Questionnaire Results WIP

Here are my results from my questionnaire. I asked 20 males and 20 females and created graphs for my results.

Evaluation Question One ~ WIP

1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My magazine ‘RockLegion’ follows the codes/conventions of real media products rather closely, which I feel is a very good thing. I think that if I had tried to challenge the codes and conventions too much it may not have looked like a magazine. I didn’t want to risk my magazine being so different that it wasn’t recognisable as a magazine but at the same time I didn’t want my magazine to look like every other magazine out there though so I added my own ‘style’ into the main design theme.

In my reserach I looked at a magazine called 'RockSound' and decided that I liked the general layout etc of the magagazine, so I decided to work from this for my magazine.

Firstly on my front cover I conform to the standard conventions by having masthead, a puff, a main headline and strapline, a main image, an issue number, a barcode and a price. These all make it actually recognisable as a magazine and therefore they are necessary. I also have coverlines which is something that a lot of magazines have, and I felt that these were necessary as the type of magazine I was aiming to make seem to have these. I also have a strip across the top of the page with some text that will catch the reader’s attention as this is also quite common.
I have gone against the conventions slightly because I used a profanity which isn’t often seen on the front cover of a magazine, but I chose this because it would shock the audience and grab their attention, making them want to read it. It is quite a risk but I was willing to take this risk because of the shock value to the audience. Obviously it will be on every front cover that the magazine ever has so I decided to sensor the word by using an asterix in place of the ‘U’ in the word used.
This is the only way on the front cover that I have challenged conventions. Everything else is in a very similar place to other magazines, the masthead at the top, the barcode etc in the bottom corner, and the main headline at the centre of the page.
The main image on the front cover is also conforming to conventions as it is a mid-shot. The two people are facing the camera, in-front of a plain wall as the background. It is a well lit up photo, I took it during the middle of the day. But, I have upped the contrast and brightness just to make it look better.

Secondly, with my contents page I have also conformed to most conventions. I have a page title, an editorial, and obviously a list of contents. I have 2 lists of contents though, one of the main features in the magazine and one of the regular contents of the magazine. This is because it makes it much easier for the reader to find what it is they are looking for. The two separate contents lists are also separated by a thick white line which stands out against the plain black background. All of the writing is in white, except for the magazine logo and the editors ‘signature’ which both have a red ‘stroke’ around them, the ‘signature’ still in white but the logo is written in black, so it looks as though it is just a red outline of the logo.
I only have a couple of small images on my contents page because I felt that putting too many on the page would make it look very cluttered, messy and therefore unprofessional. I have an image of myself, as the editor next to the editorial which is very normal with editorials, I also have an image of my main cover band and an image associated with another main article in the magazine. I feel that this is enough images, as having loads of images would make them seem irrelevant and it would’ve been very hard to work out which one was associated with which headline.
I have gone a little bit against the conventions of the genre of magazine I am creating because I have quite a large editorial, and sometimes in this genre of magazine they don’t have an editorial at all. But as it is a recognised part of many magazines I felt that including one would be a good idea.

Contents Page - Analysis WIP

This is my final contents page for my ROCKLEGION magazine.

I created it in Adobe Photoshop CS4.

It follows a very basic colour scheme, of black, white and red. This is very common in the kind of magazine that I was trying to create in this project.

I only have a couple of small images on this page as I didn't want it to look cluttered with images like some magazines out there (top of the pops for example)

Double page spread - Analysis WIP

Magazine front cover - Analysis

This is my final design for the front cover of my magazine. I created it usind 'Adobe Photoshop CS4'.

The first thing I am going to talk about is the magazine name - Rock Legion.
After looking at many other magazines I found that several used the main music genre that they focus on in the title 'RockSound' and 'Top of The Pops' for example. So, I decided that the basic loose genre of music I wanted my magazine to focus on was Rock. So that was a starting point for my title, but I didn't think that just 'Rock' would be a very good magazine name, so I decided to add another word with it that would describe what the magazine was about - a coming together or music and fans, news from the musicians to the fans. I came up with many words; 'Army', 'Club', 'World' and a few others but I eventually settled on 'Legion'. I decided to use this word because it sounds slightly elite and like something private, something that is only for the people who understand it. I felt this works well because it makes the magazine sound like it has the only important information and it gives the readers the feeling that they are part of something, the music brings them together and the magazine is bringing them the information on the music. Like a private organisation almost.

So once I had decided on the title, I had to pick a font that would reflect the theme of the magazine even further. I originally designed a magazine logo on photoshop using one of the standard fonts (this is in an earlier blog) but I didn't like it and when I asked others what they thought, most said that they thought it cheapened the look of the magazine, so I changed it. None of the available fonts on the school system worked very well so I went onto the website dafont.com and found a font called 'BlackLeafs'. I felt that this reflected the music well, and so I got it downloaded onto the school system. Once I'd type out the name and got it to a font size that I felt worked well, I decided that it looked a little flat, so I used the blending options on the layer and added a 'Drop Shadow' and 'Bevel and Emboss', I felt this made it stand off of the page and look more 3D. I asked a few people to look at the new 'logo' and they all said it was alot better than the previous one. So I kept it.

The next thing I want to talk about is the main image on the cover, the image of the 2 girls. They are from the main cover band 'wHore' and I have followed convention here in actually having the main band on the front cover. I did consider going against conventions and having something else completely on the cover. One of the ideas I came up with was to have a kind of collage of images of all the main bands and features in the magazine, done in a neat and ordered way, but I decided this was too far from what is normally seen and so I kept with just having one main image of the main band. This works because it catches the attention of the audience and makes them want to read the magazine.
This wasn't my original cover image idea, I was originally going to use a high angle shot of the whole band (which I have talked about in an earlier blog). But during my research I found that a lot of magazines actually use an image of only one or two members of the band, and leave the whole band shot for the actual article. So I decided to do something similar.
I chose an image of the 2 girls pulling 'aggressive' faces because this is very common in the sort of magazine that I am aiming to create. I chose to have them pulling faces because they are in a female fronted band and this sort of band causes 'controversy' in the music scene, as bands are 'traditionally' male fronted, so these faces are like them fighting off all the criticism from people. I chose to have them both wearing leather jackets as I felt it brought a unity into the band, and enforced an image that they are trying to portray. They are both women in leather jackets which makes them look 'stronger' or 'tougher', but they aren't dressed in an entirely masculine way which portrays the feminine image at the same time as showing their 'power'. I chose these 2 girls particularly because they both have heavy side swept fringes which is very common throughout the bands in the 'genre' of music that my target audience listen to, and image is very important in this scene too, so they needed to have the right style of clothing and the right kind of hair. Everything right down to the eye make-up worn in the image was chosen because it is important to my target audience. I felt it was very important to create the right image for the band that was appropriate to the reader.

I have also taken the rule of thirds into consideration here, having the main focus of the image in the central horizontal third of the page. This is good because the eye is typically drawn to the centre of the page.

The next thing is the coverlines. They are written in a much smaller font than nearly everything else on the page (except for the information by the barcode and the issue number). This is because even though they are important, they aren't the main feature, and if I had written them too big they would've covered too much of the image and detracted from the main coverline. They are written in a simple font (Orator std) which is a standard photoshop font, and they have alternating coloured 'strokes' around them, because when I first put them over the image you couldn't see half of the writing. The purple stroke is actually taken from one of the girls hair colour to help tie everything together better, because I think that using similar colours to the image would tie it into the image better and make the coverlines blend into the cover more, which also helps the main coverline stand out even more.

The main coverline (which also happens to be the name of the main band) is written in a font called 'Bugebol Huomenna' which was also downloaded from dafont.com, which I decided to use as the band's logo font. I also used it to type the strapline(Welcome to the party) and "They're Back:" because it ties the three together. On all 3 I have used a red 'stroke' around the writing to make it stand out. I have done this because red is the first colour that the eye sees so the eye is instantly drawn to it to see what it's about.

Next, the magazine 'puff' is in a font called '28 days later' which is yet another font that has been downloaded from dafont.com. I used this because it was very similar to the magazine title font, but I didn't want to use the same font because most magazines use a similar font for their puff, not the same one. The 'puff' content is "Pure F*cking Noise". Obviously I have used an asterix for the U because swearing on the front cover of a magazine isn't seen as socially acceptable, but swearing is common within the music that I am covering in this magazine, so I felt that I should put something relevent to the scene. The actual sentence came about when I was talking to a friend and I played them some of my music. They described it as 'Pure Loud Noise' but I didn't think that loud would be a very good word to use so I substituted it. I have placed it underneath the main magazine title as this is 'normal' for magazines, and general media print.

Finally, the barcode is right at the bottom of the page in the right hand corner, and is rather small because it is an unimportant necessity. I have written the price and the Month of the issue in very small writitng (in Orator std font) very small above it, and the issue number is very small underneath the 'puff' of the magazine.

DPS image - not edited

This is the original photo used for my dps image.

The only edit that I have made is I have flipped it, and accidently saved it over the original.

I think that this would have also made a good front cover image, but I felt that the image I used for the front cover worked alot better, because I tried them both.

This image takes up the whole right hand page of the double page spread. It will have a quote across the middle of it.

Questionnaire

I created a questionnaire with some of my idea's to ask people what they thought would look best. I asked an even number of males and females as I am planning to aim at both, and they were all between the ages of 16 and 25, because that is my magazines main target audience.

Here are the questions I used:

1. Which of these colour schemes do you prefer?

A. (Red, Black, White)
B. (Yellow, Blue, Black)
C. (Green, Black, Yellow)

2. Do you prefer to see a single image taking up the whole cover, or do you like to see lots of images on the cover?

A. Full Cover Image
B. Many Images

3. Do you prefer to see the whole magazine title, or have part of it covered by the main image?

A. See full title
B. Partially Covered Title

4. Do you like to see lots of text on the front cover or just a few main coverlines?

A. Lots of Text
B. Main coverlines

5. On the contents page of a magazine, which of these do you prefer?

A. Lots of text, no images
B. Lots of text, one main image
C. Lots of text, lots of images
D. Little text, lots of images
E. Little text, a few images

6. If a magazine has something free with it, like a CD or posters, are you more likely to buy it?

A. Yes
B. No

7. When reading an interview, which of these do you prefer?

A. Lots of text, one main image
B. Lots of images, lots of text
C. More images than text

8. How much would you be willing to pay for a monthly music magazine?

A. £1.50 - £2.00
B. £2.10 - £3.00
C. £3.10 - £3.99
D. £4.00 - £4.99

Editing the images

This is the original image of 'Dakota' (left) and 'Delilah' (right) from the band. I decided though that 'Dakota' looked a bit dull and darker than 'Delilah' so I used the 'quick select' tool in photoshop and cut her from the image and pasted her onto a new layer. I then played around with the contrast and brightness until I was happy with it.






This is the image after I've edited 'Dakota' and layed her back over the other layer. I may still play around with the contrast and brightness as she now looks too bright compared to the other girl and you can tell the image has been photoshopped. I also edited the contrast of the original image ever so slightly to make it slightly lighter.

Images of my band WIP

This is one of the images I took of my 'band'.

They are pulling faces because they are in a 'pop-punk' band and this is the standard sort of thing seen when this kind of band are in magazines. Also there are references to riots and parties so, the faces are meant to be slightly intimidating.

Here is an image of the whole band taken together. This is also quite a standard photo, seen in many magazines. I will either use this on the cover of the magazine or as the main image on my double page spread

WIP

Rocksound Contents Page Analysis WIP

This is the contents page from Rocksound magazine.

I am analysing this as Rocksound has a very similar target audience to the Audience that I am aiming my magazine at so it is most relevent.

This isn't a particularly good example of effective use of space as the image takes up most of the page. Also there is barely any text on the page, which means that the person is going to have to look through the magazine to find what they are actually looking for.

This, I feel, is a flaw in the design, and I think that they should have used the space far more effectively than they have done. The picture is definitely the biggest problem in my eyes. It wastes alot of space that could have been used for more information about what's in the magazine.

That aside, it is well layed out, with the information in white, which stands out against the black background, and the main heading is in red, along with the page numbers. Apart from the skin, the only 3 colours used on the page are black, white and red. These are very simples colours that work well together.

Black can be used to connote a very serious and conventional mood, or it can be used to portray a very sophisticated, mysterious and sexy mood.

Red can connote danger and anger, or it can connote passion and love, either way it conjurs up strong emotion.

White connotes peace, cleanliness, innocence and purity. It creates a peaceful emotion, quite subtle and relaxed.

To look at the colour's different connotations shows that even though they work together well, they are clashing in meanings, and creating a messy mood, with passion, purity and sophistication all in one place. But they work well together.

School Magazine

This is the final screen print of my school magazine.

It is made in Microsoft publsher and I used a primary image for the main image.

The logo in the corner of the page is a magazine logo design, in the colours of the school uniform.

I have a picture of a sixth form student coming out of the main entrance because I felt it was important to have something related to the school on the front cover of the magazine. And it fits with the main headline and strapline which is about students getting their results.

All of the writing is white because it stands out the most above the background. Plus if I had tried to use too many font colours to make each thing stand apart from everything else, it would've looked too cluttered and unprfessional.

I have things related to the school in the coverlines, things that I think would be important in the eyes of the students, as they are obviously the target audience for this magazine, they are the majority of the school, so directing it at the teachers would make it less appealing for the students to be reading.

Double Page Spread background design

This is the design for my background of my double page spread.

It is fairly simple, I set the dimensions on photoshop to A3 size (but edited them to landscape rather than portrait)

I then 'imported' the 'ROCK LEGION' logo in from my front cover and resized it, then added in some page numbers in the same font.









I used the 'brush' tool on photoshop, and '2500' pixels and clicked over the page, originally intending the whole background to be block black, but it came out like an actual paint bursh print. I did this all over the page and decided that I actually prefer this effect to my original plan.







It looks smokey and it looks abit like Zebra print, which is a style of print quite commonly worn by my 'target audience'.










But this caused a problem, I could no longer see my text against the black. Originally I was going to resolve this by making the text white but I found that it was still partially illegible, so I decided to add a white 'glow' around the text.









I did this my right clicking on my layer in photoshop and going into the 'blending options'. I chose the 'Stroke' option and added a white stroke, size: 10px.


This made the writing stand out against the background.



The last problem I think I will have with this layout is the actual text itself, but I think I will use either a pink or red font to make it stand out from the background and make sure it is leggible. This would be because Black, White and Red work together very well as an effective colour scheme. I will either use this idea or I will put the text into boxes over the background, and have the boxes in block black so I can use white font. But I will decide this at the time.

Magazine cover mock up (photoshop)

This is a very basic first draft of my music magazine front cover. Obviously, I need to add some cover lines, a strap line for the main article and an image but this is the basic composition.

The black band at the top of the page is for 'exclusive' information that will make people want to buy the magazine.

The wHore writing is the name of my cover band, the writing being what I have decided is their band logo.

FINISH THIS LATER.

Planning of magazine layout 3

This is basically the first layout I created but I have tweaked it according to advice given to me by a fellow student

FINISH THIS LATER

Interview content for DPS

Three's a crowd...
...Four's a RIOT!

Following the massive success of their debut album ‘They Call Us Pretenders’, wHore are back with a brand new album, and new member Delilah to rip up the scene once again...

“Guys, could we get down to business now please?” After stepping onto wHore’s tour-bus fifteen minutes ago, I finally got the attention of the band for long enough to get them to sit down. After a couple more pillows are thrown, we begin.
Since forming in late 2006, wHore have made a massive impact on the music scene, in more ways than one. They smashed up the stage at the Kerrang! Awards when their debut album ‘They Call Us Pretenders’ won ‘Best Album’, and they also scooped the ‘Best British Band’ and ‘Best Newcomer’ awards, and caused controversy with their video’s for ‘Lady-Man’ and ‘In Her Heart’. After disappearing off the scene for a year (apart from popping up at the odd raucous party) they have returned with their second album and a new member. “Delilah is a brilliant addition to the band, now that we have her in the band I can’t see how we coped before, she’s like a councellor, best friend and sister to me, as well as being one of the best guitarists I think I’ve ever come across.” Dakota is slouched right back on the largest sofa in the tourbus surrounded by the rest of the band. Despite the childish game being played when we arrived, the band have definitely matured since I last interviewed them.
RL: So Delilah, what’s it like being in one of the most Raucous live bands on the scene?
Delilah: “Oh my gosh, where do I begin! Haha, these guys are amazing. I love the live shows, going out in front of a crowd and playing the music I love to our fans. What could be better than having fun for a living? They are all absolutely mental, and definitely some of the best friends I have EVER had.”
RL: Awesome, so guys, how’s life on the tour going?
Dakota: “It’s a riot! Haha. Every night is completely different and the crowd are always incredible, we love our fans because without them, our gigs wouldn’t happen.”
Josh: “I love touring, because apart from actually recording the songs, the gigs are the most rewarding things. The thousands of different faces we see every night is amazing, to think that so many people want to listen to our music. I remember thinking when I was younger that I wanted to be in a band one day, and here I am, it’s great.”
De: “When we first started touring it was amazing, I couldn’t believe how many people were there. I mean as a fan of the band before I’d been to see them but it’s just not the same. Standing on the stage in front of so many people... it really is the best feeling.”
RL: So, what do you crazy lot get up to when you aren’t on stage, because obviously you’re well known for your party lifestyle...
Da: “HA! I love that. We’re actually incredibly normal when we come offstage... we have a few odd before show rituals and of course we LOVE to party, but we’re young, who doesn’t love partying when they’re young. When we’re at home we just play on the xbox and stuff...”
De: “Yeah, and the wii. When I joined the band I’d never even heard of this game ‘Monster Hunter’ but now it’s like, my favourite game of all time, except guitar hero of course!”
Ryan: “She LOVES Monster Hunter... and Just Dance actually... that is ALL those two ever play on!”, he gestures at Delilah and Dakota, both reclined on the sofa.
So the band have matured a little it would seem, but there is still much to be discussed. Josh has gone to grab us all drinks and is singing ‘Hallelujah’ over in the kitchen, so while he’s busy I decided to ask about the rumors of relationships that have been floating around about the band.
RL: Dakota, we’ve heard that you and Josh have been seen out in restaurants together and were also spotted holding hands at Download this year… Is there any depth to this closeness?




This is the content of my main article interview. It finishes on a loose end because the interview would continue onto the next dps.

Planning - mock up of music magazine layout 2

This is the second mock up of my magazine front cover.

I have moved pretty much everything around from the first mock up. This one is 'inspired' by NME magazine front covers.

I have still got the black strip across the top of the page and the masthead is still at the top but I have moved it to one side rather than having it right across the page.

Also my main article title is on a slant right across the centre of the page so it instantly grabs your attention. The strapline is underneath at the same angle to show that the two are related. It would probably also be in the same font as the main article title to link the two more closely.

The main image takes up the whole page and there is no cluttering of other photos, it is simply one photo of the main band that the cover article is about. This links everything that is large together very well and because the main title goes across the image you can clearly see that the image is what the title is about.

The other 'coverlines' are at the bottom of the page in a thin coloured band, this is because they are less 'important' than the main article and therefore don't need as much space on the cover.

I have followed conventions pretty closely on this front cover, right down to the positioning of the barcode and other such information which has been kept nice and small in the bottom right hand corner of the page.

Magazine cover band

I am going to create a band that is of similar genre to Paramore, maybe even with a similar image.

I am doing this because they are a very popular band and are quite regularly featured in the sort of magazine that I read, and that I am trying to produce by the end of this project.

I like the style of music that they play and also the fact that the band is fronted by a woman which is something very uncommon throughout all genres of music, especially 'rock' music because it is a majoritively male dominated genre. This makes them stand out from some of the other bands around and it makes them different. Also, I like their image, they do have a collective band image but it doesn't particularly conform to a certain stereotype and neither do the people in the band.

So I have created a slightly 'pretentious' band called 'wHore'

They are Female fronted, like Paramore, and have 2 Male members. Female vocalist and guitarist, and a Male Bass Guitarist and Drummer. A very generic four piece white british band.

If this were a real magazine then I would be using this band as they have a good image, they are a popular, established band with a large fanbase and therefore people would want to read about them.

Planning - mock up of music magazine layout

Having researched other magazines and their front covers, I have made a few mock up layout for each part of the magazine that I have to make.

This is the first front cover mock up.

For this I have basically used the generic layout for the front cover of Rocksound magazine. I feel that it is a very good layout, and very effective in selling the magazine because it's so simple.

Unlike other magazines, the front cover isn't crammed full of information, but the space is still used effectively.

I feel that the fact that the main image takes up most of the page is quire effective as it catches the attention of the audience. Also I think that only one image on the cover, apart from possibly some VERY small other images, is most effective. Too many images becomes confusing to the eye and sometimes makes the cover look cluttered, messy and unprofessional (like top of the pops magazine for example)

Preliminary task - contents page

This is my contents page mock up for my preliminary task.

I have kept it very simple as it's onyl for a school magazine so it's not going to be some big expensive publication that needs to look completely professional

obviously it still needs to look professional, but it's not going to be sold in stores, it's going to be an internal magazine, so it can even have a more teenage, direct appeal to it as the students are all within a very close age range etc.

Logo Change

I have come to the decision that I don't like the original logo that I designed for my magazine on photoshop, therefore I am going to change it.
I found a font on the internet (on dafont.com) that I prefer to anything else I've seen and it is appropriate to the type of magazine I am using.

I don't like my original logo because it looks... unprofessional because of the colour scheme and the fact that there is quite a lot 'going on' in the logo. I feel it should be far more simple than it is and therefore I am going to change it.

I asked some of my friends what they thought of it and they agreed with me.

finish l;aterrgnhrdlhitrl

MOBO awards winners 2010

So, last night (20th October) the MOBO awards took place at Liverpool's Echo Arena.
The ceremony is the biggest Urban Music Awards ceremony and always covered highly by the media.
This year Tinie Tempah and JLS were the biggest winners taking home 2 awards each.

The full list of winners is:

Best Newcomer - Tinie Tempah
Best UK R&B / Soul Act - Plan B
Best UK Hip Hop / Grime Act - Professor Green
Best International Act - Eminem
Best Reggae Act - Gyptian
Best Album - JLS, 'JLS'
Best Video - Tinie Tempah ft. Labrinth; Frisky
Best UK Act - JLS
Best Song - N-Dubz ft Mr. Hudson; Playing With Fire
Best African Act - K'Naan
Best Jazz Act - Empirical
Best Gospel Act - Guvna B
Lifetime Achievement - Billy Ocean
BeMOBO - Merseyside Dance Initiative

so overall, a rather successful evening.

Metal Hammer Double Page Spread Analysis (metal hammer issue no.210)

Metal Hammer is a music magazine that focuses on one particular genre of music, which as the name suggests, is metal. This means that it has quite a niche market, with the main audience being male although I wouldn't say there is a particular age group that it is aimed at. Metal Hammer is slightly bigger than A4 so they have quite a lot of space to each page. This means that, as with this double page spread, they can afford to use a whole page just for a photo. I feel this is also quite effective because the photo catches the reader’s eye, and if it is a band / artist they like then they will want to read the interview.

The actual layout itself is relatively simple; Title of article and the band name is at the top of the left page, the ‘strap line’ underneath these, the article is split into two columns under this, and the whole right page is taken up by an image of the Vocalist of the band, with a quote across the middle of it. I feel this is an effective layout as the article doesn’t look too daunting to the reader because the amount of text compared to the space available is relatively small.

The image dominates the double page spread and, together with the title, takes up about seventy-five percent of the available space. This does seem slightly wasteful of the space but, the text is rather small and therefore quite a lot can fit into the remaining area.


The colour scheme of the article is also very simple, using black, red and a variation of burnt orange colours, to go with the title ‘TRIAL BY FIRE’. Black, in this ‘setting’ connotes darkness, and possibly hiding, which is backed up by the fact that Oli has his hand put up to the light which means a shadow is cast across his face, this gesture could also mean that he doesn’t really want to be interviewed, but as he is looking straight at the camera, this effect is lost. Also he could be shielding himself from the ‘fire’ that is alluded to in the title, the fire causing the light that he is blocking out with his hand. They have also focused alot on the fact that Oli is in a dark room and there is alot of shadow used in the image and all the rest of the page is also very dark suggesting that he is the only thing lighted up by the light and he doesn't want to be seen.

NME cover analysis

NME is a music magazine which covers mainly indie and alternative rock bands, but it also covers some solo artists and the new wave of 'folk' music

FINISH THIS LATER

Rock Sound Front Cover Analysis

This is the front cover of Rocksound magazine. Rocksound is a monthly magazine aimed at 16-24 year olds although there are readers from younger and older age groups. I wouldn't say that it has a 'niche' market as such, seeing as it covers quite a wide range of music, even though the name of the magazine suggests it only focuses on rock music. Rocksound is slightly larger than A4 in size, so it has quite alot of space to play with, but as this is the front cover, they can't really afford to waste much of it, which is something you can see they are aware of from this cover in particular.

To start, the main image takes up the majority of the space which means that they actually don't have much space left to waste, and after adding in the info strip at the top of the page and the Magazine title, the front cover is rather full. They have all males in the cover photo, which is quite common for this magazine.

The title of the main article; 'WE REDICT A RIOT', is in large white writing so it stands out over the image, as most of the clothing worn in the photo is dark. The writing appears to be 'smashed' like a mirror when it has been broken, which fits with the 'RIOT' part of the title. It also fits with the image, the fact that the men are all holding things commonly associated with riots and violence; a baseball, a broken bottle, a megaphone, a brick and a chain. They are also all pulling rather 'aggressive' faces which also fits with the 'RIOT' part of the title. Alot of the front cover actually compliments the main article title; from objects and facial expressions in the photo to other words used, such as 'rampage', and the use of the exclamation mark and the 'smashed' writing. All of this reflects the 'bad boy' image that these bands all pride themselves in having, which appeals to teenage girls because they find it attractive and teenage boys because they aspire to be like the people in these bands one day. As they all play a very similar style of music, the image of the bands is very similar, and this appeals to the wider audience of the magazine because they may only see one face that they recognise on the cover but if they see other people with a similar image associated with them on the cover then they will buy the magazine because they want to find out more about the band and their music, so this is also good for the band as it may increase their fanbase. They have probably all been grouped together on the front cover because they are playing a gig or festival together, and Rocksound have done an article on it.

On the front cover, there are three main fonts used; the main title font (which is also used for most of the other writing on the cover), a handwriting style font, and the 'smashed' font.

Double page spread analysis - rocksound; murderdolls.

[Rocksound magazine is a music magazine aimed at people (on average) between the ages of 16 and 30, although people from outside this range do read it too. It's audience is male and female, and i dare say that more females actually read it than males.]

This is a double page spread from Rocksound Magazine. Here the layout is quite simple, the title of the article is at the top of the left page, as well as the bands name. There is a photo of the band across the 2 pages but mostly on the left page and the interview overlays the photo on the right page. There is a quote enlarged, cutting across the interview with a white 'box' around it to make it stand out.

The title is stylised in the same way that Rocksound tend to stylise their titles, to the magazine rather than to suit the band. This usually works with less 'heavy' bands, like in this instance. The 'distorted', 'distressed' writing suits the bands style and fits with the magazines generic layout.

The red block behind the main article makes the writing stand out. The colour red is a warm colour which connotes love but also evil. It can be seen as representing cupid but also it is the colour of the devil, which is more likely to be the reason it has been used here, looking at the band's image. It also connotes danger and power.

The background of this article is black and both of the people in the photo are wearing black clothes, aswell as both having black hair and wearing black make-up. Black connotes Death, sadness and Depression. This all goes together with the bands image which seems to be rather morbid looking.

Neither of them are smiling, there isn't really much expression in their faces atall, which suggests that maybe something has happened that they aren't too happy about.

The title of the article is 'Two's company' which could suggest that the reason that they aren't too happy is because maybe they have lost a band member, or maybe they have formed this band from another band...

Double Page Spread template 2

This is my second double page spread template.

Here I have the main title at the top of the left page of the double page spread. The strapline is underneath, which is typical in nearly all magazines, and then the main article text takes up the rest of the page. The whole of the right page is taken up by a large image of the whole band and there is a quote taken from the interview across the image.

Double Page Spread Template 1

This is my first template for my double page spread

FINISH THIS LATER

This is my logo for my magazine. I have used the font 'Viner Hand ITC' and edited it heavily in photoshop.

I have made it red and black because those are colours commonly associated with the sort of people that I am aiming my magazine at. Also, red is the first colour the eye sees, and it connotes love and danger, so it catches the eye of the audience.

Paramore get sued...

According to several sources, Paramore are being sued by band "Tenspoke Indies" as they claim that parts of their song 'Starlighter' was used in Paramore's song 'The Only Exception'.

The band claim that the song includes parts of their song; "including but not limited to, similarities in the introductions, arrangements, the chord progression, the key, the melody, the lyrical theme, they rhythm and tempo of both songs."

...well, time for court...

Elle Magazine Cover Analysis

Elle is a fashion magazine that covers some high street clothes but mostly catwalk and couture fashion. It is aimed at females, aged 16-45 who are into fashion. It also covers music, literature, film and fashion 'icons' amongst other things.

This is the latest issue (November 2010) and on the front cover it features Alexa Chung, who is quite a well known fashion icon, due to her quirky, British dress sense.

The colours on the front of the magazine are 'monochrome' which makes it look very simple and is easy on the eyes. It doesn't make the magazine stand out in itself but when on a shelf with lots of other magazine that are all brightly coloured, it will stand out because of it's plain colour scheme.

Alexa's outfit goes with the colour scheme on the front cover as she is wearing Black and a grey/blue (navy) top with a white colour, which will have been specifically chosen to go with the particular issues colour scheme.

The fact that they have only used three colours makes the cover look very professional and makes it easier to look at, plus the fact that the three colours used are so close to each other (white+black=grey) makes it seem nice and simple. Choosing these three colours is really quite a safe option.

Grey, is a very 'elegant', neutral colour, that is very balanced and can be associated with being quite moody. It is also seen, like black, as a colour of mourning and as a colour of formality.

It is made up of black and white.

Black, is a very 'conservative' colour and has conflicting connotations. It can be used to portray a moody, serious, conventional image but it can also be seen as very 'sexy' and sophisticated.

It also goes well with ALMOST every colour.

White, is a very 'pure' and clean colour, and it connotes cleanliness, purity and innocence. Like Black it goes well with most colours.

These three colours used together put across quite a moody and sophisticated image, which is what the general feel of this magazine is. It does this very well I feel.

Lostprophets in... Dersingham?!

Welsh Rockers 'Lostprophets' have recently been in Dersingham, writing songs for their new album. Not as secretive as other artists, members of the band were spotted wandering around the small Norfolk village and stopped to talk to their fans. They were also spotted in shops in the nearby town of King's Lynn.

They were polite enough to stop and talk to fans, taking photos and having general conversations.

When asked why they had chosen Dersingham, Ian Watkins replied that 'we pointed to a random place on a map and this is the place we pointed to.'

Somehow, this doesn't surprise me...



anyway, the band left last week and the fans are now eagerly anticipating the new album... I wonder if there will be a little Norfolk influence in there somewhere...



(I've got a brand new combine harvester...)

Music Magazine name [so I don't forget]

I have decided to call my magazine "Rock Legion" as it is going to be a rock magazine

'Rock' simply because it is going to be a magazine covering all kinds of rock music, from 'indie' through to... not quite metal, more heavy rock.

And 'Legion' because the word suggests a coming together of people. It suggests that the readers are united in their taste and opinion and that this magazine will 'satisfy' their taste. Legion is also quite an 'elitist' sounding word, so it suggests that this magazine is the best and that it's readers are therefore also the best.

So the name altogether suggests that this magazine is a coming together of the best music and fans that there is.

Gaga Guilty Pleasure?

Listener Data from Last.fm has shown that, despite her huge popularity and success in the industry, she is both one of the most listened to AND most deleted artists around. Fans are deleting her songs from their public playlists to keep their 'listening stealth' causing 7 of her songs to be in the top ten most deleted tracks.




Last.fm top ten deleted songs:

1. Lady Gaga - Alejandro
2. Lady Gaga - PokerFace
3. Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
4. Lady Gaga - Paparazzi
5. Ke$ha - TiK ToK
6. Lady Gaga - LoveGame
7. Lady Gaga - Just Dance
8. Justin Bieber - One Time
9. Ke$ha - Your Love Is My Drug
10. Lady Gaga - Monster

Figures on the site (Last.fm) show that people are listening to her music in their droves as her songs regularly appear in the top listed tracks, but they dont want to show her on their public profiles...

Has Lady Gaga become the ultimate Guilty Pleasure?

So here's a snippet of EMI's "attributes"

I have looked at EMI's 'back catalogue' of artists and here are a few of them:

Pre 1960's: Liza Minelli, Elvis Presley, Cliff Richard

1960's:

Beach Boys, The Beatles, Pink Floyd

1970's - present:

30 Seconds to Mars, Lily Allen, Adam Ant, Beastie Boys, Black Sabbath, Blur, David Bowie, The Chemical Brothers, Chiddy Bang, Coldplay, Daft Punk, Dizzee Rascal, Foo Fighters (left in '99), Gorillaz, Hot Chip, Iron Maiden, Jane's Addiction, Manowar (left after 2 weeks), Paul McCartney, McFly, Morrissey, Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry, Pet Shop Boys, Queen, R.E.M, Radiohead, Roll Deep, Professor Green, Sex Pistols, Smashing Pumpkins, The Smiths, Tinie Tempah, Vanilla Ice, The Verve, White Stripes, Whitesnake and Robbie Williams.

(to name but a few)

From this alone I can see that not only do they cover a lot of artists but also a wide variety of genres and era's. From Iron Maiden ('heavy metal') through to Dizzee Rascal (rap) and from Katy Perry ('pop') through to The Chemical Brothers (big beat/progressive house/breakbeat hardcore/trip hop/electronic dance)

Conception, Framing and shot distance

School Magazine:

For the front cover of my school magazine I want to get either an eye height or high angle shot of the front of the school, I want to include a student in the image, possibly in uniform because it will reinforce the school image. I will probably play around with the contrast of the student against the background to get the best effect and to make the student stand out from the background. I am also going to have a mid-shot of a student over the main photo, but a small photo, maybe in the corner of the pare or above/next to a story 'headline'. This image would be associated with the main story and the student will be looking away from the camera.

Music Magazine:

For the front cover of my music magazine I want a picture of the main 'artist'/'band' in mid-range shot with their instruments. I want to have the image as a high angle shot, with the frontperson of the band standing slightly forward from the rest of the band to show their authority over the band. They will all be dressed in a similar way, possibly all wearing a corresponding item of clothing or jewellery, a jacket or necklace for example. I will have them either on a grassy field or stood against a wall. This image will then be the ground for the main title.

Preliminary task - 2nd draft

This is my second draft of my school magazine front cover.

Obviously I wouldn't use this image because it is off the internet. Also I will use a camera with higher megapixels so that it doesn't pixellate like this image has done when I stretched it.

I don't think I will use this font either as although it looks good, I don't particularly like it so I will have to change it.

I am probably going to use a high angle shot of the front of the school as the main image and then I may add an image of some students at work over the top.

I'll have to change the colour of the font where the photo is darker but not use too many colours as this would confuse the eye and make the magazine less appealing.

I am also going to re-design the 'logo' for the title to make it more interesting.

Dinner with The Blackout anyone?

Emo rockers 'The Blackout' are selling various experiences to their fans to fund their next album. The welsh rockers have teamed up with 'Pledge Music' to sell the experiences in order to make the money they need to fund their next album.

Some of the 'experiences' and items available include:

Hand Written Birthday Cards
£10
Exclusive Riot Squad t-shirt
£15
Signed Album
£15
Play Xbox with The Blackout
£30
2x VIP Passes to Show of your choice
£80
Spend a day at Bristol Zoo with The Blackout
£100
Spend a day at Thorpe Park with The Blackout
£100
Christmas dinner with The Blackout
£150
Smashed Guitar
£200
Acoustic gig at your house
£500
House party gig
£1,500

Many people have critisised this move including rapper 'Example' who commented that "I don't think the future of music industry is 'Have dinner with me and my Nan for £75'."

The band have 'justified' this move by claiming that they owe so much to the fans and they couldn't wait to start work on the next album until next year, "without the fans we wouldn't make another record so we owe them so much' says Lead singer Gavin Butler. They have heard the criticism and accept that there will be those who won't agree with their reliance on their fans but that they remain defiant on their plans, saying that "Everyone gets what they want - the band gets to make a record and the fans get to listen to that record."

So, apparently, Operation Riot Squad is go...

First Draft of School Magazine Front Cover [research and planning - pre-production]

This is a screenshot of my first attempt at a school magazine front cover.

I have used different colours in the boxes to separate them but obviously I wouldn't do this on the actual magazine.

VMA's - Gaga Triumph

Lady Gaga Triumphed at last weekends MTV's Video Music Awards, stealing the show with 8 awards out of the 13 she was nominated for, 7 of these being for her No. 1 single 'Bad Romance' including Video of the year. She also won the best collaberation award for her single 'Telephone' where she dueted with Beyonce.

Once again she caused controversy with her outfits as she wore a dress and shoes made of fresh red meat to collect one of the awards, and changing 3 times during the ceremony.

Other winners included, Muse [Special Effects], Florence and the machine [Art Direction], Eminem [Male Video and Hip-Hop Video], 30 Seconds to Mars [Rock Video], and Jay-Z & Alicia Keys [Cinematography]

Now that she's conquered the VMA's, Lady Gaga is seemingly unstoppable...

Mercury Prize 2010

The mercury prize is one of the most sought after awards in music, so it comes as no surprise that The XX were so overjoyed when presented with the award last Tuesday night [07-09-10]

It also comes as no shock the sales of the winning album [entitled 'xx'] have gone up by over 400% since then.

The London Based 3 piece formed in 2005 and released their debut album in August last year [2009]
They beat the 11 other shortlisted acts including Dizzee Rascal, Foals, Biffy Clyro and late favourite Paul Weller.

Accepting the award onstage the bands frontman Oliver Sim said "I don't know what we were expecting, but we weren't expecting this."

Radio 1 DJ Jo Wiley said that they were worthy winners.

They were originally favourite to win the prize but after a flurry of bets on Monday, Paul Weller became late favourite to win.

Winning the prize has done great things for their popularity and hopefully they will go on to be even more successful in the future.

ITV player on PS3

ITV Player to go on PlayStation 3

Platform will be first commercial catch-up TV service to go on the games console; it will launch on Freesat in the autumn
(18)Tweet this (105)Comments (15) John Plunkett guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 August 2010 13.16 BST Article history
The ITV Player will launch on the PlayStation 3 by the end of the year

ITV is to put its catch-up TV service, the ITV Player, on Sony's PlayStation 3 by the end of the year.

It is the first commercial catch-up TV service to go on the games console, which already gives users access to the BBC's iPlayer.

The broadcaster said it was part of a wider strategy to put the ITV Player on digital outlets beyond the ITV.com website, including games consoles and TV and mobile-based devices. It is due to launch on Freesat in the autumn.

Fru Hazlitt, the ITV managing director of commercial and online, said: "Our viewers want the option to watch their favourite content when and where they choose so distributing the ITV Player, with our rich content, to platforms beyond itv.com will allow us to meet that demand."

The ITV Player was launched in July 2007. Total long and short-form video views on ITV.com more than doubled last year to 200m.

ITV Player content on PlayStation 3 will be free and advertiser funded. Users will be prompted to implement a software update the first time they turn on the console after launch. An icon will appear in the TV section of the PS3's main navigational menu.


this is taken from www.guardian.co.uk/media

University vs work

School leavers miss university to start working life
Page last updated at 06:25 GMT, Friday, 20 August 2010 07:25 UK
E-mail this to a friend Printable version By Simon Mundie

Newsbeat reporter
Laurence says he's working because he doesn't want to get into debt As thousands of A level students continue to search for university places through clearing, Newsbeat's been told many school leavers are choosing to give it a miss and go straight into work.

Companies like Sainsbury's and Tesco say a growing number of teenagers are applying to join their management trainee schemes.

Laurence Carey managed to get a job at department store John Lewis in Cambridge six months ago.

He explains why he decided to miss out on going to university.

"When I left school I was thinking about going to university but I didn't really want to go, so I've been full-time for about six months," he said.

"I work in core bedding, so pillows and duvets. You replenish all the stock, clear all the till points to make it generally presentable for the customers and then it's just serving the customers.

"Each day changes. You can't really prepare for what happens because each customer brings up a different query."

'Ridiculous debt'

Laurence says he decided to start work instead of going to university because he didn't want to be saddled with lots of debt.

He said: "My brother has just come out of university and he's got a ridiculous debt, something like £30,000.

Laurence says he gets to work on the tills for about an hour every day "Whenever you come out of university with a degree, you still have to go in at the bottom and you still have to work your way up and prove yourself.

"As attractive as the partying sounds, it's not for me and I'm enjoying my job here and I'm going to stick at it. I'm loving it."

There are an increasing number of school leavers like Laurence who think giving university a miss is the best option.

Companies like Balfour Beatty and M&S are reporting a surge in the number of applications they're getting.

Sophie is a recruitment manager at John Lewis and says many high achievers at the company joined straight from school.

"There's an opportunity for them to join an internal training programme called Horizons," she explained.

"Potentially a school leaver joining could get on to a programme like that within a couple of months and then be a section manager within a year.

"I can think of some of our managing directors who joined the business straight from school and also we've got somebody who's on the board who joined straight from A-levels.

"To be honest, it's so self driven that if you come in with the right attitude you can go all the way to the top."



this is taken from bbc.co.uk/newsbeat