RESEARCH Feature Articles

Q Magazine

• Both the front cover, and the double page feature article have the same colour scheme. For example the large red "L" is the same colour as the Q magazine logo.
• Strangely, the photographer has chosen to have the front cover in colour, whilst keeping the photography on the feature article in black an white. This may relate to the content of the article.
• The clothes and the make-up/hairstyle that the artist is using will have been chosen to represent the personality of Lady Gaga as well as linking to the feature article and the audience that the magazine is targeted at.
• The large L on the double spread feature page could represent the large personality of Lady Gaga.
• The clothes that she wears could be representative of her "strange" personality.
• Everything about the photography of the artist is made to show her personality and what she is like as a person, however, it says nothing about her singing career or her genre of pop.
• The purpose of the feature article on Lady Gaga is to advertise that she has a new album coming out, and she trying to advertise it as well as making her more well-known by making people remember who she is.
• The artist in question, Lady Gaga, has been chosen because she suits the target audience of people in their mid 30's that have a full time, middle class job. The fact that she is nearing her 30's and provides a genre that many people enjoy may mean that she would like to extend her target audience of 15-30 year old's so that more people will listen to her music and therefore buying her CD's.
• Lady Gaga has been presented in a manner that represent her personality, and herself rather than her music.
• The overall tone of the article is positive. This is an indication of her trying to get the public to like her. However, some people may not like the way that she is presented if they are older or have children or have certain religious beliefs. This could greatly minimise her audience.
• The layout of the feature article is very conventional, it is the standard 3 columns that you would find on an A4 page. And then to add colour and to make it look better, the editor has added a large "L" for Lady (Gaga).
• The large image on the first page of the double page spread shows the reader exactly what is the subject of the article and catches their eye, as well as advertises the image that Lady Gaga is looking for.

Billboard Magazine

RESEARCH Front Covers

RESEARCH Readership

GQ

• Total Circulation Per Month: 121,085
• Male/Female: 86%/14%
• Average Age: 32
• AB (Upper/Middle Class): 44% (196,000)
• ABC1 (Upper/Middle/Lower Middle Class: 74% (331,000)
• Single: 56%
• Married: 43%
• London/SE/E: 54%
• Work full time: 62%
• Average household income: £90,364

Analysis

As shown in the demographics of this magazine, it is mainly aimed at single middle class men aged approximately 32, that work full time and have a well-paid job. You can tell that this magazine is aimed at men because it has pictures, colours, fonts and language/content that is much more male orientated. For example, you would not put a cover line on a magazine that says "Weed, women & whisky", and target it at female readers, which is why only 14% of the readers are women.

TIME

• Male/Female: 52%/48%
• Median Age: 49
• Median HHI (Household Income): $70,682
• Attended College: 11,527,000
• Professional/Managerial: 4,776,000
• HHI $100,000+: 5,863,000

Analysis

As shown in the demographics of this magazine, it is mainly aimed at upper class, middle aged men and women, that have a good job and earn lots of money. As you can see above, the magazine appeals slightly more to men than women, this may be because some of the issues are male orientated, whilst others may be more female orientated, there is an almost even mixture. The picture of Steve Jobs in this issue may be interesting to people because his company Apple is very influential to the world and they may be interested in his life. However, it could be particularly appealing to men because they want to aspire to be as successful as him.


Q

• ABC1 Profile: 71.8%
• Median Age: 34
• In Employment: 70%

Analysis

As shown in the demographics of this magazine is primarily aimed at people between lower middle class and upper class. These people are approximately 34 years of age and the majority of them are in permanent employment. Q magazine is quite gender neutral and tends to be focused on younger people that prefer rock and pop. Some younger people may still be interested in The Beatles, hence why, the editors chose to have this image. Another reason they could have chosen it, is to expand it's target audience to older people so that more people will buy it.

RESEARCH The History of Music Press

·         The History of Music Press

   1950's-1960's

• To start, music magazines were largely uncritical of musicians' output - everything was always good! Their content was mainly charts and singles, gig listings. These two were often referred to as ‘inkies’.
• Both New Musical Express and Melody Maker played a huge part in developing a tabloid newspaper format for music news. They offered weekly information on all upcoming record releases, with articles on artists and their music. 
• During the 1960s and 1970s, these magazines dominated UK newsstands, as they were the only up-to-the-minute access to the music scene at the time. This is important because music was a huge part of youth identity.
• Changes in society in the 1960s with the arrival of bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, plus the rising drug culture, changed the nature of music and music writing.
• The music fanzine is considered to have emerged in the 1960s – these magazines included Crawdaddy (which is still available today online), Mojo Navigator and Who Put The Bomp!. The creation of such amateur publications highlighted a desire to document a ‘scene’ of music. Fanzines are very much alive on the internet, even today.
• Rolling Stone was created by Jann Wenner in the 1967. It was a fortnightly publication which contained a mixture of current affairs, celebrity interviews and coverage of the music industry. Its appeal lay in the way the journalists addressed the youth audience. Rolling Stone was less about factual information and more about music culture.

1970's

• In the mid-1970s writers began to move away from simply writing about music and started writing about “serious” issues such as politics, philosophy, etc. The “Music Press” became divided between Musicians’ papers such as Melody Maker (techniques, “proper music”) and Political papers such as NME (the meaning behind the bands and their songs).
• However, readers started to abandon NME because it no longer wrote about “normal” bands and was too obsessed with itself and its politics. In fact, 1978 saw the start of a new type of music magazine.
•  The NME changed its style in this period to meet the changes, especially the introduction of Punk, head on. New writers were recruited from the magazine’s own readership, with ads like ‘wanted: hip young gun slingers’. Julie Burchill became a top NME reporter overnight.
• Smash Hits launched a new glossy mag catering for a younger audience in a smaller magazine format. Its focus was on “trivia” – favourite colours, food, pop-musicians’ lifestyles, etc. It included polls, letters, surveys, fan club information, all in an attempt to keep in touch with their readership – People wanted lyrics, posters, free gifts on the covers...so they got them! The emphasis of these magazines was pop, which paved the way for contemporary celebrity magazine obsessions.
• Style in pop music became more important than content: make-up, clothes, the video, fashion and hair.

1980's

•  1980s The 80s saw a new layout of magazines – “style” magazines such as The Face and Blitz became popular, not just for music but information about the latest fashions and hairstyles. There was a lot of experimentation with typefaces, layout, graphic design, making the music press new and more exciting with breaking the rules.
•  Many critics argued that these new glossy magazines – tabloid and style based - left a void in which the serious consideration of new and usually ‘indie’ music floundered.
• 1980s Kerrang! Arrived in 1981. It evolved from the template created by Smash Hits, though it tried to have a more ‘flippant’ mode of address. Its target audience was very genre-specific teens.

 1900's

• 1990s New technologies began to emerge in the 90s. Music videos became popular which began to change many aspects of the ways in which music is consumed. Every single comes with a video; sometimes more money is spent on the video than the single. The launch of MTV, the first TV market for music videos, allowed even little known bands to make lots of money and impact with a well-made video. Several other British magazines such as Select and Sounds also folded between 1990 and 2000.
•  The proliferation of music journalism in newspapers, on television, radio and the internet saw a slump in sales figures for mainstream titles. Although the 21st century has seen many magazines marginalised by the Internet and other digital media, this has resulted in the streamlining and increased specialisation of magazine publishing
• Different genres of music started to get their own magazines during this decade. Magazines like Mixmag, which had a club/dance music focus, and The Source, Classic Rock and Hip-Hop were all produced starting in the 1990s.

 2000's - Today

• Daily newspapers feature pop stars and “celebrities” appear on daytime TV. People are famous for being famous. Anyone in a band or with some talent assumes that they have a right to be rich and famous.
• There has been a considerable shift since the 1980s, when magazines like Smash Hits regularly sold in excess of half a million copies an issue. In fact, the magazine closed in 2006, with sales having shrunk to less than 100,000.
•  Music magazines in the Noughties were increasingly niche marketed at very specific sub cultural demographics, with very specific strategies for listening. And, on the one hand, this is a product of the over-riding strategic editorial policies of large media groups like BAUERfor whom titles like Q and Kerrang! Are but one product within their consumer portfolio. On the other hand, it is also a product of the inevitable retrospectivism brought about by the digital revolution. 2000s

RESEARCH How the internet has affected magazines

How/why has the internet affected magazines?

•  Social Media – Don’t have to buy the magazines because the artists share things on their social media.
• Not interested in things in magazines that you can see in real life on things like YouTube.
• Nobody discovers new music through music magazines, it all happens on TV adverts, YouTube, social media etc. for free.
• Don’t have to look for information in magazines because real time information is more easily available online. For example, when Michael Jackson died, the whole world knew in 7 minutes. 
• Advertising companies do not pay to have their adverts put in magazines because there is a smaller amount of people looking at them than there is online.
• The public get the truth straight away when famous people post thing online, rather than through a press conference where journalists can twist what they say.

Function of Music Magazines

Pre-internet:

• Discovering new music.
•  Find more about their favourite artists.
• Be introduced to new artists.
• General music news.
•  Information such as festival dates.
• Other related information such as other music brands and advertisement’s.
•  Exclusive interviews and pictures.
• Free gifts – posters, gizmos etc.
• Sense of community.
•  Fashions of favourite artists.
• Feel connected through competitions and autographs etc.

 Today:

• Souvenirs/collectibles
• Refreshing to go to old media, e.g. magazines
• Bigger exclusives e.g. images, interviews
•  Gossip
• Link with the internet, e.g. links to online competitions.
• Advertisements for good things on the internet e.g. Spotify, iTunes etc.

PRE-TASK Evaluation

Evaluation

Conventions I have used and why I have used them

Central Image

• To catch the eye of the target audience.
• To add colour and variety to he front cover.
• To tell the target audience what is happening in the magazine.

Masthead

• To catch the eye of the target audience.
• To tell the target audience about the theme of the magazine.
• To tell the target audience the name of the magazine.
• To make the magazine stand out.

Advertorials

• To advertise league tables and services on behalf of UCAS.

Cover Line

• To tell people about the main topic of the magazine, University League Tables.
• To jump out to the target audience so that they can see what they main article is about.

Subtitles

• To tell my target audience about all of the other articles in the magazine such as a guide to budgeting and tips for surviving college.

What was the thinking behind my design choices

• For my central image, I chose to have a half close-up shot because I researched other magazines and they had that kind of shot. I also wanted to have a student in my cover image because it was similar to what other college magazines had.
• For my colours, I did some more research on existing colours and I asked my target audience to come up with the colour scheme for my writing.
• For the font I chose, after talking to my target audience and researching existing front covers, I decided to use a very bold and easy to read font, which was Arial Black.
• For my Masthead/Title, I decided to use a large, bold font again and colour it a mustard yellow to make it stand out to people walking past so that they are more likely to pick it up.

How successful was my finished page?

I think that my finished page was very successful because It involved very eye catching sections to it that will make the target audience see the magazine cover much more easily. It was also successful because I used a bold font that was very colourful to appeal to my target audience as well as to catch their attention.

To improve for my main portfolio, I would think more about the location of my photography to make sure their is plenty of room for my subtitles and advertorials etc. To improve, I should also learn more about professional software to use to edit my photos and to put together my final design e.g. Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign.

Overall, I think my time management could have been slightly better. I got everything finished when I was meant to, but I didn't have time to review my work and make necessary improvements. I think I was good at researching and finding out information from my target audience which was very helpful when creating a cover that everybody would enjoy.

PRE-TASK Final Cover Design

PRE-TASK Photography Planning

Photography Planning

Lighting

The lighting for my photo should be bright and clear but must be glare free. The face of the model must be easily seen and the tone of her skin should not clash too much with the light or it will just turn white. However, at the same time I did not want the lighting to be too dark as you would not be able to see the main features of the person and the background I chose especially because my model has dark hair. An example of bad lighting that I found online can be found on the right. It shows how the light has blended to easily with the tone of her skin making it hard to distinguish the difference between the model and the background. If the lighting is right, this will appeal to the target audience because they can see clearly what the photo is trying to tell them as well as who is in it. Also, subconsciously, students like it when amateur work looks professional. Making people impressed like this will make them want to look at the magazine more.

Background/Setting

The background and setting that I chose for my photo had to be chosen carefully because there had to be fairly clear space for me to put my cover lines and advertorials etc. I firstly decided that I wanted the background to be in school grounds as this represented the nature of the magazine better which is about college/sixth form. I then had to choose whereabouts in the school I wanted to take the photo. In the end I narrowed it down to several places around the school, and took several shots at each place at different levels and zooms. Once I had done this I looked through them and spoke to some of my target audience to help me choose which one was best for the magazine but still represented the theme of a school well. In the end, I chose to take a medium close-up shot of her leaning against a wall with an unfocused view of he rest of the school behind her. Taking the photo in school grounds with a view of the school will help the reader relate to the magazine better because it is their own learning environment that they recognise.

Model

The model that I chose has to be somebody that may draw attention to the magazine so I asked her to wear a brightly coloured piece of clothing that would catch the eye of the reader. I also wanted her to look professional but still as though she is going to school rather than to work, therefore I asked her to wear a top that was quite casual but showed intelligence, for example, a turtle neck top. Finally, just to make it look even more like a school environment and so that she had something to do with her hands, I asked her to hold books so that she represents a student well. I also tried a picture of her walking with somebody else down some stairs, looking like they were talking but it didn't look as good as my final shot.

PRE-TASK Mock-Up of Front Cover

PRE-TASK Review of Initial Ideas

PRE-TASK Planning Magazine Parts

Planning Magazine Parts

I spoke to 15 people to find out what they wanted out of a college magazine and they said that they were looking for something that gave them useful information about school and later life, but still had entertaining parts and parts to show that it was made by a student rather than a teacher. They also said that they wanted actual students to be part of the magazine as well, for example, students could have their own column to right about a subject they love or something they find interesting.

Name/Title

I asked 15 people what their favourite name was, the amount of votes is shown next to each title:

• Subject (5/15)
• Project (2/15)
• The Print (2/15)
• College Monthly (0/15)
• Student (1/15
• College6 (3/15)
• Pencixth (2/15)

As you can see above, the winner for the title of my magazine is "Subject". This is a good name for a college or sixth form magazine because it links in well with the idea of it being a magazine for students still at school.

Slogan

I asked the same 15 people their opinion on some slogan ideas I came up with, as seen below:

• #Subject (3/15)
• #Info4Students (6/15)
• Telling you what's happening and when (0/15)
• What to do next (2/15)
• What's happening now? (2/15)
• By Students for Students (2/15)

As you an see from the results above, the winning slogan for the front cover of my magazine is: "#Info4Students". This slogan is perfect for the magazine because it tells you exactly what the magazine is and what it provides, as well as combining it with something modern, in this case, hash-tags. I am glad that I spoke to people about a slogan because, at first, I was not going to have one, I was just going to have the title on its own which as seen above, is less preferred.

Colour Scheme

I spoke to the same 15 students again, and asked them what type of colour scheme they would like. Would it be a light, neutral or dark colour scheme. The results are shown below:

• Light (10/15)
• Neutral (3/15)
• Dark (2/15)

As you can see above, by many votes, a light colour scheme is much preferred by my target audience. I spoke to them and found out that they preferred a lighter magazine because it showed positivity towards school, education and general life. Psychologically it is also a much more favoured and appealing colour scheme to look at. I found that it was a good idea that I asked other people because at first, I was going to use a darker colour scheme because I thought it would look more professional, but after speaking to people they preferred a lighter one.

Featured Articles

In my magazine, I will have many different articles that have been written by a wide range of students in the school, however there will be some that we will base that particular magazine issue on and some that they may find extra interesting. To advertise these I will put a small snippet or description of them on the front page so that people know what to look for, for example, "UCAS. What to do. How to do it and when." This is the title I have given to one of features articles. It is short catchy and tells you briefly, what will be in the issue.

As well as this example, I also did some research with my target audience to find out what they liked best, and most of them were interested in things for university to help prepare them, and give them more information. As well as this, they also wanted something funny and entertaining to help break up the seriousness and to make the readers more interested and engaged with the magazine. After hearing this, I came up with some more ideas such as, "10 tips for surviving college", "What happened to our Media Teacher!" and "How to revise". I got feedback from some students and and they said that they liked most of the ideas except from "How to Revise". They found this title boring and not something that would catch the eye of the reader. After some ideas, I came up with "Revision Secrets!", which they liked much more due to the use of words to draw readers in.

PRE-TASK Readership Profile

Readership Profile

Individual Reader

Name: Daisy Pinkerton

Age Range: 16

Gender: Female

Occupation: Student

Interests: Television, video games, music

Personality: Quirky

Spare Time Activities: Meeting up with friends, playing video games, listening to music, sleeping

Expenditure: Cinema, eating out, clothes, games, music

Popular Magazines: Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue

Popular Social Media: Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

Popular Websites: Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube

Popular TV Shows/Channels: Big Bang Theory, Made in Chelsea, E4, Channel 4

Popular Films: Harry Potter, Sex in the City, The Hunger Games, Twilight

Popular Brands: Apple, Spotify, Netflix, eBay, Starbucks, Coca Cola

Favourite Cars: Fiat, Mini, Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin

Favourite Holidays: Holiday Home, Skiing, Beach holidays, Adventure Holidays

Social Activities: Cinema, Shopping, Eating out

Why would people this age want a Sixth Form Magazine?

• Because they are sixth form students
• So that they know about News and Events in the school.
• To share photo's of trips and school events.
• To share interesting or funny articles.
• To practice Journalistic skills.
• To share interesting or funny gossip.

What teenagers, 16-18 have in common...

• They are living with their parents.
• They have a limited income.
• They are still in education.
• Some have a part time job.
• Most have social media.

PRE-TASK Magazine Annotation

PRE-TASK Review Three Typical Magazine Covers