What i have learnt from analysing front covers

From the three music magazine front covers i analysed it gave me a lot of ideas about how to create my own. It learnt me things about which colours stand out the most and where the best place to put pull quotes and pugs is to make sure they are the most eye catching as possible to get the primary audience.  
I also got ideas of how to set things out, so it didn't look like there was to much going on and it just looked like there was enough information on the page, to draw in the audience to whats inside. Also making sure to get the most important inside information, in short term on the front. Making sure to use the most interesting pull quote from an inside article and making it stand out the most over most other text.
I also learnt to try and keep the colour scheme the same, to make it look more professional and make it easier to read and understand, as it could look like theres to much going on and could come across as being confusing which would lose buyers. 
Picking apart other magazines helped a lot on creating my own. 
Another thing i realised was that its important how the models are posing and how they're dressed, to send across the correct message. Making sure that all the text on the front cover is set around what genre the magazine is set around, strongly making sure the audience is aware that it is about pop music and only using famous icons that are famous in that certain industry. As it wouldn't sell if one issue was with pop music then all of a sudden started featuring rock music, this would lose buyers and attract the wrong audience. Making sure the price, issue number and the date issued is clearly shown as its one of the most important parts of information for the audience.  

Front page analysis

The main colours on my front page are red, white and black. I've chosen these colours because they all stand out and the black and white has a lot of contrast. The stronger, more important text i have put in red and a selection of a few words in italic to make them a bit more eye catching. The text I've chosen to make the biggest is the pull quote which i put in white text, with the word 'never' in red and made it italic as it's the word with the strongest meaning in the quote. I also changed the title from 'BeatzUK' to 'LOUD!' as i thought this was more relevant. I have made the title black with a thick red outline as it matches the colour scheme and also stands out very well. I chose the background to be black as most colours stand out when they're layered on this, and i found it worked very well. 
The lighting in my main image is very bright and has a tint of pink to show that the primary target audience is more for females rather than males. The brightness of the image also makes it more eye catching as iv put it on a black background. I have also made the title cover the image, to clarify that the people on the image have a lot to do with the magazine and the main article inside will be about them. One of the models is also making eye direct eye contact with the camera, making it look more personal and draws attention of audiences. 
I have also added a banner at the top of the page, to draw in attention as it notifies the reader of what kind of things they will find throughout the magazine. I made the banner a very light red colour so it still sticks to the colour scheme but doesn't stand out to much that the attention is brought from the other areas of text. I also kept the text in the banner white as i thought it still stood out enough and it blended well together. 
I have placed the issue number, the date of release and the price of the magazine in the top right hand corner next to the masthead as this is where the viewer will first look and the price is one of the most important section of text to the audience. 
I also put the pugs and puffs into different shaped boxes with black backgrounds but i changed the how transparent they were and made them so it was still able to see the main image through them. I used a thick white boarder on each shape. More over, i added two groups of five red circles, one on the right hand side and one at the bottom of the page. I again changed how transparent they were so its able to see them overlapping, i chose to put these on as it filled up the space nicely and looked neat and professional. The red also matched with the other sections on the cover. 

music magazine second attempt of front cover

music magazine first attempt of front cover

Edited front page image

I took all of my images, including this one in a photography studio in my photography lecture.

Flat plan of music magazine contents page

Flat plan of music magazine front cover

Questionnaire analysis

The results from my questionnaire show that the more popular gender is female, within the age group of 16-19 year olds, which is D in the audience code. My secondary audience will be males aged 16-19 and people outside the age range. The magazine will meet female needs by being brightly coloured and looks more feminine. Also the fashion side would be jump out to the female audience, with the choices of the image on the front cover. The images will also have a feminine feel from them. 

The most popular genre of music showed out to be pop, which is the genre my magazine will be aimed around. Pop music appeals to most people and is the most known about genre as its played everywhere. To make it more noticeable that it is a pop genre magazine i will use models from the pop music industry on the front page which will straight away show that some of the content will be around them and pop. I will also use advertsiments pugs, about new pop music, albums or any news. The answers from the favourite band or artist question also gave me ideas about which people in the pop music industry are the most popular at this moment in time, to make sure the magazine is the most up to date it can be and it has the most appealing image on the front to draw attention of the audience. Also which artists or genres should not be in the magazine and will turn away buyers.

Also the content inside the magazine will need to stay more feminine than masculine. I will have to focus on pop music and fashion, things that females are interested in. There will also be some more masculine areas inside for the secondary audience, making sure it satisfies both primary and secondary target audiences.  

music magazine questionaire

Contents page analysis

Contents page analysis

contents page analysis

double page spread analysis

magazine institution

music magazine double page spread

Double page spread analysis

Magazine front cover

Layout of a magazine

Content of a magazine front cover

magazine preparation task edit

reasons for the images i took for my magazine

I took these images in my photography lecture in a low key photography studio. 

I have chosen this image for my contents page as the content of the magazine's pages will not cover the faces of the two models, and also the facial expressions aren't serious which makes it fit to the target audience, of young females. This also appeals with the pink tint of light i applied to the models, to aim it to be more relatable to the female audience.

I also took this image in a photography studio during one of my lectures. The pink tint also makes the images look more for a female audience and gives it more of an effect. The facial expressions are more serious on this as iv chosen it for my double page spread which is an interview about their own lives. As of how the models are posing, it will fit well together when i flip a copy of the photograph around and use it as a mirror image. With the serious facial expressions it gives the impression of a serious article that it relates to. 

I also took this image in a photography studio in one of my lectures. Both models are posing differently, with one not looking at the camera, which is a good pose. The clothes the models are wearing aren't to girly, nor to much out of the age range of the target audience. The models i used are my college friends, w ho agreed to do this shoot with me. I also choose to do it in a studio to get the best quality images for my magazine, to make it look the best i can. Also as poor quality images can make a magazine look like   a lack of effort has been put into creating it. I will edit all of these images to make sure the backgrounds are all full black and that any implications are removed.