Q1-

I based and took ideas for my front cover, from a Kerrang music

magazine that I found when researching typical Rock music

magazines. Therefore any bands or extra information I made

suitable to fit in with a rock genre. I decided to go with a rock genre

due to the research I carried out which proved across the UK its

was the most popular and the poll results (by target group) backed

this up. The price of Kerrang , when researching, was £2.20. I felt

this to be a little high for mine so chose to use a more conventional

price of £1.50.

I used the typical ‘strap line’ to add extra information onto my cover.

This was a reoccurring feature that I noticed throughout magazine

research. I chose to make each ‘strap line’ a vibrant colour which I

picked up from the Kerrang magazine. This made the information in

a contrasting white colour stand out. The information includes the

names of extra bands and it also advertises extra features including

quizzes. This is a feature I noticed most music magazines use in

order to advertise extra information clearly and in an appealing way.

I chose to challenge in a way ,the typical style of having the picture in front of

the text. The ‘mode of address’ in front of the ‘masthead’ was a feature I

found when researching to be very popular in most conventional music

magazines. However I decided to place my picture behind the text and in

Black and white. This again challenged most covers as their main images

were in colour. I found that the black and white stood out more against the

dominant colour red (of the text). Also because the picture stood out in an

appealing way, I decided that placing it behind the text still worked well and

found it wasn’t lost.

Mise en Scene – Choosing what to incorporate into my photo shoot

challenged some conventional music magazines. This is due to for example

Kerrang, there being no instruments present/ on show in the main image. I

chose to incorporate two guitars and a microphone due to the instruments

being typical of the ‘rock genre’. I chose a casual but mainly black outfit for

each member in the ‘band’. This was a feature I chose to therefore develop

and also with the outfit choices , use from a conventional music magazine.

The ‘Mast head’ originally was in a similar style of ‘Kerrang’. It

also read ‘Music Matters’. However I decided that it was simply

lost when looking at the magazine. I abbreviated the title to MM

and developed the style to a more chunky and eye catching

style.

I noticed that a lot of the conventional music magazines

advertised free posters within the magazine , maybe with a

picture. I decided to develop this form and include a real peel of

sticker in a bright yellow colour. This meant the consumer would

have to peel away the sticker in order to find out who the ‘extra

band’ was that would feature as the ‘one off poster edition’. I

think this made the magazine cover more interesting and

improved the aesthetic value and added another layer.

The ‘cover lines’ I used on my music magazine follow the

conventional style of most music magazines in the fact that they

are lined up on top of one another. They are also in a reasonably

large and eye-catching font. They advertise key features within

the magazine which is typical of a real conventional music

magazine.

I used the idea from most conventional music magazine contents

pages of a large, prominent ‘masthead’. I decided to look at a

typical contents page from ‘Kerrang’ (as this was the magazine

my cover is based on), I noticed the title was in a chunky text and

the same colour as the writing for each feature (the yellow). I

developed this feature as I chose to use a contrasting colour to

the background and use that colour for the strip down the side

and the text. The fact that the strip (to the right) in the Kerrang

and most conventional music magazine contents pages were the

same as the background, shows I challenge this feature by

making my strip a contrasting colour (Black).

I noticed that in most conventional music magazines the page

numbers were the same colour as the text for the main features.

I decided to develop this idea and put a background behind each

number, making them stand out. I also noticed that a feature in most

conventional music magazine content pages is that the page

numbers were small and about the same size as the text around it. I

decided to develop this feature and make the page numbers larger in

order to grab the readers attention.

I chose to use the space wisely and place the date in a large

text. This was not a conventional feature of most music

magazine contents pages ,I found, when I was doing my

research. I think it challenges the normal form of conventional

music magazine contents pages.

I chose to use the conventional form of most music magazine

contents page layouts. This meant placing my images in a similar

format to the ‘Kerrang’ contents page so the form worked. I

chose however in my first contents page (where I used

professional images) to use similar sized images. However in my

final second one, I chose to use images that were slightly larger.

I think this challenges most conventional music magazine

contents pages as fewer images are used.

Mise en Scene was another feature I focused on and I decided

to carry the sort of costumes/dress wear and props on into the

contents page, which is a feature of the conventional feature of a

music magazine contents page.

I made sure that I stayed to the ‘Rock genre’ by basing my double

page spread on one from ‘Kerrang’. I chose to use the typical

conventional form of most music magazine double page

spreads, of having one large image on one of the pages. This I

found to work very well . I wanted the picture to engage with the

reader as when researching I also found a conventional form of the

main image was to maintain eye contact with the reader. I decided

to use this form and this I felt helped to attract the reader.

I also noticed a conventional form of most music magazine double

page spreads to be the use of columns. I used this form to keep an

ordered and neat presentation of the interview. I think this worked

well in improving the visual quality of this double page spread.

A conventional form of most music magazine double page spreads

I found was to have writing on top of the largest and main image. I

think I developed this form by not only putting a huge quote and

circle to advertise and capture the readers attention, but I tried to

make it more ‘fun’ and place a Target over one of the band

members face. I think this would intrigue the reader as to wonder

why she is or was being targeted.

I noticed another conventional form of a music magazine double

page spread was to have the name of the band / the interview in

the largest text compared with the any other text on the two pages.

I used this form to create a title which I think grabs the readers eye

immediately. I also noticed a conventional form was to have the

first letter in a larger size before starting the introduction to the

interview. I chose to use this form.

I also chose to develop the conventional form of the Kerrang double

page spreads use of smaller images. I wanted to incorporate

another image and chose to develop this by having a smaller image

in the middle of the text columns. I put a quote above it and used

the image to represent the quote. I think this develop the creativity

and would hopefully again attract the reader.

Mise en Scene was another feature I focused on in my double

page spread. Aswell as noticing the colours needed to be carried

through from looking at kerrang (use of black , red ,yellow and

white), I also noticed a conventional form was to have the

instruments of the band present in the large and other images. I

chose to use this form and focused on having the instruments

present in each image I used.