the final drafts sharon

magazine drafts 2 sharon

magazine drafts 1 sharon

selection and rejection sharon

front cover

I chose to use this photo for my front cover because Amber is looking straight into the camera as the image is sharp and well framed also the rule of thirds is used quite effectively i decided to change the background to snow because then it fits with the time of year.

I decided not to use this image of Amber for she is not look at the camera and the image is slightly blurred and due to the fact that the frontcover is meant to catch the audiences attention i decided against this photo

I chose to use this image of amber for the contents page because it is a image that is sharp and the background is straight.

I decided against this photo because of the main reason that the image is blurred and not a good use of the camera.

I decided to use this image of Kyran for the main photo on the double page spread because of the image being in great focus and the shot show exactly what Kyran is doing in the photo aswell as the bachground being straight and framed well.

I decided against this image because the image is completely blurred so that you can just see Kyran.

I decided to use this image for the smaller image because it shows kyrans personality very well and is the background is slightly blurred so that the readers attention is on Kyran.

I decided not to use this image because on kyrans head being turn too much to the right.

mise en scene sharon

For my front cover image i decided to use Amber dressed in a purple shirt with a stripy cardigen and scarf on. I decided to do this because it gives her a relaxed look and the colour that she is wearing are not too bright to look at also in the photo shoot we give her a red guitar this is so it goes with the logos colours.

For the main photo on the double page spread photos i decided to have kyran wear red to keep with the colour of our logo also he has some headphones which are purple this is because in the articule there is a question about the headphones. I decided to give kyran a bass guitar because he learnt that as a young child so i found it apropprite to have him playing the guitar.

For the smaller image on the double page spread i decided that kyran should wear his skeleton top that also shows his heart because we get to look in to the person who and what he is at the moment.

double page spread analysis Sharon

this double page spread is picture lead because there is more images than text. The images are in black and white because it fits with the logo colours that are used in the logo due to this that is why some of the writing is red. There is a fact side in the white white box this is done to make it stand out in the aritucle the head line of this double page spread is a quote out of the articule with a small headline underneath it. In each of the images there is a strapline to give the readers some information about the images and how the people of the images are.

Analysis of Survey - Lucy Marshall

(again, was previously uploaded but for some reasong dissapeared off the blog)

Analysis of Survey Results

Lucy Marshall

We started off my asking the most basic question there is: Are you male or female? And our survey has said that we asked more female than male, which could alter the results slightly, but the chances of that happening are very slim. I then asked the question: What is your age group? And we found out that most of the people we were asking were between 14-16 and 10-13 with a few older at 20+ and 17-19. This, in a way, could be beneficial towards the results as I feel that the age range the magazine should be aiming for is the age group 13-16, so we will get more answers from the appropriate age range.

                We then briefed them of what the magazine will include (roughly as this could be changed due to the results, however, this gives them somewhat of an indication of what they should be picturing in their heads) and then we gave them a list of potential names, including: MusiMag, Newstar, Atune and MusicMadness. The ‘MusicMadness’ proved itself popular with a whole ten votes, this being the highest one of all, second in line was ‘Atune’ with nine votes, then ‘MusiMag’ with 2 and finally, ‘Newstar’ with none. This obviously means that the public (our target market) prefer the masthead ‘MusicMadness’ as they feel it is ‘catchy’ and relates well to the magazine contents.

                The fourth question was on colour schemes. We gave them a choice of five different colour pairs, and they were to tick the one they thought fitted the magazine the most and which one, obviously, they liked the most. We gave them the options of: Brown and Pink, brown and Blue, purple and Yellow, green and Purple and finally burgundy and cream. We thought about the choices we were wanting to give them, and decided to go for a couple of contemporary and more popular choices (green and purple etc.) to more sophisticated and refined colour choices (burgundy and cream) to see which ones they thought seemed right. This will most likely be down to instinct as 13-16 year olds who were quickly filling out a survey on something they knew nothing about, probably wouldn’t put a lot of deep thought and theory behind their answers. The results were slightly surprising but thinking about it, it did make sense as the highly chosen colour scheme was green and purple. This modern colour choice will be difficult to fit in with the theme and style of the design in which I plan to create, however, this will have to be taken into account as, at the end of the day, the magazine needs to look good to the potential customer.

                We then asked them what they thought was a suitable price range. We gave them the options of £1-2.00, £2-3.00, £3-4.00 and £4-5.00. Again, most went for the obvious choice which was the £1-2.00 range. This would prove to be a difficult selling price if the new magazine were to go and be published, as we would need to take into account the publishing prices, advertisement and for the interviews inside; all costs money, money that we wouldn’t be getting because of such a low price range. It’s instinct to go as low as that; the cheaper the better is all they will be thinking, but we must take into account the other prices for publishing etc. as I have already mentioned.

                We then asked a huge question. What would they like to see as the main article in an edition of the magazine. We gave them a choice of the following: Interviews with popular musicians and tour dates, monthly competitions and handy tips, puzzles, reviews and finally learn to play your own instrument and easy chords sheets. We asked them to tick the ones they liked the most (this allowed them to tick more than one). We got a good response to the ‘interviews with popular musicians and tour dates’, ‘monthly competitions and handy tips’ and finally ‘learn to play your own instrument and easy chord sheets’, ‘interviews with popular musicians and tour dates’ being the most popular with 13 votes and the other two second popular with nine votes each. This will help for the main article as it gives us and indication to what our target group actually wants in their magazine, and lets us have a lot more freedom when creating our magazine.

                Favourite genres of music were asked for the participants. We gave them a list of different genres of music, and asked them to tick their favourites (more than one if they wished). We got a rather big response from indie, alternative and rock, so this gives us the ideas that we should include the genres more than the others (the others will be included to make sure all requirements and tasted are reached).

                After that, we wrote a list of different ways and times people may buy magazines, and asked them to tick the relevant ones, the choices being:  I buy magazines every month without fail, I buy magazines whenever I feel like it, I order magazines online, I buy magazines from a shop/newsagents and I never buy magazines. Our largest amounts of ticks were for the ‘I buy magazines from a shop/ newsagents’ and even this doesn’t take a genius to work out. Most people so go to the newsagents and shops to buy their magazines, so we should make our magazines available there.

                To conclude the survey, and this analysis, we asked them one last question: Would you rather buy cheaper magazines without freebies, or dearer magazines with freebies? And most of them answered that they would rather buy cheaper magazines without freebies. This again relates back to the £1-2.00 price, and how they would rather pay as little as possible.

By Lucy Marshall

Analysis of Q magazine - Lucy Marshall

(Was uploaded previously but for some reason, dissapeared off the blog.)

I am analysing the May 2008 issue of ‘Q’ magazine. The masthead for this particular magazine stands out as more of a logo than anything else. The letter ‘Q’ is always in the same font, (with a serif) same font size and same colour, and this creates an effective logo which people and fans will immediately recognise. The colour scheme is mainly made up of reds, blacks and whites; these colours are loud and they scream out to the potential buyers ‘buy me!’ which is of course the aim of the overall colour scheme. 

                The main lead fits in really well with the main photograph on the front and acts as a good anchorage. The picture of Madonna is highlighted with the large red letters and the lead up to it (how seven popular groups of people interview her). There are a few other leads, the names of different popular artists included in the magazine, just to get the reader interested but it is obvious that the one focusing on Madonna is the main lead.

                This front cover has hardly any white space; there is more text than picture taking up the space and this makes it look very busy and, I think, glamorous which also fits in with the photograph on the front as she is wearing silver which is a glamorous colour. So we now know that the mode of address is glam, fashionable, pop, beauty etc… this is what the magazine says to the audience. The sell line of ‘Britain’s biggest music magazine’ also talks to the buyers saying ‘buy me’.

                The house style is the same simple layout of the masthead in the top, left corner, the photograph more to the right and text surrounding it. The same colours used regularly. There isn’t much of a border visible as the designer would obviously want to fit as much of the text and information as possible.  The price of the magazine is £3.90 which is an ideal price for such a good magazine with so much information in it. There are also a few puffs, expressing more important parts of the magazine, such as the ‘196 page bumper issue’ because that’s what they want the potential buyers to look at first.

                There is an overlay and a wraparound which makes sure that the white space is made to good use.

By Lucy Marshall