creating my magazine contents page...

This is a plan I made on microsoft publisher of what I want the contents page to look like.
I decided to make it a double page spread as when I looked at examples of contents pages from music magazines, I thought the double page examples were the most effective as more information can be displayed and it looks like there is more content in the magazine.

I am trying to keep the same house style all the way through my cover, contents page and article by using the same fonts, colours and layouts as my front cover.





















for the word "contents" on my contents page, I used the same font (viper nora) and the same colour font as I used for the title on my front cover (Berry).







This adds to keeping the same house style as keeping the same fonts makes it easier to determine that it comes from the same magazine.

I have added a very similar main image to my contents page which is advertising the main feature article in my magazine (P!nk). I have made it slighlty bigger than the rest of the features on the contents page to emphasise that this is the main feature.

I made the face expression of P!nk similar to the previous on the front cover to add to the effect of a housestyle. It makes it clear that it is the same person.














I have also used the same font on the word "P!nk" as used on the cover to emphasise that this is her trademark logo of her name and also that it is the same artist featured on the front cover.

Most music magazines I looked at had an image of the main feature on the contents page and it was normaly the largest image on the page.

I added "Exclusive" to the image to give it a meaning for being on the contents page. It also makes it more interesting as it is exclusive which means it isn't in any other magazine.

I have used the same background colour as the cover to keep it the same house style as the cover.

Underneath the image of P!nk, I have a piece of text in a box saying "Read the full interview! Page 9 +10".

This is so that the reader knows it is an interview. It also creates an eager feel to read it from the bold writing and the exclamation mark. I used white font on a black bacground as it stands out well as the colours contrast effectivley.


To help keep the housestyle image, I have still boxed some of my fonts with the same colour boxes (black).













For the listing of what is in the magazine, I used the same colours that are displayed on my front cover to keep the same house style.

I used little blurbs underneath the feature in the same font as the main title to explain more about the feature.


I think all of the colours match well with the pink background.


I decided to put the competition advertisments on a slant so that it looks like they are just casual extras.

I have included the feature of the competition in the contents page. I have boxed it so it draws in the readers attention. I have used a popular girl band to appeal to my target audience.

I have included a message from the "editior" as this is what some magazines tend to do. I have used a chatty style language to target teenege girls. I have also included an image of the editor by making one of my

friends pose with a friendly smile on her face. By making her smile it gives the impression to the reader that it is a"friendly" magazine.

This is my finnished contents page.

I think so far I have managed to create a housestyle by using the same sort of images, fonts and background colours. I also continued using boxes around some of my fonts.

On my contents page, I have still used the music magazine "Mojo" to inspire my layout and boxes around certain phrases. I think the layout of "Mojo" is unusual and different to other music magazines and that is why I like it.

Creating my music magazine cover...

Before creating my design on fireworks, I have created an outline of what I imagine I would include on my front cover. I may choose to add more as my cover progresses. This has helped me to see how I could possibly lay out my cover page.








I have named the magazine 'Berry' as it was the most popular title from my questionaire.
The genre of my magazine is chart music.

I have used a dark purple font for my title as it is semantic and connotes what colour an actual berry would be. I have made the writing quite plain but I find this effective as it will be easier for the reader to know what magazine it is. I have placed two small pink stars on top of the two rs to create a "girly" effect as my magazine is aimed at female teenagers. I also think it finnishes the title off well without too many effects.



















This is my draft of the layout of my magazine I made the image of "P!nk" on the cover slightly over lapping the title as I found when researching magazine covers, most examples did this. I think the background colour contrasts well with the font colour of the magazine title as they are both "girly" colours. The title font is darker than the background colour which makes the title stand out more effectivley.

On the right is my original photograpgh that I edited for my magazine cover. I manipulated it on photoshop by cutting around the image to delete the background.
I decided to wear sunglasses and spiked up hair to create the image of P!nk to make it look more realistic. I also used a silver jacket as I found a picture of the real artist P!nk and she was wearing a jacket similar to this.

I have made the title font bold as I found most magazine cover examples also did this. I used the colour pink for my background as it was the most common vote for a background colour on my cover questionaire. This can also be comparedwith examples of other magazines as the examples I looked at all had bold coloured


backgrounds which made the font and images stand out a lot more.










For my sub-heading, I have considered how the other music magazines have set out their headings. I have used 3 words to describe my main feature in the sub heading as this is what other magazines have tended to do. It makes it more interesting as it is not giving much information away.

I have used white rectangles for underneath the writing to make it stand out more. Examples that I looked at also tended to do this. It also creates the effect that they are going to be the main topics of the feature.

I have used bullet points for my extras to list what else is in my magazine as this is what most of the examples of music magazines that I looked at did.
I used blue circles for the bullet points as the colour contrasts well with the background making it stand out a lot more.
I used a pink star with the word "extras" in it so that it brings a girly effect to the cover. I also used a darker pink for the star as it matches the background colour well. I think having a rounder star rather than a sharp edged star is effective as it makes the star seem more girly.

I have decided to "re-vamp" my magazine cover as I feel it was not working and it would be hard to create a house style for it. I have decided to use the music magazine "Mojo" to influence my style, font and layout.



The font I have used is "Viper Nora". I decided to download my fonts as I believe they look more realistic than a font that you would find on a computer programme. It also gives a casual effect to my magazine as the writing is not neat but sort of worn out.

I think this works well as I want my magazine to have a laid back out look on music.





I have used the influence of "Mojo" for the information at the top of my cover. I have used rectangles of colour behind the font as this is what "Mojo" tends to do.
I have still kept the same colour fonts and background as this is what was popular on my questionaire.
I have made the colours more girly than Mojo as my magazine is aimed at girls.

I have used a new image for my cover feature. I used a more close up photo of the face as it was easier to create a face expression to give the artist a certain look and expression on their face.

I used a sort of "attitude problem" face on the photographs as this is what the artist P!nk is mostly know for on her photos. It also hints that some of the interview with P!nk may be on serious topics from the facial expression on the front cover.

This photograph just didn't stand out as a cover image. I may use this image on my contents page to advertise the main feature.


I think I looked bored on this photograph which is not good for advertising a magazine.















This photograph also does not have enough attitude. I don't like the fact that I am sort of leaning to the right a bit and I think the photo has to be looking straight forward for it to have a more intense impact especially to show attitude.










This is the image I chose out of the three that I took. I think this one works well as the face expression is the most dominant out of the three.


It also says "attitude" more than the other two as it is looking straight out at the camera which makes it have a more powerful impact.










I then edited the photograph on photoshop by cutting around it for my cover.




















I decided to move the advertisement of the feature (P!nk)to actually be situated on the photograph which I think looks more effective as it now looks joint to the image. It now creates more space to the right for me to add more features.

I have used the font "Billo" to create the effect of a "trademark" font for P!nk.This looks effective as it is totally different from the other font I have used for my other writing.

Also, instead of having the font purple like on my prievious cover I decided to change it to pink as it works well with the name of the artist (P!nk).



I am going to add a small image of a band to the top right hand side so that my cover has more than one image. It also shows that there is more content in the magazine.
I am going to use an all girl band to state clearly my social group-teenage girls.
I have named the all girl band "The Star Girls" to connote the "girly" genre of the magazine

I took pictures of 3 girls posing on a bench to give a more realistic portrayal of a modern band.

I made laura, Natalie and Amy strike natural poses and go "free style" to suggest that girls dont always have to have a "poser" sort of image for a magazine and it also portrays girls as casual and laid back rather than prim and proper.


As Mojo I feel has a casual attitude to music, I wanted to include that in my magazine as Mojo is mostly aimed at males so I basically wanted to create the female version which is showing that girls can be as casual and as laid back as boys.














I ended up using the 3rd image which I manipulated on photoshop and made it smaller with a high contrast so that it would still draw attention even though it was small. I used the 3rd image as I feel it was the most natural of the three.



I used a block colour background to suggest the use of a photoshoot as most magazines tend to hold photoshoots for the bands and solo artists that they are featuring in their magazines.
I wanted the girls to look like they were having a good time to add to the laid back feeling I want in my magazine. The fact that they look happy would make people more likley to read the magazine than having girls that look miserable.



















I added extra features down the right hand side of the cover in bullet point form as most examples of the music magazines I looked at did this, including Mojo.
The fact that it is in bullet point format also helps with the casual, laid back feel of the magazine as it is not in full sentences making it look less formal.
I have used informal language with a slight chatty style to appeal to my audience as you wouldn't normally put formal writing on a magazine for teenagers.

I added an extra feature of a competition, using another girl band to draw attention to my genre (teenage girls). I did not state how to win the tickets on the cover as it will make people actually open and read the magazine to find out more.

I made the word "win" be placed on a slant as it gives the impression it has been thrown on the cover casually as an extra feature.

After completing my article page, I decided to use a different image for my cover so that it matches with the article. I decided to change the image as I feel that the images I took for my article page were better than the ones that I took for my cover.











I like this image better than the other as you can see some of the clothes and accessories that I am wearing. This is better as they blend in well with the colours I have used on my cover. It also gives "P!nk" a sense of style which is one of the main topics of conversation in her interview.
I dressed in a casual top with a beaded necklace to show P!nk's casual attitude to fashion. I chose to wear colours that will match in with the colours of my housestyle.





I think this version is definitley an improvement. I have kept the layout the same and I have just changed the image. I personaly think that having some of the clothes that the artist is wearing on show works well because the colours of the cover and the clothes work well together.





I am very pleased with my front cover.After experimenting a few times with different layouts and images, I am now happy with the finnished result.

Results from questionaires

My target audience are girls aged 15 - 18 yrs, so for my results to be accurate and relevant, I used that age category on my questionaires.
I am completing 3 different questionaires. One for cover, contents page and double page spread.
Firstly, here are the results for the magazine cover questionaire...

This graph is showing that most girls that I asked wanted my magazine to be called "Berry" out of the three suggestions which were "Berry" (9 votes), "Crimson" ( O votes) and "Magenta" (1vote).





This graph shows that most of the girls wanted a solo artist to be featured on the magazine cover (7 votes) rather than a music band (3 votes).

This is a graph showing which music band the girls would want on the cover if music bands recieved the most votes which they didn't as I explained in the graph above. Theseresults will still be relevant though as I can use the music bands with the most votes for my smaller features on my magazine cover.

The music band options were Alphabeat (O votes), Girls Aloud (2 votes), Mcfly (1 vote)


This graph is showing the results of the solo artists, P!nk (5 votes), Gabriella Cilmi (1 vote), James Blunt (0 votes) and Ne-Yo (1 vote).

This graph is showing what the most popular colour is for the cover

background. Black (2 votes), Red (0 votes), Pink (6 votes) and purple (2 votes).

This graph is showing what was the most common favorite for the ideal price. £3.00 (1 vote), £2.50 (2 votes), £2.20 (6 votes), £2.00 (1 vote).

For my magazine price I will charge £2.20 as it was the most common vote.

This graph is showing what the girls would want featured in my magazine. I asked them this question in my music cover magazine so I would know what to advertise and feature on the front cover. Tour dates (8 votes), Interviews (10 votes), Articles (3 votes), Posters (6 votes), Music news (5 votes), Competitions (2 votes), album ratings (7 votes). I think I will use the interview with my main feature as it has the mos votes.

I asked in my questionaire wether an advertisement for a free CD should be included on my cover. 9 votes said yes and 1 vote said no so I will include an advertisement for a free CD. I thought I should consider this as a reccurent theme whilst I looked at examples of music magazines was that they all came with free CD's which maybe adds to why the reader will buy the magazine.

Starting the main task

Firstly, I have analysed the format of a variety of magazine covers to create an idea as to what techinques are used such as font, colour, layout, structure, genre, target audience, background and images/photographs. I have also thought about why the magazine is structured in that certain way and if it matches the intended genre. For example, if the image is overlapping the headline, is it intended for the audience to already know the name of the magazine?
The genre of the magazine cover on the left is about night life and night clubs. I know this because along the top of the cover states about night clubs. It connotes that the magazine has some theme of different cultures and countries as the image of the girl on the front is from a different country. Also, the use of bright flouresent writing on the advertisment on the bottom left hand side of the page connotes night clubs as bright flouresent lights would be used in night clubs.
The genre of the magazine on the right is a music magazine. I know that it's a music magazine from the content on the front of the cover. e.g. the free gift is a CD. Also the main feature of the magazine is a rock band which connotes that it is a music magazine. The text stands out well on the cover because of the contrast betweent the black background and the pink flouresent text. At the top of the page, the magazine gives insights into other articles in the magazine which is useful to the reader so that they know what to expect to read about when they start reading the magazine.







I then looked at some contents pages of music magazines. The example on the left is from a magazine called Kerrang. The image on this contents page dominates the writing. I think this is an unusual layout as I would imagine the writing to dominate the image. However, it is effective because it does show the reader what to expect in the magazine by using the image of a band that is probably going to be featured somewhere in side the magazine.

The use of the bold head line is effective because as soon as you open the magazine the bold white font will be eye-catching to the reader and will jump out straight away.

The way the writing is structured is interesting as it is in small print at the bottom of the page. This could suggest that Kerrang readers are supposed to assume what is in the magazine from reading experience. Just like on a magazine cover when the image overlaps the title of a well known magazine.

This is another example of a contents page from a music magazine called Mojo. This example is different from the contents page from Kerrang magazine.
The writing stands out just as much as the image from the use of background colour as the back ground is white which makes the bold black font stand out more. The contents is organised in a structured list which makes it easy for the reader to understand making it quicker for the reader to find the page they want.
The images are effective as they are highlighting the main features in the magazine that the readers may find the most interesting. The two images are both in the same fonts and have the same background colour (black) which makes the band in the images stand out more so the reader knows these are the main features in the magazine.










I then looked at some examples of inside articles of a magazine. The example to the left is from a magazine called Mojo. I thought that the editing of the images to make them seem worn out and old was effective as the article is talking about the singer who has been around for two decades. This shows that the images work well with the article and are relevant to it's content. Also the fact that the image of his old album is in colour whilst the rest of the images are in black and white is significant as it connotes that his old album is different. The picture of his new album in black and white, matching the two other images connotes that this is the 'new' him which fits in with the image of himself as both are in black and white. This article has a basic layout and structure of the text as it is wrote in basic columns and paragraphs.




I looked at another article from a magazine called Guitar. This article is structured as an interview Which is different from the article from Mojo.
An interview could create appeal to the audience as it is opinions of two well known singers whom some people may be interested in. An interview is easier to read than a full article as the layout of information is in small columns rather than in the form of lots of large columns.
Effective quotes are used and are in bold fonts in a different colour that stand out on the page, such as "New song 'Blood Fire Water Hate' is an anthem. It sounds like it came straight from hell'. If this quote interests the reader, it means that they will be more eager to read the article.
The use of the large image in the middle of the article is effective as the use of a low angle photograph shot makes the subjects, in this case the two singers, look superior to the reader. This could make the reader feel intimidated as the two men are looking quite agressive towards the camera. The image is bright and in focus which draws the attention of the reader automatically to the image rather than the writing first. Overall,this is a powerful article mostly from the large image which creates a big impact on the rest of the article as it dominates the rest of the article.

Preliminary Task

For my preliminary product, I produced a front cover and contents plan of a school magazine.

This is a plan that I designed for my cover using microsoft publisher.

This is my magazine cover. I used photoshop to produce this product.

I thought to make it have the feel of a school magazine I used casual fonts and a casualy dressed student image.

To create this image, I sat on a chair to take the photo.

I then edited the image on photoshop by cutting around it. I wanted to create the impression that the student was sitting down so I could place the image ontop of the magazine title to make it look as though they were sitting down. I think this has worked effectivley on my cover as it does look as though they are sitting on the title.

I wore glasses on the photo to create the stereotypical look of a student because for some reason I thought glasses would make it look even more like a student.

I used the same image again at the bottom of the page for my medium close up.I posed with a thinking expression so that a thought bubble could be placed above the head to advertise a main feature in the magazine. I think this has worked well as it does looka s though they are thinking. I posed with a revision guide, to make it clear that they are supposed to be revising. It also matches the theme of the feature.

I made the background of my cover blue with dark purple, red, white and black text so that it appeals to both male and feamle students in the school as none of the colours are stereotypically girl or boy colours.

I used chatty style language to appeal to the age range of the magazine as I don't think students would be interested in reading the magazine if all of the writing was written very formally. It would also make it less enjoyable to read.

I wanted the cover to send a friendly vibe to students to create the impression of school as a fun place. I tried to show this by using fun sort of things for the features such as fun runs and whole school debates.

This is a draft of what I would expect the contents page to look like if I were producing one.

I would have "contents" displayed clearly at the top of the page to show clearly it is the contents page.

I would keep the same colour background and font on the contents page to continue a housestyle.

I would list all of the features that are going to appear in the magazine and would have images on the contents page of the main features to emphasise them more.