19th October 2011

I have now started my main task of producing the front page, contents page and a double page spread of a music magazine. For starters I am doing my research and analysing other music magazines, also looking at how they market themselves towards specific audiences.

        The magazine is named Rolling Stone and this makes it clear that the magazine is music related as you automatically link it to the well known band The Rolling Stones. The name also has a connotation that a rolling stone is always moving onto new things, which means the magazine is always changing its content but staying on the same theme of music. The name is presented as a masthead title across the top of the page, as when the magazines are often stacked you will only see the top, so it is important that the title is at the top. It also has things in front of the title so that you can not see the whole word, but the magazine is so well known that you could tell what it is even if parts of the name were covered. The font is of an orange colour and is quite rocky which is also quite masculine. The magazine has the issue number and price in the top right corner, with also a website to encourage people to look on the Rolling Stone website. Then the barcode is in the bottom corner below. The background is white with flames in the background too, this is to perhaps give off a rock image or to symbolise that the band or the magazine is hot or of hot topic.

       There are plugs down the right hand side of the magazine, all in white and in the same font. These are the names of artists that are featured in the magazine and they are all of a particular genre that will appeal to the reader and entice them to buy and read the magazine. The main plug 'PINK FLOYD' is on the left of the page in a bigger size font, and in the same colour as the magazine title. This is to show that it is of the same importance as the magazine title. Also the fact that it is on the left whilst the other plugs are on the right show that it is more important than them, as we tend to read from left to right so it willl get read first. It also says below 'How Madness & Excess Destroyed the Legendary Band' this interests the reader and is a strong statement using the word 'legendary' to say that the band has a big reputation.

     The theory of audience for this issue of Rolling Stone would be the uses and gratifications theory. As I feel the target audience of this issue of the magazine would be older educated adults who are interested in the actual music and are not interested or brainwashed by gossip articles. Particulary the audience would be children of the 70s who would be Pink Floyd fans and therefore be interested in this issue. They would understand the random blow up pig being a reference to Pink Floyd and the animals tour, as on tour they had a giant blow up pig, also it is on the album cover floating above battersy power station. I personally would not know this but my dad is a big fan and has previously told me about it. Which shows maybe this issue is aimed more towards his generation. The picture of them is in the middle of the page and the plugs are lay out around it, not covering their faces. The picture is also edited in sepia to make it look old and of a previous era. It also fades at the bottom so the text can be seen clearly. The image is not glamorous and the band aren't portrayed glamorously at all, this is because you wouldn't expect this of Pink Floyd and the target reader wouldn't expect it because they are the type of person that isn't interested in the fame and glam side of music, they are just interested in the music itself.

     There is also a plug in the form of a skyline at the top of the cover, this is also another eye catching way of enticing the reader. The only other plug, is in a small square and refers to the conspiracy theory of JFK which suggests the magazine has other articles in other than just music. It also suggests that the magazine is aimed at the more educated reader who would be interested in this type of article, and also aimed towards males as they would be more interested in a conspiracy theory in particular.

30th September 2011

On the 30th I finished the front cover of my school magazine A STAR. I have put my photos in and am pleased with the overall look of my magzine. I think my magazine meets the brief and has the codes and conventions of a magazine.
   There is a strapline title and it has a medium close up photo as the main shot and all the text layed over the top like most magazines. There are teasers/plugs down the left hand side as this is where they tend to be. 'Revise, Pass and have a Social life' and 'Top 10 teachers chosen by you!' these are articles that I feel the target audience would like to read and that are the type of things that you would generally find in a school magazine. They help draw the reader in and tell them what's inside which makes them want to buy it and read it. It has a sky line with a slogan which sums up the magazine and puts it out there as 'The must have magazine for school' which also should entice the reader to buy the magazine. There is also a bar with photos and names of other articles featured in the magazine which is a common way of presenting them, as I found in my research.

This is the finished mock up of my contents page. It has a simple but easy to understand layout, which would include different sized images of what's featured, as well as the page names. It follows the same colour scheme as the front page so there is a clear link between the two. I am pleased with the overall result.