Analysis of music magazine contents page




This contents page is taken from king size magazine and the logo is situated top left hand just above the contents. The font for it is quite small in comparison to usual music magazine contents page so this one is going against the usual conventions. The layout of this magazine is very simple yet effective with the images framing the content, anchoring what the content is, to them. It is all very rectangular in shape and the colour scheme of the font is red and black bar the images around it which obviously are a range of colours. The main name of the page is in a larger red font done in capitals with a small lower case black font underneath, this being the subtitle. this is to draw the readers eyes to the main title giving them an idea of what the story is about and also because it is giving them a taster of it with a small amount of information of what it is about, it makes the reader want to read on. The images are very large, bold and attractive to the reader.



This contents page is taken from from the nme magazine, the nme logo is situated top left hand corner which is a typical media magazine convention, next to this in a bold black font is "this week" which straight away the readers eyes are drawn to. This is a very busy contents page in comparison to the one above with only three smaller images placed in the center and very bottom of the page. The contents of the magazine are split up into categories "news, radar, reviews, live, features, plus" making it easier for the consumer to chose which part of the magazine they would like to read. Also next to the stories that are advertised on the cover are red arrows saying "on the cover", this is because the reader has chosen the magazine based on these stories and the arrows reinforce them. In the very center of the magazine is a paragraph on what seems to be the main story, this gives the reader a bigger insight to what it is about. At the very bottom center of the page is an advertisement for a subscription of the nme magazine claiming the reader will save 33% by doing so, this will encourage readers to subscribe every month, buying more of the magazine. The advertisement is reinforced by the images of magazines.

These examples have given me an idea of how to create my own contents page and I now know what features and conventions I could use and feature to create my own contents page.

Research for music magazine
I have used numerous magazines as influence and ideas for my own music magazine. I have looked at different genres to help me get a better understanding of that type of magazine, i have looked at ones such as Q, Rolling Stone and Kerrang. Mostly each one for the front cover had a large image as the central focus for the magazine which was of the band or music artist that the main interview or story was on. quite often this image covered the masthead slightly as these magazines are well known and can be daring enough to do so. Each of the sub headings are bright and bold yet not too over powering for the main image and some are accompanied by sub photos. i will be using this layout design for my own magazine.

This second magazine is the NME mag. It doesn't have a lot of information on the cover of what the magazine actually includes. Although it still has many conventions of a music mag. The first being the bold logo, in a red font which is very iconic as the magazine is so popular. Also the entire layout of the mag frames the main photo of the band, showing their relevance and importance. It has a design so the cover looks as if it has been ripped to reveal the page underneath, this is the only source of information of what the magazine includes. I think because of the amount of people presented on the cover, too much information would over crowd it.

The colour scheme is a bright pink and yellow against the dark background of the bands outfit. This contrast is very eye catching for the consumer and could attract buyers. The magazine also has aspect which persuade the customer to buy it as it has an offer for a free CD on the cover with a list of the artists included on it. It mentions the free CD twice, once at the very top, right above the NME logo, so when the consumer recognises the logo, they will also see the offer. There is a sub title above the main title which is unusual for a magazine but works with this one.

The cover overall includes mainly visual selling points and also uses just the names of the bands to sell it. It is effectively put together with an attractive colour scheme and an interesting persuasive offer.


My third my magazine is the cover of rolling stone
this cover is quite unusual and not the typical generic cover you would expect from an average music magazine. The photograph being used is a close up and quite a controversial image of Kanye West representing Jesus. It has a very earthy tone of colour for the colour the scheme, using reds,browns, golds and blacks to create quite a dark effect for the magazine. The masthead cover the top of the singers head slightly which is also unusual as rolling stone quite often has the main imagine slightly covering the masthead. The sub headings are in a bold bright font, either in red or white to contrast brightly against the singer, drawing the readers eye in. It has many techniques of drawing the consumer in the buy the magazine such as very short subheadings that only give a little information, making the consumer want to read on.

Final piece evaluation

In what ways does your Media product use,develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My media product includes many conventions of a real college magazine, such as a masthead, price, bar code, issue number and date of distribution etc. It has a medium close up of two rugby players as the main focal point. Also with the main image being rugby players it anchors to the masthead "Vocation". It also has an advertisement for NUS at the top right of the magazine.
How does your Media product represent a particular social groups?
The main and most important social group that the magazine represents is Wyke college students, also sports students within the college as the main image is of rugby players, this making it more appealing to this group.
What kind of Media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The main media institution that would distribute my magazine would be Wyke college itself, distributing around the college to the students and teachers.
Who would be the audience for your Media product?
The main audience for my magazine would be the students of the college, also teachers, visitors, parents and guardians. Anyone linked with the college.
How did you attract/address your audience?
I aimed to attract and address my audience by giving the magazine a pretty simple layout, making the main focus the medium shot image. I put sub headings on my magazine that i knew students would be interested in such as the wyke college party and the rugby charity fundraiser, yet keeping these sub headings short so as to make the consumer want to read on. I could have made the font i used a brighter colour to stand out more against the background image as it can be difficult to read.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Through designing and constructing my magazine i have left a lot about the technologies. I have learnt the many different conventions of magazines that i would have to include and also how to create them so as they appeal to my target audience. I have had more practise on things such as photo shop and Microsoft publisher which has widened my knowledge on both of these, hopefully helping in the production of my future products.
Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I feel i have learnt a lot more about the conventions, styles and topics of magazines and this will help me in creating my music magazine. I have also learnt how to use different programs better and more effectively on the computer such as adobe photo shop etc.

Drawing of draft

These are the drawings of the drafts of my college magazine. i have included the positioning of text and images for the entire layout.