My Music Magazine Contents Page

My Music Magazine Cover

'Hip Hop Connections' Double Page Spread Analysis

• The Image in this article features ‘GZA’. This is the only image that the readers are presented with in this double page spread. The magazine is advertising Hip Hop and we can gather this through the man’s appearance i.e. his clothing, stance and posture. Although there is only one figure in the picture it is extremely prevailing and powerful, it will make the readers look at the picture and acknowledge everything about him. The way in which he poses makes him appear quite stuck up and arrogant, from this we can also gather he is/was a rapper with an attitude and ego.
• The Image/Article could appeal to both male and female teenagers and young adults between an age range of 16-25/30. The male population will find him “cool” and may want to aspire to be like him, the picture itself supports this as he is presented in an overpowering and dominant way and seems very intimidating and unapproachable. However certain fans of his may admire that aspect about him. Some of the female population may also find him “cool” and maybe even attractive, however I feel as though the article appeals more to boys/men than women.
• The Main Colours that have been used in this article are Black, White and Pink. The use of the colour pink is very affective as it stands-out causing the article to become noticed. It contrasts with the other colours on the page which helps the article to achieve its striking and prominent features.
• The Text in this article is an interview, the text colour of the questions is in pink and the text colour of the answers is in black, this is affective as every section is separate and easy to read. The title ‘Pure Genius’ is bold and the font seems as though it was chosen to make a statement, almost fundamental. They seem as though they want the readers to believe what the title reads. The original style of the text is quite plain and basic, it is clear, easy to read and easy to follow.
• The Language that ‘GZA’ has used in the article is quite aggressive and intense. He swears continuously through the interview and seems as though he has spoken his answers to the questions in aggressive and hostile tones. However the actual content of some of his answers contrasts to the way in which he presents himself, in one answer he expresses how he doesn’t care about money, he enjoys music for what it is and he really expresses this fact. He could appear unapproachable and frightening because he is so strong-minded and determined to succeed in life and make meaningful music.
• The article Lay-out is divided into two sections, the text and the image. The image is centred in the middle of the page; it fills the frame from his head to toe, making him look prevailing and dominant to the readers. I don’t think that the image is more overriding than the text; I agree that it is dominant but I feel there is an equal balance of importance between the text and image.
• The Style of the magazine article is similar to the style of the ‘Hip Hop’ magazine cover. They both share the same colour scheme: whites, pinks, and blacks and also share similar font styles. This shows the readers that the magazine has uniformity and consistency, I feel that this is more structured, planned and organized.

'Kerrang' Double Page Spread Analysis

• The Image in this article consists of two male rock musicians from the band ‘Slayer’ and we can gather the type of audience it will attract and appeal to. It will, in a most obvious way appeal to the male generation, in an age range of teenagers (16) to adults (30) because they have that “cool” ethic about them that the boys and possibly men will have a high regard for and also respect. Without ruling out women, it could understandably appeal to their population of a same age range as it may also be to their taste and like.
• From the Image used in this magazine article we can gather that the genre of the magazine is rock. We can gather this by the way in which they present themselves, for example their posture, attitude, facial expression, clothing and even hairstyles. The men in this image have tattoos on their arms, bizarre hairstyles, rock type clothing and smug faces. All these characteristics help the audience identify the rock type genre of the magazine.
• The Main Colours that have been used in this article are White, Green and Black. Although only three colours have been used, they are very affective in terms of making the article stand-out, be prominent and also come to life. Even if the particular article is not to the readers taste it will make them look twice and maybe even read it.
• The Text in this article is not quite an interview but more of a questions and answer format, as the ‘Kerrang’ readers have wrote in with their very own questions that the musicians can answer. The Text is presented in a dark, bold and dominant style to stand-out and draw the reader’s in, the questions are in capitals which will catch the reader’s attention. The text font itself is quite dull, boring and plain, although it is to the point and direct. A quote is used in the article “Metallica’s got the make a better album” this is larger and bolder than the other text because they want that particular statement to stand out.
• The Language used in the article is quite violent and of an aggressive nature for example, they answer questions with swearing involved, they talk briefly about drugs and refer to alcoholic drinking. A word that has been chosen to deliberately stand-out in the text is ‘Scarier’, this implies to the readers the nature of the men, and how they are actually scary and enjoy this approach. The overall tone of the article is quite aggressive, as they are answering their fans questions; they still feel the need to be quite abrupt and quite rude.
• The article Lay-Out is divided in to two pages, one for the image and another for the text. The image takes up the whole of the page and fills the frame; it also steals a small section of the text page for the rest of the image to be displayed. This causes the text section to shift over, to make way for the image which implies how they feel the image is more important. The image governs the article and I feel it most definitely dominates over the text.
• While presented with the article, I am also presented with the front cover ‘Kerrang’, causing me to analyse the chosen Styles of each of them. The styles of these two items do not match in terms of the colour scheme. The front cover consists of Red and Beige colours which the article did not have, however the style of text used on the cover matches the style of text used in the article as they are both bold, dominant and assertive.

Questionnaire Results Analysis (The Planning)

• From my Questionnaire results I discovered that more people preferred R&B over the other music genres such as, Dance, Rock and Pop. This confirmed to me that my magazine would be designed and created around the R&B genre of music, however I would also like to include some Hip Hop features and artists in the magazine. I was elated that many people preferred the R&B type of music as it was my own favourites as well. The least favourite genres of music was Rock and Pop so I knew that designing my magazine around that genre would not of been the best idea.
• I then had to decide a reasonable price for my magazine which would be released on a weekly basis. My questionnaire results revealed that people would not mind and would most definitely pay a price of £1.30 for a weekly magazine. This confirmed to me the price of my own magazine.
• One of the questions that I created on my questionnaire was about artists and bands, I wanted to finalise and make sure that whatever artist was chosen would have supported the genre of music I chose. I was in fact successful in doing so, Ashanti was the most popular artist and she was also an artist in the R&B genre. I was pleased with this result as I was now fully comfortable with my magazine genre.
• I questioned myself whether including a free giveaway on the front of the magazine would improve sales of the magazine. I then chose to include a question, questioning whether people would buy a magazine just for the sake of having a free giveaway on display. The results proved to me that more people wouldn’t buy a magazine for that matter. I then also decided that I didn’t and preferred not to include a free giveaway.
• For my magazine task, I had to create a contents page as well as the front cover. I wanted to understand from the audience point of view whether they actually read or looked at the contents page. I forwarded a question asking what would and what does attract them to this type of page; whether it be the bold colourful images or the informative text. From my results I gathered that more people preferred the images, however a few people did prefer the text so I could understand from this that there could be a balance between both sections.
• From my questionnaire results I also discovered what attracted people to a magazine. This question was highly important as it would have been a base for my magazine cover. The results confirmed to me that gossip/stories, colours and pictures attracted people to the cover of magazines. I then decided to focus more on these elements in my magazine and tried to the best of my ability to display them in the right and affective way.
• As colours attract people mainly to a magazine I based a question particularly on that matter. I wanted to discover what colours people preferred and what colours would stand out in their opinion. From my results the 4 main favourite and re-occurring colours that were chose were Black, Pink, Yellow and White. I then decided to apply this colour scheme to my magazine cover.

Questionnaire & Results

Are you:
Male
4
Female
8

How old are you?

Under 13

0

14-18
9
Over 18
3

What genre of music do you

prefer?
Dance
2
RnB
6
Hip Hop
2
Rock
1
Pop
1
Other
0

Out of the following artists/bands,

who do you prefer?

Ashanti
8
50 Cent

1
Green Day
1

Girls Aloud
2

How much would you pay for a

weekly mag?
2 Pound
2
1 Pound 50
4
1 Pound 30
5
1 Pound
1

Would you buy a magazine if it had a free giveway?
Yes
4
No
7
Maybe
1



What attracts you most to a contents page:
The Images
7
The Text
5

What do you like about the front cover?
The top three answers were:
The main pictures
Colours
Celebrity stories


What are your favourite colours?
The top four favourite Colours were:
Black
Pink
Yellow
White

Preliminary Task: Mock-Up Contents Page

This is my contents page for my school magazine ‘The Bishop Voice’. I created a white background and then added the Title ‘Contents’, I made this colour yellow with a black background making it bold and striking to the reader. I then added the header ‘This Week’ and listed the following in text about what the magazine contains. I listed numbers next to the text to keep my contents page structured and organized. I finally added two mid shot Images of students on my contents page and surrounded the Images with a black border, in order for them to become noticed and stand out.

If I could improve my contents page, I would use 1 more additional colour and include more images to keep the audience enthused. I would also make the background colour a different colour as the ‘white’ appears quite dull and boring.

Preliminary Task: Mock-Up Magazine Cover

This is the front page cover for my school magazine called ‘The Bishop Voice’. For this magazine I took a mid shot picture of a college student and then edited it in Photoshop CS3, this was my Central Image. I changed the colour of her jumper and her eye colour using the colour replacement tool and then erased the background using the magic wand tool. I then saved it and opened it again in Illustrator where I then added a Title ‘The Bishop Voice’. I then added the Sell Line ‘Stevie’s Story!’ and a barcode that I searched for on the internet and I then went onto add the Sell Lines, '10 great tips...' and ‘Year 12 interviews…’. Finally I added pink colour filled star shape and entered the price ‘£1, 70’.

To improve my front cover I would of added a brighter background colour to make it look more attractive and appealing to the readers. I would also add more Sell Lines to attract more customers and maybe another picture of two possibly varying in gender to attract both male and female readers.

'NME' Magazine Contents Page Analysis

• This is the contents page of magazine ‘NME’. As you can see they have used many colourful and bold Images, the largest being the ‘Kaiser Chiefs’ image. This image is the first item the readers would notice as they open the magazine; it is bold, vibrant and striking to the reader’s eye. Many other images have also been used on this page and as well as contributing to the appearance of the page, i.e. making it look colourful, attractive and appealing, it helps the reader spot what they want to locate a lot quicker. People (the readers) will have different views of how they prefer to read and look at the page so it has to balance with text to benefit their needs.
• The magazine contains a Promotional Feature. This advertises the subscription to NME where you will receive the magazine every week and for the first 2 months it will be only just 20p. This will increase the sales of the magazine as more people would be subscribing, which means more people would be paying every week for the magazine without fail. At the beginning of the feature they ask a rhetorical question which draws the reader’s attention in, this is: ‘Addicted to music?’ These techniques make the reader read the advertisement in which they will most likely suscribe to.
• From the Colour Scheme of this contents page the readers can gather as to what genre of music the magazine is advertising and also what types of artists and features we can expect. The front cover of this magazine is not on show but there is a selection at the bottom of the page. From this I can tell that it fits and reflects the colour scheme of previous magazines, it gives the readers a sense of organization as the colour scheme remains the same throughout every magazine. A variety of colour shades have been used, some bright and in your face. This can imply a rocky/indie type genre of the magazine.
• The contents page contains a Text Column. As you can see it has been divided into different sections, this not only makes it clear and neat in its appearance but it also helps the reader identify each section and where they are situated within the magazine. The sections are also different colours, this then prevents the page from becoming monotone and confusing to the reader. It will also help the reader identify the section they want to locate easily and quickly as they stand-out.
• The contents page has included two Titles, one being ‘NME’ and the other being ‘This Week’. The reason for having the magazine title ‘NME’ at the top of the page is because it will continue to give the magazine consistency and it is always promoting the magazine. ‘This Week’ is bold and eye-catching to the readers as it is using a strong advertising colour, Red. These titles help the designer structure the page, making it look organized and neat.

'Kerrang' Magazine Contents Page Analysis

• This contents page contains Promotional Features. Here they are advertise Kerrang magazines delivered to you for just £6 a month, 'Get it delievered to your door for just £6 a month'. They use a particular word ‘Just’, the fact of using this emphasizes the fact that it is extremely cheap and to ensure the readers that they would be getting a bargin if they claim their discount. This will help them advance their sales and they also make sure the terms and conditions are in small text and are not noticeable to the reader’s eye incase the reader disagrees with a particular term.
• One of the content pages Images is the main large one in the middle. From this image you can identify that genre of the magazine, the musician looks quite threatening, scary, has many tattoos and looks rebellious. We can then gather from this image that the genre of music the magazine is advertising is rock. The image is large causing it to stand out and become obvious to the readers. The overall images on the page are colourful and attractive they also take up more than half of the page, causing the readers to notice them first rather than the text. The fact of doing this, is to draw the readers in using images not just text, it is more attractive and some readers may prefer this layout.
• The Title 'Contents' is of a bold and large font, the colour is yellow which contrasts against the background colour being black which causes the title to become striking and prominent. The overall title is eye catching and dominant so that people can identify that is a contents page. The colour scheme of the mast head continues throughout the page and the text is always in capitals.
• A Text Column is included in the Contents Page. Next to every text line of information is a number, these numbers then direct the readers on where to go in the magazine. This shows that the magazine has structure and is in order. By looking at the magazine you can notice that the text column occupies a smaller section of the page, whereas the images occupy more than half the page. This shows how the readers would prefer to view the image information, rather than the text.
• The Main Colours of the contents page are similar to the front cover colours, being black, white, red and yellow. The same colour scheme is used to ensure that the magazine looks more professional and attractive. The ‘Kerrang’ logo is not on the contents page but a small image of the front cover is, to reassure people of what was advertised on the front and also the colour sheme.

Britney Spear's Front Cover Evolution Analysis

(First image)
-The Central Image on the front cover of the ‘Rolling Stones’ magazine is Britney Spears. When this shot was taken she was only just 17. The image has been cropped just above her knee, revealing more parts of her body. The image has been framed to fit the whole of the cover, to attract the readers as they are using her image to sell the magazine. The shot type of this image is an overhead shot, exposing her body more clearly to the readers. This makes her seem loose as she is only 17; this promotes a fact that the Rolling Stones magazine is an example of a man’s magazine
- In the image Britney Spears is hardly wearing any clothes. She has been dressed in provocative and sexy underwear which suggests that she is quite promiscuous and care-free in the way she presents herself. Her shirt that she is wearing has been undone revealing a black bra, from this we can suggest that the colour black is her informing everyone that she is a strong and confident women and that maybe she doesn’t feel or act 17. This image would appeal to men in particular and attract them to go and buy the magazine.
- Britney Spears uses a prop in this image, one being a TeleTubby. This could suggest how at heart she is still a young girl or perhaps promotes the fact that she is really only 17. It gives the readers a sense of innocence and maybe inexperience. Using this prop could confuse the audience into thinking what she is actually like which then teases the readers.
- The Setting of the image is supposed to be inside a bedroom as Britney is lying down exposing herself on a bed. The bed covers seem very silky and sleek which not only makes the setting look very sexual but it makes her appear sexual too.
- The Anchorage Text to support this image is, ‘inside the heart, mind and bedroom of a teen dream’. This supports the fact that she is set inside a bedroom and also supports the sexual nature of the picture. By also using the word teen, strongly states that she still in just a teenager of 17, and comes across quite confusing to the audience as to why they would be presenting her in this manner.
- The Colours that are used in the central image of Britney Spears are colours such as, Fuchsia pink, pale pink and black. These colours again promote Britney is a sexy and sexual nature. The colours (pink and Black) are powerful and striking colours, they also contrast each other making her stand out and also make her look attractive and appealing.

(Second Image)
- In this second ‘Rolling Stones’ magazine, Britney Spears has been cropped at the top of her thigh, revealing to the readers eye the top half of her body. The type of shot is a mid-shot; Britney Spears herself is standing sideways which reveals her curvy and slim body to the readers.
- In this Image Britney Spears is standing up against a wall, pushing her bottom out, revealing her assets and curves to the readers. Britney is wearing a pair of knickers but no bra; she is covering up her breasts by standing upright against a wall. It seems as though Britney is contradicting herself as she bears all by wearing no clothes and no bra, but she still wants to and manages to cover up her assets. This shows how she is teasing the readers to buy the magazine, as they believe she may bear more inside. This image doesn’t show Britney Spears in an angelic and innocent manner, this explains that the relationship formed with the readers will not be a sympathetic or sensitive one, but a heartless and uncaring one. From this image, Britney comes across very independent and stuck up, showing the readers how she may feel that she is better than everybody else.
- The Central Image seems to be set in a bathroom and from the image I can gather that this is the shower area. I also notice that she is clasping something in her hand which I believe could possibly be a shower curtain. This image shows Britney about to get into a shower; it also shows her about to get into a shower alone. The way in which she presents herself in this image is not only desperate but quite cheeky. She seems as though she is crying out for affection and tries to achieve this by posing provocatively in a way she knows will catch the reader’s attention.
- The Lighting in this image focuses particularly on Britney Spears herself; the lighting is used to emphasize Britney’s slim, sleek and curvy body. Lighting has been used on her hair to make it seem striking and shiny. This all helps to make Britney herself appear stunning and attractive.
- The only Colour in this image that has been used is white. There may be two reasons why this colour is used, one being that it symbolises purity and cleanliness and the other being that they wanted to focus more on Britney and her own body complexion as this is very striking and appealing.

(Third Image)
-The Central Image in this magazine has been chose to focus more detail on Britney Spears herself. It contrasts with the two previous images that were used of her flaunting her body and acting and dressing provocatively. The use of black and white in the image suggests how Britney’s flaws have been stripped away and reveals the more innocent and naive girl that has been there from the beginning. The use of the black and white makes the image more clear and understandable, it reveals more to the audience as it is really just her face and emotion to focus on.
- This Image of Britney has been cropped below her chin, creating a close-up shot of her face, revealing no more or no less. This also contrasts with the other two images as the both displayed Britney’s body and focused more on that asset. This image however centres on her face and expresses Britney’s emotion as it presents Britney in another light. By cropping the images in this way helps the readers deeply and directly connect with Britney.
- I feel this image was also chosen so that Britney could strike up another; however different relationship with the readers and this time a more deep and meaningful one. In the image Britney is neither smiling or crying, her expression is neutral which helps the readers to sympathise with her as I feel she is almost saying that this is who she really is. The Anchorage Text that supports this is image reads ‘inside an American tragedy’ the word ‘tragedy’ would strike the readers and make them sympathise with her as it implies that she has probably been through a lot of life problems and issues. She wants people to look beyond her image and name

to accept her for the girl that she really is, a naive and in fact innocent one.