Examples of existing magazine layouts

I found some examples of existing music magazines to try and get some ideas of the layout i want to use for mine. The first thing i noticed about all of these is that they all use mid shots of the particular band or artist shown.

My favourite colour scheme is 'Spin' as i like the grey background used and it uses plain colours such as red and white for the cover lines, which make the picture stand out more.

I also like the way 'NME' uses colour, and how Lily Allen's outfit matches the masthead and banner at the top and bottom of the page. I think the graphics used are good, as the font is original and looks modern and quirky due to the different sizes, which fits in with the picture taken from a slightly offset angle.

'Q's' use of 'World Exclusive' makes it stand out from the others, especially being the only text in yellow, as this gives it a unique selling point.

These are the sort of ideas i want to incorporate into my magazine.

Treatment

Magazine name:

Target Readership: I have decided to aim my magazine at 15-18 year olds who enjoy indie music, however it could also appeal to anyone who is interested in new upcoming artists in the indie music industry. It will appeal to both males and females, as it's quite a popular music genre. As the readers are fairly young the price will be quite reasonable, This applies to the average student who may only have a part time or weekend job, and therefore not want to spend too much money. The magazine will include information and interviews with upcoming artists who are trying to make it in the music business, so the audience will be able to relate or aspire to them as they are a similar age and will live the same kind of lifestyle as students. They could perhaps give advice to other people who want to achieve the same kind of thing. The readers will also be able to find out information about their favourite bands and upcoming events where they can get a chance to go and see them.

Form and style: My magazine in an a4 colour magazine which recognises the talent of new artists who are trying to make it in the music industry. It will also incude chances to win tickets to popular gigs or festivals, and interviews with new artists. The models used in the main photograph on the front cover, and people featured in the magazine will be of a similar kind of age to the target audience. The colour scheme i will use will be mostly grey, as if it was primarily a bright or girly colour, this could put male readers off. I will also choose a few other colours suck as yellow and white so they stand out. The front page won't be too crowded, but will show cover lines of competitions, highlighting words such as 'FREE!' which will grab readers attention. There will also be a few small pictures to preview what is inside. At £1.99 to magazine is affordable for the target market.

Themes and typical features: My magazine will feature interviews, competitions, and reviews from new or upcoming songs from popular bands. The interview will include questions that will interest the reader as it will talk about how their life has changed from being a regular student like the target audience. Artists featured will be favourites of maes and females so it doesn't put anyone off. The language used will also be focused at this particular age group.

Potential advertisers: A range of brands who have a connection with the music industry will be advertised in the magazine, such as HMV, ticketmaster, and maybe certain clothing brands that will appeal to the target market.

Editorial team: The editors of this magazine will be both female and male to ensure both genders are appealed to. Each issue will feature a letter from the main editor on the contents page as this makes them seem friendlier. The team will be made up of primarily students as the can relate to the target audience better. Readers will have a chance to contribute to the magazine to voice their ideas.

Weekly review

This week i have completed my textual analysises. I used three different types of music magazines all aimed at different target audiences so i could indentify which features are similar and how they appeal to these readers. For 'Kerrang!' i analysed the front cover, contents page, and double page spread. Although this magazine doesn't appeal to me, it is focused at it's specific market of rock lovers.

I also did an analysis of 'Mixmag' front cover and contents page and found that it uses a lot less pictures than Kerrang but to it's advantage as it doesn't cram up the page too much and makes the main pictures have more of an effect.

'Top of the pops' is aimed at a younger audience than what i am thinking of using for my music magazine, but it was helpful to see how the layout and colour scheme worked.

As well as my textual analysises i have completed an audience questionnaire to find out what type of thing people look for in a magazine. Hopefully i will get lots of feedback and this will help me determine what target audience to aim my magazine at and know what people are looking for.

I used pollcode.com and developed a poll to find out what genre of music is most popular to people of my age. This works with the questionnaire to help my research to find out what target audience i am going to use.

Next week i will choose my target audience and start thinking of some photo shoot ideas and do some more research into the genre of magazine i am going for.

Textual analysis of 'Mixmag'

Mixmag is a British dance and club music magazine which was formed in 1982. It covers dance event and reviews music and night clubs. The new relaunched Mixmag is now aimed at the wider world of dance music, not just a specific type, and features other things such as a fashion section. It is published monthly and comes with a free mix cd with every issue. The cost of the magazine is £4.20, which i think is reasonable as cd's are worth a lot.

Front cover

The background of the magazine is a wood colour, which makes the main colour scheme of white and yellow stand out more. These colours signify that the magazine is vibrant and fun, as yellow is a bright and happy colour. The masthead uses a modern and stylish font and is positioned at the top of the page. Above this there's a strapline in a smaller white font which reads 'The world's biggest dance and clubbing magazine'. This is to make the magazine seem better than competing magazines and encourage readers to buy it usng words such as 'biggest'. In the left corner there's some text going across the first letter of the masthead. This is in black with a yellow font stating that there is a 'free' mix cd. This is at the top of the page as this is where readers look first.

To the right of the masthead there is a picture of someone clubbing. Although it's quite small, it stands out as it's the only other picture used on the magazine front cover. It's white and yellow block border also helps it stand out. The text box features the company 'Don't stay in' who work closely with the magazne to promote events and supply photo's. In this issue, a last minute NYE party guide is included, which will appeal to the target audience as it's a big night of the year to go out clubbing so people want idea.

David Guetta is on the front cover, this will attract readers because he is so well known in this genre of music. The photo uses a mid shot of Guetta, with him wearing a purple t shirt to contrast the yellow text on the page. His head is partially covering up part of the masthead so it seems like he is in the foreground. The text overlapping this picture says 'Guetta load of this!' This is a pun used to combine his name with a tag line for the picture. It saves them having to use more text to write his name and helps readers identify him. This is in small font, with the larger font used for the main headline '2009: f*** me, what a year!' It's all in capitals to make it stand out even more, and uses white and yellow. The font is bigger than the masthead and stands out with a black outline around the text so it is the main focus of the page. The censored language shows that it's not aimed at a young audience, and makes people want to find out more about the success of his year.

The cover lines are all located at the outside of the magazine so they don't cover up too much of the picture. They all use quite small fonts but some are bolder than others. Down the left of the page some of the contents are shown so readers have an idea of what to expect inside this issue, and can see from a glance without having to look inside. The colours alternate from yellow to white each line. Underneath this,. in line with the headline, there is a white text box which highlights the mix cd that is included in this issue, with the word 'free' in bold to attract attention. This is repeated incase readers didn't notice it at the top of the page, as it's a key selling point for the magazine. Some more of the contents are continued below this. Right at the bottom of the page the photographer is mentioned in a small font, also it states David Guetta's name.

On the right of the page there is a yellow text box in a circle shape which shows it's the end of year issue. The word 'special' will attract readers attention as it makes it seem exclusive and will give them the edge over other magazines. Underneath the masthead there is a slightly bigger font which says about the top DJ's and clubs which will be revealed. The word 'revealed' makes it seem exclusive to the magazine. There are also some more features at the bottom right of the page, which are again alternating between white and yellow.

Contents

The background of the contents page is black and doesn't consist of many pictures. The main picture is of somebody clubbing, and is an advertisement for a new years eve party which is meantioned on the front cover. The picture is a mid shot of a woman taken from an offset angle. She is wearing a black top and has red and, and the lighting is quite bright and red, so it stands out from the background of the rest of the page. The picture takes up just over half the page. The page number of this is indicated at the bottom left of the picture is large white writing, and there is a brief strapline stating that there are tickets to be won for an event similar to this.

The other picture is positioned to the right of this but is only about a quarter of the size. Is shows a mid shot of David Guetta posing, and the page number is again quite big. The features of the magazine are the stated below this picture. It uses a white font with the page numbers shown in yellow. The font is quite small which makes it not take up a very big proportion of the page, and not steal focus away from the picture. A few features mentioned on the front page are shown, with the title's in bold so readers can scan the page to find what they are looking for quickly.

There is a banner along the bottom of the page which gives information about the free cd included in the magazine. This is separated from the rest of the page by a white line. It shows a picture of the cd case and shows the tracklist, with the number in yellow, the name in bold white, and the artist in white. This colour scheme is continued from the front cover and works well with both background as people's attention will be attracted to bright colours, even if the font isn't that big.

Front cover analysis of 'Top of the Pops'

Top of the Pops magazine was formed in 1995 and is a suppliment of the BBC television programme. It was originally described as a mix between 'Smash Hits' and 'NME' but over the years the format has changed, with the magazine featuring less music information and is primarily aimed at young girls with features that include celebrity gossip and fashion and beauty advice. The cost of the magazine is £2.30 which is quite expensive for a magazine aimed at young teens, who won't have much money of their own for luxuries so would have to rely on their parents for finance.

The first thing that catches my eye about the front page is it's bright colour scheme. The background uses pink tiles but we can only see parts of this as most of it is covered up by feature boxes of what to expect in the magazine. The magazine uses pink and yellow which makes the target audience obvious as these are typical girly colours.

The main picture is of Cheryl Cole, a popular girl band member who is a role model for a lot of young girls, not just for her talent as a performer, she is also a fashion icon and spends a lot of time in the public eye due to her fashion choices. The picture is a mid close up so you can see her hair style and make up clearly, as people always expect her to look good. Her head is the only part not covered by a cover line and blocks out part of the masthead. This makes only the words 'top' and 'pops' visible to the reader, as these are most important.

The cover line which relates to the main story of the magazine is positioned at an angle and is overlapping the picture. It is in a dark pink text box, the same as the outline of the masthead, so it stands out. The box starts with the words 'World Exclusive!' to differentiate the magazine from others making it seem like this is the only place the reader can find this information, and gives it the edge over competing magazines. The cover line reads 'It's scary being me!' which is a quote from the interview with Cheryl Cole and will interest the audience as they will want to find out more about her life and the fact that someone so famous finds it scary would be a shock.

The is a banner across the bottom of the page, also in dark pink, which shows the 'hot' posters that are included in the magazine. The word 'hot' is a mode of address used because the magazine are trying to reach out to the target audience my using similar language. This is followed by pictures of the 6 people, not all of them being involved with music, which indicates that the magazine is edging away from being primarily about music and just being aimed at various things young girls are interested in, such as Edward from the film Twilight who is loved by lots of young girls.

Beside the picture of Cheryl, there is a small picture of Alexandra Burke in a white box. This is so it stands out from the pink background. The cover line is about a 'new year makeover' which will appeal to young girls as they would aspire to be like the stars. There is a similar box on the left of the page featuring JLS, also off the popular TV show 'The X Factor'. This is to advertise that inside the magazine you can 'WIN!' signed JLS hoodies. These celebrities aid the sales of the magazine and fit in well as 'The X Factor' is so popular and the artists they produce are known for topping the charts.

There are various issues not involving the music business that are featured in 'Top of the Pops'. At the top of the page there is a cover line of a quiz featured in the magazine which relates to friendship issues, which is a popular subject for young girls to worry about and need advice for. As well as this it uses a black circle shape which includes information about being safe online. This is more advice for the target audience, as online safety is very important and younger girls are more vulnerable. The fact that this is in black makes it stand out from the rest of the page, and sort of symbolises danger as its the only dark colour used.

At a glance, the front cover includes different shades of pink and yellow and different shapes which the cover lines are written on. This is so all the different features stand out from each other. It also makes the magazine easily recognisable to regular readers, and will definately draw the attention of the target audience of young girls when on a shelf surrounded by various other magazines. All the cover stories say the page number so if someone is flicking through it, they can find what they're looking for easily.




The language used on the magazine also indicates the age group it's aimed at. Words such as 'OMG' which is used frequently by girls of this particular age groups to communicate with each other. This shows the magazine is trying to relate to them and lure them in by using similar expressions.


In my opinion, the layout is too crammed with various pictured and too many strap lines. I think it will work for the target audience as they will rely more on the cover of a magazine when they are choosing to buy it so will want as much as information and unique sellings points as possible on the front page to draw them in.

Music Poll

What type of music do you listen to? (Click 1 or more answers)
	Rock
	Indie
	R'n'B
	Dubstep
	Hip Hop
	Heavy Metal
	Pop
	Dance
	D'n'B
pollcode.com free polls

Audience Questionnaire

I have developed a questionnaire to find out what kinf of features of a music magazine appeal to people and to try and determine a target audience for my magazine.

Please take the time to fill in my questionnaire by posting a comment with your answers.

1. Are you male or female?

2. How old are you?

3. What type of music do you listen to?
- Rock
- R'n'B
- Indie
- Dance
- Hip hop
- D'n'B
- Pop
- Other

4. How often do you read music magazines?
- weekly
- monthly
- hardly ever

5. What is your favourite music magazine?
- Kerrang!
- MOJO
- NME
- DJ Mag
- MixMag
- Other

6. What attracts you to the magazine?
- Exclusive interviews
- Free offers (eg posters)
- Which particular band is featured
- Anything else?

7. Do you prefer more pictures than text?

8. What would put you off a music magazine?

9. How much would you expect to pay for a music magazine?
- 99p
- £1.99
- £2.99
- £.3.99
- More?

10. What colour scheme would you prefer to see in a magazine?
- Dark colours
- Simple colours (white, red, blue)
- Girly colours
- Grey and a bright colour
- Bright colours
- Multi-colours

Thankyou!

Textual analysis of KERRANG!

Kerrang! is a indie/rock music magazine which is published in the UK by Bauer Consumer Media. The title of the magazine in onomatopoeic as it sounds like someone playing an electric guitar. It was first published in 1981 and focussed on new hard rock bands. Throughout the years the theme of the magazine changed whenever a new band became popular, for example, it was primarily dedicated to new emo band 'My Chemical Romance' for several weeks following the success of their album. The target audience is 16-25 year olds who listen to rock music, however, in recent years the age of readers has dropped and the magazine is now more focussed at the younger part of the target audience to to the types of bands featured being less heavy metal and edging towards the emo crowd.

Front cover

There are many features of the front page of 'Kerrang!' which will appeal to it's target audience. Firstly the masthead is easily recognisable as it is the same on every issue, so this will catch the eye of regular reader's of the magazine as they know what to look out for. It's all in capitals which makes it easier to read, and in a different font and colour to the rest of the magazine, the black writing on a white background makes it stand out from the pictures and cover lines. The font chosen looks like it has a worn effect. This is what gives the magazine it's brand identity. Even the word 'Kerrang!' is appealing to the target audience of rock music fans as the exclamation mark at the end makes it sound louder and more in your face.

Another thing about the masthead is that it is partially obscured by the picture. The picture is of the Lostprophets, an alternative rock band, who at the time of publishing were very successful. They are arranged so the lead singer is standing in the middle of the photo so we can tell he is more important. The picture is cropped right down to the tops of their heads, except for the lead singer Ian Watkins who is set in the foreground of the photo, and who's head hasn't been cropped, resulting in him covering a section of the masthead. This picture is appropriate as their success will make readers more interested in their lives and it is important to have a popular band on the cover as having someone who wasn't well known could put people off.

The general colour scheme of the magazine is quite dull. Although this wouldn't stand out to me on a shelf, it appeals to the target audience, as rock/emo fans tend to fashion darker clothing and aspire to the bands. The picture covers he whole of the front page underneath the masthead, and the background colour is also dull. The only bright colours used are red, white, and a dark yellow colour used for text and cover lines. This is to make them stand out and easier to read.

The headline of the magazine is 'Lostprophets' which is positioned as a banner below the heads of the band. This has the biggest font on the page and relates to the main story. It indicates what the main feature of this issue is about, and is very important in attracting the audience. The magazine uses a large white font and is all in capitals similar to the title, making it contrast to the dark colours on the picture. This is followed by a quote from the story "People talk so much bullshit about us.." This gives a sneak peak for the readers of what the story is about and will make people want to buy it to find out more.

The language is relating to the target audience by trying to attract them using swear words, similar to what the readers would in every day life, and has a bigger impact as they will want to find out what the article is about.

The exclusive offeres of the magazine are in red, such as 'FREE!' and 'PLUS!'. These are followed by pictures of the posters that are free inside, and is positioned at the bottom corner of the page so it doesn't steal focus from the main picture and headline. The pictures overlap each other which not only saves space, but it attracts attention as the pictures are at abstract angles which draws attention to them. They are outlined with a white border to distinguish them from the background. 'PLUS!' is in a banner at the bottom of the page which includes the names of the other bands featured in the magazine.

The overall layout is not to cluttered, as it shows clearly what the main feature of the issue is about with the picture and the main heading large and central on the page. There is a lot going on in the bottom corner of the page, but the overlapping of photo's makes it seem more fun and differentiates those pictures from the main one.

Contents

The first thing that strikes me about the contents page is that it also uses a dark theme similar to on the front cover. The background is black and two thirds of the page is taken up with a picture of the band '36 crazyfists'. This is one of the main feature's in this particular issue which is why it takes up the majority of the page.

The title 'contents' uses the same font as the masthead 'KERRANG!' and is unique to this magazine. It's in the colour white so it stands out from the rest of the page. Again, all the text on the page is white or red to carry on the theme and make is recognisable to the readers. The red fonts show the different headings of what is featured in the magazine, for example 'news' and 'gigs'. It is in a larger font than the page references.

There are three pictures at the top of the page so the readers will know what is featured in this issue at a glance without having to read the whole contents. They are outlined in white to make them stand out more, and not get confused with the main picture. I think these pictures are chosen because they are popular, well known people in the rock industry and will be more appealing to the target audience than less well known acts. The bottom corner also features a discount for regular readers of the magazine to try and promote it, and has a picture of a pile of different issues. In the top corner, there isa letter from the editor and a picture of him. This makes the magazine come across as more friendly as he is addressing the audience directly and giving his own overview of what is featured in that issue.

Double page spread

The double page i'm going to analyse is from the 'News' feature of the magazine. The background is a dark blue colour and is a mid close-up of Biffy Clyro's Simon Neil on stage. This is used because this particular band is popular at this time and the audience will enjoy finding out that they have a chance to go and see them at the upcoming event. He is positioned in the middle of the page so the focus is on him and not so much on the smaller pictures lined up along the bottom of the page of various other bands. These pictures are all joined together so they create a sort of collage at the bottom of the main picture. They are all long shot's of band's who will be appearing at 'Download 2007'. There is a bold cover line across the main picture which uses white writing on a red background which tells the audience who is in the photo and what the article is about.

The text only takes up the smallest proportion of the pages, the rest using a main picture and a collage of smaller pictures. This is because seeing a whole page of text will put a reader off as pictures are more eye catching and can save time. The article is talking about the line-up to the event 'Download 2007', and there is a box at the bottom of the page which gives all this information at a glance.

The purpose of this double page spread is mainly to show the reader about this event by using pictures of what bands are going to be there. The lack of text shows that there is only a brief amount of information to give, as a lot of text will seem daunting and the reader might be put off by this.

FINAL TASK - Action Plan

Our final task is to produce a front page, contents, and double page spread of a new music magazine.

Action Plan

Week 1
- Inroduce main task
- Textual analysis of 3 different music magazines, including the front page, contents, and a double page spread.
- Weekly review

Week 2
- Audience questionnaire
- Finish textual analysis
- Weekly review

Week 3
- Choose target audience
- Look at different fonts and colours
- Initial ideas
- Weekly review

Week 4
- Plan photoshoot
- Write a treatment
- Weekly review

Week 5
- Complete photoshoot
- Edit photo's
- Weekly review

Week 6
- Include the photo's in the initial designs to see what works best.
- Choose final fonts and colour scheme
- Complete the final design

Finshed Preliminary task

After completing my preliminary task i have learnt a lot ready for the final task, and there is also a lot which i can improve on.

Firstly i learnt how to use the blog site efficiently, and particularly at the start of the task, i kept up with udating my blog regularly with weekly reviews of my progress.

I think for my final task, things i could improve on would be to manage my time better, and make more drafts of the magazine to get feedback from everyone else instead of settling with the first idea i came up with.