/indie bands as many of them are male dominant. By doing this, attention is drawn towards them as they are challenging a stereotype which leaves people wanting to find out more. Having both genders in the image is useful as it attracts both men and women. However, this woman looks quite manly which may be off putting for heterosexual males. In addition the men are posed facing towards the female, perhaps suggesting that they are her protectors- again in favour of male dominance.

NME Contents Page Analysis

Assuming by the use of bright and bold colours, a lot of images and different types of fonts, it’s obvious that the magazine is aimed at a young audience aged between 14-24. The page is full, suggesting to its audience that there are a lot of choices of articles inside the magazine. The use of black handwriting makes it clearer for the audience to see what it says, but for it not to seem too serious they have used bright colours behind the text to make it stand out more. By doing this, they are making it appeal to a variety of audiences and satisfying everyone’s specific choices. They have also used a range of colours when making reference to other articles in the magazine making it easier for the audience to find what they are looking for and for them to direct themselves to what they want exactly. NME magazines concentrates on indie/rock culture within their magazine and the colour scheme used in this contents page subverts that genre. Indie rock is normally associated with dark colours and for the magazine to use bright colours makes us believe they may want to appeal to a different target audience. The subtitles are moderately close to each other in a vertical direction. This layout is very easy to follow even though it has a lot going on in it, this helps make it easier for the audience to find their desired feature in the magazine.

The busyness of the magazine helps keep the audience feeling that if they read on they will continuously be entertained and have something to read about or something to look at further on in the magazine. Doing this if the first few pages is very effective as it helps them stay focused on the magazine and wanting to read on.

Most of the sub headings are accompanied by images in this particular contents page; this attracts audiences as images are more noticeable then writing and some may find pictures more alluring. Also the use of this allows the audience a little preview of what the articles inside the magazine may be about. Numbers are also link to the article making it easy for the audience to navigate throughout the magazine.

Kieser Chiefs are the main focus of the article in this issue, this is made prominent by the use of bold lettering which stands out and the considerably large image which is placed in the middle making it noticeable. The page also includes a floating quote giving the audience a taste of what occurs in the main article, leaving them tempted for more.

The page contains a tie-in advertising subscription deal, this is a common technique used in a lot of magazines trying to attract loyal consumers of the magazine. it leads to a lot of sales and is a good way of promoting the magazine in itself, saving them a lot of money on advertising.

Vibe Contents Page Analysis

This contents page is very different to many others; it is extremely subtle in the sense that it has a strange silence feel to it contributed by the use of the black and white colour scheme, which has also been used on the cover page to create brand individuality. Reinforcing the stereotype of R'n'B culture, the use of the gangster image really helps to portray the image they are trying to go for. Doing this makes it easier to attract a target audience as it is obvious what kind of music magazine it is. Also because of the lack of colours used it makes it seem more serious as well as having a calm approach to it which may be reflecting the articles or artists used in the issue.

All magazines have a different way in which they approach each page, and in this case the main image is used as the background to keep the main focus attracted towards it. From the urban setting, the urban clothing the men are wearing and subsequent amount of jewellery, this may indicate that they fit the ‘gangster’ stereotype. Moreover, the fact that they are all men makes it easier for us to understand what target audience they want to appeal to - many might have the same understanding of this culture or want to imitate it. Because there is no heading to go with the main image on the contents page it lures us in wanting to know more about what the magazine may include.

The list of sub headings follows the simple arrangement of the rest of the page to enhance the entire theme. From this we can gather that mostly 18-28 year olds would buy this magazine or this particular issue; younger teens may be put off but the simplicity as they would mainly focus on colours and fonts which attract their attention.

They have also used a smaller version of a cover page in the contents page like many magazines do.This is a typical feature as it allows audiences to reflect on the main stories that will be focused upon in the magazine and by looking at the image they could remind themselves of it.

Audio Research