My Music Magazine Contents Page (Domination) - Final

 

My Music Magazine Front Cover (Domination) - Final (Close-Up Details)

 

 Top Half of Front Cover

 

 

Bottom Half of Front Cover

 

My Music Magazine Front Cover (Domination) - Final

Music Magazine Research (Double Page Spread Deconstruction) - 'Q' Magazine

'Q' Magazine - Double Page Spread

The first page of the double page spread is set out very simply, it is dedicated purely to full sized image of Lana Del Rey, it is so simple that ’Q’ haven't used a title or any text that could take away the A4 image focal point. It is very striking as it features a close up of Lana Del Rey's face and allows the reader to see her facial features and emotions close up, it also allows the reader to identify the writing on the right and side of the page with the picture that is clearly of Lana Del Rey, which may entice them into reading it. The overall look of the first page is of an A4 close up picture of the singer which is made to look relaxing and slightly sexual to fit in with her persona which is very much portrayed through her pose and to also attract the male target audience of ‘Q’ magazine. The lack of text and simplicity of the first page, in my opinion, creates a very professional and classy look of top quality; it makes the page remain mysterious and completely focus on the focal point of the double page spread that is Lana Del Rey, which will again capture the readers attention, especially if they are interested in her as a singer and icon.

 

The main image of the double page spread, as I have touched on before, is made up of dark colours which surround the singer, making her stand out from the page. It almost has a night affect, as if the moonlight is shining on her and highlighting her iconic facial features, this will capture the readers attention for them to recognise that the article is about Lana Del Rey. It also displays a certain sexual and relaxing vibe that will appeal to ’Q’ magazine’s target audience and that is suited with her persona and style/genre of music. This is done by using the dim lighting along with the mellow blue and red light reflections which can be seen down both sides of the page, surrounding her head, as well as Lana undergoing a subtle yet suited pose to fit in with the overall mood. The size of the picture and the close up view of Lana’s head make the page more interesting to look at and it also allows for the readers to have a clear view at her emotions that are reflected in the image and make her easily recognisable as soon as they open the page.

 

The second page is mainly made up of text, there is no use of images, making the first page predominantly stand out to the readers. The text is set out in two columns, the first being in a larger font and the second being reminiscent of a formal newspaper article.  On the second page there is a larger letter ’S’ mounted behind the first column. This has no resemblance with Lana Del Rey but does however signify the first letter of the column from the word ’She’. This style of writing is used again in the second column and is also used in many old books and a lot of newspapers, this indicates a high level of formality, giving the impression of a seriousness. The background  of the second page is white which formally contrasts against the black text and creates an element of class and simplicity.

 

Music Magazine Research (Contents Page Deconstruction) - 'NME' Magazine

'NME' Magazine - Contents Page 

 

The title of this ‘NME’ contents page is simply ‘NME This Week’, there is no title saying ‘contents page’ which makes it in my opinion, uniquely good and original, setting it apart from the rest, it is a much more informal and friendly expression which would suit the 16-21 target audience. The ‘This Week’ gives it room for expansion into other areas, instead of limiting it to being just the contents page as it could, for example, feature small articles on what has been going on ‘this week’ in the world of music. The word NME is represented by it’s bright red, eye-catching logo which just establishes that it is part of  NME magazine. The font of the ’This week’ following the NME logo is simple, big and broad making it stand out and noticeable to readers, it also follows suit with the black, red and white NME traditional colour scheme. They have also managed to link the date of the issue in white into the broad black underlining of the tile, which creatively finishes the title off neatly. 

There is one main image on the contents page, that medium sized, centred picture is there to represent the article ’The moment that… Friendly Fires started a carnival’  it features on the page for visual affect and as a visual aid for people either browsing the page or reading the article. It also breaks up the text on the page as it is positioned in the centre, making it more appealing to read and look at. The picture acts as the focus point of the contents page and goes side by side with the article. There is a smaller image of a NME magazine cover which acts as part of the advertisement for the NME subscription located at the bottom of the page. There may be a picture relating to a small article that is actually on the contents page, but there are no pictures that may relate to and advertise the other pages featured in the contents, this would give readers a visual sneak peak at what they can expect from some of the main pages/articles and a lot of magazines do successfully use this as a way of advertising the different pages inside their magazine to the readers.

 

 

 

There appears to be one main font used in the contents page, other than the title font. The font is very minimalistic and clear either in black or white, depending on the colour of the background, this makes it ideal for NME’s target audience of around 16-21 year olds to read. The text content itself is an easy read as well as being informal, examples of the informality include the different ‘chatty style’ phrases featured in the descriptions of the different pages, this is especially suited for the target audience . These page descriptions that are under each of the page titles are very short and to the point and act as a very quick brief into what the reader can expect from that page or occasionally as a slight teaser to entice them into reading that specific page. 

The layout is simple and easy from someone to navigate around, with titles for each of the sections. Down the left hand side NME have positioned a Band Index, where readers can chronologically look through to discover what page their favourite band features on within the magazine. This is very clever as the reader may only be interested in finding out about one certain band so it saves them having to flick through the whole magazine. The Band Index is very well located within the magazine as the contents page is right at the start so when the reader opens the magazine they will be able to straight away look for the band that interests them and check out the pages in which articles or news about them features on. It is also kept separate from the other text on the page by being in a red text box on the opposite side of the page to save confusion and to break up the amount of text. The main contents is positioned as a list down the right hand side of the page and is sectioned under different categories to add to the ease of reading. NME, like lots of other magazines have chosen to use their contents page as a way of advertising their subscription, they have used the yellow font and large text to make it stand out above everything else on the page and hopefully gain some subscription customers. 

Music Magazine Research (Front Cover Deconstruction) - 'Q' Magazine

 

 

 

'Q' Magazine - Front Cover  

 

The masthead is iconic and unique as it made up of one letter which makes it look like a logo, the logo makes the magazine look like more of a brand and can be easily adapted, also the single-letter title would be more prominent on newsstands. The red and white makes it stand out from the page as well as the newsstands  and allows the colour scheme to be applied throughout the whole page, all of this combined makes it  a highly recognisable masthead. It would appeal to the target audience of a young trendy adult, as it is in a sophisticated and holds a mature font with the bright, simple colours adding some fresh vibrancy to the look, to keep the magazine looking trendy.

The one image on the magazine cover, is the background image, it is a very prominent and strong background image which features the well-known singer Cheryl Cole (which is relevant to the genre of the magazine) with what looks likes rain falling over her. The rain creates a powerful yet inviting image, which represents strength, edginess and also sexualises Cheryl.  She wears dark, ’rock and roll’ makeup and clothing which again adds that edge and strength to her look. She is positioned in front of a dark background which features the rain falling past it, these features make the back ground concur with Cheryl.  These combined together with a sexualised pose and expression makes the image very striking and powerful. In my opinion this image is very effective as most of the mainstream music industry has got very sexualised and it appears to be the trend and a way of getting noticed, it also relates to the content and genre of the magazine which offers both alternative and mainstream music styles and artists. It fits in with it’s target audience of men aged 18-30 because of the level of sexuality, the use of a female ‘sex symbol’ and the overall strength and power of the image. If any more images were to feature on the cover it would become too cluttered and also overwhelming to look at, which will ultimately put readers off. 

 



The text on this front cover fits in with the recognised ‘Q’ colour scheme which is red and white and is the standard colour scheme of which is used on all of their magazines as part of their band and recognised look. Red, White and Grey is used on this cover and those colours seem to be spread across the cover lines and plug information quite randomly yet very effectively as its sets words and sections apart, making it more interesting and attractive to read. The font is a simple yet modern font which doesn’t appear to change much throughout the page and contrasts nicely with the more tradition font used for the ’Q’, this creates modern magazine with a twist. There is the main cover line advertising Cheryl’s appearance in the magazine, along the bottom in a towered pyramid shape, in the trademark colours of red and white. This could be classed as a ’Puff’, meaning that it is a phrase used on the cover to boost it’s status. It is very clever as it says ‘3 Words… Cheryl Cole Rocks’ with ‘3 words’ being the title of one of Cheryl Cole’s songs, they have altered it to create a catchy tag line which will catch the attention of the target audience. They layout of the text on the front cover is reasonably standard as it all circulates around the main image of Cheryl Cole, leaving space to clearly see her face. There are there 4 main sections along each of the sides, along the top, along the bottom, down the left hand side and up the right hand side. They have used the ‘Left-side third’ theory along with the use of filled in text boxes which coincide with the colour scheme to attract readers to the plug information down the left hand side of the cover. These are the names of the different artists that readers can find inside the magazine. The way that only artists names are used on the cover makes it easier to read and quicker to become interested in, as it is straight to the point. Down the right hand side of the cover a lot of creativity occurs with the different font sizes as well as the colour mix and word spacing to add a unique affect which will capture attention. Also down the right hand side there is a piece of plug information highlighted by being put inside a light grey circle making separate to the other pieces of text that can be found down the right hand side and also making it ‘pop’ out to readers as it contrasts, especially against the dark background, whilst still fitting in with the colour scheme. Along the top of the magazine and above the masthead there is a ‘Puff line’ used, simply saying how Q magazine is ‘The UK’s biggest music magazine’ this is simple yet gets the point across and the use of capital letters along with the size of the font and also the positioning away from other pieces of text makes it stand out, which is needed to get the point across to potential customers, the point being that it is best music magazine and that they should buy it, therefore making the magazine more appealing. Other pieces of text that feature on the cover are crucial pieces such as the date, pricing and their website which are needed in order to create even the most basic magazine front cover, these are positioned in the normal places, making them easy to quickly locate on the cover. Also, they have very uniquely put a subtle, white, vertical sidebar running down the left hand side of the cover, with very brief pieces of plug information, which can’t be seen on any other magazine, adding to it’s appeal.

I would believe that the target audience for this magazine, by looking at the overall cover would be for a man aged between 16-30. The reason I get this impression from the front cover is straight away because of how sexualised the main image is, this Cheryl Cole image could appeal to some women as they may look up to her or like her style etc. and therefore appreciate the picture. However, I believe that everything about the picture has been thought out to attract men, from the pose to the basic use of a ‘sex symbol’ like Cheryl Cole. This could be found on a music magazine aimed at but due to the level of sexuality used it makes me believe that overall men would appreciate it more. Other reasons are that there is the manliness of the font and colours scheme, it isn’t very feminine and has a lot of masculinity to it. The reason I get the impression of a 18-30 year old age range is simply because it looks like the sort of magazine aimed at adults but the youngest generation of trendy adults. The magazine overall looks too sophisticated for someone under the age of 18 and too modern and trendy for the stereotypical 30+ year old.

Music Magazine - Research of Similar Products (Double Page Spread)