Music magazine hair and make-up ideas

Hi,
 Here I have created a moodboard on polyvore to show my make-up and hair styling ideas for mu music magazine, I am going for the dark, grungey, rock look which will have much more impact than colours like baby pink. The colours of the makeup are very important as they need to tie in with the colour scheme of the magazine.

 

Music magazine questionaire

Here I have made a questionaire on survey monkey to research audiences responses to music magazines, I would be really gratefull if you could spare a minute to answer it :)

Click here to take survey

Magazine photo poses

Here I have made a small slideshow that portrays some examples of the three most used shots in magazines, facial close-up, torso mid-shot and full body long shot.

Double page spread analysis.

 

Here I am going to analyse a double page spread of a magazine, this is usually the main feature and is anchored to the headline and main image on the front cover. This is from the recent edition of the rock magazine KERRANG.

 

Conventions


Headline
The headline is the largest area of text on the page, this is because it needs to catch the audiences attention. Here the text spreads across both pages to highlight it's importance, the font is a rocky/old school style which is anchored to the genre of the magazine and is in capital letters to give it more presence. Usually double page spread headlines are direct quotes from the artist to make the audience feel a personal connection, here a kind of play on words is used that only fans of Fall Out Boy will understand, "sugar, we're coming home" is used in place of their hit song  "sugar we're going down", this makes the reader slightly amused (only if they understand the inside joke though !)

Stand First
A stand first is used to introduce the article and; like here; it's often placed at the beginning of the headline. In this case the stand first is anchored to the headline as they both infer Fall Out Boys comeback tour, also the tag word "Exclusive" is used to make the audience feel important as they are getting something "exclusive"

By-Line
The by-line credits who wrote the article and the photographer, here it is located in the bottom left hand corner of the page to keep it out of the way of the image but to still show respect for the writer/ photographer.

Main Image
The main image is the most important element of the double page spread, this is because he is bigger than all of the text. Here they have decided to keep it simple by using only one image rather than the usual many secondary images. They have placed it on a contrasting box out in a quirky shape to add interest. They have used a direct mode of address in the image as all four band members are looking directly at the camera, this establishes coherence between the article and the reader.

Text box
The text is laid out in columns for clearer reading, also at the start of the columns is an illuminated/ large letter to guide the reader on where to start the article. At the top of the text box a stand is included to introduce the text, this may help readers who have little knowledge about the band as it summarises their success and the article. The artists name is highlighted in red in the stand to show its importance, this directly anchores to the artists name at the top of the page to establish continuity across the pages.

Contents page analysis

As I am making a content page for my magazine, I need to do some research into what the conventions are for my chosen genre. I have analysed KERRANG magazines 2010 contents page.

 

 

Conventions

Colour Scheme
They have stuck to a very specific colour scheme of black and yellow, the black adds tone and depth as a base colour and the yellow is used as a contrasting accent colour to highlight important articles or headings. Red is also used to highloght the page numbers so it's easier for the reader to navigate the page, it's also used

Images
The main image on the contents page is usually anchored to the second most important article, this is the case here because the image takes up half the page therefore the audience recognise it as important. Also all of the secondary images include their corresponding page numbers written on them, this achors them to the written contents for easy navigation of the page.

Editors letter
This is usually placed on the left hand side of the page as it's not the most important area of text. Here the editors letter is obviously reasonably important as is it includes a large secondary image to attract the readers attention, also the editors letter displays what's going on at KERRANG HQ to give the reader an 'exclusive' insight into the behind the scenes elements of the magazine.

Contents layout
the contents is divided into categories rather than in chronological order using headers in yellow font on black box outs for ease of access. The articles are in bold and are often quite ambiguous to intrigue the reader into reading the sub lines below which provide more information on the article.

Puffs
Puffs are used to draw the readers eye to a highlighted article or area of the page, for example the words 'cover story' are placed on box outs shaped like stars and are located next to the star articles which therefore become anchored to the front page.

Fonts
The fonts used represent the genre of the magazine, it is bold, straight edged and powerful, a bit like rock really. The use of a 'smashed' effect really adds to the font by making it less 'mainstream'

ACTION PLAN

Because my preliminary task is finished I need to create an action plan for my music magazine so I stick to a structure. I had feedback from my school magazine that I needed some kind of plan to be on tome for deadlines. By having a plan I will be on time to hand in my work and to get feedback.

Date	Task	Completed? Any notes?
17th December	To have completed all of my research, planning, questionnaires, mood board, font ideas, decided on name, image editing, layout plans and colour schemes
21ST December	To have completed mock photo-shoot, draft ideas on blog
24th February	To have completed my draft magazine along with real photo-shoot, feedback and how I will change my draft to the real magazine
24TH March	To have edited all photos and nearly finished magazine cover, contents and double page spread
10th April	To have completed my magazine and all 7 evaluation questions, check blog if any changes are needed

Music magazine moodboard

Here are a few of my ideas for how my magazine might look like, I might change them, but here is a mood board to showcase my original thoughts. I have used fireworks to create my mood board.