Deconstruction of Music Magazine

Deconstruction of Music magazine

Here I will give three example of three different types of music magazines. I will analyse the front covers, contents page and the double page spread.
NME front page
The front cover has chosen three main statement colours. The background is all in black and white however the title is a bright red colour. This red makes the title stand out the most and so draw the eyes of the reader the most. The red is iconic since it represents the music industry as red is a common colour shown throughout music history. The photos are of famous music icons, the photos mainly show their faces so you can clearly see who they are. The lighting of the photography only really focuses on the faces and the bodies are blended in with the background, this effect shows us the importance of the faces and shows that the magazine wants to highlight who these people are and show how relevant they are with the magazine. The genre of the magazine is mostly aimed at indie rock people who enjoy music. The magazine can be suitable for most people readers, it does not have a specific sex it is aimed at. Looking at the front cover you can see straight away that it is a special edition of the magazine. The text even tells you this. I have looked at some other NME front covers, ansd the common layout is the background of a band or single artist whihc is being featured in the magazine, This special edition NME magazine shows a variety of artist with connotes that the magazine will feature all these artists making it a special edition.

NME contents page
The contents page is very bold and bright which is quite the opposite of the front cover of the magazine. However from a grey scale to complete colour is a good contrast for the magazine. From what it reads inside the contents page it tells us that it is celebrating ten years and that is the reason to why the magazine is different. On a normal contents page for the magazine it has the page numbers on the right hand side however this time it is down the left hand side. There is a lot of text in the middle of the page which attracts the readers attention the most. It tells the reader what this issue is all about. The background of the contents page is very relevant to the text. It pictures a vaiety of magazine front covers that have been issued over the past 10 years. The background would have been very busy if it wasn't for the breakup of the bold colours. There is a signature at the bottom of the block of text which

Kerrang Front Cover

The front cover is very bold and stands out to the readers. The image background pictures a band. The use of how they are layout shows the reader who the main figure of the background is. The main man of the band is cut from the picture and overlaps the title, however the other band members are behind the title, this denotes the importance of the main man and shows the audience who it actually is. The cover also has other images of different musical artists whihc are featured in the magazine. Looking at the images the magazine chose you can see that the genre of the magazine is indie rock, the image implies this clearly. The colours mainly used are red, white and black. The title is coloured black as this is the iconic colour for the mgazine, however the reds and whites are just used in this issue of the magazine. I know that they are the permanent colours of the magazine as i have proof from looking at other kerrang magazines.

Kerrang Contents page

The main colours of the contents page is yellow, black and white. The yellow stands out clearly which catches the readers eye easily. There are clear images of bands and artists that are featured in the magazine and there page numbers are written in bold and in yellow to clearly show what page they are featured on.

Kerrang Double page spread
The double page spread clearly shows an enlarged image of a band and indicates tot he readers tht the article is about them. The use of an enlarged photo draws the readers eye and clearly states what it is about before reading any texts. The title is written in two different fonts, one word is bigger and different coloured. Th reader can work out that the article is about the band called storm. The colours of the title goes well with the double page spread. The main colours used are Red, White, Black and a Turqoise colour. The writing overlaps part of the image creating a good effect. This type of effect dennotes that he writing is just as important as the image and encourages the audience of the reader. The type of image used shows the genre of the magazine and shows that it is aimed at people enjoty music relates to punk or indie music. A tab at the top reminds the reader what magazine it is and gives the reader more detail. Also with the background the colour get stronger when the text is shown and fades where the main picture is. The use of this allows the picyture to be more highlihted but then when it comes to the artoicle writing it shows up well enough for you to read. Both are highlighted well. The use of the tie dye fading colours shows a sense of calmness and coolness. Turqouise instantly radiates a sense of cool calm feelings.


Q front cover
This front cover is very bold and shows the key colours that is used for most Q nagazines. The iconic red square logo with the white Q inside shows what magazine it is and it clearly shows the reader the genre of the magazine. The main attraction of the magazine is a band called the killers. The name of the band is written boldly pictured in the middle of the front cover, the colour of the writing is in a striving white. The mix of the bold text, bid print and bright white colour catches the readers eye instantly. The use of this is very clever and indicates the importance of the band and how relevant it is to the magazine. The bolder and bigger the text the bigger it is included in the magazine. The background is the lead singer of the featured band 'the Killers', the lead singer is pictured at sime sort of garage. The actua background is a baby blue. The use of the baby blue allows the readers to still see the writing and allows the figure to stand out more. The lighting of the photograph is very light but still gives the feel of a dark autumn evening.




Double Page Spread
This double page spread is very unique and is not like other music double page spreads. The main background depicts cartoons which indicates to the reader that this is a fun double page spread and not serious. The biggest cartoon, mainly centered in the middle of the two pages this shows the reader that the article is mainly about that cartoon. By the way the cartoon is drawn you can easily tell that the cartoon is of Gene Simmons. By the artist making the cartoon stick his tongue out you can see that this indictaes to the reader that Gene Simmons is cheeky and ideal to base the magazines article on 'school of seduction'. A woman cartoon is drawn in the background this reminds the reader what the article is about. Around the edge of double pages there are boxes of written text with arrows pointing at different parts in the cartoon room. The use of the arrows shows a clear indication to what the text is talking about. This double page spread is very simple to read and anyone can understand it. The use of the cartoons emphasizes this.

Q contents page
The contents page here is very different compared to other music magazine contents pages. Normally on a contents page it consists of mainly 1 page however this Q page is spread over 2 pages. The use of the 2 pages shows us the quantity of the magazine. With all the page numbers being listed on two pages it tells the reader how much is actually in the magazine which appears more impressive compared to other magazine. It indicates that you are buying more for you money with this magazine. The layout of this contents page is very mature and indicates that the magazine is aimed at an older generation. There is an enlarged image in the centre of the pages. The photo pictures a well known band and a photographer. The positioning of the people shows that the band are more important compared to the photographer. The reeader is shown this by the bd being higher then the photographer. The pages and page numbers are situated down the sides. This is a clear layout and allows the reader to easily find a page they want. Other writing used, not page number, is noitced by the reader different because the magainze has highlighted this by making the text a different colour. There images at the bottom to shows what else is featured in the magazine. These pictures are cropped to be smaller then the other images to show that they are not as important compared to other articles featured in the magazine. The colours used in the magazine are very plain and basic. This is very much like the whole magazine. The magazine has used the same colopur theme as the front cover and rest of the magazine. The use of this technique shows a pattern and flow throughout the magazine.

Double Page Spread
This double page spread is very plain and set out well. The two pages show an article about gaming. Although gaming isnt technically linked with music it still suits the target audience and the gaming shown is musci gaming. It shows alot of images. This gives the reader a clearer view of what the article is talking about. Some of the images have clearly been edited, for example a figure at the bottom of the page has been cropped and cut to just show the shape of the figure distinctantly. The figure shows the man playing a guitar and the way it was edited shows how professional the person is at playing the guitar also dennoting that the gaming article are for professionals. The layout of the writing is set out in a very basic style. The main colour theme of the pages is blue and black, this connotes the mood of calmness.

Practice Fashion Magazine Front Cover

Practice front cover
As a practice before doing my actual task i decided to design and create a draft of a fashion magazine front cover. I tried to make it look as similar to a professional fashion magazine as possible. Using the same layout as most magazines and themed colours.

Genre
The magazine was aimed at young adults as most of the captions are more suited to a younger generation. Because of the colours and fonts of the magazine and the type of magazine it is, it is mostly aimed at females.

Iconography
For the background i decided to use young female adults posing and at the same time modelling clothing and jewellery too as to stay in theme with the magazine. The background was my own photograph, it is a medium long shot of two girls. I thought a medium long shot was appropriate for the magazine as then you can see most of the clothes they are modelling. But using two girls between the ages of 17-19 it clearly shows who the target audience is.
Analysis
To keep everything in tone with each other, i decided to use colours which compliment each other. Looking at other fashion magazines i noticed that they repeatedly used three main colours. I decided to use Pink, Black and White. Because the theme of the magazine were these colours i thought it was a good idea to use these colours on the clothes the models were wearing so then the magazine completely compliments everything. When it came to choosing the fonts and layout i decided to make it all different. Using different fonts created a creative look i found. I tried to then replicate the layout of the captions and headings as similar to professional magazines.

Preliminary Task of Magazine Cover and Contents Page

Preliminary task
For the preliminary task I had to create a front cover and contents page designed for a new school or college magazine. I decided to do this for a school, we had to include a photograph of a medium close-up photograph of a student. I decided to research into guilsborough school newsletters, this gave me the idea of headlines and information that should be included in the magazine.

Front Cover Analyse
For the media front cover i thought it was a good idea to choose three main colours for the fonts, I chose Blue, Black and White, these are all pretty simple colours and tie in well with the theme of the guilsborough school logo making it iconic. Also by using similar colours to the logo you can easily see the connection with the magazine to the school. The headlines/captions are scattered randomly on the sides of the cover, this is a typical layout for many magazines. The background is a very bold picture of a school student, as the background is the largest part of the magazine and so catches the reader first i though that it shouldn't be too hidden from lots of text. I thought it was important for the picture to be taken in a good light so you an clearly see that the student is from guilsborough and is also connected to the magazine. Not only this but the background also tells us about the genre of the magazine which shows that it is for school students but for the upper half of the school.







Contents Page Analyse

It was very important for the contents page to be in theme with the front cover and so I included a stripe of bold blocks which was also on the front cover. The black stripe was important to include as the reader can see a sense of style from the magazine and they can clearly see it is all themed. I decided to include a photograph which was a primary image long shot in natural lighting. It pictured some students from Guilsborough this includes the mise-en-scene as the uniform implies they are the students. By including students i thought this would encourage other students their age to read the magazine.