Drafting and planning

This is a 2 page spread from NME magazine. It is an interview with Ed Sheeran. I really like the layout of this as half the page is taken over by a picture of Ed, which shows the reader who is being interviewed. Secondly it has his 'main message' with the picture which is in a nice bold bright font which makes it easy to read. On the other half of the page is the interview but what I like is how in the middle it has a brief stat bit on Ed which gives the reader an insight into his career. Finally I really like the picture as it it open and the background of London really complements the colour of Eds clothes and the colour of the fonts.

This 2 page spread out is from Q magazine. Just like the NME 2 page spread out the layout is a pciture of the person getting interviewed on one side and the interview on the other. However what I really like is the picture, as the sunglasses make it really serious. Also the low key lighting really complements the red bright font, which is big, simple,effective and easy to read. Finally I really like how their is a giant J over the interview to represent the J in Jay Z's name, however due to the black and white writing you can still read the interview even though the J covers it.

Preliminary task

This my school magazine task. To make this I imported the masthead into paint.net and then imported the picture of the cover stars into paint.net then flattened it into one whole picture. I then imported the picture into publisher and added in the two pictures for 'Bowens view' and 'sport results'! I then added in the cover lines talking about basic school news and the 'our year' section which most people on my questionnaire said they would like to read about.

I used a mid shot for the cover stars so you can clearly see them and they are the main attraction of the magazine. I used red  for one of the cover lines as it is the school colours, I used simple fonts as that is what most magazines so its eye catching, effective and easy to read.

Drafting and planning: NME creative task

This is my own version of making an NME magazine front cover featuring Trent Reznor. To make this I imported the NME masthead and the picture of Reznor into Paint.Net. On paint.net I then manipulated the images so that Reznor took up most the page and put the masthead at the top of the page.

I then imported the image as one onto publisher. I then decided to look up NME's magazine covers to decided what fonts they used and added in my cover lines using the one's I thought looked the closest to the real NME fonts. I then added in a bar code, the price, the date and the NME website as these are key codes and conventions in a magazine front cover.

It is important to add in cover lines as it shows the reader what else features in this magazine which helps attract your audience as some fans might not like Trent Reznor, but they could like Arctic Monkeys so they buy the magazine. The barcode, price, dateline, and website link are also important because  the readers need to know how much the price is. I decided to make this issue £4.99 to show what a big issue it is but also because I thought NME, was a monthly magazine, but I now know it is a weekly magazine. The website link is important as it gives the fans the chance to find out more news about the bands featuring in the issue. Finally the barcode is a key generic convention because without it you can't buy the magazine.

For the main cover line I looked up Reznors newest album, then I found out he is now a solo artist now and then just made up the last one. I used the font David and changed the font to the color white as it looks effective and makes the picture the main attraction of the cover which I want as it is the main story!

I think this task will help me in the future as it helped me learn how to crop and shape pictures so they look the way I want them, as-well as finding the fonts I needed for the cover lines. Overall I am pleased with my product and really enjoyed the task!

Drafting and planning

This is just a picture of a magazine cover where I have wrote each correct term for each part of the magazine. I have also wrote a little bit about each one. This contains cover lines, mastheads etc and shows my understanding of what is what on a magazine cover!

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I really like this contents page because everything is close together which makes it easy to read and show the reader what is in the magazine. I also like how the 'Inside This Week' title is big and bold and then the rest of the writing is smaller yet easy to read. Also there are different font's for each story which shows that each story has it's own identity.

There are no extreme close up's of any bands/ singers which is good as you can clearly see the 'stars' of the magazine and each picture has something different. For example the mid shot of the Arctic Monkeys in the top corner shows that the band are rebellious as they are all spread out and the main singer is wearing sunglasses. However the one at the bottom in the middle ( Page 8) is clearly a picture from the singers past so all the pictures are different.

Also their are spinets of each interview with each picture which gives the reader a taster of the interviews. Finally I really like the simple coloring black writing on a white background gives off a positive vibe and makes it very easy to read. It is simple yet effective.

Just like NME's contents page I really like Q's contents page as well because it has a large bright image taking up the whole right side and this indicates to the reader that it is the main story of the magazine. Also unlike most contents pages there are not any huge fonts, which is good as it makes it seemed more relaxed and is something different! The rest of the stories are short and take up the left side however at the top there seems to be another story with a picture at the top and an interview. This will get the audiences attention as it is a screamer. Finally I like the simple coloring again with the black writing going on the red background as it makes it easy to read and creates a bright effect. Also add in the white background and it is a nice mix of colors which complement each other.

Similar products analysis: The killers

The color of the background is effective as it complements the colored fonts of the cover lines. Also the fact that 2 of the cover starts are wearing sunglasses and 2 are not mixed in with the grey background gives it a retro look which bonds in well with the masthead. Also only part of the main cover line goes with the pictures of the cover stars. The cover starts are The Killers but on the main cover line they are joined with Jena Malone. This is a form of blocking and a screamer! It is a form of blocking as the art designer is trying to create something different by sharing the main cover line and is a screamer as it is saying to the reader that even though they are on the cover The Killers are not the only big interview in the magazine. Near the bottom of the cover the magazine has other cover line's which lets them know what else is in the magazine and the left third is very well know which will help sell magazines even if the reader can't see the whole title as the Ladygunn logo is a very well known logo.

Similar Products analysis: Greenday

The cover stars are all looking at the camera and pulling stupid faces which indicates that they are a band with attitude and they don't mind that they have that reputation. Also one of the cover stars is blocking a bit of the masthead. This is used for two reason's. The first one is that the art designer wants to get plenty of the cover stars and by taking up the masthead is showing to the readers that Kerrang is about the music not it's name. Secondly due to Kerrangs left third being well recognized worldwide they can afford for some of the masthead to be blocked off as long as the left third is showing as people will still recognize the magazine due to that. Also the main cover line is green which ties in with the name of the cover stars Greenday. There is also a screamer underneath the main cover line as you can see that there is an interview with Paramore. This will attract audiences as they have two big interviews in the magazine. If that isn't enough to get the readers attention then the pug offering them 5 free posters will be! There are also other cover lines telling them what is in the rest of the magazine and a bar code to sell it. The fonts cover lines and main cover lines are quite big and take up all of the cover so it really gets into the readers face. This lets the reader see the 4 main stories at a quick glance . However the main cover line is in the colour green. This is different to most the cover lines and is used to show that the GreenDay interview is the main story and it also complements well with the colours the band is wearing. I really like how crammed in everything is on this cover as it makes the cover stars the main feature of the cover, as well as getting into the audiences face and making them want to buy it, which at the moment I plan to do with my cover!

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At the side there is a pug with the '101 greatest songs' and this will bring in the readers in as they will be interested to see what song is top. There is also another pug as in the corner it is offering the reader a free Beatles tribute magazine. Also the main cover starts the Beatles are showing their rebellious attitude as they are smoking and wearing sunglasses! The main cover line blends in well with one of the band members jacket as it is white writing on a black background.

Also the band members are slightly blocking the masthead. This is effective as it is different to other magazines and make the cover stars the main attractions to the audience. Also you have the cover lines which allow the audience to see what else is in the magazine and there is of a screamer in the corner as they try to sell two interviews, the Beatles and Macca

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This magazine is effect as the grey background  makes it seems quite bland and boring which isn't simply like Nirvana as they are usually very load and exciting.  Also the main cover stars facial expression is that is very much their own thing and as one of them is smoking it shows that they are a band with attitude.


Also the main cover line's color is effective as the yellow coloring mixes well with the grey background, complementing each other in a house style way and makes it easy to ready. Also just above the cover starts is a pug. This is effective as it is tempting the reader to buy the magazine as they can win some prizes.


There are also cover lines letting readers know what other stories are in the magazine without them having to look in it. Also there is a screamer in the cover lines as it shows a 'classic Kurt' interview, this makes the reader interested and the magazine has two big name interviews.


Finally the left third is very clear, so people will know what magazine it is without having to see the front cover.

drafting and planning

This is my draft of a contents page for the school magazine! I apologies for the awful drawing but I based my contents page on one of NME's contents page as I like the layout of just having the main news and having a picture of the main story. As you can tell by my contents page the main story is 'students view' which I did because a student was on my front cover draft. Then using the research of my questionnaires I added in things people would like to read about such as Sport results, interviews with the headteacher and Quize's which everyone said should be in the magazine!

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In this magazine front cover the colour is mostly white, which is effective as it is easy to read and stands out. Also the picture has the band Coldplay on and due to this and the big font it is clear they are the main interview. Every band member is looking clearly at the camera which will draw in readers. The magazine is quite spacious despite being all in the middle, this is good because all the fonts get smaller as it goes down which gives you a key idea on which interviews are more important than the others. Finally the name of the magazine (BILLBOARD) is slightly cut off by the picture which shows that the magazine is more about the music and band than its own name!

This magazine uses blue and red, two bright colours, to blend a nice mix in with the black background the layout is spacious which I like, with the main story taking up the middle and other stories are at the side or the bottom. This makes the main focus the main interview which shows the reader what is the main part of the issue which is good. The band name in a big font and the mid shot is very effective as it shows that Oasis will be the main part of the magazine.

Preliminary task

This is my first draft at a front cover for the school magazine! It is pretty basic and was very easy to make! I decided to include two people in the magazine as I personally makes it look more interesting!



This was the finished item. Just like in my draft I have included two people, who are both in a school environment to ties in with the school magazine idea, and have put in the schools name clearly as the header! However like I've already said it is pretty basic.

Favourite website work

http://www.arcticmonkeys.com/

The link above takes you to the official site of Arctic Monkeys! Arctic Monkeys are a Indie rock/psychdelic rock band. I like the band because their music is very catchy and it is proper music, there is no computers used like most modern day songs. Also their music have maningful lyrics and has a continous beat which is very addictive.

I like the layout of the website because Arctic Monkeys are known for the colours black and white and that is shown all over the website. Aslo it is very easy to find out news, and information on the band and on the main page it has a video of their latest gig which shows people what they are like as a band. The fonts are also very effective as they are big enough to stand out and understand but they are not huge!

Questionare results

Over the last week I asked 10 people a survey of questions to find out information about a magazine front cover, contents page, wherether it should be formal or informal and what stories they would like to read in a school magazine! 

Thanks to the survey I found that it would be best if the magazine was informal  and that it should include school news, quizzes, student views and should have a feature where it looks back on a different year each week! It was 50/50 on what the quizzes should be on with some people thinking that it should be on general knowledge and others thinking it should be on the school! Also 7 of the 10 people i asked think that a student should be on the front cover, and that the colours used on the magazine should be red black and white as they are the schools colours.

 Finally nearly everyone agreed, (9 out of 10), that the magazine should be given to the whole school instead of just giving it to the sixth formers.

First magazine entry

This is just a basic school magazine cover I made. I used publisher to crop some of the picture, but like I said it's pretty basic.

First Post

My name is Lewis Glennon and this blog is for my A level Media studies!