Feedback 29.01.10

Sarah,

Well done on this work. You are clearly working very hard on this project whaich is great to see. I'd like you to try to get the research completed this week and move on to planning the project. Don't forget to make some audience questionnaires and distribute. You will need to collate the findings and reflect on how they will inform your design ideas. Keep the questionnaires short and simple and use closed questions to allow you to make some charts/graphs etc to display the data.
Keep up the good work!

Mrs A

Analysed Band Images!!

So here i am again, searching google images, this time for posters and Cd covers of a particular artist. These Cd covers/posters ect, HAS to represt a artist. As i want my magazine to be based on popular chart music, or upcoming hit artists, i wanted the artist to fit into this catergory, and when thinking of who to do?? Then the artist Kesha come to mind! Kesha has become a popular artist nowadays, therefore the pubic are intrigued to know more about her.

Album covers have to really represent the artist style of music, this being pop/dance in keshas case. As kesha is known as a party girl, which is quite popular with the public lately, for instance aswell as kesha, there is lady gaga, i have noticed this from research, as in the 90's the artist had to be squeeky clean, nowadays nobody cares and tend to prefer the artist to losen up. Just looking at the album cover for TIK TOK, obviously tells the audience that this aint no girly girl, and can sence abit of attitude from the image. Also the use of direct address lets the audience connect with her personaly. The wrighting 'KESHA' and TIK TOK' is wrote in a edgey font, this represents her personality as she is a very edgey person.

This is Kesha's second single 'ANIMAL'. Kesha again has her name in a very edgey front. However this single is very different to TIK TOK, but just like the other cover, this one represents the single. As it is called animal, the image of kesha represents this. As you can sence a animal within the image, she has a very angry look to her as if she is going to pounce, the anger is clearly shown in her eyes. Her name written in gold contrasts against the dark background therefore really stands out, as her lips are edited gold aswell, this gives the audience a feel of importants and respect for her.

Both of these covers really represent each single in there own way!!

Circulation figures

When looking for music magazines circulation figures i came among a small list of magazines, most of them was rock/indie magazines, however i saw the name 'mix mag' so i thought ok this has to be a mixed genre magazine so i did a search on google to have a look at a few of the covers, and then the circulation figures started to make sense. Mixmag had 30,159 in the last 6 months when they was making 34,073 / 35,817. At first i wondered why are the sales going down, then looking at the cover i instantly thought i new why, the cover did not seem appealing at all, there seemed to be way to much going on, and way to many different colours, i felt the carl cox advertisment in the bottom left hand colour was very uncalled for and just took over the over compeletly, with having the interent as such a big competition nowadays as information on the interent is more likely to be free, covers have to be more appealing than ever.

As rolling stones is a very successfull magazine, i thought id take a look into there circulation figures. Rolling stones were classed in the Top 100 abc magazines, that is not just including music magazines but the whole of magazines. In 2004 rolling stones was ranked at number 68 and in 2005 i had gone down just one place to 69. In 2004 the circualtion figures were 1,267,110 and in 2005 it went up to 1,309,117, this is a percentage increase of 3.30%!!!! So how much rolling stones is a bigger hit with the public compared to mix mag, well i feel that the covers as so much more appealing, the information on rolling stones not to much but yet not to little, and the artists they use on the covers and more iconic than on mix mag.

Article analysis

Trying to find a magaizne article on the interent was a struggle, however i managed to find this 'pink' article. As i was flicking through a number of images, this particular article seemed to really catch my eye, and i had to have a look. I was very drawn in by the brightness of it, and i loved how the article really fit the artists style. The use of pink was obviously done deliberatly, as the article is done on 'pink' herself, and i found this quite eyecatching. The title of the article would be expected to have been the other way around, 'PINK-BAD GIRL FOR LIFE' this was on a black background and the used pthe girls pink and white for the text, instead of the predictable colour of using pink for her name and the white on the text 'bad girl for life' it was the other way around, i feel this was done to represent herself as she is not a predictable person, and the article is trying to get across that she is abit of a rebel. I love how the who article had been thought out alot, from not just the text itself but the background, there is pink scrubbles behind some of the text, this again is to represent her rebel side, but as it is in pink it also shows a girly side, as if she is saying she can be both. After looking at this article i thought 'what a good idea' i should do the article to represent the artist, not just from text and what the interview says but the whole layout and design so the reader knows exactly what to expect from the article.

Continued, conventions of a music magazine.

Just like the other magazines i have analysed, billboard is again for a teen audience, all three of these magazines are produced and sold in america, and due to research i feel there is a big gap in the market in the UK for a 16-24 music magazine which consists of all genres. This magazine cover has very little information on the front, all the cover is basically a picture of miley cyrus, and a quote from her which is more than likely i quote picked out from a interview with her. I feel that this is not a very good selling point as the reader does not know what else to expect from the magazine, for fans of miley cyrus, this would more than likely draw them in however for other readers, this might stop them wanting to buy it. The title 'Billboard' is filled in with primary colours, this represents young artists as we relate primary colours with younger people so this instantly shows that the magazine is aimed for a younger audience. The use of the colour red represents miley cyrus as rocky, however he clothes also contradict this as she is wearing white which represents purity. Over all i feel this magazine cover has its strong point such as the use of colour, however on my magazine cover i want to mention more thats in the magazine and mention a mixture of genres to draw a wide audience in.

Conventions of other magazine covers

Blender is a popular magazine in america, and the main audience for this magazine is late teens (16-24). Blender is a music magazine that covers a wide range of genres, and most of the genres are mention on the front covers, this opens the magazine in a wide audience, the cover mentions music from 'Katy perry' to 'Metallica' by stanting this artists, the audience knows what the expect in the magazine. The image on the cover is of 'Katy Perry' this and her name being in a bigger text than the other subheadings on the cover tells the reader who the issue is based on, and will then expect there to be a artical on her. Katy Perry is a very popular artist, and this is why they used her.The colours are very bright against the white background, and the main text is written in purple, making it stand out against the black. Direct address was used when taking the picture of katy perry, with katy perry looking straight out of the magazine cover invites the reader in. Just like this magazine i want my magazine to consist of all different popular artists, from a range a genres.

Conventions of a magazine cover

I chose to analyse a rolling stones front cover, as i felt it was aimed at very simalar age group that im aiming for with my magazine ideas. I feel this image fits the content of the magazine very well, by having 'the hills' stated in the front cover and having actresses from the hills on the front draws the correct to the correct age group they are aiming for, this is a big hit with teen audiences, from between the ages 16-24. As well as having the right age of audience, it is also very popular nowadays, therefore this would sell many copies. The colour shceme is mostly white and black. These two colours contradict each other, therefore the text really stands out against the black, also as 'THE HILLS' is much larger and bolder against the other texts, this istantly draws the reader to see this. The girls are also dressed in white this represents purity however this again is contrasted with the type of clothing they are wearing, the lack of clothing is aimed at the male population, as 'The Hills' is mainly aimed for females, the magazine had to attract male audiences some how, this does this. The colour of the title 'rolling stones' changes depending on the issue and the front colour, on this issue 'rolling stones' has been edited to be pink, this is because the issue is mainly aimed to females as this follows the hills audience. The image of the girls consists of both direct address and indirect address, the direct address draws the audience in to the celebrities, however indirect address has been used to make the girls appear fun, therefore audiences will want to know more about them. The brightness of this magazine would stand out on a shelf against other magazines that use common dark colours, therefore this will draw the audience into this particular magazine. There is the main subheading 'The Hills' and there are 4 more subheading in a smaller text to the right of the cover, these headings consists of the main stories they are advertising to sell the magazine. There is one Strapline going across the top, this states 'Inside a $25.000-a night escort service' this again is to draw the male audience in more, opening the magazine up to both males and females.

Preliminary Task

This im my preliminary task, a front cover for a school magazine. The image i used is of a student in the libary, i chose to set this in the libary, therefore the magazine will easily be recogizable as educational. I felt that the title of the magazine 'SMC' could of stood out more, to do this i would of filled the lettering in with the colour black or yellow. This dominant topic of the magazine was for A'levels, i felt that i made this clear as the text stands out onto the white faded background and the text is a rather large. I wanted to add colour into the text, this is why the colour yellow was chose. I feel that this will draw people to the magazine more, i used this colour for the topic 'Football Glory' as this topic is a proud topic for the college, i felt this colour represented that. I used a plain white background with the text 'New York 2010' i felt that this would draw students in and therefore would lead them to wanting to know more.

This is a rough hand drawn contents page, this was part of the premlminary task and here above is mine. I layed out so the text 'contents' was large and at the top, therefore this would make is easily recognisable to readers. I also wanted a image to dominate the page, so i placed the image in the middle of the page between the texts, this would be a image of who the magazine is mostly based on in that issue and would contain direct address, this would invite the reader in. I layed the text out at either size of the page, therefore it would be split up, so the reader doesnt have just a long list of text, the will draw the reader in to read more, and would be easier for them to scim the text to find articles that interest them.

Ideas

The project i have selected to do is the media magazine that will be based on chart music including pop and indie. i preferred this option due to me liking to work Independently and i also have more interest in the music industry. I chose to aim my magazine towards the female audience from ages 16-24 as I feel that there is a gap in the market for this.