Drafting and planning- Original photography analysis

This is analysis of some original photography as practice so i could understand how to get the perfect pictures for my magazine.

Research in to similar products- Other style magazine for ideas on double page spread

There is a whole page in this magazine for a picture of Katy Perry, a very attractive female wearing hardly any clothes posing in a very provocative flirtatious manor, this is effective as it would immediately catch a young man's eye and then they're likely to want to read the magazine as Katy Perry is a huge global pop star. The font is similar to the rolling stones logo and the lay out of the text is similar to a news paper article. The headline of the article is very central and is the biggest text on the page which similarly to the picture is quite provocative as it talks about her showering fully clothed.

Research in to similar products- Same genre contents page

The layout of this content page ensures that it is easy to read and find what you want. Everything is sectioned off under different category's, such as 'NEWS' which makes it clear to the reader where they can find different features in the magazine.

The contents page features one short main story which is kind of like an a taster and advert for the rest of the magazine.

I like the use of the 'band index' feature in NME magazines as readers who are only interested in bands that they like may like this as it becomes easy to avoid anything that they do not wish to read and simply go to sections of the magazine about bands they like.

The colour scheme and layout accompanying the contents of the magazine make it clear that the magazine is targeted at indie/rock music fans.

The use of informal writing with 'slang' terminology would appeal to the young, trendy target audience. 

The colours used follow the conventional house colours used in NME with red, black and white dominating the page. However, yellow writing on a black background is used to advertise a monthly subscription, this is because they wanted it to stand out so more people are drawn in to subscribe.

Target audience research

I think i'll aim my music magazine at a similar target audience as popular magazines like NME. Indie/Rock artists and bands are most commonly the cover stars on the issues of NME, for example, Arctic Monkeys have featured on the cover of the magazine many times throughout their career. This makes me think that the magazine is mainly targeted at older teenagers/young adults as people around this age group, male or female, can relate to the music featured in NME. However, whilst NME is aimed at a mass market on a whole, i'll aim my magazine at more of a niche market, sticking to indie/rock music.

Research in to similar products- codes and conventions

Oasis are well known for the falling out of the two lead men Noel and Liam Gallagher so the fact that the image is them standing far apart from each other wearing light and dark contrasting colours accompanies the main cover line 'ROCK'S MESSIEST BUST-UPS'  and would attract indie/rock group fans to purchase the magazine. All the usual conventions of a magazine cover are featured such as the bar code, date line and price and sub cover stories which in this case is just names of other bands that feature in the magazine, this is good as it may attract people who particularly like one of these artists. I like the NME type indie/rock genre artists on magazine covers as the bands usually look good on the cover and their rebellious style, similar to the Gallagher brothers, makes good cover lines to attract readers.

Research into similar products- Genre crossovers

On this hip-hop magazine VIBE there are two cover stars used as famous rapper Eminem and rapper and producer Dr Dre have a lot of fans who would be very excited that they are making music together. Therefore the cover line 'What are eminem and dre cookin' up?' is very clever as it suggests they are working together on music and would attract a lot of readers. The font is all yellow to fit with the theme of the magazine and the font is the same that is typically used when Eminem's name is wrote with the second 'E' backwards.

Research in to similar products- Same genre

The Arctic Monkeys have been used as the cover stars on NME, they are that well known to the target audience of NME that that the name of the band is not included, just the initials which is also the title of their new album which has a review advertised at the bottom titled 'The NME Verdict'. Fans of the band would be intrigued by what the critics think of the new album. All the typical conventions of a magazine are included such as date and price, left third and bar code. The main cover line 'THE FINAL CHAPTER' is used well as anyone reading would question what the final chapter for the arctic monkeys is and whether this will be their last piece of work. The plain white, bold writing contrasts with the dark clothing the artists are wearing therefore stands out well.

Drafting and planning- codes and conventions task

I used alliteration with 'Drake Dominates' as i think it would immediately grab the reader's attention. I used another massive hip-hop artist Eminem for my sub story as his music fits in with the genre of the magazine and he has a lot of fans who he could attract to purchase copies. I researched hip-hop/rap artists on magazine covers and realised that the font is often big, bold and stands out which is why i decided to use the font i did.

I researched R&B artists who often use jazz instruments like those shown in the image of the band and found the group destiny's child so decided to make this band very similar to them as i thought the name was fitting with the genre and it enabled me to use the 'Destiny's Child anger' cover story which i think would attract a lot of readers. After research of R&B music i decided that quite a simple but bold font would be the best for this magazine.

I researched Bjork specifically and used a real story about her channel 4 documentary as the main cover line as the magazine appears to be a special edition all about Bjork therefore readers would be interested by the documentary advertised. Bjork is a very eccentric artist therefore picking another eccentric artist for the sub story and the fonts were easy to pick.

I wasn't too sure what to add to this cover and would need to research further in to the rock genre but i chose to use 'the kings of the charts?' as it fits in perfectly with the name of the band. The font was easy to pick as it is just very similar to the font used on the name of the band.

I advertised a free give away of a Marilyn Manson CD on the front of this cover as the target audience of this magazine may be tempted to buy the issue just for the free music. I used this font as it is literally called '84 ROCK' and suits the rock genre very well.

Drafting and planning- Looking at typography