2. The next step in my research is to first take
a look at five existing front covers and then
go onto look at five contents pages and five
double paged spreads from the same
existing music magazines. I can then go on
to improve my knowledge and from this I
can start to gather the typical forms and
conventions of a music magazine which I
can then incorporate into my own magazine
cover.
3. Magazine Cover One.
The logo of the magazine is
positioned in the same place every
time it reflects the identity of the
magazine and because it is always
the same the target
audience/market will then easily
be able to recognise the magazine
the blood red of the bold bubble
lettering always seems to stand
out on the front page.
The strapline of the
magazine cover
contains more
information about in
this case Glastonbury.
I think that the colour
scheme is particularly good
for this magazine because
the yellows and blues are
rather vibrant and they
stand out well they also
seem to go well together
however they still don't
take much of the attention
that the viewer would have
for the logo/ title of the
magazine which is good
because you wouldn’t want
all the attention to be taken
away from the name of the
magazine as that comes
across as one of the main
features of a magazine and
the name is highly
important.
The image is professionally taken
photograph. As there is more than
one person in the image there are
multiple gaze’s Matthew Murphy is
the lead singer of the band he is
therefore in the middle and he has a
direct stare out into the audience.
This perception gives him more
authority and more power than the
The textbox with the
other two members. Although Dan is
positioned to the right of the image
barcode in it contains
he still has a direct stare at the
some information such as
audience but it isn't as powerful as
the price of the magazine
Matthew because of where the
aswell as the magazines
image is positioned and the there is
the gaze of Tord who is the
website.
character on the left which is the
least formal but I still think it is
quite powerful because it makes the The pug matches the colour scheme because it is the same blue as the strips of
information that are dotted around the rest of the cover. The pug contains more
reader wonder what it is that he is
additional detail about what is contained in the magazine this particular pug contains the
staring at in the distance.
information that will tell the audience that in this magazine there is a section dedicated
to ‘BLUR’.
4. Magazine cover two
The strapline of the magazine cover contains more
information about what is contained in the magazine.
There are two pugs on this
magazine cover a pug one
is in the top left hand
corner this tells the reader
that in this edition there is
a free CD and from my
questionnaires the majority
of the public find a
magazine with a free gift
more appealing. The
second pug is more or less
half way down the page on
the right side of the
magazine this contains
information about a tour
from te popular rock band
‘SEX PISTOLS’
This particular magazine
has both a left hand
third and a right hand
third this is good
because it makes the
magazine look better
and it is helpful because
it gives the reader a
better idea of what is in
the magazine.
The barcode is positioned in the
usual bottom right corner of the
page I think that by putting it this
way it makes it more neat and tidy.
The colour scheme for the
magazine seems to be quite
classic and bold with just
mainly blues and a crisp clean
white which stands out well
and makes the cover more
appealing to the eye. There
are also a few parts of the
magazine cover that have
small grey areas which also
adds something extra to the
colour scheme. This works well
the main image is
professionally taken and its
not shot at a live concert for
example. The gaze of the
image is very direct and
formal. Morrissey the lead
band member of ‘The Smiths’
is the largest and most front
person on the image this is
because he IS the lead of the
band, where as the rest of the
band members are not as
important meaning that they
have a much smaller image
but they still a direct stare its
just not as powerful as
Morrissey’s.
5. Magazine cover three
This cover in my opinion
is pretty plain and doesn't
seem to have much going
on for example there is no
pug and the barcode isn't
even placed on the front
like other magazines I
have analysed. However
this gives the cover a
more swish and
professional look so in a
way not having some key
features that other
magazine covers might
have gives this magazine
more of a sophisticated
look which in my opinion
looks really good.
The left hand third on this
magazine is the largest people
of text after the masthead this
shows that the key story of this
music magazine is ‘THE BLACK
KEYS’ we can also clearly see
this from the image.
The strapline for this very magazine contains
information about what other popular artists are
featured in the magazine this is good because it
immediately gives the reader an easy idea of who else is
featured in the magazine.
I especially like the colour
scheme for this magazine I
believe it looks very classy
and mature especially by
having a black and white
photo the distinct ruby red
filling of the ‘Rolling Stone’
masthead will easily be
recognised along with the
grey out line and black
shadowing that will easily be
remembered by the target
audience.
The gaze of the two members of
the black keys is very moving
and serious this is seen as
appealing because it makes the
reader feel more involved I also
like the classiness of a black and
white image as I said before and
this has given me some ideas
for what I would like the main
image or some of the smaller
images to be like in my
magazine.
The right hand third contains more information about what is included in the magazine I think that a
right hand third is a good way to show excess and important information neatly so I would like to
possibly feature one in my magazine cover that I create.
6. Magazine cover four
I do not like this masthead it is too big and it takes
some of the attention away from the masthead. So I
do not think that this is effective or works well.
I like the way that the
designers of the
magazine cover have
chose to create a right
hand third that moulds
around the image and
how the text changes
from bold to normal and
back again so it is easy
to see the different band
or solo artists name
clearly I think it also
looks pretty good I
might use something
like this on a small part
of my right hand third.
Unless you were someone
who knew of the magazine
‘SPIN’ others might find it
hard to notice or it would
take them a bit longer to
realise that ‘SPIN’ is the
name of this particular
magazine because there is
large text above the
masthead which takes the
attention away from the
masthead.
The colour scheme and layout
of this magazine in my
opinion is quite childlike with
the cartoon confetti and little
squiggles on some of the
writing, the only serious thing
really on the cover is the
masthead and then of course
Overall I do like the
the image which comes
layout of this magazine I
across as pretty
think that the clutteredformal, however if you look
ness makes the cover
closely you can see the image
more interesting and I
has been edited and
therefore has a slight black
think a lay out similar to
out line/shadow around the
this could appeal to my
legs. making it more cartoon
target audience more.
like and therefore more
I think that the pug for this magazine looks good because it seems to go with the masthead and the little red bits
childish.
that are around the rest of the cover, from this pug we can also see that this magazine features free downloads I
think if I had made this magazine I might of made that bit of text more visible as I know this would of been more
appealing to more people.
7. Magazine cover five
I think that the colour
scheme for this magazine
is very patriotic which
could appeal to a wide
percentage of the
audience however
because we live in a
multi-cultural society
some people may feel
excluded from the
magazine whereas others
could be curious about
the British band ‘THE
KINKS’ all of the items on
the page are either red
blue or white and even
the image seems to have
a slight blue tint to it
making it more
interesting that just a
plain black and white
image.
The strapline doesn’t come across as being
overly informative which is good because it
doesn’t bombard the reader with information.
The masthead is very clear
and visible so the target
audience can clearly see
which magazine they have
just picked or are just
looking. This is good
because it can easily
determine which magazine
they are looking at.
The magazine cover clearly
shows the fact that this
issue of ‘UNCUT’ is mainly
about ‘British Rocks
Forgotten Heroes’ including
the hit rock band ‘THE
KINKS’ from the 60’s. Above
the name of the band we
can see dome of the things
that have happened to the
band.
The barcode for this magazine is
placed at the bottom of the
There is no left hand third featured on this magazine cover however
page like usual I think this will
instead there is just the one right hand third placed towards the
be where about I might position
bottom end of the right side but in all honesty I don’t believe that this my barcode, however I do like it
magazine would look right with a left hand third as well it could come when its turned in a landscape
position.
across as more cluttered.
