Final Front Cover Design

My Final Front Cover

I decided to edit different aspects of my front cover as I believed they were making it look unprofessional, as it was missing several forms and conventions of a magazine. For example, all magazines have a form of slogan about the magazine and mine was missing, this is normally below the masthead but I have put it to the other side of the image. I have challenged this convention as I believed that on my magazine it would not be best suited below the masthead, this is because it would look too crowded. Also since my last evaluated draft I have put a white outline on all of the subtext below each title; this was to make each subtext stand out more as in previous drafts they were hard to read on my front cover. Although in all of my previous designs I had not included my competition/free gift which is a form and convention of a magazine, so I put this within a large circle in the bottom right of the front cover as it is normally in a corner of the magazine. I chose to make my artist name 'Jason King' much larger as it is the focus of my front cover as he is the main subject of this magazine issue. Previously I had put my barcode on the right of the front cover and on its side, but I have moved it to the bottom left along with a date and price of the magazine. I feel that all of these changes have given my magazine a professional look while sticking to and countering some of the forms and conventions of a magazine.

Music Magazine Front Cover Third step

Front Cover Third Design

At this point in my design I have changed the colour of the title as it matches the rest of my front cover. This makes it look more like a professional magazine as it all fits in together, unlike my previous versions where the colours were not working well together. However some of my text does not stand out enough so I will put an outline on the words to make them stand out, this will be either white or black.

Music Magazine Front Cover Second Plan

Front Cover Final Plan

In this plan I have changed the colour of the title so that it fits in with the rest of the front cover's text. This is now the best colours to use for my masthead as it is fitting with the image and with the rest of the text.

Second Draft Of Front Cover

Second draft

Now I have changed the colours of the titles on the page it works much better, but the title stands out too much in contrast to the other titles so I will change this so that the front cover is more symmetrical. Also the title is too much ahead of the image so I will bring the image in front of the title as that is what magazines will do if they are well known.

My First Steps Designing My Front Cover

My first step designing my front cover

First I decided on a few colours to get myself started in the creation of my front page, these were red, black, white and gold. I then realised that the colours of the different text would not work on my cover, so I decided that I should use less colours and that they should be able to work well together on the front cover. So I then decided to plan my design again in order to get the right colour scheme, so I played around with the different colours that I could use which would also match my front cover image.

Music Magazine Front Cover Plan

Original Front Cover Plan

This is my original plan for my front cover is my black and white music magazine front cover design. I feel this is an effective design as the logo is big and bold and will stand out over the rest of the text. Also, the main image will be big and focused in the centre of the cover with the smaller text running down the side and middle of the image, this is common with most magazines which I have noticed in my research of front covers. Another norm is that there will be a slogan to the bottom of the masthead which is catchy and reflects the magazine. Another norm for a magazine is to include a form of competition or free gift inside the magazine; this is used as a way to gain interest in the magazine. Other essentials will be the bar code and price. I will look at various colour designs for this to see which one is most eye-catching and relevant to the genre of music while keeping it to a strict colour scheme.

Music Magazine Double Page Analysis

Q Magazine Double Page Spread

As I have found out from researching double page spreads to analyse, most tend to keep the writing to one side and the image to the other. The image above shows this. However the article goes across to the next pages so we do not know how it is continued.

A lot of articles are based around questions and answers, especially in an interview which is more likely because we are looking at music magazines where the institution of it wants to give readers the up to date gossip on key figures that industry. However we do have to take into account that there are articles in music magazines which are not to the question and answer format but more as an informative piece or a debating one. Like the article above is more of an information piece or as it may be termed 'inside scoop', as it is a little like a gossip magazine sometimes as it is more of what has happened which may be unrelated to music.

The font used for the features headline is usually in a different font that makes it stand out. Also the serif font relates to the type of music the article is about. For instance like this one where it's about a contemporary music band the serif font is quirky and modern. Whereas if the music magazine was for rock music the serif font would take on a more gothic style.

The information on the band is all kept to the same font however there are changes in this when they put some larger quotes underneath the picture. These are little quotes from further in the text that they will not have got to if they are reading the article in order; this may entice them to continue reading.

The colours that have been chosen interlink with each other as the band members are all wearing black clothing. The headline uses these colours to tie it all in.

The picture of the band has been taken as a long shot. This means that the whole of someone’s body is viewable. Using a long shot gives the reader a sense that the band is dominant in a sense that their music is known world wide and reinforces the importance of this feature being about them.

I think this double page spread gives of a modern feel relatable to the magazine and the band it has interviewed. I think the use of serif font and colour work really well with the modernistic view as well.

Analysis Of A Contents Page

Q magazine contents page

Masthead -This lets the reader know what page there looking at so when flicking through, especially the contents page would be something most people would want to read. Most likely to be at the top of the page. In a bold serif font with a bold colour too. Q magazine places it's masthead at the top and uses a simple font face but that still manages to be bold and eye catching. This is because of the black font on a white background.

Features - Features are again formatted in a listed structure. This is much easier for a reader as it makes finding what you want fast and easy. This magazine has an every month section on its contents page similar to that of the regulars from the first magazine I looked at. This shows the magazine as being consistent and regular.

Layout - The way Q magazine sets out their contents is very different to that of other magazines as they have split it into two different pages, with one page for the features and the other for the regulars within the magazine. They have done this by using more pictures to help show as many storylines as possible so that it can help entice people to read the articles, as some people prefer to see pictures with an article instead of just writing.

Date - The date of publication is not present on this contents page. This is a strange because readers are normally reminded they have the right issue further into the magazine and not just on the front cover; however there is the issue number.

Contact Details - There is a website URL address for the magazine which will contain contact details but there I snot really any contact details.

Images - Over both of the pages there are several images that relate to the list of contents, the main image is the large one of Matt Bellamy (Muse) as he is the main image on the front cover.

Page Numbers - Page numbers are situated next to each feature headline. They are in a different colour than the headline itself, but are the same size of the font. There are also a page number on each picture that is related to the list whether it is a feature or a regular; this is situated in the corners of the pictures.

Music Magazine Front Cover Analysis

Q Magazine Front Cover

Language - The first thing we notice on any magazine cover is the image, if we don't like the images were more likely to move on to the next magazine on the shelf. Muse's front man Matt Bellamy who the main image is off is very well known as muse if often credited as one of Britain's best bands. They recently returned with a much anticipated album, it is things like this that makes them such a good choice to have as the cover of your magazine because everybody is interested in them. Keeping to the theme on contemporary music Matt Bellamy is however dressed in his bands own style of clothing, which is not in tune with the magazine normally. The mast head, font type and font colour are all simple yet effective too. This is crucial when targeting specific audiences because anything other than contemporary would be misleading and would loose some customers.

The camera shot used (Long shot) creates an eye catching statement look. This will automatically draw the reader’s attention, as he is displaying the typical view of a band member smashing up instruments.

The layout of this magazine is very simple, there is little unfilled space; this is very eye catching with the image clearly being what the institution wants you to focus on. The choices of colours used are typical to most magazines using black with a splash of a different colour to highlight they key parts of each headline.

Like other magazines 'Q' consists of a barcode and price on the front. This may be because they wish to let the reader decide on whether to buy it or not, based on the price because for some it would not be a consideration with the types of musical acts on the covers. Like the majority of magazines the month of publication and the year is printed in the lower left hand corner of the cover page.

Ideology- The ideology of this magazine seems to be to show an up to date, in the moment outlook on contemporary music. It does this by using well known people within the industry to cover their magazine as well as who they feature in it. Using a stylish, laddish, confident pose Matt Bellamy shows the right ideology for the magazine.

Institution - Q music magazines institution is Bauer Media, Bauer Media is a division of the Bauer Publishing Group; Europe’s largest privately owned publishing Group. The Bauer Publishing Group is a worldwide media empire offering over 230 magazines in 15 countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations.

Audience - Looking at the language of this music magazine front cover I think it's aimed at both men and woman who have an interest in all modern music. What leads me to believe this is that Matt Bellamy (Muse) who we can see in the main picture falls under this category. The cover lines are targeted at both a male and female audience. I think this magazine is aimed at more of an adult audience generally because of the topics they cover. Through reading the magazine myself I would say that is correct but it is too brief, I would say that the readers come from a B1 C1 group as the price is towards the expensive end of the scale for a magazine so would put off the students etc.

Representation - this magazine is representing well known, talked about figures within the music industry. By using figures like these for example Matt Bellamy (Muse), the representation of the magazine which is a positive take on what is happening at the moment within that industry is capable of happening.

Music Magazine Mood Board Double Page Spread

Music Magazine Mood Board Contents Page

Music Magazine Mood Board Front Cover