Q front page analysis

I am starting to get an understanding of the sort of codes and conventions which are used in a typical music magazine. Here is Q a popular music magazine with the age range varying from teens to middle aged this magazine has to include certain conventions so that they appeal to all audiences. The ideology of the magazine is to focus on gigs, upcoming artists and interviews from the famous stars which is where I will get a lot of inspiration from when making my finished magazine.

The magazine title is very captivating as it takes up a lot of the page with the masthead being white and a red box surrounding it, it is emphasised a lot on the page. This is done so that the audience can automatically know what magazine it is, the background colour of the magazine is plain so it highlights all of the headlines and the central image. The title is placed in a puff style so that it doesn't blend into the background. The central image is of the famous band Coldplay, all of the band members are making eye contact to entice the reader as it makes it more captive. The picture fills the majority of the page which shows that the main story in the magazine is going to be based on Coldplay.

There are also two smaller images which are spaced around the page each picture has a small headline next to it to give you the idea on what the story is going to be when included in the magazine. The other images included are not linked with the central image so it gives you the idea on the different stories which are included inside.

The colour scheme has mainly black and white writing although the masthead highlights the word ‘Coldplay’ in a yellow font this is to entice reader with the contrast of the colours so that it is easy to see if the magazine is on a shelf. The way Q has used the font is that any band which is mentioned they put in a larger font so that it headlines what artists are going to be spoken about in that issue. The different fonts used on the front cover makes the magazine look interesting, instead of it all in one font and looking boring.

The second title says 'the essential music guide' this has been cleverly placed as most people start looking at a magazine front cover from the top of the page. Seeing that the magazine is an essential music guide means it would intrigue a first time reader if they wanted to find a new interesting music magazine. This has been highlighted by a red box with white writing like the title, which emphasises that it's very important.

Font style mood boards

One thing that plays a big role in a magazine is the font style as it is what helps attract the reader into buying the magazine as the masthead is what intrigues the reader

Here are a few fonts which I like as they are bold and clear making it easy to read but also intriguing. The 1st font is my personal favourite as it has a fade effect of black which makes the font seems more interesting than the others as it has a contrast of two colours, it also seems very edgy which is something I wish to be portrayed in my magazine. I also like the font 'Bellerose' however I don't think that it would suit my chosen genre for my music magazine.

Outfit mood boards

As I am thinking of having a number of models I wanted to make sure I focused on how I wanted them to dress so that they look appropriate for my magazine.

Below is a mood board of some outfit choices which I find appealing for my model to wear as they are simplistic and seem to fit the alternative genre of music which I want my magazine to be focused on. In the bottom right picture I like the simple make-up with the bright lipstick as it accentuates her features and it would appeal to my target audience of 17-18 year olds

I also made a mood board for male outfits as I would like to have a male model for my magazine as well. 

I really like the look of these outfits as they have a simple shirt with a jacket over the top, although the outfits aren't striking they look contemporary which would suit my music magazine. I like the idea of my models hair looking similar to the one in the top right as it is styled in the way that many people would aspire to look like

Music magazine front cover mood board

 I am going to make some mood boards depending on the different genre of music magazines

Here is a mood board of some magazine front covers from the rock, pop and rap genre, I like the idea of creating a magazine that's in these genre's as I like the masthead fonts as they are bold and intriguing to the reader. They make the magazine stand out as the colours used are strong which automatically makes the reader want to pick it up.

 

This is a country music mood board where you can see that a lot of the background colours used are dark browns or white. I have seen that the background colours are very different when looking at country magazines as they are a lot more calm and subtle, the font is also round which reflects that the music isn't as sharp as rock music.

NME contents page analysis

To get an understanding on the kind of contents page I wish to include I'm going to analyse a popular music magazine's contents page. First of all the masthead, the title of the magazine 'NME' is in red, this stand out from the rest of the magazine as most of the contents page is black and white. The font is bold and all the same size so that it stands out when you turn over from the front cover to the contents page. The use of the colours black, white and red initially gives you the understanding that the magazine is going to be focusing on the genre of rock.

The central image is in-keeping with the sub-heading which is great as it shows what the magazine is going to include. The contents page is split up with boxes to make is easier to understand what is inside, the headings are all bold so that you can easily find what you want when looking at the contents page. There is a puff in the bottom right hand corner it is in a red box which contrasts with the predominantly black and white page. It draws attention to one of the main stories which will be in the magazine where it is trying to promote different elements of the magazine.

There are different sized fonts on the page which varies the importance of the stories as the larger fonts seem to include the better stories. As Arctic Monkeys is one of the main stories the heading is a lot bigger which the magazine wants to emphasise. The contents page also includes promotional deals about subscription in a box of its own to make it seem important with some of the font being yellow it contrasts with the black, white and red colour scheme so that people automatically read it.

Camera angles

I thought I would look at the different camera angles which I could use for my magazine, this had helped me get an idea on what angles I would like to use.

                                                                 Close up

                                                             Wide Shot

                                                       Over the shoulder shot

                                                
                                                      Aerial Shot

                                                          Low angle

                                                        Canted shot