Analysis of Q Front Cover

Q is a magazine that covers all different types of music, making it a very versatile music magazine, appealing to all music fans. This is reflected through the use of three major stars from different genres of music being featured on the front cover. To anchor this image are the salmon coloured strap lines, matching the colours of the centre heading at the top of the page and the background colour of the listings of other artists included within the magazine. This shows a theme in colour. The strap lines state boldly the names of the three artists. Underneath each of these is a quote taken from interviews with them from inside the magazine. The masthead is situated on the top left hand side of the page and uses a large font. As the magazine's name uses only one letter, it becomes bolder as it is large in comparison to other words and images on the page. The letter 'Q' is printed in white onto a red square, therefore making red the dominant colour of this masthead. The red contrasts with the white used for the lettering and background. As well as the top and bottom strip lines being black, the artists in the main image are dressed in black, contrasting with the other three colours involved, maintaining the colour consistency throughout. Adding weight to the top strip is a brief description of this issue's main focus point, highlighted by the use of the salmon coloured circle. To the right there is a red circle containing the number '42', and below in a smaller font is information on their music reviews. Attached to this is a smaller black circle. Within this is an even smaller font giving information on a particular artist featured in this magazine.

Analysis of MOJO contents page

The contents page of MOJO is simple. It lists its contents down the right hand side, each under a specific category (heading). The left hand side is filled with photographs and other images linking in with the magazine. These pictures are arranged in a collage format instead of lined next to one another in an organised fashion. They are chosen to peak the curiosity of the reader. The captions are also purposefully witty or mysterious. The bottom space is dedicated to a section on the issues contributors. Each small paragraph are mini biographies of each individual. There are different colours used for the different aspects of the contents, i.e. page numbers in gold and headers in red, actual contents in black. This adds clarity. The sections of the contents are separated into 'regulars' (i.e obituaries, reader's letters), a section that concentrates on recalling events in pop music in a particular year, and the bulk of the magazine comes under the third heading – 'The MOJO Filter' – which features reviews of current albums, DVDs, books etc. Thus the regular reader will know exactly where to turn to for his/her favourite section whilst the new reader will turn to whatever item appeals to him/her.

Flat Plan of Music Magazine

    










This is a flat plan on my music magazine's front page. It includes the title, Melodies choice, a main picture, and  headings of what's inside. It also states that there is a freebie inside. I added this as people like to get something free with a magazine, meaning my magazine may be more successful than if it was without something. I used Mojo as inspiration when designing this as I think that the target audience of my music magazine is similar to Mojo's therefore their front page I think would appeal to my audience. Of course I adapted their layout to suit Melodies Choice's image and my own style and creativity.

     This is my contents page in flat plan form. For this page I decided to swap around the name of the magazine to the circle in corner, and replace its space with the title of the current page. I did this because it maintains the same type of layout as the front  page showing consistency throughout the magazine. I decided to include the title of the magazine on the contents page because I think it emphasizes and therefore promotes itself within its contents. For inspiration on this page I used the design of Q magazine. I chose this one because it is plain and simple and easy to read, whereas the contents page of NME is a more cluttered and this makes it difficult to focus.

Target Audience Profile

Before starting my music magazine I did a brainstorm. This included the genre of my music magazine, its contents, its target audience, including their demographics and psychographics. My brain storm, left, concluded that my magazine will be aimed at a more 'Indie' scene of music lovers. Unlike magazines such a 'Grazia', my music magazine articles and advertisements will all be music related. My target audience will focus more on the music side of artists, rather than the gossip side. This is also why the demographic can by any income, as the magazine won't be too expensive, and there will be no off-topic advertisements included.   

My music magazine is aiming at male and female of ages 16-21.  The demographics of this magazine would be mostly indie, interested in music festivals, live shows and of course, lots of music! The collage I have assembled above shows the interests and  activities of my target audience. 

Preliminary Task - School Magazine

Flat Plan of preliminary Magazine

Doing a flat plan of my preliminary school magazine meant that i was able to see it on paper before I put it on the computer. Working with a pen allowed me to become more creative as I am new to Photoshop. Once i had put the designs onto photoshop I was able to experiment with the different fonts and effects, making it look more like a magazine. 

Analysis of contents page

This is my analysis of the presentation on the preliminary task I carried out. It is laid out clearly, showing my analysis on my front page, contents page and original image.

The front page of 'La Swap News' has a photograph taken by me as its background. I have used consistent colours for the header and information boxes. I have also used one font throughout to keep the theme the same. Using Photoshop, I was able to manipulate my image by giving it a painted brushed effect. Photoshop also allowed me to crop the image, altering the main focus point of the image. Adding the text to anchor this image was simple, as Photoshop  allows you to place text behind of in front other layers easily. This meant that I could add coloured rectangles behind each piece of text, giving a more creative and artistic look to the front cover.

I used the same skills to create the contents page. I was able to arrange the images so that the text could still be seen as I placed the words in front of the pictures. This was done by using layers. Photoshop allows me to put different layers in front or behind one another, enabling different images and texts to overlap and be seen. 

Original Photos

Content Analysis and Target Audience

Over the previous weeks we have been looking at and analysing a range of music magazines. To give ourselves a more interesting comparison we chose music magazines that varied from each other. For example we looked at Kerrang, a commonly known heavy metal magazine, and compared this to Top of the Pops, a teens pop magazine. These two are very different from one another, and this gave us more to talk about, therefore a better comparison.

We have been analysing different types of music magazines. From this hoped to attain the target audience to each. We counted the number of advertisements included in each of the magazines and recorded data from each individual one.

We came to the conclusion that the target audience for 'Top of the Pops' is mostly girls. We were able to see this from the advertisements as many of them were for sanitary towels and make-up. Most of these items cost little so we concluded that the target audience is from a working class - middle class home. The films advertised are also aimed at young girls. This therefore shows that the targ

et audience is between 9-14.

This pie chart shows the amount of adverts under each category:

The target audience for NME is mostly older boys to young men (17-25/30). The average price range of the advertisements is £15, therefore aimed at people with a higher disposable income than 'Top of the Pops' buyers. The type of advertisements it includes enables us to be able to tell the target audiences' gender. As they are mostly video games and boy bands albums.
The demographics of the two magazines are quite opposite. 'Top of the Pops' demographic is girlie/pop. Any race would buy this magazine but possibly not girls for very religious homes as it includes pictures of semi-naked men. Its psychographics is mainstreamer 'girlie' girls. The demographic of 'NME' is rock/punk/indie british men with any income as the adverts are at a price range of a working mans income. The psychographics are artists (interest in music) and the creative alternatives.


This pie chart shows the relative popularity amongst men of the following magazines:

Comparison of NME reader profile

The reader profile for NME supports the target audience that we concluded to. It shows that 66% were male with an average age of 23. 91% of readers go to gigs often. This is evidence of the target audience having interests in music.

Me and Music

My music taste varies constantly. It's unusual for me to listen to one specific genre of music in one time period as I always like to have some variety. The genres that dominate most of the artists I listen to are Dubstep, Drum & Base and Hip Hop/Grime.

Introduction

Names Melody Cornford. I am studying AS Media in La Swap. For this course we have been asked to create a sample of a music magazine. Within this we have to produce a front page, contents page and a main feature of a fictional artist we wish to promote. This must be completed by the 8th December ...this gives us 11 weeks. In preparation for this, we must first carry out a preliminary task. This enables us to gain experience in using programs such as Adobe Photoshop, which will be used continuously throughout this piece of work. 


Our brief is to design a new music magazine that targets an audience between 16-19 years old within the UK magazine audience. This magazine is to be sold on a bi-weekly basis. We must decide on a title, the genre, its house style and form, brand identity and logo, its use of representations and ideologies, the target audience and whether it is a regional or national magazine. We must also choose the magazine conventions and compare to existing music magazine publications. It must include original images only (no found images).