Category: Music Magazine

Language Analysis

In preparation for writing our own article for the double-page spread, we analyzed the text and language of a published article. I chose to unpick the magazine “Q-MAVERICK” ‘s biography written about James Lavelle.

‘Q-MAVERICK (September 2017) James Lavelle – The Author is unknown.’

Structure of Article

This is a biography written about James Lavelle’s life stories based on his struggles “emotionally and financially”, and how he’s overcoming them. The title takes up half the page, leaving room at the bottom for the article which is laid out in 3 columns with a drop cap at the beginning. There is also a clear introductory paragraph in bold beneath the title.

Presence of the Journalist

The presence of the journalist is made aware by addressing James by his name, and it is written in the third person. Since the journalist does not share or relate to the same experiences mentioned within the biography of James, it allows the attention to be purely with James and keep him as the main focus. This makes the text become more personal and lets the reader feel more connected and empathize with James. Quotes said by James have been incorporated to support the stories in the article as it’s written in the third person. There is a clear introductory paragraph encapsulating James’ life, before going into the main feature article. At the end of the article, there isn’t a typical conclusion – instead, it ends on a question directed to the audience followed by a short answer from James.

Language & Aim

A few examples of language techniques used within a biography are hyperbole, quotes, adjectives, personification, and metaphors.

Strong Adjectives have been used to create a greater sense of importance with James’ life-changing stories and allow the readers to gain more empathy for him. I.e. Amazing, Impeccably, Beautiful, Long, Intense, Powerful, Tough, Extreme.

Metaphors, similes, and personification were used to help describe his troubled experience with fame, for example; “His star had plunged” and “He proved himself to be a visionary lightning rod”. This article reflects to the audience the undesirable effects that drugs can have on people and the harm/threat it can cause to a person’s life.

The hyperbole, ‘Everest of Cocaine’, exaggerates the amount of drug he uses by comparing it to the tallest mountain.

The tone of the article is informal, with the use of swear words like ‘Fucking’, providing a sense of realism and a casual relationship with the audience.

Quotes

“Noel Gallagher, Richard Ashcroft, Ian Brown, Carl Craig, Alexander McQueen and an Everest of Cocaine.” – Mentioning famous celebrities within the article allows the audience to recognize other big stars and hopefully aid them to read further. There is also an acknowledgment of his troubles of addiction to Cocaine, this may intrigue the reader to carry on reading.

“The last 13 years have been fucking tough financially” and “I’ve put myself through quite extreme situations, both financially and emotionally. But then I got used to that very young.” – The use of foul language and strong adjectives emphasizes the difficulties of being in debt and how he’s struggled alone, demonstrating that fame doesn’t always bring happiness.

Other interesting quotes that feature in the article are; “In one way I’m probably insane to keep doing what I do. Anybody rational would have stopped trying to do UNKLE years ago.”, “It was beautiful,” he says wistfully, “While I had it.”, “It was, he says happily, ‘A fucking amazing night’.”.

Representation of the Star

The journalist portrays the star as reflective of his disrupted life and shown to be strong, resilient. The star is also represented as bad and doing illegal things but this is, in some way, seen as a positive thing. An affirmative of a star as a rebel.

 

 

 

 

Draft of Contents Page

Here is my first draft of my contents page:

 

Peer Assessment From Archie;

What type of shots have been used to create a variety of shot distances and how has the camera been used to communicate meaning?

A mid shot has been used in the photo within the contents page, the photo successfully shows the colours and the makeup to fit the genre and the star has been fitted into the image effectively.

What choice of MISE-EN-SCENE is appropriate for the star image and genre?

The outfit and makeup chosen for the model suit the genre of indie pop very well. The bright purple makeup and clothes create the loose feel of indie pop and shows a high understanding of MISE-EN-SCENE. The skateboard prop also communicates the playfulness of the indie pop genre.

How far is the font used readable and reflects the genre?

They have used a sans-serif font which is easy to read. The purple colour used for the shadow of the font is effective as it matches the models makeup as well as the genre.

What technical conventions of a contents page are present and used effectively?

The headlines have currently been filled with placeholder text and there are no page numbers present. However the layout of which is appealing and effective.

How has Indesign been used to layout the page to convey a brand?

Indesign has been used to layout the page almost as a window with the model peering through. Within the box of the window, there are cover lines and at the top of the page is the title text in which it has been manipulated to form an oval shape above.

How well have the text and visuals been integrated together?

The colour palette of the model and the text have been used together extremely effectively. This allows them both to highlight the models and masthead.

Where has photoshop been used to manipulate the photos to enhance the star image or genre?

Photoshop has been used to cut out the model from the original image accurately and place her on a plain white background.

How is the language used appropriate for the genre and target audience?

At the moment, the cover lines are just placeholder text so I imagine this will be adjusted in later drafts.

My Reflection and Focus Forward

This peer assessment has made me realise what I’ve done well and clarified the bits I need to improve. Receiving feedback from another person was very helpful as it was good to get a different perspective from someone who hasn’t necessarily seen much of my magazine.

In my upcoming drafts, I shall focus on improving my contents page by using my targets:

• Remove placeholder text and add cover lines (mention artists related to my genre to engage the audience)
• Add page numbers
• Make the colours bolder as at the moment it is very muted.

What is a Content’s Page?

A contents page is perhaps the most important page in a magazine. It attentively informs the reader on what various pages contain and provides the audience with a wider knowledge of what to expect within the magazine. In the contents, pages are indicated by numbers along with a catchy headline and a short description of the article, this allows the readers to detect certain articles easily without flicking through the whole magazine unnecessarily.

The conventions of a contents page include;

• Page Numbers
• Hyperbole and Superlatives in headlines
• Image/s
• Graphic illustrations and Designs
• Editors Note

Here are 7 content page’s from which I found inspiration:

I wish to integrate particular design elements into my own content page, such as incorporating my image in with the information and making the colors bolder.

Rough Sketches of Contents Page Layouts

I also hand-drawn 4 rough sketches of various different ideas that I could use as a guide for my contents page layout.

5 Catchy Headlines

Headlines are used to attract an audience and engage their attention with your magazine. Successful headlines need to be conspicuous so they can create interest and appeal to the desired target audience. They tend to include imperatives, superlatives, hyperboles, and alliteration.

Here are some ideas of headlines I could use on my contents page:

I feel as though these informative headlines really sell the contents to my ideal target audience. They mention well-known artists within the Indie Pop genre as well as young rising stars that are finding their way through the industry.

Focus Forward

This research has given me the opportunity to plan my contents page and provide me with a wider understanding of the elements in which I shall include in my first draft. I’ll ensure the page numbers and headlines are positioned clearly so that they are easily navigated by the reader. From the inspiration accumulated, I am now at a stage in which I feel ready to start designing and playing around with different approaches for my contents page.

Draft of Front Page and Self-Assessment

Here is the first draft of my magazine front cover:

Self-Assessment

Focus Forward

This self-assessment has enabled me to reflect on my work thoroughly and identify what I need to improve so that I can achieve my highest possible grade. This draft has given me an insight into what works well to attract my target audience and allow them to express their personal identities.

As this is my first draft of my magazine front cover, I have compiled a couple of things that I’d like to add/change, these include:

• Adding a Price and Issue Date.
• Potentially changing the design layout of my masthead.
• Adding a punching Main Cover Line to compliment my Main Cover Star Image, along with proper cover lines along the left-hand side.
• Work on my different typefaces to make them more striking towards my target audience and possibly create a new Masthead as I feel mine isn’t as powerful as it should be as Mastheads are a fundamental feature of a magazine front cover.

Nonetheless, the elements of my front cover that I am happy with are:

• The placement of my Cover Star Image.
• How the cover lines are positioned down the left-hand side so that they are easily visible when stacked on the shelf.

First Shoot Contact Sheet

Here are my contact sheets for my first studio shoot with my model:

Short List of Images

These are the photos I have chosen to be on my shortlist of images:

I chose these images to be shortlisted because they are my favorite and have a variety of different shots and poses. I thought thoroughly about my MISE-EN-SCENE and was really happy with how the costume, lighting, action, makeup, and props looked together, it fit my aesthetic perfectly. After taking these photos I realized that they had come out a lot darker than expected; as when shooting they appeared brighter and well lit on the camera. Nonetheless, I will make use of my skills in photoshop to edit the brightness and manipulate other features on the image to produce a final product that I am happy with.

When deciding on a final image for my front cover, I analyzed each one carefully to ensure I was making a good choice. I realized it was a bad idea to cover the face of my model (Image 2) as their face is hiding, making them unrecognizable, and won’t be attractive towards the desired audience. As a result of the bad lighting, I decided that I wasn’t going to use image 4 because the dark shadowing masks my model’s face. I felt that images 1 and 8 would be more suited to the contents page or a double-page spread as they are long shots and might look better along the bottom of the pages. Image 5 is too grungy for my indie pop genre and images 3 and 6 would be more appropriate for just the Pop genre due to the bubbly expression upon my Cover Star’s face.

For my Indie Pop genre, I wanted to give off the sense of quirkiness but yet grungy feel for my magazine front cover so I came to a final conclusion that I would use image 7 as my Main Cover Star photo. This is because the vintage glasses and the way my model’s hand is holding them makes the photo seem quirky, however, the minimal facial expression and the serious look in her eyes provide the image with a grungy feel.

Shoot Evaluation

Overall, I believe that my first studio shoot was a success. I had a clear organized plan which I stuck to in order for our time slot to be used effectively. My model came prepared with her costume and makeup done in advance so that we didn’t waste time at the beginning which was very helpful. There were no difficulties other than I had issues with the flash and the camera syncing up. This shoot allowed me to become more confident with studio setups, it also gave me a better understanding of how to work the camera, the studio lights, and the constant lights for upcoming shoots.

Masthead Designs

Here is a selection of possible Masthead designs that I may use for my Magazine Front Cover:

Reflection

The Masthead is a key component of a magazine, it provides the title/name of a publication. It is important to ensure that you make the Masthead big and bold because it’s one of the first things that would attract an audience member to look at it, so needs to stand out from the other conventions featured on a magazine front cover.

To begin designing, I searched for different font types on a website called ‘Da Font’ which held a wide variety of fonts for various categories. After researching other Indie Pop magazines, I discovered that they mostly used a sans-serif font which is very basic. I found 4 fonts which I liked, these were: ‘Keep on Truckin’, ‘Distortion Dos Analogue’, ‘Prisma’ and ‘a Abstract Groovy’. For my masthead, I liked the style of the ‘Keep on Truckin’ font so decided to play around on InDesign with different layouts and variations of ‘Cloud Nine’. I referred back to my last blog post on front page layouts as inspiration and wanted to borrow the idea of the ‘MOEVIR’ design of MADE IN HEAVEN. I wish to incorporate a similar style into my masthead.

Final Choice?

Furthermore, I prefer any of the top 3 masthead layouts shown above. I like the design of the one word block-coloured and the other outlined. I probably won’t use the top one as it is too monotoned for my genre and quite boring. The second one, I like the pop of the purple accent colour through the outlined word. I love the layout of the third one but I feel that it would be quite difficult to read due to the pastel accent colour and the overlap of the outlined word on top. However, these all fit my genre of Indie Pop perfectly so when I start producing my magazine front cover, I will test to see which one compliments my Main Cover Star image the most.

Focus Forward

This task has allowed me to refine my skills in InDesign and undertake the planning of a first draft layout for my magazine front cover.

Front Page Layouts

To bring inspiration for the different colour palettes, font types, graphics and layouts of my magazine; I compiled together my top 10 favourite magazine front covers that I found which interest me.

Reflection

When I come to designing the front cover of my magazine, I want it to be quirky but yet simplistic to attract the desired audience. I’d like to include a vibrant colour filter, like the magazines ‘LOREM’, ‘MOEVIR’ and ‘billboard’, to contrast with the light coloured clothing that my Main Cover Star will be wearing and to make my front cover electric and bright. I also feel I’d use a close up photo because I like the layouts of the ‘billboard’, ‘MOEVIR’, ‘FUTURE NOSTALGIA’ and ‘LOREM’ magazines, plus if I did include a close up photo I may match the format of ‘CITY LIGHTS’ and place the image within a box as when researching I came across a fair few magazine front covers with a similar placement. Even though I love the idea of incorporating the model into the masthead, demonstrated by the ‘ELLE’ magazine, I feel it would deform the original photo of my model and make it look odd as the dimensions would be messed up due to the fact I didn’t intentionally take a photo specifically for that layout.

However, I am inspired to recreate a similar vibe with the ‘LOREM’, ‘TUSH’ and ‘billboard’ magazine for my own magazine front cover as since I used the shade lavender throughout the costume and makeup of my Main Cover Star model, the ‘TUSH’ magazine gives a feeling of elegance in the design and the colours used throughout all the magazines compliment each other really well.

Focus Forward

I will use this research as a brainstorm of ideas for my front cover to allow me to create a successful magazine. In addition, it has provided me with a rough sketch of where I’ll place my Main Cover Star image and coverlines for my first draft to make it visually appealing to my target audience.

 

Production Meeting Agenda for First Photo Shoot

In order for me to be completely organised and feel prepared for my first photo shoot, I made a Production Meeting Agenda so that my shoot would be successful.

Reflection

This allowed me to know exactly what I needed to bring and do in advance, and was able to have a clear vision of certain poses and photo ideas so that no time would be wasted in our limited time slot in the white studio.

 

 

Star Image – Theirs and Mine

Here I explored Tame Impala and how an artist within my chosen genre is represented through the media. I also created a plan for my desired model in preparation for shooting them for my magazine front cover.

Reflection

The Real Star

After depicting Tame Impala, I was able to acknowledge that he is both extraordinary and ordinary. This is reflected through Richard Dyer’s (Media Theorist) theory named ‘The Paradox of the Star’. We can portray a star’s image through paradox’s, like them being present as well as absent. Additionally in the media, we can communicate the star’s image through the metanarrative.

After completing this task, it made me understand the ways in which I should represent my cover star to the media affectively in order to make them successful and appeal to my chosen target audience.

My Star Image

I produced a mood board, clearly highlighting my ideal feel for the model in my first studio shoot for my magazine cover. Once I decided on a clear colour scheme, I was able to build and expand my ideas of outfits, makeup and additional accessories. I used pinterest as inspiration for different outfits, poses and hairstyles, and gathered those photos together to create my ‘Perfect Cover Star’.

This slide helped me feel organised for my first shoot and granted me with a clear idea of what I’d like my model to be like. I will definitely use this to help me when I take my images for my front cover.

My Audience Profile

To help me further develop a good understanding of my target audience for the Indie Pop genre, I created a dating profile for my ‘Perfect Audience Member’.

Reflection

I found it very useful to do background research regarding fans of Indie pop artists, as it gave me an insight into the typical Indie music listener and those who would be interested in an Indie Magazine. I used a website called ‘YouGov.com’ which provided me with the facts and statistics of fans within the Indie industry (see slide 2). For example, it gave different percentages of age groups which listen to the genre and where majority of the fans live in the UK. As inspiration, some information of my ‘Perfect Audience Member’ relates to people I know who listen to Indie Pop. So when designing my dating profile, I took into account their uses and gratifications so that I’d produce a profile which reflected their interest in Indie.

Focus Forward

When coming to design my own music magazine, I will take into consideration the gender, age and interests of my ideal ‘Perfect Audience Member’ so that I can produce a magazine that is aimed towards attracting my ideal target audience.