You are currently browsing the monthly archive for January 2009.
NME
Issue: 3 March 2007
Price: £1.99
Images: The Gossip are the main image and there are 3 smaller photographs of other bands and artists
Good: The main image focuses on Beth Ditto whilst two boys from her band stand behind her and look on. Although she’s in darker clothing, her red lipstick and ‘bling’ attracts attention and is a reflection on her and her lifestyle. There is an image of someone with their mouth open looking angry like they’re shouting. It goes well with the text ‘The Killers sink their teeth in’. Also The Killers aren’t known as a trouble making rebellious band so it’s interesting to see the frontman looking angry and slagging off other bands.
Bad: Some of the photos look ammature and are too smal so you can’t see them properly which isn’t helped by the main image obstucting them.
Colours: Red, yellow, black and white.
Good: It’s a simple colour scheme and is the same as the logo so the magazine is even more recognisable and familiar to the public. Red can represent anger and passion which could relate to the genre of music of this magazine. Black is a very morbid, mysterious colour and could represent darker music and lyrics. Also black is very popular especially in fashion in the ‘alternative scene’. The splashes of yellow stand out and seperate the articles.
Language:
Good: ‘Sex’ is used and it is very modern to have it on a front cover of a magazine. This shows that the magazine is aimed at a younger audience as you find that a lot of people in the older generation would be shocked by it. Although ‘punks’ could be seen as a stereotype, by placing it on the front cover it advertises the type of music you could find in here and if you are a punk or into the punk scene you might be interested in this article. There is a quote taken from Noel Galagher which says ‘Sorry, I was wrong about the Klaxons’. This is quite a shocker if you know Noel’s reputation because he’s known as quite a rebel with a big mouth. By seeing this quote it makes you want to read the magazine and find out what he’s said. Another quote like this is on there which is basically the opposite. Brandon Flowers from the band The Killers says ‘Green Day offend me’ this is shocking becausde he isn’t known as a rebel and is seen as a good boy. Again this lures the reader who would want to find out why Green Day who are a respected very famous band have offended him.
Text:
Good: ‘The Gossip’ is in different font from the rest of the page, but it’s still big and bold and the white makes it stand out. Everything is simple, capitals and different colours.
Bad: I think they could have used one other font.
Free Stuff: None.
Layout:
Good: The page is busy and makes the magazine look like it’s jam packed with articles. There are box outs in different colours to seperate articles and make sure text and images don’t get lost on the main image.
Background:
Most is the main photo, but behind them is just plain white. It’s good because the rest is quite busy and it fits in with the colour scheme.
Mixmag
Issue: December 2005
Price: £3.85
Images: One close-up headshot of Madonna which takes up almost the whole page.
Good: Madonna has her finger to her mouth which symbolies ‘Shh’. It looks quite sexy and seductive especially as she is wearing fishnet gloves. The eye makeup is different and funky which shows the genre of the magazine as a funky type music.
Colours: Grey, black, white & red
Good: The front cover looks sophisticated amd the red stands out as does the bit of green.
Bad: There is nothing to bright on this cover so would have competition amongst other magazines on a shelf.
Language:
Good: Madonna is described as a ‘genius’ there is also a quote from her interview which lures the reader.
Text:
Good: The font used for the text looks futuristic and modern like dance music. It’s bold and simple, but effective. There is a variation in colours and sizes, which makes it important to keep the font consistent.
Bad: Some of the text is quite small and the grey letters on a black background don’t contrast well so don’t stand out much.
Free Stuff: A CD is advertised as a pug on the left ear of the front cover. Its in a red box which attracts the readers attention.
Layout:
Good: The articles are all around the the page framing the image without obstructing Madonna’s face too much.
Bad: There’s not enough articles on it making some parts look a bit empty.
Background:
Good: Madonna takes up most of the cover. It’s big and eye catching and her face is widely recognised. There is a sparkly background behind her which is glitzy like her life style and looks like a disco ball which is associated with dance music.
Issue: July 2008
Price: £4.20
Images: Again only one image, a medium close up of Sam Sparro.
Good: In the photograph Sam is wearing oversized glasses which draw your attention to the magazine and also show a sense of fashion.
Bad: The glasses are forming shadows on his face which obscure it a bit.
Colours: White, yellow & lilac.
Good: The colours work well together and don’t clash.
Bad: Lilac is a bit girly and maybe not too suitable for a magazine with a target market of male and females.
Language:
Good: ‘California Screaming’ is a pun on the well known song California Dreaming. It’s also ironic as screaming and dreaming are completly opposites and screaming would be associated with bad dreams.
Bad: Some of the words and phrases I don’t understand at all, probably because I don’t know the music very well, so someone like me wouldn’t have a clue what some of these articles are about. Also the use of statistics makes the article more interesting.
Text:
Good: ‘Sam Sparro’ and ‘Plus’ are in a funky font which really stands out. What also looks good are the bold, yellow subtitles and that go with the articles and the way they’ve put ‘1,203′ in yellow to make it different from the rest of the sentence.
Bad: Some of the words are hard to read where there is too much drop shadow and the letters are too thin.
Free Stuff: There is a CD advertised along the top on the left. The cover of the CD itself is green so it’s obvious against the magazine cover.
Layout:
Good: The text is on a slant and there isn’t laods of space like in the other magazine cover.
Background:
Bad: I think the lilac background could be a bit more textured as the rest of the cover isn’t too busy and Sam Sparro is wearing dark clothing.
Issue: June 2008
Price: £4.20
Images: A blonde girl in a bikini and sunglasses at the beach.
Good: People usually associate holidays and sun, sea and sand with good times. People will look at this cover and want to be the girl on the front. Ibiza is a very popular destination and renowned for its clubbing so this corresponds well with the genre of this music magazine. Another thing that makes it good is that the model is not anyone famous making you think that could be you and you don’t need to be a rich celebrity to go to this place.
Colours: Blue, pink & white.
Good: The blue sea and sky looks idlyic making you want to be there. The pink writing coordinates well with the models bikini and sunglasses.
Language:
Good: This front cover talks about ‘The new rules and how to break them’. Again, it’s human curiosity that makes you want to rebel and be a little naughty sometimes. The festivals are described as ‘carnage’ which isn’t in this case a bad word and means lots of exciting and crazy things going on. Aswell as the inviting image on the front cover Mixmag are also saying they can give you money off on flights to Ibiza this would make the reader want to get the magazine even more.
Text:
Good: The pink is very bold and eye catching. ‘Ibiza is Go’ is in the same font as the other front cover and it’s suitable for a dance magazine.
Bad: Some of the text is too small.
Free Stuff: CD advertised on the top left.
Layout:
Good: Because the background is quite busy it looks good with only a few articles on it, also the text is on a slant again.
Bad: The CD blocks some of the words on the front cover.
Background: Blue sea and sky with an airplane.
Good: You can tell straight away it’s to do with Ibiza and holidays and it’s an inviting.
1. Where does Disney come from?
The Walt Disney Company was founded by brothers Walt and Roy Disney on 16th October 1923 as an animation studio.
2. The scope of operations
(a) What do they do?
Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Pixar Animation Studios
DisneyNature
Touchstone Pictures
Hollywood Pictures
Miramax Films
Disney Music Group
Walt Disney Theatrical
ABC
ABC News
ABC Family
ESPN
Disney Channel
Disney Family Movies
Playhouse Disney
Toon Disney
Jetix
Radio Disney
disney.com
ABC.com
espn.com
Disney Consumer Products
Baby Einstein
Disney Store
Jim Henson’s Muppets
Disney Interactive Studios
World of Disney Stores
Disneyland Resort
Walt Disney World Resort
Tokyo Disney Resort
Disneyland Resort Paris
Hong Kong Disneyland Resort
Disney Cruise Line
(b) What are their key areas?
Walt Disney Studio Entertainment
Disney-ABC Television Group
Disney Interactive Media Group
Walt Disney Consumers Products
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
(c) What is their turnover and profit?
In 2007 Disney’s turnover was $35.51 billion and the profit was $3.832 billion.
3. What is their competition?
Disney’s main competitor is AOL Time Warner, Inc. They hold the brand name Warner Brothers who challenge Disney whilst their internet service is owns netscape and compuserve.
Other competitors include Viacom who own; Paramount Television, Blockbuster Video and MTV Networks amongst others, and The Fox Entertainment Group.
Disney’s theme parks also have to compete with big parks such as Chessington and Thorpe Park.
4. What does the Disney brand mean?
The Disney logo is Walt Disney’s signature which represent a contract he’s signing and the conditions being happiness, magic and quality entertainment. Another logo used is the castle which represents the castles in the resorts. There is also a magical element to this image which corresponds well with their slogan ‘ Where dreams come true’
Kerrang!
Issue: No 1159 19th May 2007
Price: £2.10
Images: Main photograph is the background. It’s three people from the band who are the main article. Three smaller images of other bands.
Good: The appearance of the band shows a stereotype which advertises the magazine as a rock magazine.
Bad: There’s 12 people on the front cover which makes it look a bit too busy.
Colours: Red, white and black.
Good: It’s simple and compiments the colour photos. It would look to crowded with any more colours.
Language:
Good: Puns used such as ‘Unfold the puzzle of life’ which plays on the bands album ‘Puzzle’ and song ‘Unfolded stars. Also ‘Hayley starts a riot!’ is a pun on Hayley Williams’ album riot.
Bad: You wouldn’t get the play on words unless you knew the artists and they’re music.
Text:
Good: Bold and simple, which looks good as fancy fonts would get lost amongst all the photographs. Big, white ‘Biffy Clyro’ stands out a lot.
Free Stuff: Posters.
Layout:
Good: Colours behind the text help make it stand out in front of the images. By placing most of the articles at the bottom makes look tidy and easy to read.
Bad: Although having the articles at the bottom makes it a tidy layout, I think there’s too many articles so its a bit crowded.
Issue: No 1097 4th March 2006
Price: £1.99
Images: Main photo is a male singer relating to the article in the middle and there are 10 smaller photographs around the main image all male.
Good: The Billie Joe Amstrong (the main image) and most the others on the cover are wearing dark clothes and eyemakeup. Billie’s also wearing a studded belt and all these things are part of a representation of the rock culture. So you look at this magazine and know its a rock music magazine. Also a lot of the people on the cover are looking straight at the camera which I find effective and draws you to it.
Bad: Some of the photos are obstructed by text and the main image. I think theres too many images. Also one of the images has a man smiling which I doesn’t fit in with the rest of the pictures.
Colours: Pink, yellow & white
Good: The bits of red make certain parts stand out.
Bad: There is a lot of pink used which can be seen as a girly colour.
Language:
Good: The slogan ‘Life Is Loud’ relates to the genre of the magazine and the lifestyle. Rock music is loud and this tells you to live your life like your music. It implies that if you read this magazine and you become like the people in it your life can be loud and fun and exciting. ‘Icons 25 Rockstars who changed your world’ is a very personal statement. It is saying that the rockstars in this magazine are so good they’ve changed not only the world. but your world. Also ‘chaos’ is used to describe the live shows that have been documented in the magazine. Chaos is usually a bad word, but in this case you know it means lots of fun and energy that is at rock gigs.
Text:
Good: ‘Icons’ is big, bold and eye catching. The page isn’t overcrowded by loads of different fonts.
Bad: I think the main font that’s been used is too boring and the font used for ’starring’ is hard to read which is not good on the front cover of a magazine.
Free Stuff: None.
Layout:
Good: Majority of the text is centered and everything is in boxes. There is a housestyle that is on the other Kerrang! front covers which is to have a list of bands at the bottom which are featuring in the magazine.
Background: Yellow covered mostly by photos.
Good: Yellow fits in with the colour scheme used and the photos make the page busy like a lot of rock music magazine which is a represents an exciting scene.
Issue: No 1098 11th March 2006
Price: £1.99
Images: 5 men from a band as the main photo and 2 smaller images of other bands.
Good: Main band looks pretty hardcore. They’ve got piercings, tattoos, chains, leather gloves with holes in the knuckles which is a reflection of the rock lifestlye. The image goes with the words ‘Sex. Drugs. Violence’ which also goes with the slogan life is loud and shows life living on the edge. The other pictures contrast with the main one because the guys don’t look at all scary or dangerous. They’re sitting on a sofa with there legs crossed and hands in there laps which looks very innocent. This is good for people that aren’t interested in the style of the main article.
Bad: By associating rock music with danger, sex, drugs, and violence it gives a bad impression of the genre when it isn’t all like that. Also the main photograph is a bit scary and could put people off.
Colours: Yellow, white & red.
Good: The colours work well together and the yellow stands out. The bands are all wearing dark clothing again representing the rock scene and the dark heavy music.
Language:
Good: ‘Sex. Drugs. Violence’ are quite bad words associated with naughtiness and things you shouldn’t do. People always want to do what there not supposed to it’s exciting and seems like an intriguing read as you want to know all the bad stuff the band have been up to. It also shows a sense of rebellion which is popular in this stereotype. It says ‘How to Survive Rock ‘N’ Roll’ which makes rock ‘n’ roll sound like an illness or disaster you need t o survive, but if you do survive it then your pretty hard like the guys on the front cover. There are also tags to engage the reader such as ‘mega’ and ‘intense’.
Text:
Good: The same fonts are used as ones on other covers which makes the magazine familiar to the readers.
Free Stuff: Posters.
Layout:
Good: The top and bottom are used for articles and band names which appears on every cover, again making it familair to readers.
Background: The main image takes up majority of the cover. The dark colours make the text contrast and stand out.
BBC Music
Issue: January 2007
Price: £4.25
Images: Five images. Main is a photograph, other four are small illustrations.
Good: The composer in the photograph has an expression on his face which shows a lot of passion which is effective. Also the two faces that are faded into the background make the image look professional.
Bad: I don’t think there is enough images.
Colours:
Good: Photograph is in colour. Minimalistic using mainly black and white which is nice and simple.
Bad: Black and white can be seen as boring.
Language:
Good: Uses names of composers such as ‘Gergiev’ and ‘ Bartok’, but doesn’t use any language that is too technical. Uses the tags such as ‘Exclusive’ which is persuasive language and lures the reader.
Text:
Good: Simple. Bold in parts. ‘GERGIEV ARRIVES!’ is big and bold making it eye catching.
Bad: Too small. Boring font
Free stuff: Free CD advertised as a pug which stands out especially as its yellow.
Layout:
Good: Box outs and not crowed.
Bad: Too much space.
Background: Black
Good: Contrasts well with all the colours making it easy to read and making it stand out.
Issue: October 2006
Price: £4.25
Images: Photograph of Sting. Small image in bottom left hand corner.
Good: Sting as background relates to the article on him. It stands out, but by putting it in black and white it doesn’t take priority and other colours can be used on the page without looking to crowded.
Bad: Not sure what he’s doing and his face is obstructed.
Colours: Black, white and yellow.
Good: The yellow stands out as does the small bits of green and red which seperate articles and attracts your attention. The colours break up the page and it works with the monochrome background.
Text:
Good: Simple and easy to read. Different font for the quote and fancy font for ‘Sting Dowland’ which is a reflection on Sting.
Free stuff: CD advertised again as a pug again in yellow in the top right hand corner.
Layout:
Good: Text doesn’t obstruct the main image, instead it frames it.
I searched the internet for magazine covers that I could compare and annotate. From my research I hope to get a better understanding of what makes a good magazine cover. The magazines I looked at were:
- BBC Music
- Kerrang
- Mixmag
- Mojo
- NME
- Q
- Rolling Stone
- Smash Hits
- Spin
I chose these as they were a big mix of genre and have a variety of target markets.
I will be looking at things such as the the colour schemes, language, titles and techniques to grab readers attention.
For my main task I am going to be producing a front page, contents and double-page spread for a new music magazine. All my images and text will be original.
For my preliminary task I have produced a production log showing the steps I took to create a front page and contents page for a magazine.
The magazine will be targeted at college students, both male and female, aged between 16 – 19. I wanted my magazine to relate to the college theme, but not to be solely academic as I didn’t believe that would appeal to teenagers.
I start off by researching magazine front covers and contents pages. I looked at 3 different magazines targeted at; men, women and children. I looked at the layout and content and took notes before writing up a general result after comparing the different genres. I found that bright colours and bold, basic font worked well as did box outs and lures which grabbed the readers attention.
After looking at other magazines I started brainstorming ideas for my own magazine. I started with basics such as the title. From my ideas (which can be found on the blog) I chose to go with the title HC. It was quite plain, but I thought the simplicity would be better than a longer more complicated title which would also take up a lot of space on the front cover. It related to Harlow College which is where my magazine was going to be distributed and I could imagine it being a good logo which could appear in the magazine.
I knew that it would be quite a struggle producing a magazine that was targeted at both sexes, especially considering all my life I’d only really read magazines aimed at girls, so I started planning some content that would be suitable. I looked at other magazines and created a list of things that I liked (this can also be found on my blog). Whilst looking at other magazines I also found that a lot of the content was split into groups. I thought this was a good idea and decided that I would use subheadings in my own contents page.
After planning my inital ideas I shared them with my media class. I got good feedback including a comment on how someone liked the simplicity of my header.
For the creation of my project I used Adobe Photoshop. I had used this in the past and for my photography, but there was a lot I didn’t know. I was taught skills such as the use of layers. This was part of the preparation for my magazine as I would need to use these techniques. The images I created can be found on my blog.
My inital design for my front cover was very basic. I wanted to just plan the layout and think about where the articles would be place and what would go in the mast head. I wanted it to stand out amongst other magazines, but knew too much on the front cover would look messy.
I decided that I wanted three images on my front cover. One would correspond with the headline and would take up a majority of the page grabbing the readers attention, whilst the other two would relate with two other articles. I wanted to use a girl as my main image and show her as worried and sad to portray the way a lot of people feel about going to university. The text that went with this image would basically be saying that the magazine can help you out. The reader would be able to relate to the person in the photo and be encouraged to read the magazine. On my blog there is my original images and my reasoning behind which ones I chose. This was very important because if the image had poor lighting or too much going on it could potentially ruin my front cover.
I produced several drafts during the process of my front cover. I started by creating the title. It needed to be a bold header with bright colours. I also wanted it to be fairly simple, but making a statement. My original title was black with a silver stoke, turquoise outer glow and in Hobo Std font. I chose the colour because I thought it was neutral and fitted in with the unisex target market. I chose the font because though simple, it was also quite fun and I thought it would appeal to teenagers. I also used Snell Roundhand as the font for the restaurant name because I thought it looked smart and was a reflection of the restaurant itself.
After added my original images to my front cover and made the background blue to match the title I decided to rescale the main image and so that it took up the whole page. This looked a lot better and from this I was able to tweak my front cover and change little bits until I thought it was suitable. I also changed the colouring of the title to a pinky red and although generically pink is associated as a girls colour, but i think in this case it looked good against the background and found it catchy. I used box outs for two of the articles because I wanted to emphasise the fact that these were good reads.
I used the image of an overjoyed boy to go with the article about the new college president. I chose this because it informed readers about the event and thought the image gave college and politics a positive attitude.
The production of my front cover can be found on my blog along with all my drafts.
As well as a front cover , as part of my project I also had to make a contents page. I wanted this to have the same house styles and colour schemes as my cover. My contents page and drafts are on my blog.
I decided that I wanted to have an editor’s letter and an ‘on the cover’ part. I’d seen these on the contents pages of other magazines and thought they worked well. I kept my background black, but with a little texture so that it wasn’t too matte and boring.
The font used was Cooper Std, like the title I thought this worked well because it was simple, but bold and fun. I Used the same for the sub headers, but had them in orange to break up the page.
The editors letter was in bright yellow. This made it eye catching, but it didn’t overwhelm the page. I used a miniature version of my magazine title in the letter to be a logo. This is another thing I’d seen in magazines and the repetition of the logo made it memorable.
To show where the articles on the front page were I took a screen shot of the cover and scaled it down, before placing it on my contents. I think this is the best way to show readers where certain articles are and they can relate back to the image and find out where the particular item that caught there eye is. Using white lines I pointed to parts of the cover and wrote what page the article was on. I chose white because it looked best against the black.
Overall, I am very happy with my magazine front cover and contents page. I think I achieved what was asked for in the brief. Photoshop was the desktop publishing program I used for this project. I also gathered research, planned my ideas and included a medium close up original image in my work. I recorded all my work on a blog and reflected on my ideas.
I like the main image on the front cover. I think it portrays a feeling of anxiety well. I also like the box outs as they look professional and like something you’d find on a real magazine.
I think my contents page still looks a little bit too ammature and would have liked to have spent more time perfecting it.
If I could do this project again I would do more research and include a focus group and questionnaires. I also think I could have shown more reflection in my production log.
However, I am very pleased with my magazine and think I used my skills well.
