AS Construction: Music Magazine Front Cover Attempt 1

This is my first attempt at the front cover of my music magazine (minus the masthead). I plan to edit the colour scheme, blending options and the layout slightly.

AS Construction: Photoshopping Images

The first image is unedited and I have taken it for my music magazine. I plan to use this as it is a head shot and I plan to include at least one in my double page spread.



The second image is the same image after editing it on Photoshop. I have improved the brightness to 39 and the contrast to 30. I have also used the spot healing brush to get rid of the snow in her hair.

AS Construction: Music Magazine Contents Page 2

This is my content page of my music magazine almost completed. I need to add a few more images and edit the colour scheme slightly. I have almost kept to the initial mock up but have edited things slightly; these changes include three columns of content features, a smaller image corresponding to the double page spread and a smaller font of 11.

AS Research and Planning: Music Magazine Contents Page Mock Up

I have decided to use the top half of my contents page dedicated to a photo exclusive to a feature inside the magazine. The photo collage will attract attention to the main feature of the magazine. The strapline to the left of the images will be tilted slightly and will explain what the feature is and should use signifier's like exclusive and special. It will also be written in the font Bradley Hand ITC as this tones down the sophistication of the other fonts and brings a playful side to the magazine. Below the image is the masthead, welcoming the reader to the magazine. This will be written in Adobe Caslon Pro, providing sophistication yet simplicity.

The actual contents will be written in Times New Roman, this is the main font of the magazine and lends sophistication and simplicity. A photo from the photoshoot of the double page spread will be used to illustrate this feature. The editors note will be writen in Adobe Caslon Pro and the signature will be written in elizajane, a font downloaded from Dafont.com.

AS Research and Planning: Music Magazine Double Page Spread Mock Up

This is my initial mock up of my double page spread in my music magazine. I have used a similiar layout to that of the Rihanna interview I analysed from OK! magazine. For the text of the interview I have used Times New Roman- relevant to the front cover and contents text. It is simple, easy to read but has a sophistication to it. The strplaine is also written in Times New Roman. The quote strapline is up for deliberation fontwise, but for this I have used the font 'elizajane' downloaded from dafont.com. It is girly and sweet, like how I want my magazine to be like. The strapline above the masthead is written in a white font called Adobe Caslon Pro and is situated in a black box. The black helps the white stand out and the font is similiar to Times New Roman, it is simple yet sophisticated. The image will be situaed on the right hand side, taking up half the page. Again, this is disputable but this is just my initial mock up so it is subject to change.

The second page is mostly taken up by an image box, this is to emphasise the fact my magazine managed to get a photoshoot along with an interview with this person. Again, the quote part is written in 'elizajane.' It is a direct continuation of the first page, so the interview it still in Times New Roman. The line at the bottom breaks the interview off by the credits, so the magazine looks organised.

AS Research and Planning: Music Magazine Front Cover Mock Ups

This is my initial mock up of the front cover of my music magazine. For the masthead I have used the font Times New Roman- this is sophisticated and is more interesting than Arial. The content features is written in Adobe Caslon Pro- it is similair to Times New Roman and is sophisticated and feminine. The main content features that is relating to the front cover image is written in Times New Roman- like the masthead- and is tilted to the side slightly. This will be written in larger text than the other content features so that it stands out on the cover.




This is my second attempt at a music magazine front cover. I prefer this to my initial cover as there is a bigger variety of fonts but doesn't look as busy as the other one, due to a content feature strapline not obstructing the image. I have used Times New Roman as the masthead, as this looks sophisticated yet simple to read. I have used the font Bradley Hand ITC for the main content feature (which will be in relation to the image). I have used this and the font here is feminine and 'pretty', attracting the niche market of women. I have bolded it for emphasis on the fact it iwll be the main content feature. I have used Adobe Caslon Pro for the three other content features- this looks both sophisticated, feminine yet simple to read. Overall, this layout isn't too busy which I believe works in it's favour.

AS Research and Planning: Q Magazine Cover Semiotic Analysis

Q Magazine is a well known music magazine in the UK. It covers a wide range of genres; including pop, rock, indie, grime and dance. The magazine is versatile and appeals to a wide range of music fans, but their main audience are men from the ages of eighteen to thirty, as the music isn’t biased with the mantra of ‘good looking half naked men’ gracing their pages, as does some other female orientated music magazines like Top of the Pops. Also, studying through the magazine there are mainly photos of men, with a definite lack of femininity; men do not wish to read (and look at) women in Q, as this is a music magazine not a top shelf magazine. The men inside aren’t photo shopped, half naked and don’t have rippling and tanned torsos, which is an element why it is mainly a man’s magazine.

The main image used is of musical icon and legend John Lennon, as the magazine is celebrating his 70th birthday. The image is in black and white, which has many interesting connotations. It denotes John Lennon is dead and that black and white symbolises the passing of time and reflects upon death, the image is taken in 1965 (which is indicated by a piece of text in the corner) which effectively points out the time when he was at the peak of his career. The photograph is a close up to mid shot and he is staring contentedly at the camera, the effect being that the reader feels that he is looking at them and addressing the reader directly. The background is white, which simplifies yet cleverly maximises the effect of the cover as it is not too busy and leaves a good background for the content features, strap line and masthead. The background also amplifies Lennon, as he is black, so there is effective contrasting.

The masthead is situated in the left hand corner and is in a very large font, this is because the magazine name is only one letter, so the scale of the name is enlarged to make up for the lack of a long name. The font is in white, but contrasts with a red background. Psychologically, red is an extremely strong colour. It conjures up a variety of contracting and conflicting emotions and denotes love and passion to violence and warfare. Metaphorically, red both symbolises cupid and the devil. Red is also a stimulant, which studies have shown can have a physical effect of respiration and increased blood pressure. Red also denotes power and authority, like for business people and red carpet events. Q used red as a part of their colour scheme to grab attention via the ‘traffic light’ advertising theory that red stands for ‘stop! And read me.’ Red urges consumers to take action (to buy the magazine) and doesn’t allow the magazine to sink into the background. The white font used contrasts exceptionally well against the red background. The white appears brighter when contrasted against such a vibrant red which makes the masthead clearer and easier to read.

The strap line is also red and is situated just below the masthead. Q has used the same colour contrasting technique here, using a red font against the white of the main image (which also acts as the background of the cover). The text just below the strap line acts to add weight and depth to both the strap line and main image. It is written in a gold font and uses signifiers such as ‘unseen’, ‘last’ and ‘whole’. These words signify exclusiveness (which for such a musical icon, who is long dead, is unusual which urges the reader to read), up to date (as far as possible), and a promise to the reader to tell them everything about the man, which due to his status musically, will interest many music lovers.

There is more text below this, which is written in a smaller and white font, as it overlaps the darkness of the image. This is for effective contrasting and again works for the black and white scheme of the cover and allows the reader to read it more clearly. Below this, are three images of alternate covers readers can purchase. The signifier ‘4’ is exerted, with the effect being that the triangle that the number is written in is pointed toward the images and the text above it.. This adds emphasise and entices the reader to look at the images.

To the right of the cover the focus isn’t on John Lennon, but the content features of the magazine. The headings of these features are red, like the mast head and the strap line. Signifiers like exclusive! Signify that readers will be getting inside gossip and vicarious knowledge, which urges people to purchase the magazine. There is a stamp of red, a red circle with white text inside which tells us that there are thirty seven pages of reviews inside the magazine. The border is gold, with the text at the top enforcing the main focus of the magazine, John Lennon, The font of ‘70th’ has a classical edge to it, adding weight to the significance of the issue being a collector’s edition to musical fans.

Most notably, Q rarely uses black and white images on their covers, with this cover being an exception. This is for reason stated before, emphasising the fact he is dead. The colour scheme of red, black, white and gold is extremely interesting and is relevant to Lennon. As we know, red denotes violence and warfare, and the cover uses a significant amount of red. This has connotations with the way Lennon died; he was murdered by a fan with a gun. Also, the gold border and the text below the strap line which is written in gold is relevant to Lennon. Psychologically, gold is the colour of riches and extravagance. The darker tone of gold the magazine uses lends richness, warmth and compassion. We can make connotations toward Lennon here, as he is such a famous figure, who had a lot of wealth. The expression he is pulling suggests contentedness and peace. He looks neither happy nor sad, which can symbolise that in death he is at peace with the world. The image is a verisimilitude image, as the image, with the connotations toward death and time, is true to life.