Research into music magazine industry

We have spent some time researching the music magazine market and industry. According to ABC (audit bureau of circulation figures) figures, readership of music magazines continues to drop. Here is an example of some common magazine figures:
 Mojo: 79,345, down 6.8 per cent

·         The Fly: 70,866, down 34.9 per cent

·         Q: 58,980, down 8.7 per cent

·         Uncut: 56,894, down 9.7 per cent

·         Kerrang: 37,603, down 6.5 per cent

New Musical Express: 20,011, down 16.4 per cent
This is because there is now easy access to internet sites where magazines are available to view for free also people can find out information which would be included in magazines on social networking sites like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. I have included here a power point where i  have looked at reader profiles for magazines, this will then help me learn about what to include for my magazine and what I could then apply.

Exploring a feature article

In class we have analysed the linguistic features of a Kerrang! article as well as layout and conventions to help inform my own work.

We've read through an article thoroughly about The Used. The article uses images where props such as medical things like an injection and also hospital like clipboard and trolley, these types of thing link well in with the band and the lead singer as we see he suffered from things such as depression and drug use. The side bar is still relevant but a bit away from the point of the main article this helps break up the text. The linguistic features such as the inter textual references are used cleverly to help us link the images and texts etc together. The article switching between question and answer format, I think this is effective because it is like a proper conversation and is factual.

Research and analysis of music magazine pages

Here's my analysis of 2 front covers-

The key learning points about front covers are the 'sweetspot' which is commonly where they key coverline is placed so that we as readers are drawn in. Also how important the colour scheme is so that the text is clear and the magazine looks good on the eye, using a colour of the image and using that colour in the texts can be effective.

Heres my analysis of 2 contents pages-

The key learning points about contents pages are the brand identity, from the front cover there is a continued theme and colour scheme. Page layout is important because even if it is going to be an unusual layout it is good to keep to the grid formation so it is structured and easing to read.


Heres my analysis of a double page spread-

The key learning points about double page spreads for me would be that it is important to break up the text for example like using a side bar which is still relevant but different to the main text. Also about using a headline which will then anchor the image this helps the read understand what the page is going to be about.

Prelim Task review

Please find below my Prezi which analysis my prelim task.

Planning Ideas for Sixth Form Magazine

In the image below it shows possible font styles for my sixth form magazine, originally I chose Revolution and Code because I liked how bold they were and in a large size thought they would stand out. However, after reading some advice on magazines, I found out that Serif was good to use for a masthead as it is different then Sans Serif for the coverline. For my masthead I have used a font called Matrell, I like the font because it is different so will stand out.

In the image above I have some examples of possible colour schemes, I like the colour green and it is closely related to Fallibroome so I thought of good contrasting/ suited colours and pink is a nice combination, with white writing to stand out, also I could use some gradual colour increases with one bold colour over, the red one may suit well because my photo I have taken for the background involves a girl wearing red lipstick, this could look effective.

In the images below using graph paper and the principal of thirds I have sketched out a front cover and contents page plan to show my ideas and layout of what I want them to look like and my masthead, coverline and menu strip aswell as what information can be seen on each page on the contents.

Research into school/sixth form magazines.

I am conducting some research into various school and sixth form magazines as i have to create one as part of my preliminary task. I would like to learn about the key conventions used and them from this decide what makes a successful school magazine.

Here is a word cloud of the key points to consider when designing a school magazine.

Here is my front cover analysis of a magazine called 'High Profile' from kehs.org.uk which is King Edwards School for Girls website. It was created for students who go to the school, their families and the surrounding community.  I analysed this so that I could know about what makes a good school magazine front cover and the different technique and features they had used to do so, the front cover I selected was Summer 2007.

Comberton Sixth form magazine is called 'The First' which is a student magazine from http://www.combertonsixthform.org/. I chose to analyse the front cover and contents as it appealed to me with the winter edition and seemed modern and fun.

I think that my favourite magazine front cover was 'The First' because there was a clear theme and a good masthead. The main points that I have learnt from doing this research task in sixth form magazines is that they have a masthead which is usually the biggest font size and commonly in bold to stand out, this is normally at the top of the page in the top third of the front cover and contrasts well with the backround. There is a theme for each magazine and a unique identity for each different schools own magazine. They mostly have one image on the front cover, that takes up the whole of the middle section and helps to get attention of the readers.

Indroduction

My name is Mallory and I am a media student.

This blog charts my progress in response to AS coursework brief PRINT

This is my AS coursework PRINT brief blog.
The brief is:
a preliminary task- to produce the front cover and contents page of a new school magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in MCU plus some appropriately laid out text and a masthead.

The main task is to design the front cover, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine which is to include a minimum of 4 original images.