11th November 2011

   I have now tried putting some of the images of Amy onto the front cover so that I can arrange the layout better with a photograph. I have tried several different close up shots, however, I feel that the one shown below is the best as I think the lighting is better with her face looking up and so makes her look more fresh faced and reflects off the glint in her eyes.

   I have now added more features to the cover after looking at the existing magazines in my research. I have put a non-copyrighted image of a barcode at the top right of the cover as there was space left to fill in this postition. I have also put the month, the issue number and the price around the barcode. I have given the price a bold font to make it stand out more. I have placed the photo of Amy at the right of the cover so that she is facing the space on the rest of page. This has left room for me to place the plugs down the left side of the page within the blank space. I have arranged the plugs around the shape of her body so that they do not take any attention away from the photograph. I have not yet decided on a name for my cover artist but so far I have put 'Amelia'. I have used the colour select tool on Serif DrawPlusx3 to capture the same colour of the red dress and use it as the font colour for the main plug. I have done this so that there is a clear link between the singer and their plug so that the readers attention will be drawn to this immediately.

   Below the main plug I have then placed another of the magazines features. I have written the words 'ALEXANDRA BURKE' to begin the plug as the name is what will grab the buyer's attention. I have then continued the plug below saying, 'Exclusive look at the X Factor Winner's first tour'. I have included the word 'Exclusive' as this is a way of persuading the reader to buy the magazine, knowing that they won't see it anywhere else.

   I have then featured another plug at the bottom right of the magazine, overlapping the photograph. I have chosen to place this plug there as it is an important plug and again needs to stand out on the cover. As I felt that the writing would not stand out enough even with a bold font or a contrasting colour, I have chosen to feature this plug within an auto shape. I have chosen a circle as I found that circles are used for plugs on several of the magazines which I looked at when in my annalysis. This plug reads 'AMY WINEHOUSE Last interview with the soul superstar'. I have used alliteration in the plug, 'soul superstar', as this makes the sentence sound more catchy and makes it flow more. I have also used the word 'last' to gain the reader's attention as it will make them want to buy it as this will be the last interview. For each of the plugs on the cover I written all artist names in upper case and bold, as these are the most important parts that the buyer will want to see. I have then written any additional information in lower case letters and without a bold font. I have done this as I feel that the cover would be overcrowded with too much bold lettering.

   I have placed a bar at the bottom of the magazine which features more artist's names. I have made this bar the same colour as the masthead as this draws your attention to it and shows its importance. I have used a white font for these plugs as it contrasts with the blue and makes them more noticeable. I have placed a white dot between each name so that it reads clearer and there is more distinguish between artists.

   I have used artists who are currently big in the music industry for my front cover. The majority of the artists are of a pop genre, however I feel I have used a variety so that they will appeal to both genders.

10th November 2011

   I have now decided to change my masthead title. The 'My' is now written in the font 'Chanson Heavy SF'. The 'Tunes' is written in the font 'Accord Heavy SF' and is situated inside the word 'My' down the middle. I decided on this as I was particularly fond of the layout of 'Q' magazine, with the masthead placed to the top left of the magazine cover, however, a large font still makes it stand out. I feel that by doing this the magazine now looks more unique and the masthead stands out more. The idea to feature the word 'Tunes' within 'My' came from looking at 'Company Magazine'. The masthead of this fashion magazine has the word 'magazine' written in the 'N' of 'Company'. I believe that this gives more of an edge to the masthead, making it stand out on the page. This has also enabled me to still fit the longer title in one corner of the page without it looking compressed and unprofessional.

   I have placed the masthead to the top of the cover so that it would still be seen clearly on the magazine stands. I have kept the same blue for the font of 'My' but have changed the 'Tunes' to white as it contrasts with the blue, making it stand out. I have used the font 'Chanson Heavy SF' for 'My' as it is a bold, san serif font. I have made it bold so that I can still place 'Tunes' in it without it being too small. I have used the font 'Accord Heavy SF' for 'Tunes' as I think that it looks good with the other font.

8th Novemeber 2011

   I have now photographed Amy again, wearing an appropriate pop outfit. I got her to wear one of my sister's dresses, a short red dress which is tasselled at the bottom. She also wore black leggings, high red wedges and her hair straight. Together I feel that these give the appearance of a pop star.

  
I have decided to take a medium close photo of her for my front cover and have also taken some full shots which I will use for my contents page and double page spread. The medium close ups have been taken in front of a white background as I found that the cut out in front of the green screen was not successful and I think I am going to have a white background for my front cover. I will either cut the background out or increase the contrast of the background to make it clearer. The full shots, I have taken in front of the green screen as I intend to cut these out. I have not yet decided what background these will feature over.



   I have taken pictures of Amy from different angles with a range of different poses. Some I feel show her in an innocent light and others show a more seductive side. I feel that I need to find a suitable balance between innocent and seductive so that I can appeal to both genders with this magazine.



7th November 2011

  I have now asked a friend, Amy, to model for my front cover. I have chosen Amy as she has long blonde hair, is very tall and extremely photogenic and fits the role of a pop star perfectly. I have firstly taken a couple of practice shots to see what background would work best. I firstly took some in front of the green screen with a view to cutting out the background on the computer. When trying this I found that the cut out quality was very poor for the close up shots as some of the green was still present around the outline. Despite this the cut out worked well on the full body shot and so I will use this backgound for full shots.

   I have tried this medium long shot on the cover to see how it looks. I think that if I was to use a shot like this I would have the photo overlap the masthead slightly so that it would stand out as I found that existing magazines do this.

2nd November 2011

I have now started designing my magazine on the computer using Serif DrawPlusx3. I have found a couple of fonts which I believe look good for the masthead. I have created a bar at the bottom to put plugs in. This bar will be the same colour as the masthead to make it stand out and show consistency through the cover. I have tried out the three colours orange, blue and green and have tried out different variations of these colours with different fonts and images.

   I have used several images of celebrities to get an idea of how they would look with my layout and so that I can get an idea of what kind of shot I want and who of. I have tried pictures of a variety of celebrities and have practiced cutting them out so that there is no background. I need to decide whether I want the image to be behind the masthead our have it overlapping it as many magazines do.

   I have decided to use blue as I feel that it looks best and will appeal to both genres. Despite this, I believe that the colour scheme could change for special issues as some exiting magazines do. I am very fond of the cover shown to the right with Taylor Swift in a red dress. This is because it contrasts with the blue and so I feel it makes the photo stand out more. I have made the plug font which relates to Taylor Swift the same red as her dress using the colour select tool on Serif DrawPlusx3 to also make it more eye- 

catching. I think that I would like to have my photograph of a girl wearing red similarly to this cover I have created. I also like the medium close-up shot as I believe that you can see the person more clearly.

31st October 2011

   I have now started designing a layout of my magazine in rough on paper. I have put the masthead title across the top of the page like the majority of magazines. I have written the 'M' and 'T' in upper case and the rest of the title in lower case as I feel this gives the title a more eye-catching appearance. I will have a look at fonts when I start designing the cover on the computer, however, I know that I want the font to be bold to make it stand out.

   I have not yet decided on a colour scheme, however, I know that I want to use colours that will appeal to both genders and give off a pop image. I think I will stay away from red because of its link to rock and pink and purple because of their biased gender stereotype. I think that the masthead will either be blue, orange or green.

   I think that I am going to have the plugs arranged down the left hand side of the page and then have a bar across the bottom which will feature more plugs. I will have a plus sign above the bar to present the extra plugs at the bottom as many exisiting magazines seem to.

   I know that I only want one image on the front cover, however, I have not decided what type of shot I want or who of yet.

25th October 2011

   I have now analysed the magazine 'Billboard'. Billboard Magazine, based in the U.S, features news on music and celebrities within the music business. The masthead title 'Billboard' comes from the 'Billboard Hot 100', which is the name of the music charts in America based on sales, downloads and airplay. This instantly makes people know what the magazine is about as it has a direct link to music. The name 'Billboard' is also related to advertising and can imply 'big'.
   Billboard does not feature a particular genre of music, instead it is filled with the most popular music which dominates the charts each week. An issue of the magazine is released every week.
   The masthead title is again placed across the top, so that it can be seen on magazine stands. The font colour is either white or black depending on the background colour for the particular issue. For this issue shown to the left, white has been used as it contrasts with the background.

   This magazine also has the main image on the front cover overlapping the masthead on the majority of its covers. Despite this the title is still recognisable. The four colours red, orange, blue and green fill the circles in the text of the masthead. These make it stand out more and give it a more signature look. On some issues, such as the one shown to the right, the same green from the masthead has been used as the font colour for some of the plugs. This makes the particular plugs stand out and look more important so people will look at them first.

   The plugs on this magazine are arranged around the main image. The majority of these appear to reside on the left of the cover, however, the main plug which matches the image on the front cover tends to be on the right.

I have chosen to look at this magazine as it is something which I feel I would buy if it was also sold within the UK. The music genres shown within this magazine are very similar to what I wish to have in my magazine. As pop music takes up a good majority of the charts, I think that my magazine will have a very similar target audience to this one. I believe that the appearance of this magazine is unisex and follows a similar, sophisticated layout which I would like to achieve on my magazine.   

22nd October 2011

   Today I analysed an issue of 'Q' magazine. I have also looked at other covers to analyse the magazine in general. 

   The masthead of this magazine is placed at the top left of the magazine cover. This is so that it can clearly be seen on the magazine stands in shops. As the title is only one letter, the masthead does not go across the whole of the top like the majority of magazines do. However it can still be clearly seen as the red square which holds the title takes up a fairly large area on the magazine. The font colour white has been used for the masthead. This stands out well against the red and so makes it clear and easy to read. These masthead colours are used on each issue and never change. This makes the masthead more recognisable.

  

This image on this issue of the magazine is of Lily Allen, indicated in the main plug, and there are also two panthers with her. The photo shows her looking over her shoulder in a seductive pose wearing no top, tight pants and wedged heels. The pants and heels she is wearing are black which again give off a seductive image and match the colour of the panthers. The panthers are there to emphasise the untamed theme of the artist. The provocative image indicates that this magazine, or perhaps this issue, is targeted more at men. 

   The main plug reading 'Lily Allen' has the first word in black and the second in white. This compliments the pattern of black and white at the top her pants. The words 'Sexy Beast' are used to describe her. This links with the panthers in the photograph and again gives off a seductive impression. Alliteration is also used in the main plug, 'wicked, wicked', to emphasise the point. The word 'wicked' has a red font which makes it stand out more against the black font of the sentence. 

   The other plugs on the front cover are placed at the top right of the cover. They are placed at the right of the image so that they don't take your attention away too much from the photo. The majority of the font colours in these plugs are black and white. However, the word 'exclusive' has a red font which matches the masthead. This draws attention to the word as it is something which the magazine wants you to see especially. The word 'tiger' is used in one of these plugs which again connects with the panthers in the photo. The barcode is placed at the bottom right of the magazine which shows the issue number. It also shows the price in a bold font so that it stands out.                                                            

   I would say that this magazine is targeted at 16 year olds and over as it has a sophisticated look. I would also say that this magazine is aimed more at men, however, I do think it would appeal to women also. I think it very much depends on who is on the front cover of the magazine will decide who buys it and therefore there is a wide target market. I think that this magazine gives off quite a rock image with the bold red used on the masthead and plugs with each issue. Despite this, the magazine features articles for a wide range of artists of different genres such as rock, pop, soul and even rap. The issue of with Cheryl Cole on the front cover gives a rock image even though she is a pop star. This has been done with the bold lipstick and heavy eye make up which she is wearing. The pose is again very provocative and the water running down her also adds to the rock image. The issue with Cee Lo Green on the front cover again makes a pop/soul singer look more rock by dressing him in a black outfit which looks almost like a warriors outfit.

   I think that this magazine will help me when designing my own as there are a few features which I am very fond of. I particularly like how clear the masthead title is as it stands out and is very easy to read. I also like how diverse the artists are which fill the content of the magazine. I like the sophisticated look of the magazine and also the fairly unisex appearance of it. I particularly like the issue shown to the right. I very much like the full body shot as I think it looks bolder and the pose really catches your attention. I may consider using a full body shot on the front cover of my magazine. I also like how only one main image is used for the front cover as I feel this makes it look more professional for this type of magazine.