This is my design for the double page spread. The article is the one mentioned on the cover - it is the main flash and background which accompanied it.

I shall interview Adam, who is actually in a band called Monocure. The heading of the page will be 'Adam from Monocure' in large lettering which will be clear to read and stand out straight away, the first thing you read. It has a tag line underneath - 'tells us all!', this tag line makes it sound exciting and we want to read the article as he is telling us all!

There will be a large picture on each page of him or his band. The photographs may be posed or live.

Above you can see the questions and room for answers underneath. There will be a couple of quotes from the interview in larger lettering to attract the audience into reading the whole article as the quotes will sound interesting and you'll want to know what they are about, the full story.

There will also be information on when their album will be released, this will be separate from the interview answers. I shall use colours and fonts which will appeal to both males and females of all ages which are my target audience. The layout will be neat and tidy to appeal to older people as well as young ones. It will be clear and easy to read with a reasonable sized and style font, unlike magazines I analysed earlier.


This is the contents page design. The font for the heading will be like the font for the masthead on the cover. 'Contents' is the biggest word, as it is important but it shall have 'Shock', the magazine's name, just before the word 'contents'.

I want it to be clear what page everything is so it will be labelled with the page number neatly centralized at the bottom.

I want to include some pictures to make my contents page interesting and not just boring, something to look at is ideal. It also gives a sense of what's in the articles mentioned and may attract readers to those pages.

There will be quotes on the page with page numbers by them, these will make the readers curious and interested therefore attracting them to the pages stated by the quote.

The layout will be reasonably neat and tidy and not too cluttered. It will be clear to read with colours to brighten it up. The colours will not be particularly masculine or feminine so will appeal to both genders. I will choose a font that is easy to read but attractive at the same time, preferably the page numbers will be in a different colour to what is on that page so you can distinguish between the two easily.

Rejected flat plans- main task.

These are cover designs which I have decided not to use. I have used the same main flash and main sells for all of them because they are things I definitely want.

I do like the angle and typography for the masthead of this design however I decided not to choose it because it looks less like a rock magazine and more like a pop one.

I also like the image on the cover of all the band members however the pictures may be too small and as it is only one of them I'm interviewing, I feel it should be that band member on the cover. The angle of the main flash and subhead may appeal more to a younger audience, I want people with a bit of class to read it too so I'd prefer it to be neater and clearer by being straight.

The design I've chosen has strap lines - this doesn't but instead has a rectangle box at the bottom which says what the strap line on my chosen design says. I prefer the strap lines - it uses less room than the box.

This is another design I have not chosen. It is like the one I have chosen but without the strap lines and some of the main sells and bar code are in different places. I do like the strap lines so that is one main reason I chose the other design.

The masthead is in serif typography and it is also quite thin. I like the bold and chunky look of the san-serif font on my chosen design because it stands out more than this one.

The image on this design is straight, I like it but I like the edgy look of it being slightly slanted.

Flat plans- main task.

This is my flat plan of my chosen front page. The masthead goes along the top of the cover in big, uppercase san-serif lettering. I like the lettering because it stands out and it is easy to see it is an important element of the magazine. The tag-line is underneath the masthead to the right side. It is 'monthly music mayhem' which I chose as it uses alliteration. It also makes sense as it is all about music, and the magazine will be monthly. I chose my magazine to be called 'The rock & indie shock' as it is memorable due to the fact that it rhymes. The magazine is about rock & indie music and 'shock' gives a sense of amazement and curiosity which will appeal to the target audience. The main word is 'shock' so that can be used as an abbreviation of the entire magazine name as it will be too long, especially to fit on the cover in large writing!

There are strap lines at both the top and bottom of the cover, both give a sense of getting more for your money, this is common on magazines so conforms to the general style of magazines along with the masthead and tag-line. The top tag-line mentions free posters which would draw in interest to the magazine and persuade people to purchase it. It then mentions some bands which would also make readers interested. The bottom strap line as a big 'PLUS:' in capital letters which makes the reader think 'wow, even more things included in the magazine!'. When it mentions what else is in the magazine, it all rhymes which I think is a clever and appealing technique to attract readers.

The image on it is a photo I shall take, a head and shoulders shot of a band member, he will not be pulling any faces which will make readers not want to purchase the magazine. The photo will be similar to other current magazines- large and clear. The photo is accompanied by the main flash, it has the two most important words in larger text- 'Adam' and the band he is in 'Monocure'. The subhead is underneath, explaining briefly what the article is about, this also rhymes.

There are two large numbers on the cover, this is a common feature on magazine covers- they attract the reader. One is about Stereophonics' favourite songs and the other is the best music venues in the UK. This will appeal to the target audience as they are interested in music venues and like attending concerts, and a large amount of them will also like Stereophonics and want to know what their favourite songs are, so they can compare their music tastes to the band and may be pleased to find out that they are not that different from the famous artists. Also if there are songs mentioned that they have not heard of before- they can look them up and possibly become a fan!

There are more main sells which use a few words, they both mention famous artists- Paramore, & Amy Lee. This will attract readers into purchasing the magazine to read what they are about. All the bands mentioned on the cover appeal to the target audience and there are bound to be artists there that the readers like and want to know more about. They are interested in finding out more.

The bar code is near the bottom of the cover on the left, accompanied by the date, issue number and price - all essential information. They are placed in an area which is similar to other magazines that I have studied and analysed. Although they are important information- they are not main sells or anything which attracts the customer so they do not need to be large, just large enough to read clearly and do not need to be central, instead off to one side.

Analysis of existing magazines- Main coursework.

This is a double page spread in 'Q' magazine. It lists 50 tracks that Q recommends to download this month. Each track has a brief description of what it is. The layout is neat and uses columns. There are rectangular photographs at the top of both pages with a caption for each in the corner of the photo.

Other than the photographs, the colour scheme consists of red, white and black. Red is the magazine's main colour as it is the background for the magazine logo/title. Having white as the main background colour for this article helps the text to be easy to read and clear. Having most of the text in black is ideal as it is plain and dark. Having the plain dark text over a plain light background is the best option to make something easy to read.

The fonts used are all serif apart from the captions on the photos and the bottom part of every track description which are san-serif. Some text is bold but the majority of the text isn't. The title is script and so is a box at the bottom of the right page which gives you information about how to download the tracks.

I think it is designed well to meet the needs of the target audience. It is reasonably classy and not over the top. It is simple which is effective and not too childish. Neither is it designed towards one gender rather than the other, it appeals to both.





This is the contents page in 'Kerrang!' magazine. To begin, the heading has an effect of being worn off. It looks damaged and worn, this reflects the Kerrang readers and their music interests- their appearances are often worn and scruffy and music taste is heavy and when at a gig- things get destroyed and damaged! Also the bar at the top of the page underneath the heading is decorated with some red lines. This is also the case in the 'this week' sub-heading further down the page.

The other fonts on the page are all san-serif and everything is in capitals other than the top paragraph which tells us briefly what is included in this magazine. The background colour is white with the font colour being red or black. They stand out well on the page and the colours make it easy to read and are clear. Red signifies blood and danger, unhappy things that the artists in the magazine sing about and what the readers may tend to feel much of the time.

The pictures which are on the page consist of a large one which takes up most of the page of a band member of HIM, a famous rock band, three smaller rectangular pictures at the top of more band members and an album cover, a smaller picture of a magazine editor and at the bottom are three pictures of different Kerrang magazines and a small advertisement about subscribing to Kerrang.

I think this page appeals to the target audience with the decoration on the heading fonts and decoration on the band along the top and behind the sub-heading. I think that the colours
appeal to the reader as well as they are ideal for either gender and are pretty Rock & Roll!




This is a cover to 'Q' magazine. At the top is a black band which shows that its a special issue. 'the' is in script and white, which shows up well on the black background. Then it says 'AWARDS ISSUE' in capital serif lettering. The text is in gold which is ideal for awards as trophies and awards are usually gold. Gold signifies royalty and richness, its generally quite a posh and extravagant colour.

The magazine used to be called 'Cue' because you would cue a record. But they didn't want it to be mistaken for a snooker magazine so they changed it to the letter Q. I think they still liked the name of it so if they just changed the spelling it wouldn't be like changing the magazine too much, almost turning it into another one. People wouldn't know it was the same magazine and sales would fall.

The logo/heading is in the top left hand corner and is quite large, as it needs to be as it is a vital element of a magazine cover. Unlike most magazines it is over one side of the magazine and not stretched across the top but clearly this is because the magazine is called 'Q', simply just one letter! The logo is white and red which are non gender oriented colours.

More gold is on the cover as a band across the magazine which lists the artists who won Q awards, this is the main sell. The text is in serif in black capital lettering with slashes in white and red to separate each winner instead of commas. Arctic Monkeys are mentioned in large san-serif, white, capital lettering and what the article is about just below it in smaller white, capital, san-serif text with a black background on top of the existing gold background.

Above the gold band reads 'and the winners are...' in bright red serif script lettering which shows up well against the dark clothing of the band which is the main background picture. It is in black and white which helps the text in the foreground stand out. The band members' heads overlap the Q logo which is usual with magazine covers. This is the only picture on the cover and shows one of the band members holding a gold Q award which stands out amongst the black and white of the rest of the picture. The photograph is a posed shot and they are popular at the moment so they were chosen for the cover. I think this shot was chosen because each band member are at different distances from the camera although all facing the same direction. They are all looking at the camera which makes it more personal to the reader.

In the space at the top right of the page is a large number '50' in a large red font which catches your attention, this is common on magazines. Then next to it in bold, black, capital letters reads 'best albums of 2009'. Just below that in small, black, script reads '*Warning: Likely to Provoke Arguments' for a laugh, although it is true that it probably will have some people disagree with certain elements of the article!

At the very bottom of the cover mentions some articles inside in both red and gold, capital lettering, serif fonts with a small outline around them in white and black. These colours go well over the image on the cover.

There are no puns, rhyming or alliteration used on the cover other than the slight joke mentioned earlier.

On the left hand side of the magazine near the bottom on its side is the bar code with the month, year, price and website.

I think that the audience for this magazine are mainly people in the socio-economic classification of C1 or there abouts. I believe it is largely mainstreamers who buy the magazine. I think it's mainly men in their 20's who purchase the magazine and have a keen interest in indie/rock music.

I think this cover appeals to the target audience due to the band on the the front, and the other bands mentioned which are popular bands in the indie/rock scene at the moment. I think that the colours are not over powering and appeal to both genders, making men feel fine about buying it. The fonts used aren't too childish or messy, they are neat and readable which is mature and adult and so appeals to older people. I also think that it is a £3.99 magazine because adults are buying the magazine who have reasonably well paid jobs and can afford to pay out for something they will enjoy reading.



This is a 'Kerrang!' magazine cover. The name of the magazine is an onomatopoeia, it sounds like a guitar being strummed as the magazine is full of bands and guitarists. The title is then being emphasized by the exclamation mark to make you imagine the guitar strum being loud and rocking!

The logo suits and matches the magazine's audience. The colours used are basic black and white and do not sway towards any gender stereotype. The font used for the main logo is bold and in capital letters. The white lines passing through the black lettering makes it look like the text has been smashed or shattered into sharp pieces. The font is also shabby and rough like the lifestyle of rock & roll and appearances of many rock artists!

The title spreads across the page front left to right at the top, it is large and a vital element to the magazine. At a slant in a smaller, bold, capital, bright yellow, san-serif font is the slogan for the magazine 'life is loud' which is alike the music in the magazine- loud! The slogan also uses alliteration. Both the title and the slogan are on top of a white strip which makes it all stand out well.

The main image on the cover is of a popular bassist to a famous rock band. His head overlaps the title which is common on magazine covers. The shot is a posed shot of him pulling a face. He has been cut out of whatever the background was behind him and used as a stand alone image. There is no relevance known to the water gun he is holding but it shows he is fun and having a laugh along with the face that he is pulling- it does not appear to be seriously aggressive. It is clear that he is topless which would appeal to teen girls who read Kerrang but you cannot see a great amount of his body so it probably does not affect the males buying it.

The other images on the cover are three at the bottom at angles with blue borders around them. Above them it tells us in capital, bold lettering that these are what the free posters are of. The word 'free' is in bright blue to stand out from 'huge posters' below it in white. 'Free' and 'huge' indicates that the reader is getting a lot for their money as well as the magazine itself.

There are many other images of bands and artists which makes up the background. This is unusual and makes the cover look jam packed with things but it also may look a little over the top and cluttered although it does catch the eye and gather attention when on a shelf among others with more plain and simple backgrounds.

There are strips of red going along the top and bottom of the cover. They both mention things included in the magazine. The text is all in bold, san-serif, capital lettering. The text at the top has shadowing and a yellow star in between different articles inside and has white and yellow text. The text at the bottom is also shadowed but outlined in black as well. The largest word is 'PLUS' so the audience thinks there is even more things jam packed into this magazine! Instead of using commas to separate bands, orange plus signs are used.

A large number '100' is used in the center right of the cover. It is brightly coloured in red with a bold yellow outline. Just above it, much smaller in white reads 'the', after the '100' continues with 'greatest rock videos ever!' at a slant, at the bottom of the '100', in the same font used for 'the' above it. Underneath all of this lists bands in alternating colours, yellow and white. Then, in a smaller white font with a red background reads 'and more...'. This is all the main sell. It is the main article aimed to attract people into purchasing the magazine.

The bar code is on its side on the bottom left hand side of the magazine cover. Along with the bar code is the issue number, date and price.

I think that the target audience are mainly individualists, young people (teenagers) of both genders who like rock and trying to be different and stand out.

I have noticed that this cover is full with pictures and bright colours, mainly primary colours with black and white. All of these colours suit either males or females and all the slanted text, bright colours and effects on the text appeal to a slightly younger, more care free audience.
Kerrang is priced at £2.10, a reasonable price for a magazine, especially because it is mainly students who are buying it- they have a little job but cannot afford to spend much money on top of all they have to buy for college.

Kerrang gives out free posters all the time and occasionally a CD which attracts people to buy the magazine.

Target Audience- Main Task.

I have chosen Indie/Rock genre to study. I have then chosen 'NME' magazine and 'Kerrang!' magazine.

This is information I got about NME magazine from http://www.ipcmedia.com/







The following information I got from http://www.nrs.co.uk/

Profile of a typical reader of NME magazine-

Gender- Male
Age- 24
Interests- Music, socializing, going to gigs and festivals, playing guitar.
Socio Economic classification- A,B,C1

Mainly people aged between 15 and 44 read NME but older people do read it too.
There are over 100,000 more readers of classification A,B,C1 than C2,D,E.
Both men and women read the magazine but a large percentage of them are male.


Profile of a typical reader of Kerrang! magazine-

Gender- Male
Age- 17
Interests- Music, going to gigs, playing guitar, getting drunk!
Lifestyle- Attends college, carries out his interests in his spare time.
Socio Economic classification- A,B,C1

Mainly men read Kerrang! but women do too.
Over 45 year olds read Kerrang! but its mostly younger readers.
Classification A,B,C1 are the main readers but classification C2,D,E read it too.

My Magazine-

The music magazine I'm going to make is going to be a rock/indie magazine. It is going to be aimed at both men and women of all ages but mainly 15-25 year olds. It will be priced fairly so most people can afford it. Readers may be students so will need it not to be too expensive. My target audience will be people who have a keen interest in music, socializing and having a good time. I want the magazine to be good for any socio economic classification.

Introduction- Main task.

My task is to create a front cover, contents page and double page spread of my own magazine. I will take all the photos myself and create it all on Adobe InDesign. I will research and plan before going on to create my magazine. I am going to focus on Indie/Rock genre. I am not yet sure what the target audience will be for my music magazine but with aid from my research I will discover who it will be aimed at and design it accordingly. I have done a preliminary task of making a college magazine cover and contents page which can be found here. - http://hannahedmonds.blogspot.com/2009/10/college-mag.html

Making the college magazine cover and contents page taught me how to use Adobe InDesign and gave me an idea of what I will be doing for my music magazine. I shall continue to improve and develop the skills I have acquired from doing the preliminary task.

Rejected images!

These are images I took for the cover but decided not to use. I didn't choose them because there is too much in the background to distract the reader and there is not enough of her shoulders in the pictures. I didn't use the third photo although it's ideal because I preferred the angle and facial expression of the one I ended up using.

College Mag

This is my final design for my college magazine. The design is slightly different from my flat plan but the articles, name and layout are mainly the same. The photo is ideal as it is the right size and nothing interesting is in the background to distract the audience from the main sells and articles.

The contents page could be more interesting with pictures although I did try to make the colours bright and attractive as I did on the cover.

The contents page layout varies slightly from my flat plan to make it more exciting and eye catching.

Flat Plan

This is my flat plan for my college magazine. It shows the cover with the name, main sells and image. The contents shows different articles within the magazine. This is just a basic design without any colour. My final design may vary but this is the main idea.

Introduction

I am creating a magazine cover and contents page for a college magazine aimed at the students. I will take all the photographs myself and come up with the features inside. I shall design it all on paper first, deciding on the layout. I shall make my magazine as professional as possible and design it to appeal to students.