Pictures I will use

These are the pictures that I will include in my magazine, I used photoshop to edit them, some images I have edited to black and white as I think these are effective. The image of the model on the floor will be what I use for my double spread as I have purposefully placed her against the white wall, where i will put some font.

Double Page Spread (layout)

For my double page spread, I will write most of the article around the edge as well as the headline. The image will be placed predominately on the left hand side, I will also include a pull quote to attract readers into reading the article.

Contents Page Layout (draft)

I will lay my contents page over two pages, the images will be placed in the middle, and the articles, including page numbers will features on the sides. The biggest image will obviously be from the front cover star. I will also include a small editors letter along with a picture, this is to make things more personal and so the reader can relate to it. The articles wont be in any order apart from page numbers however, 'every week' features will be included. The background will be white, but main articles might be in a highlighted text box, however I must remember to keep continuous with the colour scheme otherwise it could look unprofessional.

Front Cover Layout (draft)

From completing my questionnaire I found out that the public prefer a minimalistic layout, therefore I have kept things quite simple. The image will take up the majority of the page, and may go over the masthead. The title for the main article will be included at the bottom of the page, it will be in a large font, whilst a couple of other small articles will be placed also at the bottom in a smaller font. I will make sure that I incorporate the colours to keep continuity. The font and colours will be decided once I have finished editing the pictures as this will tell me whether I'm going for a formal or informal theme. 

Preliminary

• ‘Route of the eye’ follows the film banner effect, the photo of the student and the main story at the
• Poor quality picture
• Bold masthead, in contrasting colour to background to stand out
• Relative stories for target audience
• Blue and red colour scheme, school colours
• Bold modern headline to attract the attention of younger audience
• Lure, to attract audience 

• The masthead of this front cover stands out because it is the only black wording on the page and it's big enough to catch the eye of the target audience. Also as the middle of the masthead is transparent it lets the background come through the title, so the background that represents a school, shows the genre for this magazine.
• There isn’t much of a colour scheme to this front cover, as none of the colours chosen match the colour of the models clothing. For me, this puts me off the front cover as there isn’t set colours which makes it all look very randomly chosen. However this person has picked bright colours which do stand out and would catch the audiences eye as they are all really bold and none fade in to the background
• In the middle of the rule of thirds is the models face and 'Your free school magazine!' which is also in a purple bubble. I also don't like the way this person has placed the model and what she is wearing as she doesn’t really show any significance, only that she is wearing a school uniform and carrying books.
• 'Aim high and believe you can fly' is written in bubble writing that can't really be seen as the background is too busy for this colour. This makes it hard for the audience to read what it says.
• I don't particularly like this front cover as it all just looks too random as in what colours are chosen and where everything is put. Also the model in the middle is nearly being hidden by all the cover titles which wouldn’t appeal to me as the audience.
• However, I do think the title is a good idea as it defiantly draws attention and the audience would directly see what this magazine is called. 

• Bold masthead, stands out because of the bold effects and white outline, shield images in the background make it original.
• Young/modern font, a plain font such as Arial wouldn’t be suitable as it wouldn’t attract the target market
• The standout title, images text and backgrounds images make the contents page look a bit busy and overloaded.
• Pictures set out in different layout, original.

• The layout of this contents page is good as it's not like a normal contents page and instead of being in the same place, the cover story titles are spread around in different places, as to make it look like little notes written on someone’s work, which all school children do to there friends.
• The pictures on the page also associate with school as it's like looking in front of you on your desk, with the notebook, ruler, pencil and even the mobile phone, which sets the target audience is for teenagers as everyone knows teenagers text in there lesson when they shouldn’t.
• The masthead at the top stands out as it is put in a yellow banner and the writing is black. The word 'student' also suggests that this magazine is maybe for sixth formers and students at college, this is also shown by at the bottom there is the word 'university'. Also this would make all what is on the front appeal to a target audience of over 16year olds.
• What I like about this contents page is how it is set out, as in not basic, it shows the person who made this really thought about their target audience and what to have on it to appeal to them. Also it looks better with the stories titles all in different places on the page instead of just simply in a straight line.
• What I don't like about this page is the writing in the background could be a bit off putting to the audience as they might confuse it with one of the story titles. 

This was my attempt at making a school magazine front cover. I have used a bright bold background to attract attention from readers. I used a fun and interesting font relating to my target audience. The cover is pretty simple but the stars make it look quite busy and exciting.  I used a picture of a 6th form student looking happy as I didn't want to use a moody student as this can give the wrong impression and represent 6th form in the wrong way. 
Overall I am happy with this cover, I think it looks professional         as well as interesting and eye catching for a 6th form student to read. To improve i could have maybe described what the stories were about to make the magazine look a bit more interesting. 












This is a draft of the contents page, once again its quite minimalistic to match the front cover. I have used the same font for the word 'contents' as the front cover to keep continuity however, I have also used a different font to make the page look different, and to separate the different titles. I have also used a page border (like on the front cover) just to make the page look unique. I also have decided I want pictures to be on the left side of the page.


















Evaluation  


How have you used media conventions? 


When creating my front  cover and contents I made sure to include different conventions such as route of the eye, I have include this to ensure that my key features are placed at the main areas so these are noticed first. I have also used the principle of thirds where the hotspots terminal and primary optical area are the main focus, this attracts attention and interest. I have also made sure I have included relevant images and articles that are appropriate for a school magazine.  I have used a mid shot and placed it to the left hand side of the page. I used an informal mode of a dress to appeal to the audience as it will be students reading it. Instead of using colourful fonts, I used a bold and bright background and kept the the same font to black.


What technologies have you used?


To complete my magazine and research I used different programmes. I used Microsoft word to write up most of my research, and found my pictures from the internet. To create the magazine i used publisher and photo shop to edit the picture. To take the picture I used a digital camera. 


What skills have you developed that will help you produce your main task? 


Whilst completing my preliminary task, I have developed skills that will benefit me when creating my main music magazine. I have developed research skills, now i can identify key areas and figure out what my target audience will want. I have developed my editing skills, which will help make my magazine look more professional. 


Are there any skills you think you will need to develop?


When completing my main task I will need to develop my skills with photo shop and learn how to use it properly so I can make things look the best they can. Also I need to improve my time management because each section should completed on time and to a high standard.  

Product - Level 4

- Create effective and appealing photos using the apropriate shot style.
- To use mis en scene to appeal to readers and also to create a proffesional look.
- Edit photos using a proffesional editing software to improve and make photos look more realistic for a magazine.
- Use the appropriate language type to relate to the taget audience and the genre of the magazine.
- Understand appropriate conventions of the music genre I am doing, this includes layout and page design.
- I should use a variety of fonts, text sizes and colours to make my magazine original and stay out.
- Use my ICT effectively to create my magazine.

Instution - NME magazine

NME magazine is popular music magazine in the UK, which is published weekly since 1952 and was the first British magazine to include a singles chart. The magazine became closely associated with punk rock, through the writing of Tony Parsons. The magazine is published by ‘ipc’, which is owned by ‘Time inc’ which is then owned by ‘Time Warner’. Time Warner is the world’s second largest entertainment conglomerate. The Time Inc division produces approximately 150 titles worldwide. It is the leading magazine publisher in the U.S and the UK.

Instution - Nylon Magazine

 Nylon is an American magazine that focuses on the topics of Art, Beauty, Music, Design, Celebrities, technology and travel. Bikini and Ray Gun publishers sold their majority of interests to Ray gun publishing and formed Pop Media.  The magazine was founded by the Jarretts and former Ray Gun editorial Director, Mark Blackwell. According to publisher, Jacylnn Jarrett, the magazine name was chosen purely because the Editor in Chief just liked the sound of ‘Nylon’ however it was soon realized that New York and London tie in, which was congruous with their editorial focus on the two major cities. Intentions for the magazine layout was ‘hyper legible’ after getting criticism from Ray Guns usual ‘chaotic layouts’. The first issue was released in 1999 and in 2006 Nylon and Myspace collaborated on their first international music issue, and was available online. 

Audience Research

On the ipc website there is a link to an NME media pack, this gives information on the magazine target audience and why it appeals. This is very useful  for me because I will able to produce my magazine that will appeal my specific target audience.

NME has become a truly unique multi-platform media proposition. Across the magazine, www.nme.com, NMETV, NME Radio and the brand's live events and awards, NME reaches over one million music fans every week. NME is the longest published and most respected music weekly in the world. 

Every week it gives its readers the most exciting, most authoritative coverage of the very best in contemporary music, including award winning features, the latest releases, live reviews, the definitive guide to the best new bands in its Radar section, as well as a regular look back through the magazine's incredible 58 year heritage. 

This shows that the magazine is very successful, and that the reputation of the magazine is important, especially to its readers. The media pack also gives me a lot of useful statistics, for example the magazine is mainly read by the male audience, with an average of 76%, with the most common age of 23, and 68% of readers being of ABC1 class. There are three main topics that NME believes their readers are interested in, mobiles, film and obviously music. Quotes have also been used, ‘Readers have a strong relationship with NME and completely trust the brand’ This shows that the magazine is completely respected, and they rely and trust the magazine to keep them up to date within the music world. The media pack also gives us a few images of the adverts that are included. They focus on designer clothes and brands (topman, Fred Perry) food and drink (including alcohol, carling, Jack Daniels), gadgets (xbox, playstation) and cars. This shows that the adverts used have been mainly chosen to appeal to the mle audience. From this I can learn that my magazine inormations needs to be fresh, I need to give interesting and unknown information to keep the reader’s attention, and hope that they read things in my magazine that they haven’t heard before. The adverts have also made me realise that I should also look at these carefully to decide which will appeal to my audience the most. 

Target Audience (questionnaire results)

On completion of my questionnaire I have found out that my magazine will be aimed at the older teenage age (15+) for predominately females as there isn’t a music magazine available that is really eye catching for women. The magazine will also have a strong fashion element to keep the magazine interesting. I will try to focus on the different genres of music, but indie music essentially, as this genre was more favoured. I also found out that I need to include a wide variety of articles such as reviews, interviews and gossip style articles to appeal to a wider variety of readers. Because I’m writing for a music magazine, I need to remember that music is changing all the time therefore it needs to be up to date to keep readers interested. I also need to remember that a minimalistic style is the preference of readers, it should be ordered with a simple colour scheme that will attract the attention of the audience. 

Target Audience (questionnaire results)

The majority of people that answered this survey were female, from other research i have noticed however that most music magazines are predominately aimed at the male audience, so to make my magazine a bit more original I will make sure that females will also enjoy reading it. 

 Most people that answered this questionnaire were aged between 14-19, showing that my target audience will be teenagers.

The most popular genre of magazine bough is gossip closely followed by fashion, this was expected considering that it was mostly answered by the female population. However to keep my target audience to maximum numbers i should include an element of fashion within to keep people who are interested in fashion interested. Gossip can also be used, as i can write articles about famous celebrities in the music industry. 

All of the options given (apart from country) were chosen by at least one person meaning that people enjoy a wide variety of music, therefore i shouldn't limit my magazine to one music genre as this could decrease people buying the magazine meaning i should cover all types. However R&B and in die were the two that were most popular so maybe i should focus on these two genres more than the others. 

The majority of people that answered this magazine were female, therefore the most popular answer was 'never' because most music magazines are aimed at the male target audience. This means to make sure that target audience buy a music magazine at least once a month, it should appeal to both genders. 

This shows that i should really include all of this article types if i want to keep my readers interested. The interview selection was most popular however and i could incorporate this with my front cover model so the readers can see immediately who the interview is going to be about and get a small taste of how the rest of the magazine is going to be. 

This shows that 'Cheryl Cole' was the most favourite answer, she is a good role model and relevant in the music industry. But closely followed is Jamie T, therefore i need to think carefully about who im going to use as the cover model and if it will appeal to all aspects of the target audience and narrative.

The top answer for this question is Black and Red, I chose this as one of the options as it would produce a simple yet eye catching cover for my magazine, however it is already like the popular music magazines 'NME' and 'Q' which means i should look at different colour schemes to make my magazine look different and more eye catching. 

This question gave me a clear indication that most people like magazines when they are minimalistic, not to busy as this can put people off, but when things are structured it is more eye catching. 

More than half of the people that took the survey said that they downloaded music very regularly with everyday and once a week being the most popular answers. This shows that within my magazine I should include information and articles focused upon music download. I could use this to my advantage as an incentive to read/buy my magazine buy offering competitions and free gifts surrounding the topic of music download. Also as I know the majority are avid music listeners my magazine should take a serious approach towards music with well thought out interesting articles and information.