Magazine basis

After having analysed the front covers of NME, Q, and Kerrang, I have decided that I am going to base my own music magazine on the style and layout seen within Kerrang.  

I have chosen to use Kerrang's magazine as the basis for my own because  like the colour scheme and overall style that is used, I find it is eye catching and draws the reader in, it is packed with sell lines and interested graphics that stop it from looking plain and simple.

My focus group is going to be teenagers and adults, this means that the age of my readers will likely be 15+, i feel that the sell lines will satisfy a viewers need for information, in relation to uses and gratifications theory this will appeal to the readers cognitive needs and perhaps even personal integrative needs as the sell lines declare to the reader that their is a lot of information within the magazine about the topics used within the sell lines. With teenagers the sell lines could also appeal to there social integrative needs helping them to make friends, or build upon relationships they already have. I aim to use different sell lines within my own magazines front cover in order to convey the message to the reader that my magazine is full of information that would appeal to cognitive, personal integrative, and social integrative needs.

Masthead examples 2

Here are some further masthead examples, i felt the font on the last chosen masthead was too thin and needed to be thicker, so i have decided to use a larger font and a different effect on the bottom of the writing, the bottom masthead above is my final masthead idea, and will be the one i use on my music magazine.

Magazine masthead ideas

Here are my magazine masthead ideas, I asked my target audience as to which one they preferred, and the title at the bottom appeared to be there favourite. I will be using this masthead for my music magazine, I feel it looks the most professional and will be appropriate for my magazine. The colours on the first 4 mastheads i feel look too childish which will make the magazine look unprofessional, the 2 mastheads at the bottom however look more professional as the black and white colour scheme makes it appear more mature and the font uses straight lines making the masthead very dominant, whereas the top 4 mastheads used a more childish font.

NME front cover - Codes and Conventions

Here is my research into the NME front cover, again this magazine keeps the recurring themes seen within the Q magazine and Kerrang magazine, the central image is always made to be given a 3D effect, I intend to use this effect in my own magazine, I also intend to create a header on my own magazine that will consist of sell lines that will aid me in enticing the reader to buy the magazine, I also feel this will help to create a professional looking magazine that uses similiar codes and conventions seen within NME, Q and Kerrang.

Q Magazine front cover - Codes and Conventions

Here I have done some research into the front covers of Q magazine, I feel some of the most effective features used within these front covers are the 3D effects used with the central images, and also the sell lines used around the central image, I may use similiar effects within my own magazine as I am looking to replicate the style seen within Q magazine, Kerrang or NME. I like the header used within the MUSE front cover as i feel it completes the page by creating part of a border around the page, i feel that without the header it makes the top half of the magazine feel as if it is missing something, as i dislike that there is no header used within the Plan B and Foo Fighters magazine.

Preliminary Task

 

Here is my preliminary task before creating my music magazine, i have created a front cover and contents page for a school magazine based upon Chatham Clarendon Sixth Form (CCVI). I hope you like it.



 

 

Please leave any construcitve comments about my preliminary task below.

Thank you