Experimenting With Colours

Blue

Red

Orange

Pink

Grey

Turquoise

Green

This is the style and layout I want my finished music magazine to look like. I really like the simplicity of these magazine layouts because they look professional, sleek and stylish. Because I had created the perfect layout of my music magazine I decided to experiment with colours to help decided which could I would like my magazine to be. After looking at all the colours about I decided to go with the could grey because I believe it is more likely to attract my target audience compared to the bright colours. I believe grey is more likely to attract my target audience because the consumers reading Moloko are more likely to wear darker colours and have the 'grundge' look, which in my opinion is what the colour grey represents.

Designing My Music Magazine

I placed my masthead, tag line and barcode onto my magazine where I want them to stay. I then started to experiment with background effects. For this effect, on PhotoShop, I used the render filter effect to create the 'spotlight' look. However I did not like the way this looked so I continued with different ideas.

Music Magazine Front Cover Research

This is the style and layout I want my finished music magazine to look like. I really like the simplicity of these magazine layouts because they look professional, sleek and stylish.

       

Masthead Manipulation

Moloko Font Ideas

These fonts represent my "Indie Rock' music magazine as they are all edgy, eye catching. However, the grunge element of the last font reminds me more of a Rock magazine not Indie Rock because Rock music is associated with danger and destruction. The third and fourth fonts remind me of fashion magazines like Vogue because of the thinness of it and how it is elongated. The second font is difficult to read which makes me not want to use it for my magazine as it defeats the purpose of a masthead. Because of all of the previous factors I have decided to use the first font as its chopped off verticles, modern style, individual look and the fact that it is slightly one step removed from being the norm which is what indie rock is makes me want to use it for my music magazine masthead.

I believe the font that I have chosen for my masthead is simple, sleek and looks professional which would suggests to readers that the opinion inside my magazine will be a simple yet professional opinion, without the need to have celebrity gossip.

Different Music Magazine Mastheads

Brainstorm Of Music Magazine Mastheads

These magazine titles were the effect of brainstorming different ideas. All of the magazine titles apart from Moloko are average names that most people will think of, which made my choice of Moloko easy as it is individual and unique.

Magazine Front Cover And Contents Page - Updated

I changed my school magazine's contents page as before it didn't look much like a contents page. In order to make it look more like a contents page I added the sub-heading "Contents Page' and also added a "Regulars" section as this is what all magazines contain. I also turned the pictures of Acland Burghley into a feature. Finally, just so it looked better I incorporated the orange and also outlined the numbers in black. In addition, a date was added.

The only difference I made to my school magazine's front cover is that I added an issue number in the top left.

My Front Cover And Contents Analysis

School Magazine Contents Page - First Attempt

This is the first attempt of creating my school magazine contents page, however I believe it doesn't look very professional because of the fact it is very plain. In order to create a more professional contents page I am going to look at other school contents pages and change mine accordingly. 

Music magazine flat plan

Magazine Contents Page Flat Plan

Magazine Contents Page Layout

Just like my 'Front Cover Page Layout' blog that I posted earlier, I have taken an image of a contents page off Google and annotated it. This layout links with my school magazine contents page as just like my school magazine, the numbers on this contents page are a different size and colour. However, this contents page only has one picture and the text is more spaced out and is not in a box, also it has more information about that particular page underneath the bold sub headings.

Finished School Magazine!

This is my finished school magazine. I used my flat plan design and photoshop to create it on the computer. For the images I used a SLR Nikon camera and students from my media class. However, I did make one change from my flat plan which was to only have 3 pictures of students along the bottom instead of 4. This is simply because it looks better to only have a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.

School Magazine Flat Plan

This is my flat plan of what I would like my school magazine's font cover page to look like. To create this I looked at different magazines and chose components from each magazine that appealed to me and would like to use in my magazine.

Magazine Cover and Mastheads

To create the Main Cover Picture I chose an image off Google, saved it and then opened it in PhotoShop. Once the image was opened in PhotoShop I selected the image using the Lasso tool, removing it from the white background it originally had in order to be able to place it on top of another 'background' image. I then went back onto to Google, searching and saving an image of a school building which became the background to the image below. Once I had both the background image of the school and the main image of the college students, I opened a new A4 sized document in PhotoShop, placing the image of the school on first creating my first layer, then the image of the students to create my second layer as shown below. To make my magazine cover look more professional I blurred the background image, visually enhancing the students.

After I had finished my magazine cover I went onto www.dafont.com and downloaded 6 different masthead fonts which I believe had a 'school' feel and imported them into PhotoShop. Below is the 6 fonts that I downloaded from www.dafont.com

Once they were imported I made a new layer on top of my magazine cover, typing my school magazine masthead 'La Swappy'  in each of my 6 chosen fonts to see which masthead I preferred. (The below image shows my first masthead) I believe this does look like a school magazine masthead font but looks like its from an American students school magazine, not an English students school magazine, which is my target audience. Because of this factor I have decided not to use this particular masthead for my school magazine. 

                    

(The below image shows my second masthead) This font agazin reminds me of school because of the fact it looks like handwriting. However the handwriting looks childish, not as if it has been written by an A-Level student, who I am aiming my magazine towards. Becuase of this I have decided against using this font for my school magazine masthead.

(The below image shows my third masthead) Although I like this font because it looks like handwriting  from an older student, compared to the previous font, it does not work with the image as it is not clear to read, because I can not read it clearly I have decided to not use this particular font.

(The below image is my fourth masthead) Although in comparison with the previous font this masthead is very clear to read I like this least out of the 6 different fonts. Along with atheistic reasons, I do not believe the font is the correct choice for a school magazine which is why I did not chose it for my school magazine.

(The below image is my fifth masthead) Mastheads are supposed to be easily visible and readable, however this masthead is neither. If on display I do not believe you will easily be able to figure out what the masthead is saying. Because of the simple fact that this masthead is not easy to see I have decided against using it for my school magazine.

(The below image is of my sixth masthead) Out of all 6 mastheads this is the one I have chosen to use for my school magazine, although I will make it much bolder in order for it to stand out on the page and be easily visible. I chose this particular masthead because it looks like handwriting, from and older student, that can be easily visible. In my opinion it takes all of the previous fonts, moulds their best feature together into something that I really like. Because of these factors I have decided to use this font for my school magazine.

Comparison of 4 School Magazines

In order to create the best school magazine I could I researched different school magazines, looking at different types of school magazines will enable me to get an idea of what I would like my finished magazine to be like.

Masthead Research

NME Magazine:

NME magazines’ logo consists of the colours red, white and black. The colour red is normally associated with passion, anger and is quite eye catching. NME could use red as its masthead’s main colour because the have a passion for music but are not afraid to be bold with their opinions and thoughts.  Red can also be seen as a unisex colour, showing that both male and females can read this magazine.

The typography of this particular masthead is sharp and strong. The straight lines throughout this masthead are symmetrical and make it seem important and worthy of being bought by the consumer. 

The font has no effects on it, which can show that this particular masthead doesn’t need to be full of effects to be appealing.

There isn’t must language used as each letter stands for a word, however because NME stands for New Musical Express it shows that it isn’t for a particular type of genre or sex and can in fact be read by everyone with a interest in music.

The uses and gratifications for this particular magazine would be Surveillance as it has lots of information about ‘what’s going on’ in the music world.

NME magazines’ logo suggests that the target audience could be anyone who is interested in music as the colours; fonts and language can all be considered unisex.

Blender Magazine:

Blender Magazines’ masthead varies in different colours however this particular masthead is a blue colour. Straight away the blue could be seen, as targeting males because of the fact blue is normally associated with boys and pink with girls.  The colour blue is sometimes seen as representing sadness or sorrow, however because it is a magazines masthead I believe it is just used to catch the consumers attention.

The typography of this masthead consists of straight lines that slightly curve on the corners. Compared to the NME masthead, Blender’s does not seem so harsh or strong, and in fact could be seen as more approachable to the consumer. Again like with NME, there are no effects on the font, which could show that it doesn’t need to be full of effects to be appealing.

The word ‘Blender’ could suggest that this magazine is universal as it blends different people together. However, it could be seen as only being for one genre of music because in the end, after ‘blending’ everything together, it makes one product.

The uses and gratifications for this magazine is also Surveillance as just like NME it consists of information about ‘what’s going on’

Blender is an American music magazine that has billed itself as ‘the ultimate guide to music and more’. It is also known for its sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities.

Blender’s magazine logo suggests that the target audience for this magazine is older males, older because of the solid colour and males because of the blue colour of the masthead

KERRANG! Magazine:

KERRANG! unlike both previous magazines has an advanced design effect on its font which could reflect both the style and genre of music.

The colour black automatically makes me think of Goths and Rockers because they are normally associated with that particular colour. Not only that but black is again like NME a universal colour which attracts both male and female consumer.

The typography is sharp, bold and eye catching. This could represent the statement clothes that are normally associated with Rockers/Goths.

I believe the uses and gratifications for this particular magazine is again, just like NME and Blender is Surveillance because it is informing the consumer of what is happening.

KERRANG! was first published on the 6^th of June 1981 as a one off supplement in the sounds newspaper. It was named after the onomatopoeic that derives from the sound made when playing an electric guitar.

Q Magazine:

The magazine Q was originally called ‘Cue’ for example ‘cue the music’, ‘cueing a record’ which was then shortened to ‘Q’

Q’s logo is red and white, just like NME, which can suggest that it is unisex because red is a unisex colour, meaning that this magazine would capture the attention of both males and females. Red is a colour of power and can suggest that this magazine does not need special effects or fonts because the colour itself suggests that this is a popular, powerful magazine. The red catches the eye of a consumer, which then diverts the eyes to the white Q in the centre, imprinting the quirky name of the magazine into the consumers mind.

Compared to the three previous magazines Q has a slightly elegant yet not too sophisticated typography and is also extremely elegant, again giving it a more subtle advantage of catching the consumer’s eye.

Also, again like NME and Blender this magazine does not need an amazing effect to be seen as appealing.

Just like every other magazine Q's uses and gratifications is Surveillance as if is informative of what is going on in the music world at a particular moment in time.