Mood Board.

Summary of Magazine Analysis

After studying various indie rock magazines, i have discovered that they all incorporate similar features. For example:

• The colour scheme for the cover text is often red, white and black, with the use of yellow where the text is required to really stand out.
• The main sell will feature quirky and original artists, who readers will aspire to be like.
• Cover lines and reversed out cover lines are used to give the cover variety; if it was kept plain and simple, the magazine would loose it's sense of edginess.
• Articles inside of the magazine are often supported with images of famous band members, giving the reader a better idea of what is being described in the article.

Analysis for Indie Music Magazines

NME

The title of the magazine is NME, which stands for ‘New Musical Express’. This is an ideal title for the magazine, as it immediately tells the reader that the magazine features up-to-date music. The masthead is fairly bold; however it is partially covered by a photo of two celebrities. The magazine can do this because it is reasonably well known, meaning that readers will most likely know what the magazine is called without having to see the entire title. The genre is indie-rock music, which is instantly apparent due to the image featured on the front and the names of the bands printed on the cover. If the magazine featured mainstream artists, it would mostly print articles about artists on major labels, as apposed to independent ones. The main sell of the magazine is a feature about ‘The Last Shadow Puppets’, who definitely do not convey a mainstream image. This is because they are dressed entirely in black and have quirky haircuts, which major artists would not do as they are not allowed that amount of versatility from their label. The cover features cover lines and reversed out cover lines, to give it variety. There is a sans serif font used, which keeps it fairly modern. The size and colour of the font also varies so it continues to stand out on the page; however the majority of the text follows a colour scheme of red, white and black. The ideal audience for this magazine would be radicals, aspirers and underachievers; mainly people who want to enjoy themselves and have unusual ideas. Their social values would be hedonistic or post-modernistic.

Q magazine
The title of the magazine is Q, which has probably been chosen because it’s short, snappy and easy to remember. The masthead is bold and easily recognisable to readers, which is effective because it will stand out from other magazines. The main sell is a feature of a mainstream band called ‘Coldplay’, likely to appeal to a large audience. It is important for the magazine to feature popular artists as it will increase magazine sales, helping fund the magazine. Although it features major artists like this, they are a lot more quirky than artists such as ‘Girls Aloud’, who are unlikely to be featured on the cover of this magazine. The font featured follows a similar colour scheme to NME; red, white and black with the use of yellow where the text is needed to really stand out. A sans serif font is also used here, because if a serif font was featured the magazine would come across as slightly old fashioned. There is a puff included at the top of the magazine, claiming that the magazine is ‘the essential music guide”. This is there because it will make audiences think that this is the best music magazine available for them to purchase. The target audience would be slightly more sophisticated than NME readers because it is a more expensive, upmarket magazine. As a result of this, the audience would include aspirers, achievers and radicals. Their social values would be mainly hedonistic, materialistic or post-modernistic.

Kerrang

Similar to the previous magazines, ‘Kerrang’ follows a colour scheme of red, white and black. These colours give the magazine an indie feel, appealing to the readers demographic. The masthead is white in a large sans serif font, standing out on the dark background. The font looks as if it has been ripped at the edges, making it look imperfect and rebellious. The main sell of the magazine is an article on a band called Paramore, with a photograph of the lead singer featured on the cover. She is punching towards the camera, making her look tough and independent; an attitude which typical readers would aspire to have. The ideal audience is similar to the magazines previously mentioned; radicals, aspirers and underachievers. People who read this magazine would typically prefer to enjoy themselves as apposed to working hard. The cover also features pictures of rock-band members who typical readers would be fans of. This encourages readers to pick up the magazine and buy it, as it will feature artists that they want to read about. Each of the artists featured portray an image of rebellion, which is what the whole magazine is designed to do. There are a fair amount of screamers featured on the cover, making the magazine seem more extreme.
The colour scheme changes slightly on the contents page, featuring black, white and yellow – also a common colour scheme within other indie-rock magazines. It continues to incorporate typical celebrities who readers would aspire to be, keeping their interest engaged. It also includes marketing strategies; in the bottom right hand corner there is a screamer informing readers that if they subscribe to

‘Kerrang’ they can get the magazine for a smaller price. This is effective because if the reader subscribes, they inevitably read every issue, making the magazine more popular. The font size varies on the contents page, featuring bolder, larger text where the reader’s attention is required more. As the magazine continues, it features advertisements which the ideal audience would be interested in looking at, which is beneficial to the companies advertising their product. This is also beneficial to Kerrang because they will earn money from featuring the product in their magazine. Also, if readers were also a fan of the product being advertised, they will assosiate it with the magazine making them more likely to buy it again.

The double page spreads are often fairly dark, fitting in with the general scheme of the magazine. The pictures of the celebrities continue to look rebellious, showing off tattoos and expensive guitars. The text in bold tells the reader what the article is about; the article following is in small text. The pictures represent what is said in the text, giving the reader a better idea of what is being described in the article.

Initial Magazine Analysis.

NME
NME “New Music Express” – immediately tells the reader what type of music is featured in the magazine.


The magazine contains fairly quirky artists, so it’s mainly an indie magazine.

The ideal audience would include radicals, aspirers and underachievers; mainly people who want to enjoy themselves and have unusual ideas. Their social values would be hedonistic or post-modernistic.

The cover appeals to the target audience by featuring quirky celebrities who readers would aspire to be like. They have short, snappy headlines featuring indie bands who would appeal to their ideal audience, encouraging them to open the magazine and read it. It follows a red, white and black colour scheme so the text stands out on the page.

Mixmag
Mixmag – the title indicates that the magazine contains dance music by including the shortened word for 'remix'.

The genre is dance music.

The ideal audience would be people who share the view “to play, or enjoy life now”. Readers would most likely be underachievers, hedonists or post-modernists.

The cover features a typically attractive woman, wearing (little) brightly coloured clothing. This would immediately attract a male audience, and also others who are interested in clubbing and going to parties. It features words and phrases such as “disco” and “the worlds biggest dance music magazine” which tells the reader what sort of music is featured in the magazine.

BBC Music
BBC Music – the title doesn’t inform the reader exactly what type of music the magazine contains, but it’s fairly formal and doesn’t contain any quirky play-on-words which tells the reader that it’s quite a sophisticated magazine.

The image on the front is of a famous musician holding a violin, telling the reader that the genre is classical music.

The audience would differ to the magazines mentioned above. Stereotypical readers would be succeeders, aspirers, achievers, traditionalists and possibly carers.

The cover appeals to the target audience by coming across as fairly sophisticated; the reader is not bombarded with multiple images, the simple image in the center is sufficient. There is not as much text featured on the cover as aposed to the other magazines, it's reasonably simple and plain. The woman featured on the front cover looks classy and sophistiated. This is achieved by the formal clothing and make-up she is wearing, conveying an image of expertise and 'upper class'.

"Campus Mango" Preliminary Student Magazine Evaluation

Our magazine is aimed at a student reader, which inspired the name "Campus Mango", which refers to college whilst being slightly comedic. The photograph of our model on the front is bright and friendly, making the magazine look approachable, encouraging the reader to pick up the magazine. We tried to include witty cover lines and strap lines to appeal to the demographic of our audience, whilst including articles which they may find interesting or useful. This is similar to other college magazines we've studied, which included each of these features.
However, we have created our magazine so it is slightly different to the typical college magazine; it is aimed at mainly a mature female audience, which is similar to a women’s magazine. Nevertheless, it is still slightly upbeat and includes humorous features which create a more college feel. We felt it quite simple to relate to the audience as it is aimed at people similar to us. To portray this, we used language and font which was easy to read, and included topics that we felt we could relate to as the ideal audience.

Through creating the college magazine, I have learnt how to use ‘Photoshop’ more effectively, thus I am now able to edit and improve a photograph. We also used a programme called ‘Quark Xpress’, which I found was a useful tool for creating a contents page. I hadn’t used the programme prior to this project, and I have now learnt how to successfully arrange text and pictures on a page in order to make it look professional.

"Campus Mango" Contents Page

This is the contents page for our student magazine.

"Campus Mango" Magazine Cover

This is the cover of our student magazine.

Contents Page Research

Contents page links:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2048/2175964086_25f79a70ca.jpg
http://beauchampcollegemedia.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/contents-page-11.jpg
http://www.ephraimgregor.com/images/print/libertycont.jpg

Each of the contents pages i've viewed have featured a bold title to make it clear to the reader what's on the page. They all contain various lists, as the contents page is designed to tell the reader what's in the issue. I find that the most effective contents pages are the ones with a simple colour scheme, as it doesn't overwhelm the reader with a busy layout and discourage them from looking at the page.
The language used throughout is simple and straight to the point, in order to engage the readers interest without giving too much information away. On some contents pages however, there are eye catching subtitles followed by a small amount of explainitry text which i think is effective because it gives away a little more detail about what is to follow in the magazine.
On the contents pages i've viewed, they each contain simular fonts to those featured on the front cover. The information given on the contents page usually links to the front cover, and the colour scheme is often simular.

AS Media Preliminary Project

I have found a student magazine called "The Eye" from Lewisham College in London, which I think is effective for a wider college audience because the content is varied.
Features included are things such as: music, job oppurtunities, nights out etc.
I can take ideas from this such as their use of colour; it's bold and stands out on the page, entising the readers interest.

http://www.lewisham.ac.uk/media/122445/eye%20issue%208.pdf

I came up with this audience profile inspired by student magazines I've previously looked at:
- You would rather live off pot noodle for a week than cook your own food.
- Nothing is more terrifying to you than not having enough clothes to last you the week of college.
- You refuse to go a week without updating your iPod.
- You feel it is completely necessary to check your facebook page everytime you log on to a computer.
- You claim to shop at Topshop, but somehow half your wardrobe has a Primark label.
- A night out down the park with friends translates to your parents as "a girly night in".

College Magazine Analysis.

Magazines Used:

• "Whats On" - http://www.utsunion.uts.edu.au/images/student-magazine/coverWhatsOned8web.jpg
• "State College" - http://home.comcast.net/~tberner2003/scmcover.jpg
• "Campus Life" - http://www.campuslifemagazine.ca/images/campus_life_magazine_cover_spring2008_large.gif

All three magazine covers have simular features; articles such as how to find the best college wardrobe and top places to visit. The mastheads are common throughout, having similar fonts and layouts. The masthead on each also fits in with the colour scheme used on the rest of the page. For example, on "Campus Life" the colour of the text on the page uses the same colours as those featured on the background image.

I would prefer to read "Campus Life" because its more approachable; the person in the photograph appeals to my demographic by appearing friendly and genuine. The picture and layout itself I find quirky and original, plus there is a colour scheme which links the content of the magazine together, making it easier to digest.

The typical reader who would pick up "Campus Life" would be a post-modernist student, who would typically have an interest in music. These people would most likely have a moto or mantra, like "to have, to be, to play." The reader would also have simular fashion sense to that of the guy in the photograph.

Audience Profiles.

Bella Magazine.

• Aimed at aspirers and underachievers; people who want a better life or wish they were suceeders.
• For people who are post-modernists and hedonists.
• Mainly C1 or C2; people who are inbetween the middle class and working class scale.
• Aimed at middle aged woman.