Music Magazine - Research and Chosen Genre

Music magazines specialise in the music scene with lots of information on upcoming albums, artists and usually gossip. The covers tend to contain and use Red, White and Black as proven by two of the leading music magazines. The main coverlines usually are brief and very appealing to match the main image which should also attract as much attention and should feature a well known artist to make a first impression on a potential reader.

Sometimes other images of other popular artists are on the cover, demonstrated by Kerrang! above, and normally list the other coverlines on the side like Q which contain other big names in the music industry. Kerrang! is an example of an occasional issue as it states "2010 The Ultimate Review" which is why it puts more attention in the centre of the magazine. Q meanwhile is a normal monthly issue but to stand out from other magazines, it uses its title as "The UK's biggest music magazine". They also use flashes and pugs often to make the front cover that little bit more appealing such as special reviews, interviews or offers.

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The contents are usually similar as well. Again the common colour scheme is used effectively as are the images. They do not always use the same images relevant to the main article displayed on the cover but this is only to help promote other articles that are just as appealing inside containing more appealing artists. 

The number of images used can vary as well but it does not usually exceed three, unless it is a double paged contents page.

The layout is typical of any music magazine and perhaps any magazine. The title 'Contents' is displayed boldly at the top and the Masthead can be displayed next to it as well, proven by these two examples, while the list of page numbers and articles are placed on the side of the page and the main image.

Q has a review section underneath the main image which is quite common but can be used for messages from the editors in some cases, while NME uses the space below to promote offers on their magazine. It also uses bolder writing than Q which perhaps makes it more effective because it is easier to read and identify quicker and gives it a less formal appearance.

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The double page spread is where variation occurs. Kerrang! for example above uses almost like an album of images underneath the band in the recording studio, showing how the interviewers got a taste of working with artists rather than just interviewing them. The number of images used by these two magazines vary but both are effective in terms of appeal, Kerrang! shows a lot of action and people where as NME focuses on one big image used in a sort of seductive, modelling manner.



Kerrang! uses the colour scheme identified earlier. Both magazines have a title, but not written like a usual title is and can sometimes be a quotation from the interview. The text is reduced in size to fit into the pages but also not to obstruct the images used on them and are positioned like columns. Finally they seem to capitalise the first letter of the article

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My Chosen Genre

After evaluating these music magazines, I have decided to base my music magazine on the genre of rock/garage band material. I have already thought of some ideas to use and since I have looked at leading magazines in a bit more depth, I can start to plan out my own in a similar way to make it as effective.

School Magazine Contents Page - First Draft

My contents page draft follows key codes and conventions that have been analysed in typical contents pages. 

To start with, I have stuck to basics and put a "Contents" title on top of the page with some images of drawing utensils at the other side to relate to its specification on school.

The list of articles are displayed on the left with the relevant page number in Bold to the left of the descriptions, making it clear to the reader where their preferred articles are.

On the right, I will place one main image similar to the one on the front cover to focus on the main article in the magazine. I will then place three other images below relating to school and hopefully some of the articles. All of these will be accompanied by text descriptions.                           

Finally at the bottom I have my masthead and the magazine motto which will be written in an Italic font with quotation marks, to emphasise the fact it is the magazines point and purpose. The page number is also included at the bottom right.

Contents Pages Analysis

1. What is the function of a contents page?
The function of the contents page is to let the reader identify particular articles and topics that they have an interest in. It also expands on some articles that were coverlines on the front page and have not been mentioned yet to reader.

A reader will be expecting to find the contents page near the front cover if not immediately afterwards. Highly supported magazines may contain adverts from popular brands and businesses which are scattered at all points in the magazine. Being near the front makes it an easily findable tool to help navigate through the magazine.

2. How does a reader use a contents page?
Once the reader has located the contents page, they will usually scan it for the articles that attracted them personally to the magazine and jump straight to them once they have discovered the page number accompanying the title in the contents page.

3. What is the conventional layout for a contents page in a magazine?
Conventional layouts for magazines have similar principals. For example, the three examples here have similar layouts with their article listings in that they all have the title 'Contents' which is then followed by a list of articles and corresponding page numbers on the left-hand side of the page. The Empire magazine has a double page spread for the contents which doesn't make it any more effective but does try to show more variety.

4. What is the conventional design for a contents page?
The designs do vary with the magazines but again follow similar principals. They all use images, some more than others. Empire and Q use a related Arial font whilst GQ Sports uses more of a Times New Roman but both types are effective and stand out from the background of the contents pages, all magazines use a white background showing what an effective and popular choice it is for designers and editors.

5. How much information does a contents page contain?
In a general aspect, the contents pages I've chosen use a lot of text and information on their pages, however, for each section in the contents there is only so much information that can be printed due to space consumption and spoilers. For example they all have a brief introduction of each article they contain, not revealing many surprises with them, but are used to expand on what the front cover couldn't.

6. What information does a conventional contents page contain?
As mentioned earlier, the contents pages contain brief introductions to each article. Some also mention particular authors or editors of the magazine to give other peoples perspectives on the articles that have been published. They also contain lots of page numbers to specify points in the magazine and also some quotations from people who are relevant to them.

7. How are images used in a conventional contents page?
Images are used very effectively in magazines in general, so as expected, they should be used well in the contents pages. Empire contains the most because of its spread and each image has a page reference to help the reader identify quicker what or who they want to read about. 

I would argue that Empire uses its images more effectively than the other two because the images stand out more with their structure and use of well known celebrities like Martin Sheen and Russell Crowe to unknown beauties who are making a name for themselves in the popular magazines, to even a dedicated Terminator special. The others do have some eye-catching images however which have a story behind them that might interest certain readers more than others.

8. How is language used in a conventional contents page?
Language is used effectively in the contents pages. To state bluntly, the language in the article summaries are almost advertisements. They're dramatic, intriguing, informal, brief and some are quite bizarre which makes them yet more appealing. Q magazine has an article called "MP4" which states that MP's have formed a rock band. They are used in an advert way to pull in a keen audience and prove that their purchase is not a waste.

9. What are the key codes and conventions of a contents page?
Key codes and conventions for a contents page would be eye-catching images, similarly used on the front cover, well-organised text and clear fonts and sizes, attractive titles and interesting stories to accompany all of them.

10. How does the function of a contents page affect its layout and design?
For the functions to be effective, its layout and design must correspond. For example, for a reader keen to find a certain article, the contents page must be clear to read, it articles must have a bolder font than the description and be relevant to the topic, otherwise making them useless. If possible it should have an accompanying image whether it's small or large to make it easier to find popular articles. Also, the popular and main articles should apply to a wider audience with similar interests and therefore, be expanded on in the contents page if it hasn't already on the cover.

School Magazine - Fourth Draft

I have recently altered the positions of the other coverlines so that they have a better structure, and they don't obstruct the faces, they're in the form of steps, so that the first one you may read is "The School Spelling Bee" to "The mystery of the School Cat" to "M.C. Klappholz starts recruiting". This creates variation on all parts of the cover.

I have also moved the coverlines further as I proposed before.

School Magazine - Third Draft

In the new draft, I have added the main image, but I have had to edit the coverlines that were originally in black font, as the colours blended with the text, and the other coverlines had to be moved so they didn't obstruct the pupil in the image.

I will probably zoom the image in more and remove the background so the students are in focus. I will also move the coverlines away from the edge of the magazine to even out the position.

School Magazine - Second Draft

I have used Adobe Indesign to create a new draft of my school magazine, I have given the masthead colours and applied the coverlines. My next step will be to find an appropriate image to be in the cover and match the main coverline.

Tasks for Adobe Indesign

Tasks for Indesign

1.       Create a new document – A4

2.       Show document grid

3.       Use rectangle frame tool

4.       Use type tool

5.       Select font

6.       Change text size

7.       Use colour picker

8.       Create text effects using the stroke function

9.       Use layers

10.   Import image using adobe bridge

11.   Change image size

12.   Crop an image

School Magazine - First Draft

My initial draft of my school magazine has the basic layout with a masthead, main coverline, other coverlines, main image, price and exclusives.

The main image is the school uniform laid out on a table in a kind of scruffy fashion, to accompany the main coverline story as to whether the uniform should be discarded.

The Masthead "Henry '8" was chosen to give the school name a more modern touch, along with the difference of sizes between letters, which should appeal to the audience of pupils, years 7-13.

The main coverline attracts all pupils in the years 7-11 as they are made to wear uniform and it is certain that they will all have strong views and interests about the topic. 

The cliché phrase "to be or not to be?" is a clever way of basically asking "should we have school uniform?" but written with a humorous touch to be more appealing as well as being obviously written by Shakespeare, who is studied in English.

The brief description should also attract pupils as it looks at the opinions of teachers as well as students.

The other coverlines are also appealing to a wider range of audience. They are all strange or unheard of and therefore can make a possible reader more intrigued to read the rest of the magazine.

The exclusives on the bottom of the page are not flashes as such but would draw in a potential reader with their offers. 

If a student is perhaps interested in improving their maths then the top one might appeal, where as potential history students for GCSE or A-Level may be more interested to know what one of the History teachers is doing to make the subject more interesting to learn, or perhaps it might simply make another interesting read for the magazine.