Analysis of "NME" contents page

The accompanying task to the one mentioned in the previous post is to construct a contents page for my own music magazine. I have analysed a contents page from an issue of "NME" to see what features my own magazine of a similar genre could include.


The main colours used on this contents page are black, white and red. The background has been left white so that the page does not look too busy, as there is a lot of information displayed on it. Most of the text is black, or in the case of headings and sub-headings, white against a black text box. The latter technique makes the headings stand out against the plain white background, as the black text box separates it from the other text. The magazines title "NME" has been coloured red in the top left hand corner of the page, making it very eye-catching. The page numbers have also been coloured red so that they are easy to see, making navigation through the magazine simple.

The fonts that have been used are all very clear, bold and easy to read to draw in the audience. The main heading "NME This Week" has been capitalised, as have the sub-headings along the right hand side of the page. This makes them very noticeable which is important as they are some of the most important features on the page. The headline underneath the photograph is written in plain, bold black writing, and has been enlarged to make it conspicuous. The small section below this heading has been taken from an article inside the magazine. Captivating the readers interest to the story featured in the contents page will encourage them to buy the magazine to find out more. The first letter of this text has been drop-capped, making the presentation appear stylish and refined.

The photograph has been placed in the centre of the page and has been made large enough to dominate the surrounding text, so the readers attention is immediately drawn to the accompanying article. This is an important technique as many fans of this music genre would be interested in the featured article. The man in the photo is represented as being calm and peaceful, which reflects the content of the article it accompanies. The black and white colour scheme makes it look polished and classy, which would appeal to genuine fans of the music genre he was associated with.

In the bottom left hand side of the page is a box containing information of how to subscribe to "NME" magazine. This advert is very eye-catching as it's colour scheme does not match that of the rest of the page. The background of the advert is black so that it can be easily seen against the white page, and sections of the writing have been highlighted in bright yellow, which is very apparent against the other black text. Two front covers of previous issues have been used within the article, and because they have been printed in colour, they stand out against the pages main colour scheme of black and white. Making this advert as eye-catching as possible is important as this is where most readers will get the information of how to subscribe to the magazine. The more people that subscribe, the more money the magazine will make.

Analysis of "NME" double-page spread

As part of this main task I am required to produce a double-page spread that could be part of my own contemporary music magazine. To gain inspiration for the content of these pages, I have analysed a spread from the "NME" magazine, as my own magazine will be presented in a comparable stlye and will be aimed at a similar target audience.























This spread has been set out with the main body of text on the left hand side page and a large photograph on the right hand page. The photograph dominates the article, and is the first thing the reader is drawn to.

The colour scheme is very attractive, with the background reflecting the look of a sunset. This gives the article a calming appearance, which will influence the mood of the audience when they read it.

The font main font colour that has been used is black because it is easy to read against the brightly coloured background. However the band's name "The Killers" written in the strap line is coloured yellow. Because it is against a pink section of the sunset background, this makes it stand out against the other text, reflecting it's importance as it informs the audience who the featured band are, although "NME" would most likely assume their fans could tell this from the photograph and headline.

The headline accompanying the article has been situated in the top left hand corner of the spread where it can be easily seen. It has been written in large, bold, black letters in a very clear font. These features make it very striking, which will draw the reader into the article. The title "Only Human" can instantly be linked to the band as their new single is called "Human". A quote from the lead singer of the band has also been enlarged and made bold on the left page. The audience will read this quote and if the content interests them, they will continue to read it.

The magazine have chosen to feature "The Killers" lead singer in the main photograph as he is the member of the band the audience are most likely to recognise, and is therefore most likely to capture their attention. He has been represented as calm, looking as though he is philosophising. A philosophical feel is also created by the model of the child's head that he is holding, which can also be linked to the name of their new single "Human". This fits in with the image of the band, as their music is known for containing unusual but very meaningful lyrics. The image has clearly been edited, giving it a clean, professional feel. Many of the photographs contained in "NME" show artists it natural environments, and do not usually look too polished. This makes the image used in this double spread particularly eye-catching against others in the issue. This suggests that this is one of the key articles inside the magazine, as it would appear that more time has been spent over its appearance.

I personally find this double page spread very effective. One of my favourite aspects is the brightly coloured background as this really caught my attention when I was looking through the magazine myself. I also think the photograph has been very well put together which is something I find of great importance, as I like to know that time has been spent by the institution to make the magazine look appealing to the audience.

Foundation Portfolio - Main Task

Produce the front page, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine, using a minimum of four original images.


For the main task of my foundation portfolio, I must create a front page, contents page and a double page spread of a new, contemporary music magazine. To develop my ideas, I have applied the 'LIIAR' model to the genre of magazine I am going to produce. I decided to use the music magazines "NME" and "Q" as models to gain inspiration for my own magazine. Therefore, I have also researched how the following five features apply to these magazines.


"NME"

Language - The way that my magazine is presented will greatly influence how it will appeal to my target audience. Part of the criteria for this task is that I must produce at least four original images, which will feature modern "bands" that I will construct and design using models. "NME" use photographs of bands which will appeal to the target audience. If people like the way that the bands have been represented on the cover, they will be likely to buy the magazine. The writing this particular edition of "NME" magazine has used is bold and eye-catching, for example the above cover features the band name "The Killers" in large lettering so that it has the maximum visual impact. This front cover looks quite busy as it features three photographs and quite a lot of text, however this gives the audience an insight into what is going to be inside the magazine and will persuade new fans to buy it.

Institution - The publisher of the "NME" magazine is "IPC", the UK's leading magazine publisher. According to their website, 'Almost two in every three UK women and over 45% of UK men read an IPC magazine.'

Ideology - "NME is a British weekly music magazine. Featuring agenda-setting news, the UK's most comprehensive gig guide, definitive reviews of the week's hottest gigs, tracks and albums, and fiery comment from the nation's most opinionated writers, it's the essential guide to the week in music." The ideology behind the "NME" music magazine is to inform the target audience of current issues and events in the world of contemporary indie/rock music, to promote this genre of music, and to entertain readers whilst doing so. The magazine also focuses on promoting new bands as well as ones that are more established. My own music magazine will have a very similar ideology. Because my magazine will feature the same genre of music, the ways of promoting and informing the audience will comparable to that of "NME".

Audience - Much like "NME", my magazine will be designed for people aged from older teenagers to young adults, although it could be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys the specified genre of music, although this is the age group that are most likely to purchase it on a regular basis. According to the IPC media pack for "NME", 70% of the people who buy the magazine are male, and the average reader age is 24 years old. The magazine also succeeds in attracting people of higher economic stature, as 65% of buyers and within the ABC1 model. Furthermore, 65% of people who view the magazines website, "nme.com" are male, and 50% are aged between 16 and 24. These statistics reflect the people who would be most likely to buy my magazine of the same genre.

Representation - The way that social groups are represented in a media product has a huge influence on the types of people who will buy the product. The main way to represent different groups of people in magazines is through digital photographs. In "NME" magazines the photographs are of well known bands and artists of the indie/rock music genre. Most of the photographs are made to look very natural, and often feature the artists playing in concert. However the main photograph on the front cover usually looks much more polished, for example the photograph on the above issue has clearly been carefully planned and edited.




"Q"

Language - The dominant feature of "Q" magazines front cover are the impressive photographs, for which the magazine is known. The limited palette of colours used on the front page opposite makes the magazine look professional, therefore the magazine is more likely to attract people of a higher economic model. We can also tell that the magazine is confident that it's audience will recognize it from it's style alone, as the logo is being partially covered by the band in the photograph. The writing is kept minimalistic, as the main impact is made through the photograph. However the text that has been used is very simple and bold, the main headline "Kings Of Leon" breakthrough has been placed in the centre of the cover where it will attract the most attention. All of these features make the magazine look like specialist product, which will have a great impact on the type of people who will buy it.

Institution - The company responsible for publishing this magazine is "Bauer." It is Europe's largest privately owned publishing group, and is responsible for publishing over 230 magazines covering a wide spectrum of genres.

"Since launch in 1986, Q has been the UK’s best selling music monthly magazine. With its unrivaled access it has delivered the world’s biggest music stars every month. 2008 sees Q herald a bold new creative vision widening its parameters to include the world outside music. Seeing life through the lens of music, it draws references from the world of sport, comedy, film and even politics."
www.bauermedia.co.uk/Brands/Q/

Ideology - The ideology behind this magazine, much like the "NME", is to inform the target audience of current happenings in the genres of music it covers, to promote the bands and artists within these genres and entertain its readers. The magazine has an extensive review section covering new releases, live concerts, film, radio and television. This suggests that one of the main aims of the magazine is to persuade it's audience to consume these different products. This magazine also features more well-known bands that are already well established, rather than promoting new ones.

Audience - "Q" magazine features bands of a similar genre to "NME", however they also feature more 'classic' bands and artists such as "Oasis" and "Coldplay", therefore this magazine is also likely to attract an older audience.

"Open minded experience seekers, the Q audience don’t define themselves by the music they listen to. Music is an important passion, but their love of music will never be to the detriment of their other passions, such as film, sport and comedy."
www.bauermedia.co.uk/Brands/Q/

Representation - Physically, "Q" has a more 'polished' appearance that "NME". Although it does contain natural photographs of artists performing at gigs, a higher proportion of the photographs have been taken withing studios and professionally edited. A large part of "Q" magazine's identity is it's unique cover photographs. For example on the above front cover, the featured band are seen jumping through a field of broken glass. The picture creates excitement whilst giving the magazine a specialized feel.

Evaluation of "In The Know" magazine

In what ways does your Media product use,
develop or challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?

My magazine follows the conventions of a real, professional product of the same medium. The front cover includes conventional aspects such as an edited photograph, a headline, a masthead, a sub-heading, a bar code and the price.

How does your Media product represent
particular social groups?

The social group that has been represented in my media product is young students. They have been represented through still photographs, all of which I took and edited myself. I wanted to portray the people in my photograph as relaxed, happy and enjoying their time at Wyke, as the primary aim of my magazine is to promote the college. I feel that I achieved this as the students are smiling and appear cheerful and comfortable.

My photographs show students both socializing and studying within the college. I decided to use a mixture of locations and situations because I wanted to show the audience that Wyke is an environment for both work and one in which you can meet up with and make new friends.

What kind of Media institution might distribute
your media product and why?

The institution that would distribute my product would be Wyke College, as the magazine is designed to inform students, parents and staff about things going on around the college.

Who would be the audience for your Media
product?

The audience for my magazine would be quite wide, including current students, their parents, prospective students and staff.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I used a variety of techniques to make my magazine appealing to my wide target audience. I wanted my magazine to look professional so I used a limited pallet of colours that complimented each other to keep the design simple, not over-complicated. I found that this made the magazine seem more mature and would therefore also be suitable for parents and staff. I used bold lettering to make the masthead and headline stand out, so that my audience would find it eye-catching. Another technique that I used to draw in the audience was to give short snippets of the articles inside the magazine on the front cover so that they would want to buy the magazine to find out more. I found that this technique was used on a lot of the other magazines I looked at as part of my research.

What have you learnt about technologies from
the process of constructing this product?

Producing the magazine has taught me a lot about the processes institutions must go through when producing this kind of media product. I used quite a wide variety of software to produce my magazine, and one of the most time consuming processes was editing the photographs, which a lot of thought and consideration went into. I feel this preliminary task has made me more aware of how important a high quality photograph is to the appearance of the front cover.

Looking back at the preliminary task, what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression
from it to the full product?

I have found this preliminary exercise very useful as I am now aware of the codes and conventions magazines must follow, therefore I have a foundation of ideas to inspire me when I go on to produce the larger section of this coursework. I have also learnt some new techniques to edit photographs using photoshop which I did not know about before. In addition to this I have broadened my understanding of technical terminology and have learnt some useful pointers to bear in mind when taking photographs, such as framing.

Finished product - front cover and contents page of new Wyke College magazine

Draft of new Wyke College magazine "In The Know"

Front Cover



This is the draft of the front cover I am going to produce for a new magazine designed for Wyke College. The magazine is aimed at 16-19 year old male and female students, but will also be suitable for visitors, staff and parents.

I decided to call my magazine "In The Know", as I felt this was a catchy and memorable title as well as representing the magazines aim to inform students of what is happening in and around the college. The idea behind the magazine is to keep the students and their parents regularly updated on events to do with the college, and keep them "in the know". I want the magazines title to be one of the first features the audience notices, so I am going to place it at the top of the page on a slight slant to prevent the cover from looking too polished, I want to keep it looking like it has been designed by the students rather than appearing over-formal and serious.

The image that I have decided to use on the front cover will be of a group of two to three students socialising around a table, and portrayed as being happy and enjoying their time at the college. This will appeal to my audience as they will be able to relate to the students in the photograph. I will edit the photograph in such a way that the camera focuses on the student sat in the centre of the group, with the others slightly out of focus. I feel that this will look more professional and eye-catching than if I were to focus on all the students equally at one time. Also as specified, the photo will be taken in the form of a medium close up.

The headline to accompany this photograph will be located just above the image where it will be easy to see. The headline will read "The Place To Be", as my main article in the magazine will be based upon how the new entrants of 2008 are finding life at Wyke college, including interviews with the students featured in the main photograph. A smaller sub-heading will be placed underneath the image reading "An increasing number of students are making Wyke their first choice". This will give the reader more information about what the article includes. This will persuade them to buy the magazine as they will want to read on and find out what the students had to say.

Along the right hand side of the front page I am going to place a bar of smaller photographs with short descriptions to show the audience some of the other articles that will be featured in the magazine. The photographs again represent students both working and socialising in the college. Informing the audience of other articles inside the magazine will encourage them to buy it.

The release date and price of the magazine will be positioned at the very top of the magazine in smaller black text. In my research I discovered that conventionally this is where this information is printed, so the readers should be able to locate it quickly and easily.



Contents Page



This is the draft of the contents page for my magazine. I felt that it needed to be clear and simply designed to make navigation around the magazine as easy as possible. The aim of a contents page is to inform the reader what articles will be inside the magazine, whilst keeping their interest to make them want to read on.

I have decided to repeat the name of my magazine "In The Know" in large lettering and in the same font used on the front cover in the top left corner of the contents page. I found that this technique was used in a lot of other magazines I looked at to re-enforce the magazines name and make it 'stick' with the audience.

Instead of using the traditional heading "Contents" I have come up with a unique headline of "What's Inside". I felt that this made the magazine appear more informal and friendly, whereas "Contents" sounded quite hard-going. I will use a bright colour on this text to draw in the reader to the different articles in the magazine.

Rather than displaying all of the contents of the magazine through text, I am going to use a mixture of photographs and writing to show the reader what they can expect to find inside. I thought that too much text would look busy and off-putting to my young audience, whereas a mixture of text and images creates a good balance of a classic and a modern layout. The images will be taken from the other articles in the magazine, and again will be edited to appear more professional and eye-catching.

To prevent the contents page from looking bland and colourless, I plan to create a background of coloured shapes placed behind the text in an array of pale pastel colours. I believe that this will look professional but will make the page look more appealing to the reader.

Textual analysis of "New!" magazine

"New!" is a celebrity based magazine released weekly in the UK. The title "New" is appealing as it suggests that the magazine is up-to-date with stories and gossip, and this will encourage the target audience to buy it. The magazines slogan is written above the title, reading "If it's hot, it's here." This again re-enforces the idea that the magazine is very current, and the use of alliteration makes it sound catchy and memorable.

The ideology behind this magazine is to entertain the audience through gossip and stories about the lives of celebrities. Generally females are more interested in celebrity life as women compare themselves to their favourite stars more than men do. Women are also seen as being more likely to empathise with the celebrities featured. Because of this, the target audience for this genre of magazine is mainly female.

The producers have used a mixture of bright, attractive colours on this front page to grab the readers attention. The main colours that have been selected are yellow, pink and blue, which contrast against eachother to make the magazine stand out.

The part of the cover which grabbed my attention first was the headline "Kerry Piles Weight Back On After Lipo" as it is written in bold black writing against a yellow background so that it stands out. Because the readers of this magazine are interested in the lives of celebrities, this will catch their eye and persuade them to buy the magazine.

A range of photographs of well known celebrities have been used to draw the reader into the different stories. Giving them short snippets or photos from a story will make them want to buy the magazine to find out more. The celebrities are portrayed as being very "natural" and "normal". They are dressed in everyday clothes and the photographs are not posed or appear edited. Representing them in this way rather than when they are at their most glamorous will make it easier for the audience to relate themselves to them. Also people are interested in seeing celebrity figures when they don't look at their best, as they are usually put across as being "picture perfect" by the media. This again will make people want to buy the magazine.

The magazines price is stated in the top left hand corner where it can easily be seen. The text is written in yellow and white against a blue background, so these contrasting colours makes it stand out. The magazine is priced very cheaply at 80p, which will appeal to the working class who this magazine is mainly aimed at. If the audience believe that the magazine is good value for money, they will be more likely to buy it. Underneath the price there is a small piece of text reading "40p less than Now". This again will encourage the audience to buy it, as it is cheaper than some of the other leading celebrity life magazines.