Front Cover Analysis #3

'Q' was once known as being aimed at an older audience, but now they seem to be changing their image by fetauring artists like Lady Gaga, Jay-Z and Beyoncé. These are the kind of artists I would want to cover and 'Q' now appeals to a younger audience aswell. Although their target market may have altered, they have mostly stuck to their ordered and organised presentation that they started with. This issue involves one main image slighty to the right, but mostly centeral making this another image dominated front cover. There is not a definate colour scheme on this front cover. The red background behind the title matches with a circle at the bottom and the rest of the text is wither black or white. The white matches the white clothes that Beyoncé is wearing but apart from that the image doesn't match the red, white and black colour scheme. They have chosen to include the background in the photo rather than cutting the figure out. The background is blurred slightly so that the reader is not distracted from the artist or the text. Although this doesn't follow with the colour scheme, I think this is quite effective. The gold border also doesn't fit with the scheme but it makes the magazine feel special as it is the "20th anniversary special".

Again the biggest headline is the artists name which seems to be a convention in current music magazines. The font is not as varied but some is bolder than others to show their significance. This magazine uses numbers in the headlines to make it seem like there is a lot of things inside. It says "20 exclusive new interviews!". The "20" is bigger and bolder because it emphasies the large amount. The "20" is also a recurring theme that matches the "20th anniversary special" and "20 greatest albums and tracks in Q's life". The repetition of this number is to draw attention to the fact that Q has been going for 20 years (which means that it is a good and successful magazine). The barcode this time is situated on the right hand side which shows that there is no conventions where the bar code is on a magazine. The date, cost and website are all under the title.

Front Cover Analysis #2

The image is obviously a very important part of the presentation of this magazine as there is only one and it takes up the whole background. All of the text is written in white, yellow or blue: all bright and fun. In the 'b', 'o', 'a' and 'd', the holes have been filled with bright colours which brings attention towards the name of the magazine. The name of the artist is again the second largest on the cover. There is a variation in font styles this time however, emphasising certain stories. The smaller headlines and information looks simpler as it is san serif whereas the big headline "Ke$ha" is serif. This font goes with the artist as she is quite sharp and edgy (which is also emphasised by her expression in the image). The smaller stories are on the left whereas the main story is seperated on the right hand side. The barcode appears at the bottom on the left handside with informations such as the price, date and website just above it.

Front Cover Analysis #1

In this issue of 'Blender' the colour scheme is simple: using only black and pink. The pink is bright and fun suggesting that it is aimed at pop fans and the girly aspect attracts young female teenagers. The white background makes the front cover simple and unclustered which I think would appeal to teenagers. On this front cover only one font is used, however different text sizes are included. The largest text is the title which is big and bold, the next biggest are the most important headlines. Eg. "KATY PERRY" is obviously the main story. Under the headline titles, a very short and snappy blurb often appears. Some more large text is the "186". Numbers appear on the front cover to appeal to readers, especially the younger audience, because reading a list of lots of things is easier to digest than huge chunks of text. This number is also included because it is a very big number which suggests that the list is very long and full of information.

This cover uses the rule of thirds effectively. Only one image is used and it is placed right in the centre which draws the eye. The colourful clothes make the image stand out from the white background. The text is also positioned around the central image. The figure's head is blocking out some of the title which I think looks effective. It shows that the magazine is well known but also makes makes Katy Perry seem more important as she is in the foreground.

I like this front cover because of the image and I think I will use a central image in my final magazine. However I think a more varied choice of fonts would make the magazine look more effective.

Diary Entry #1: Week Beginning 31st January

During this week we created a school magazine cover and contents page, as a preliminary task, to help us with the main music magazine task we have started now. This began with researching codes and conventions using existing school magazines. I then drew some rough sketches using these codes as to how I pictured my front cover and contents page to turn out like. The next step I took was using the cameras to take photographs for my magazine. When I had collected all of my shots, I started creating my school magazine on Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0. This meant using mostly the text tool and the shape tool. I then evaluated my final product to find out what worked well and what didn't which will be useful when I create a music magazine. This week helped me to understand the conventions of magazines and I have also learned more about how to use the cameras and photoshop.

Evaluation of School Magazine

I tried to follow as many school magazine codes and conventions as possible so that the genre was obvious. First of all, on my front cover I used several photos of students. I used one main image as the background (which 'Fusion' did) and smaller ones to show what is inside. There are also several headlines on the front cover so the reader knows what to expect inside. The font is simple and there is not much variety but this is often seen in school magazines. The language is clear and concise, also emphasising the simple aspect of the magazine and the name is bold and in the top left hand corner (more conventions). I used a simple colour scheme: deciding to stick to red and black, which is quite eye catching (which also feature in 'Chill'). I continued to use this colour scheme on the contents page aswell to create a sense of unity. This is also seen with the font, the bold titles and the red line that appears under the title. On the contents page I only included two images, far less than the front cover, which is often seen in school magazines. The language is simple and fun eg. "What's Going On?" is the title (which is also big and bold). The various headlines are on the left hand side with a small blurb underneath and the page numbers on the right. Overall I think that my magazine follows codes and conventions well.

I took several different shots for my magazine but most were medium close-ups. I did this by adjusting the zoom and focus on the camera to create a decent quality photo. I also tried to use mainly natural light as this produces a less yellow look and makes the photos seem more calm. However on the main image I used the flash to create dark shadows which looks quite interesting. I created both pages on Photoshop, using mainly the text tool, shape tool and border tool. My knowledge of Photoshop has impoved and I can now use layers successfully. Overall this task helped me to understand Photoshop and the Digital SLR Cameras more.

Final Front Cover and Contents Page

Front Cover and Contents Page Draft