Practice front cover

Images for Music Magazine #1

This is for my contents however only one of these will be used as an image for the article

Short Proposal

Task 6

I have decided I want to make an R’n’B / Hip - Hop magazine which will be aim at teenagers to young adults. The main colours I want to use are red, black, white and possibly yellow. The masthead will definitely be either one of this colours, most likely red. As for the cover lines and sky line too. The most suited person to be on an R’n’B magazine would be a black person as the music genre is mostly view and listened to by them. Preferably the cover star will be male as most R’n’B artist are male and less likely to be female. Props such as sunglasses, shirt or maybe even a suit. This magazine would take certain aspects and have a lot in common with ‘Vibe’ magazine. Taking inspiration from this such a page layout and colour scheme for the purpose of my own music magazine. Referring to my case studies, the magazine ‘Q’ would not be the best magazine to take inspiration and elements from as that specific issue is aimed at a Rock or a Band audience. However my second case study is the magazine ‘XXL’, this features the genre of both R’n’B and Hip Hop so taking a look and gathering ideas from this would be very appropriate. A new addition of the issues would come out every month, for the price of £3.99. It will be distributed in stores, online (E-Zine) and even subscription postal services. 

College Magazine: Audience feedback and Evaluation

What went well?

I think the front cover turned out really well. It included all the elements of a magazine cover such as the masthead, the cover lines, the barcode and main image of course. The main image was perfect as it was a portrait picture and the main focus was in the middle. This made it easy to surround it with the cover lines. The colours of the titles and the fonts all match and fit really well with the image. The contents page overall went really well too, with the use of the colours and the layout is much more organized as plan. One pupil from my class said that the aesthetics are very pleasing to the eye. I kept the colour pattern constant as well as with the front cover.

What do I need to improve on?

With the front cover I think I could have done more with the image such as cropped out the main focus and put it in front of the masthead to add in more focus. And I could have made the image a little bit clearer as it is a bit blurry. With the contents page, one pupil said I could have made the page number smaller which is understandable.

Key points for development:

-Plan out the layout beforehand so it will save time when actually making the magazine.

-Plan out what I am going to write before I make the magazine

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College Magazine Contents Page

Finished College Magazine Cover

This is my college magazine, final edit. It took some time but eventually I finished it. I included most if not all of the conventions of the cover such as the; masthead, barcode, cover lines, date, price and skyline. The picture was taken by my classmate and used it for my background. 

College Magazine Plan

Magazine Plan


This is my plan for my college magazine I did in class. It includes all the conventions such as the mastheads,cover lines, barcode and price. This is just a simple template of how it will actually look when i design the cover in Photoshop.

Magazine case studies

This is the front cover of the popular magazine “Q”. It consists of an image of one of the Foo Fighters members. He is placed bang in the middle of the cover, with a long camera shot. The foo fighters are a rock group so he represents that through his sartorial. For example his hair is quite long; his prop is a guitar which is very conventional for his represented genre. There are a lot of shadows in his body and face which could mean there was lighting facing right at him. The background is completely white, no backdrop.

The title of the magazine is in the top left hand corner of the cover. It is actually quite big and in portion with the rest of the magazine. It is white on a red square so it is very easy to see. It is very simple as the title is just a letter. The one and only subtitle is red and black. It contrasts well with the white background making it clear to see.  It is align with the title box. The word “foo” is the biggest word of the whole subtitle; this is to make sure people know who the main focus of the magazine is. There both on the left side of the image which doesn't really fill up the page.

“This will kill me”. This has a very loud and alerting tone, which will catch the reader’s eyes and attention making them want to read on. This is why that is the first thing that is said in the subtitle.

The cover represents rock and band music and that specific genre. The foo fighters are a really popular band so this will attract a lot of people that love them and love that genre of music.

Same as the front cover, the main image is right in the center. However there are a lot of other images placed around it. It is also a long shot so it takes up most of the single paged contents page. The other images are mostly of other artist and groups that are included in the issue such as Nicki Minaj and The Vaccines.

The other artist’s images are placed all around the main one which fills up the space the page. The font for the different section description is very small proportion to the rest of the texts. All the test is placed on the left of the main image which makes it look every organized. There are numbers placed beside the images so we know where to find a specific article.

There are quite a lot of images on this double page spread. Along the bottom there are a lot of people that got a medium or large camera shots. Most of them are dressed like rock stars or stereotypical band members which is what this issue is mostly based around. At the top right hand corner there are images of people playing the guitar which fits in with the theme of the double page spread. All these images have very low lighting and is a little hard to see at first glance. All of those images are all based on a stage which could mean they were taken while they were performing. The main image at the top left hand corner is of the famous band Arctic Monkeys. They are the main focus of this article; this is why they have the largest image. The picture is of them all in a sports car facing the camera. The light is the natural lighting from the sun.

The images on the page are all spread out around the text. Very small font in compared to the images. There is not that much big bold writing either except for the masthead. The page is mostly red black and white which makes it look simple while looking very powering too.

I think they are portraying the rock genre as very dark by using colours such as red and black.

The front cover is of the rapper Jay Z, 

There are two images, one on each one of the contents pages. Both very different images, both take up the whole page. The first one is of the rapper Rick Ross, he is framed right in the middle and it is a medium shot. The image is black and white and he is dressed like a stereotypical, with lots of jewellery, sunglasses etc. Not very much lighting as the picture is quite dark. He is also placed in front of a white backdrop. The other one is very different; it is of a female framed in the middle of the page. It is also a medium shot. This image includes colour and is very saturated. she is wearing underwear and a revealing top. she has a really happy facial expression as she looks like she is laughing.

The texts are all to the side of the pages because the images take up most of the page. The masthead is at the top of the first contents and is a variation of black and yellow. Very large and bold. As usual the titles of each of the contents sections are much bolder then the rest f the texts.

XXL magazine is for mainly the genre hip hop so having  rick ross on one of the contents pages is very suitable and conventional. He is dressed like a typical rapper with the tracksuit and all the jewellery. the female on the other page isn't very conventional as she is very joyful and vibrant.

There is only one image on this double page spread, this image of Jay Z takes up one whole page. It is black and white with quite bright lighting. He is wearing an old fashion gangster costume with a cigar in his hand. It is a medium shot and he is placed right in the middle of the page which instantly attracts all the attention to him. There is no location as he is just place on a white background.

While the image of jay z is on one page, all the writing is on the other. The subtitle at the top takes up a fair amount of space on the page and is placed on a black mount making it easier to see. There is a lot of text which is why the font is so small. It also does not help that it is all on one page.

The facial expression Jay Z has is very serious; this actually reflects the mood of the double page spread which seems very dark because of the black and white colour scheme. The costume is very formal and seems very upper class which links to the serious mood.

Production Schedule

College magazine anaysis