Contents Annalysis

Analysis of a contents page form a issue of Kerrang from February last year.

Analysis of front cover

This is an analysis of a front cover of a Kerrang issue. I chose to do an analysis of a Kerrang issue as the style of magzine article i am aiming to do is of a similar genre the Kerrang covers therfore thought it would be relevant to use Kerrang.

Feedback 27.1.11

Well done Charlotte. Please ensure you also upload the sketch/plan for the contents page of your college mag. Nikki or Mike will scan and save it for you if you ask them. Please continue the research tasks on the checklist. The next task will be to analyse a real mag front cover, contents and feature article. Please also book a slot for workshop time next week.
Mrs A

Preliminary Task

This is my preliminary task final product. 

For my preliminary task, i was asked to produce a front cover for a college magazine with a medium close up shot taken by myself of another student in college. 

 under magazine conventions the image of the magazine must fit accordingly to the content and the target audience. In this case the colours yellow and purple are both colours of the college itself, therefore the choice of colours fit appropriately. the black red and yellow colours on the cover blend well and the yellow on the black contrasts and makes this text stand out.

The use of strap lines on the front cover indicates to a reader that this part of the text is important, therefore the eye is drawn to it with a red background layered onto a purple background, it stands out.  My masthead  "Bookrags" is appropriate as the name has conventions of learning. it refers to libraries and studying which is appropriate to learning therefore appropriate to the genre, a college magazine who's target audience is the student population within the college.

What i like about it:

> The layout of the front cover is easy to follow and isn't overloaded with text, so is easy to read.
the colours are neutral and not overly gender specific so is easily approachable b both genders and will therefore reach a lager portion of target audience.






What could be improved:
> The overall cut out of my subject is not as good as it could have been, round the edges it is slightly pixilated round the edges. Something to consider for my final piece is perhaps persevering more with the cutting out in photoshop.
> I also feel that for a front cover there is could be a little more text on display. I fell as though i have left too much blank space on the page, so in my final piece, it will be important for me to get a good balance of not to much, and not too little text on display

Initial Ideas for Music Magazine

Some innitial ideas:

The genre of magazine i am aiming to create is that of a Rock/ Pop Rock genre with inspiration for layouts and font styles drawn from magazines such as Kerrang! and Metalhammer.
Colour Scheme: Thiking over the colour scheme Blue, Grey, White, Black. Maybe swap the Blue for Red at a later stage if i decide i think it does not fit well within the genre.

Conventions of a Music Magazine

The market currently avaliable for music magazines allready in production is a demanding and competative market. Each music magazine out on the market must find new ways to attract new readers attention and keep those fellow readers interested. this proves difficult to do as all magzines regarless of genre, stlye or purpouse follow very similar conventions.

Mode of adress is prehaps the most crucial selling point as the reader identifies with a star on the front cover who appears to be reaching or stepping from the cover towards the buyer can be the make or break for buying the magazine. As every magazine on the market currently is likely to follow the generic conventios that help make up the basic skelenton for all magazines.
They will all contain :

• A masthead, that will set a label and create a recognisable brand or 'House genre' that readers will identify with.
• A coulor scheme that is appropriate with the genre of the magazine
• Appropriate text/language displayed in relation with the genre
• Pictures displaying and conveying connotation for the reader to subliminally pick up on and connect with
• A star that the targer audience will identify with in order to sttract attention to your magazine
• Things such as text grabs, Straplines

A challenge most magazie producers will face is making their magazine stad out againt twenty or thirty other magazines selling the same information in a similar way. I'ts vital each magazine has a unique selling point.