Music Magazine- Front Cover, Contents and Double Page Spread Plans

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Editorial Profile

This is my Editorial Profile which will be put at the start of my magazine on the Contents page. You can see where aboutS I am planning to put it on my Contents page flat plan.

Photoshoot Risk Assessment

This is the risk assessment for my photoshoot which will take place in a small forest on East Hill. There are many things to think about to ensure safety to me and my 2 models.

Preparation for Photoshoot and other documents

There are several documents that I need to produce before doing the photoshoot. The most important ones that I need for the photoshoot are the plans for the photos that I want to take and also the risk assessment. The risk assessment will involve making sure that the location for my photoshoot is safe and to eliminate as many risks as I can before actually doing the photoshoot. The plans are important so that I know what photos I need to take and can concentrate on taking them whilst we are there instead of trying to think of how to take them which will be a waste of time. The other documents that I need to produce which are not directly linked to the photoshoot are the customer profile, editorial profile, plans of all the pages. Once I have finished all of these and done my photoshoot I will be able to start producing my magazine pages.

Customer Profile

This is the profile of my Ideal customer from my target audience.

This is Mike. He is 17 years old and has a keen interest in rock music. In his spare time he enjoys playing the drums and has recently started a band with some of his mates. He also spends a lot of time online like most teenagers finding new songs and bands, and also enjoys playing video games whilst listening to them. 

His favourite bands at the moment are Breaking Benjamin and Three Days Grace, however he also likes some classic rock occasionally e.g. AC DC. In the summer he goes to festivals like Download and Sonisphere with his mates. The magazines that he reads the most are Kerrang and NME, however he doesn't read any consistently. He is more focused on having fun than studying for school.

Audience Theory

Hypodermic Needle Theory- This implies that in the early days mass media had a very direct and powerful effect on the audience. The audience was seen as one mass consuming the same product, and there was a constsant stream of unchallenged media. There are several factors that have contributed to this- the fast popularization of radio and television and the emergence of persuasion industries, for example advertising and propaganda.


Two Step Flow- This is the theory that ideas go from media producer to opinion leaders, and then from them to more passive individuals in a given society, similar to a filtration process. It is similar to a cascade/pyramid model, for example Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.


Uses and Gratifications Theory- This theory is about how people will proactivley search for media that will do more than just meet a need but also enhance knowledge amongst other things. They do this for a number of reasons- a diversion to get away from everyday pressures, to compare their life to those portrayed in the media, and for surveilance to check up on whats happening in the World.


Audience Reception Theory- This is about how in the 1980's and 1990's alot of research was done into the way individuals recieve and interpret a text, and how their individual circumstances affect the way they percieve it. There are believed to be serveral steps to this- first the media is encoded by producers, then that product is decoded by the audience. Depending on the individual there can be multiple readings of the same text, and producers can use codes and conventions to connote a preferred reading to the audience.

Double Page Spread Deconstructions

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Contents Page Deconstructions

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Front Cover Deconstructions

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Questionnaires

The main advantage of doing the questionnaire is that it gives me a chance to see what the target audience think about music magazines. This will mean that I know what they want/like the most and so I can make mine the best it can possibly be. I also made sure that the data I received was quantative which means that I can easily put it into a spreadsheet and make graphs as seen in the previous post. There is a slight disadvantage of asking questions which produce this type of data which is the answers are quite generalized however I still feel that it is a lot better, especially when asking more than 5 people. Another disadvantage of questionnaires is that not all people will answer them seriously, especially in the 15-19 age bracket.

Questionnaire Data

This is the data that I collected from my questionnaire's. I found out a lot of information which will help me when creating my music magazine.

Visual montage of Ideas

Visual montage of ideas

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First Masthead Attempt

This is the first attempt at making my masthead. I don't think I will use this font in the final masthead, the only reason I am using it at the moment is because we have had problems downloading fonts at school.

Questionnaire Draft

Questionnaire 

What is you gender?

Male             Female

What is your age?

0-9            10-14          15-19            20+

What attracts you to a magazine the most?

Masthead             Picture              Free Gift/Lure              Features

How much would you be wiling to pay for a rock music magazine?

Nothing            £1-£1.99           £2-£2.99            £3-£3.99             £4+

What is your favourite type of rock music?

Classic Rock         Hard Rock           Metal            Pop Rock          Punk Rock

Would you prefer a male or a female on the front cover?

Male             Female

Would you prefer a single person or multiple people on the front cover?

Single Person             Multiple People

Do you prefer to see a larger image with part of the subject covering the masthead or a smaller one with the masthead clear?

Part of Subject Covering Masthead               Clear Masthead

What scene would you prefer the front cover photo of a rock magazine to be?

Dark Forest            Warehouse             Against a dark background

What colour scheme do you think would be most suitable for the magazine?

Black/Blue          Black/Red          White/Bright Colours            Other

What would you say is the most suitable for the name of the magazine?

Rock-it (Rocket)             Rock-On            Hurricane            Hypnosis 

Do you feel exclusive lures are important on the front cover of a magazine?

Yes            No

What would be the free gift of your choice?

Free CD            Free MP3 Download            Plectrum/Other small musical accessory  

Whats the first thing you look at when you see a magazine?

Masthead                Photo              Price                Lures/Free gift

Would an exclusive interview encourage you to pick up a magazine?

Yes               No

Would you prefer formal or causal language in the magazine?

Casual            Formal              Somewhere in-between

What is your current favourite rock magazine?

NME             Q             Kerrang            Don't read any

Do you feel a logo is needed to make the magazine recognisable?

Yes              No

Do you feel that the font used in the masthead needs to reflect the rock music genre?

Yes              No

What colour do you feel best represents rock?

Red              Blue              Black              Other

2 Double Page Spread Deconstruction's

Kerrang Front Cover Deconstruction

Firstly, the Kerrang cover is quite clearly aimed at people who like rock music. There are many factors which suggest this. The first is the large ‘KERRANG’ text at the top of the page. It has the effect of being painted onto the page (the white dots close to the letters) and the lines going across the text have the look of broken glass which are both quite rocky things. Throughout the page there is a variety of different text fonts/colours/sizes. This gives the cover a ‘rough at the edges’ look and suites the rock genre. All of the text has a contrasting coloured shape behind it which makes it stand out from the background more and so easy to read.

There is a light behind Billie Joe (the main person on the cover) which makes it easier to see his outline. They have put his head laying slightly over the masthead so that his whole head can be seen easily, and the masthead is still easy to read so I think that it works well. There are quite a few different colours used on this page however the main ones are yellow and green, as well as black and white. These colours work well because they stand out from the black/white background clearly.

They have advertised the main big features down the left of the page so that they can still be seen when arranged in a newsagent. They have also put the main lure at the top of the page so that it is in one of the places the reader will look at first. They have put the barcode in the bottom right corner because this is usually the last place the reader will look.

Kerrang Contents Page Deconstruction

Again, this contents page uses a variety of presentational techniques. The most consistent colour throughout this page is yellow. This colour is used for all of the main heading and page numbers which I think works well because it stands out well from the rest of the page. This shows good use of house style.

This contents page is slightly less structured than the Q contents pages I have been looking at; however this is not necessarily a bad thing. I like the use of lots of small pictures as it gives you more of an insight into what will be in the article rather than just text. You can tell that the biggest feature is going to be on You Me At Six, simply because they have the biggest picture on the page. I would assume that the others are all of a similar length because they are all the same size.

They have organized the pictures in page order from left to right. This isn’t as clear as the page numbers on the right of the page however it is still easy to tell what is going on.

They have also used good mode of address which can be seen in Rob Flynn’s quote in the top right corner of the page. 

Q Contents Page Deconstruction

There are many different presentational techniques used in this contents page. The first of these is the consistent use of the colour red throughout the page, similarly to the other ‘Q’ contents page I analysed.

I like the way how this contents page has a very organised and structured layout, unlike a lot of other rock magazines contents which seem very cluttered. I think it looks this way because they have placed no text directly on top of pictures which means you can still see the text and picture very clearly. In places where they have put text over a picture they have added a white background which I think works well to make the text clearer.

They have organised the features down the left hand side of the page in chronological order which makes it easy for the reader to find the page they want. They have also used good mode of address by making the text used to describe the features quite informal and casual to appeal to the readers who are probably roughly 15-30.

Deconstruction of 'Q' Front Cover, Contents and DSP

Rock Sound Front Cover Deconstruction

There are many messages that can be taken from this front cover. The first of these is that the person standing closest to the camera could be the main member of their band so perhaps the lead singer. The others are laid out well in the background so that all of their faces are visible and also part of their torso. They all have a sinister type look on their faces which could suggest quite a heavy genre of music. They are also all wearing very dark clothing which furthermore suggests this point. They have put two of the band members heads slightly overlapping the ‘ROCK SOUND’ text which I think works well because it means you can still see the whole photo and read the name of the magazine pretty easily.

I like the use of colour on this cover. The only 3 colours used are black, green and white. I think this works well and has a higher impact than using a lot of different colours. I think the use of green and white for the text works well because they both stand out against the dark background. I think that one part of the text that could be changed slightly is the ‘My Chemical Romance’ text. I think that this covers up too much of the main image.

I think it has good that they have placed their main lure in the top left corner as this is the first place a human eye will look on the page so it will instantly make the reader want to buy the magazine. They have used this method again by putting the barcode and price in the bottom corner because this is the last place someone would look on the page and they don’t want anyone to be put off by the price before they have read what is in the magazine. Also another good reason for putting their main lure in the top left hand corner is that it is usually only the left hand on the front cover that is visible in the newsagents.

This is my moodboard for rock music magazines.

Preliminary Task Evaluation

For our preliminary task we had to make a front cover for a ICT based college. Because of this we decided to make it computer related.


We have named our free magazine 'Information Highway'. Initially we were going to name it 'Your College' however we felt that it needed to be related to computers/ICT as that is what the college teaches, and the students are more likely to pick it up if they know it is to do with their courses.


For our front cover image we decided that we needed to have a picture related to computers/ICT. We ended up using a picture of myself interacting with a circuit board which was taken by my partner Jake Taylor. We took about 10 images in this position, half of me and half of jake, and decided that this one was the best. This was because of the range of bright colours and good composition. I think it is also good because it shows the circuit board in the foreground which the students will probably find interesting and want to pick the magazine up. Last week we took a photo of jake pointing at the circuit board which we thought we were going to use until yesterday, when we realised that we needed some room above the main subject for the mast head. As well as this there wasn't any room down the sides for the sub headings advertising the features inside the magazine. Also his face wasn't visible as he was looking down towards the circuit board on the floor. 


There are a few things which I would change if I did this again. Firstly although I like the picture I think that the background is quite distracting so maybe next time I would take it against a simpler background. Also I would probably spend more time trying to find better fonts on websites like www.dafont.com. Another thing that I would of done is to make the subheadings smaller and more catchy.


Overall I am happy with how the preliminary task has gone.

Preliminary Task Front Cover

This is the front cover of our Computer College free magazine.

Preliminary Task Photos

I think this is the best photo we took. It shows possibly what students may get up to at the school with the good use of props.

I like this one because of the simpilicy. All it is is some hands typing on a keyboard- however if it was on a front cover I think it would be quite clear to what type of school it was advertising.

I think this one is also quite good as it shows the Computer in use, however it was taken in landscape which is not ideal for a portrait front cover.

I dont think this photo would work very well for a front cover as not much is happening. It would be better used somewhere inside the magazine to advertise the facilities.

These are the photos we have taken to possibly use for our front cover for a Computing School magazine.

Preliminary Task

Preliminary excersise: using DTP and an image manipulation program, produce the front page of a new school/college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close up plus some appropriately laid out text and mast head. Additionally candidates must produce a mock up of a contents page to demonstrate their grasp of DTP.

First Blog Post

Web 2.0 is the internet viewed as a medium in which interactive experience,in the form of blogs,  wikis, forums, etc, plays a more important role than simply accessing information. Mediation is the process by which a media text represents an idea, issue or event to us. Proliferation is a rapid increase in numbers. In media I think this means that alot of new people have access to lots of different forms of media. Saturation is used to describe the extent to which our experience of the world is dominated by media. Media is the means of communication, as radio or television, newspapers and magazines, that reach or influence people widely. When media products are 'shared' I think this means that a lot of different people can experience the same form of media. In countries like Burma , China and Ethiopia media is very strictly regulated because the government want to control the very fast growth of it and in some cases dont want bad stories/criticism of the government getting out. Media Convergence generally means the intersection of new and old media. It can also mean the mixture of different media platforms, and the mixture of different media industries.  Media is very important in today's society because everyone relies on it to interact with other people, and to find out anything they need to know. If the amount of media in our society was decreased almost everyone would be affected in some way and would find it hard to get used to life without it.