Second Front Cover Analysis

The colour scheme of the the front cover is based around a sepia tone; dark grey/black, white and gold. This includes practically everything on the front page of this magazine, including the picture, logo and fonts. These three colours represent the "Classic" in the brand's name located at the top of the page. This is because sepia tones are used in old, retro and classic photos, which is the aim of this front page because when you think of classic objects you don't imagine bright, vivid and illuminous themes. You instead imagine colours that have age and sophistication, exactly what the features of classic rock are. The dark grey/black represents the dark and gothic side to the rock music genre, which also sets one tone background on which the rest of the features are placed upon standing out very well. The white is being used so that the brand name contrasts with the rest of the front cover, making it more eye catching. Also white is a very neutral, positive colour so that the magazine isn't perceived as angry or violent. The gold is used to show class and to follow the sepia theme, this is because gold is usually utilized to show royal, regal or posh items. Which tells the audience that the magazine is of a high quality and worth purchasing. Secondly the gold contrasts with the white and black of the rest of the front cover.

The design of the of the front cover is again following a certain theme (Just like Q Magazine with Cheryl Cole), by using the three key colours discussed above (Dark Grey/Black, White, Gold). The fonts on the page alternate between white and gold because it contrasts with the main photograph, which is appealing to the eye as you don't have to squint or look closely at the page to find out what is being said. This helps the readers scan over the page and find what they are looking for very quickly. The use of this design keeps the page from looking too messy or jumbled up. Most of the text written on the page is in CAPITAL LETTERS as it is easier to read from a distance and attracts more attention. This also suggests the the information is important and worth reading. The font used for the title is big and chunky, and is very similar to "Georgia Bold". This font compliments the rock genre, because if you used a font such as "Comic Sans", for instance, it wouldn't suit as many people see that font as a way to target a younger audience. Also "Comic Sans" looks less professional than the font that has been used on the front cover. The white and black fonts fit in with the photo, which also uses those two colours; black hair, black t-shirt, black trousers with white arms, white face and a black, white and gold guitar. Completely fitting in with the theme created by the font.

The image used on the front cover of "Classic Rock" is a medium long shot of James Hetfield, who is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the band "Metallica", who are the main feature in the magazine. You see his body from head to knees, with a guitar around his neck looking towards the ground. People who follow Metallica will be drawn towards the magazine by the large font, as they are fans and will look at the front cover to see which member of the band is posing in the photo. Many rock fans will be drawn towards the magazine as Metallica are a well known group. This then draws them into the magazine due to the fascination being created, thus increasing the chance of it being purchased. The photo does represent the target audience as they will be involved with rock, they also like to aspire to be as big as the rock groups, e.g. Metallica. James Hetfield is standing in front of a dark coloured wall that has rock bands names 'scratched' into it. This also attracts the audience as they will want to see which bands are written on there, as most people (including myself) enjoy a little challenge/puzzle.

The pose is represented in the photo by James Hetfield looking downwards, with his arms out at the side at a 45 degree angle. The audience doesn't know what he is looking at, although the two main obvious things are the floor or the guitar around his neck. This pose is very intriguing because, in my opinion, I believe that he is looking at his guitar. We (the audience) see his face looking downwards, of which we then move our eyes down until we make contact with the guitar. This is not obstructed by any overlapping text or pictures and its been placed underneath the "Metallica" bold band name. It's been designed this way so that we focus on the guitar more, insinuating that the guitar is the backbone of rock music and the main feature of rock orientated bands. Finally, I believe that the pose being used is 'angelic' and 'powerful', like James Hetfield is 'worshipping' the guitar as if to say 'look at it, it's a work of art' by the expressions created on his outspread hands. The style is old fashioned but simple, as there are no multiple themes or hard insinuations that you have to figure out. The make up used is rather white and bright to make his face and arms contrast with the background colours and give the impression of an aurora around the guitar. The impression this has on the audience is that it's a powerful and interesting magazine, which is what I thought when I saw the front cover.

The words are used on the front cover; "Classic Rock" The title of the magazine, you could say, 'it does what it says on the tin', because the title of the magazine states exactly what the magazine is about. Where as "Q Magazine" is just a brand name. The title compliments and suits the magazine due to the way they have designed it. The title looks retro, classic with an affirming font that stands out and sells the magazine brand perfectly. The cover lines are bold and coloured in gold to gain the audiences attention, also they are located at the bottom corners of the page so that the readers can easily locate them on the front page. You can identify the contents at a glance because the information is easily located on the front page, but mainly due to the name of the magazine. This tells the audience exactly what the magazine will be about, making it quick and simple to find out at the slightest of glances. All the fonts used around the front page are either in white or gold, which keeps the colours constant and following the desired theme. This suggests to the reader that the inside of magazine will be well organized and easy to follow, which is greatly desired as you want to be able to read the articles as easily as possible. This magazine stands out from other brands, due to the large, bright brand name and the focus of a sepia theme. The headline "Metallica" been placed across the torso of James Hetfield, so that it doesn't obstruct his facial expressions/pose and the positioning of his arms. This makes the whole layout of 'font-on-photo' much easier easier to read and understand the conventions of the front cover.

The language on the front cover grabs the audiences attention by using "Metallica" as the headline. It tells the audience that the main article in the the magazine will be about that band and their music, helping the them make a judgement on whether this is the right magazine or not. This suggests the interest of the reader by clearly stating what the magazine will be about. The strap line above the headline says, "From tragedy to supernova", which insinuates the band has been 'reincarnated' or 'transformed' from a really bad period, to once again being a leader of the pack. The word "tragedy" is a really negative word, to then go to "supernova" which makes you think big, bold, large and spectacular! Creating the feel in the audiences mind that the band are back to their glory days once again.

The overall impression of the front cover is very positive, old school and retro, which gives out a good indication of the content inside. Due to the artistic, compelling and spooky picture of James Hetfield, readers will want to see other pictures and articles within the magazine. The front page represents the reader's interests my putting the title (Classic Rock), headline (Metallica) and guitar on the front page. All of these aspects greatly appeal to the audience, partially because the followers of the band may play guitar. It reaches out to fans because they will naturally want to read about a band they admire and follow do dearly. The magazine reaches to non-fans because of the way "Metallica" has been represented to show that they have change. Which entices non-fans to buy the magazine as they may feel compelled to find out how the band has changed. The main target audience for this magazine are people in their 30's, 40's onwards, as they would have been growing up whilst the band were in full power among the music charts. If you were a fan as a child, then you will tempted to see how the band has changed now you're an adult. The magazine will also attract any people within the teen and 20's age limit who may be fans of Metallica. Young children are not taken into consideration as a target market to promote Classic Rock Magazine, as they will not be interested in rock music and the ruder, louder lyrics within a song.

First Front Cover Analysis

The colour scheme of the the front cover is based around 3 block colours; red, black and white. This includes the picture, logo, fonts and other aspects of the magazine. The red represents the provocative, naughty and flirtatious parts of the front cover, e.g Cheryl Cole's lips and tongue. Also red is a very bold and loud colour which catches your attention and draws your eyes to the page. The black represents a gothic, dark and mysterious aura theme on the front cover, this contrasts with the red making it stand out more. This is shown via her eyeliner, hair colour and outfit. The white is used to contrast with the black and red so that it 'jumps' out of the page and grab your attention. This is being used in the 'Q' of the brand logo, and Cheryl Cole's face, where they are are very bright and and contrast greatly with the surrounding colour schemes. A 4th minor colour present on the front cover is grey, which has been used on font, a pug and on Cheryl's ring.

The design of the front cover is following a certain theme, which is using the three key colours discussed above (Red, Black, White). The fonts and boxes on the page alternate between these colours because it compliments the main photograph, keeping a simple, yet effective feel that is appealing to the eye. The use of this design keeps the page from looking too messy or busy, which makes it easier for the target audience to read and find their way around the front cover. The font on the page has all been written in BLOCK CAPITALS because it shows that the information it's giving out is important and interesting. The bigger the font, the more likely it is to attract attention. The headline at the bottom of the page, which is the main header on the front cover gets larger as you read downwards, so that you put extra emphasis on the bigger bolder font. The fonts used at the side of the magazine is much smaller as it is supposed to inform you on what's inside the magazine, it's duty is not to catch your attention.

The image used on the front cover of the magazine is a close-up of Cheryl Cole's face, neck and shoulders. She's a very well known celebrity at the moment with her latest song releases, so people will recognise her. The main feature of the image is that her eye's are looking straight out of the front page into the audience's eyes. This creates an eye-to-eye contact between the audience and photograph, this creates an interest from the audience thus increasing the chance of them purchasing the magazine.

The pose is represented in the photo by a slightly provocative and naughty expression used on Cheryl Cole's face, which would interest a more male audience or people who aspire to be like her because of the recognition and attraction of a good looking woman. The overall expression portrayed on her face is different to that of her normal personality and style which is seen a lot on television. If they chose to use a photo with a blank expressionless look, then many people may see it as boring because the photo wouldn't show any enthusiasm or encouragement to buy the magazine.

How words are used on the cover; "Q" The title of the magazine is short, snappy and easy to remember because it's only one syllable long. The font used for the title is very similar to a "Times New Roman" font which is generally looked upon as a posh, higher class, respectable font that is usually used when the text is serious and important. This gives the audience the impression that the magazine has been established for a long period of time, making it appear respectable and trustworthy as it's still going strong and on sale. The cover lines are bold and brightly coloured to gain the audiences attention, also they are much bigger than the rest of the text on the page so naturally that's where your eyes go first, after the main photo. The black and white skyline at the top of the page, "The UK's biggest music magazine", boasts the popularity and success of "Q", which gives a very good initiative to audiences to buy it. You can identify the contents at a glance because all the information is located in easy to spot on the edge's of the magazine so that your eyes don't have to search for necessary information. All the fonts used and the brand logo are easy to notice from a distance because of the loud colours and the boldness of the text. This also makes them stand out from other music magazines, due to the unique use of the focus on 3 main colours. By using "Rock" in the headline it tells the audience that one feature of the articles inside the covers will be on rock music, helping them make a judgement on whether this is the right magazine or not.

The language on the front cover of the magazine attracts the readers by the use of the main headline. This is big, bold and bright, but the main reason is by how the headline has been constructed. "3 Words... CHERYL COLE ROCKS" is a very intriguing headline because it has three possible meaning depending on how you interpret it, firstly "3 Words" is a new song by the artist, so it's promoting her new song. Secondly, "Cheryl Cole Rocks" is 3 words in length, so the way its written could be saying to the audience that she and her music is brilliant. The third and final interpretation could be that the reference to "Rocks" is based around the genre of rock music, also this can be seen as represented in the outfit and make-up she wears, which are dark and stereotypically rock music colours.

So, the overall impression of the front cover is very positive and gives out a good indication of what content is located inside. Due to the big, noticeable and pretty photo of Cheryl Cole located on the front cover, readers will want to see other pictures and articles within the magazine. It reaches out to fans because they will naturally want to read about a singer they admire. The magazine reaches to non-fans because of the personality change represented in the photo. The main target audience for this magazine are teenagers to people in their 40's, they will understand the saucy hints in the photo and are most likely to want to read about these music artists. Therefore young children are not taken into consideration as a target market to promote Q Magazine.

Preliminary Work Contents Page

This is the contents page for a school magazine I created on photoshop for my preliminary work. I feel that this isn't a very sucessfull contents page and overall believe it looks too bland and boring. It is made up with mainly features I can criticise, with very little being present on the page that can be seen as good or well done. The title at the top of the page is dull and unappealing to the audience, however it clearly states what the page is about and the font colour doesn't clash with the background colour. It would have needed a fancy font or more colours to make it look more exciting and appealing. This because at the moment it gives the audience a very negative view on the magazine. The rest of the font on the page is okay, it doesn't clash with the background colour and is easy to understand and read, clearly showing what article is on what page. The images are very unimaginative because they have just been repeated from the front cover, the only difference is their sizes. To help, each photo should be given a a page number of which the article that goes with them is on. Otherwise this can confuse the reader and give them the idea that the rest of the magazine will be of a poor quality. Without some sort of reference, the photos on the contents page can cause more problems than they solve. Finally, the layout on the contents page is a bit of a shamble in my opinion. There is no real grid system in place to make sure the text and photos line up properly. At the moment they are just 'floating' on the page making it look messy and ugly. This gives the audience a negative opinion on the magazine and page, resulting in them probably not wanting to read on. To improve the contents page it would have to laid out on grid to make sure images and texts line up properly, as well as numbering the photos so they all make sense. This will make reading the page much more easier for the audience.

Preliminary Work Front Cover

This is the front cover for a school magazine I created on photoshop for my preliminary work. I believe that this isn't a very good cover because of many reasons regarding the layouts and aspects of the features of which the cover is made up from. Firstly, the font is a really big issue on this cover because it's all a big jumble of colours, sizes and versions of fonts. This means there isn't a constant flow to the magazine, it just looks amature and unprofessional. The chosen fonts do not work well together and clash with the background colours. For example, the main start of the article is in black font which blends in with the light black colour of the computer screen, which is directly behind. The blue font underneath the 2 other images on the front cover are hard to read as they are on a light background. This adds extra strain on the eyes when trying to read the text, which tells the audience that the magazine is poorly created and wont be very good. The smaller images need to have a white or black line around them, so that they are divided up thus resulting in them standing out from the main image. The barcode is conventionally located at the bottom of the page, instead of the top. The masthead of the magazine isn't very attractive as it is written in a plain font. This doesn't give the magazine a good impression when the readers see's it for the first time. However, not everything about this front cover is bad. The main image is very good because it is a medium close up shot and it shows the audience exactly what the main article in the magazine will be about. In this case, a teacher stealing computers. Also, the school badge in the top right hand corner of the page fits in nicely and works well on the white bar going across the top of the page. To improve the front cover the font colour would have to be changed to ensure it doesn't clash with the background colour. As well as making sure all the fonts compliment eachother by making sure not too many different ones have been used and that only colours in the colour scheme have been used.

Task Brief

The brief for our coursework is to create a front page, contents page and double page spread for a music magazine. The blog will be used to show the production and analysis of the project as it's being created and finalized. The music genre I will be focusing on is punk rock, because it's the genre I feel most comfortable pursuing, as my ipod contains mostly this genre of music.

Introduction

Hello, if this is the first time your reading this, then an introduction is in order, my name's Damon Gray and the reason for this blog is for my As Level Media Studies coursework. I do hope you enjoy it! I'm a complete new'un to blogging, but you get the hang of these sorts of things once you've played about with them a few times, that's the technological way of life now!