Magazine Flat Plans

Magazine Front Cover

Rationale: For the magazine front cover i have chosen to use a medium shot, with the focus being on the person who is presumably the lead singer in the band and of whom the pull out quote is coming from. The positioning of the pull out quote is arranged to allow the reader to make the connection between the quote and the person saying it, in this case it features just below him. The masthead is to be white, backed against a thin yellow line and then a thin blue line making it stand out whilst also setting the colour tone, this scheme of colour is to be repeated in the border of the magazine, and connotes to a retro feel when combined with the red used on the cover. The sell lines and pull out quote will feature in red with a white outline, allowing for sophistication and to stand out from dark/ light areas of the photograph. The band are slightly canted however the angle is not - this shows the band and the magazine perhaps differ on levels.

Magazine Double Page Spread

Rationale: For the magazine double page spread photograph, i have opted a slight tilt upwards shot, allowing for both featured members to appear of a bigger stature, it is very much of central persuasion towards the same person who is presumed to be the lead singer in the band on the front cover. The background of the photograph is quite natural looking as it is outdoors, to create continuity of the double page it is important to use natural colours on the opposing page. A light stone background colour is my choice, with a white box of a lower transparency where the text is, that features a bold dark red font colour, the colour of the pull out quote will match the text and stand out on the light background. The four photographs are unused photos from the shot, supposed to be of joking atmosphere and never intended for the cover itself or the doule page spread, they are to all feature a white background with the same stripe colour theme as that of the cover.


Magazine Contents Page

Rationale: The contents page is much more colour orientated then photograph, it is also more a page of information. The two photographs that are present, are presented to look like polaroid snapshots, i will use shadowing in photoshop to make this look realistic. The masthead is to be in the exact same style as on the front cover, which is also going to be present in the space logo - which will feature the masthead from the front cover. The colour theme of blue, yellow, white and red appears in organised strips of dripping colour, perhaps to look like paint - often an image used in the modern music magazine. The triangular shape with slanted text is an advertisement of the magazine's subscription offers, the background colour is yellow whilst the text is in black, this theme is then subverted in th main text area with a red background and white bold text as the actual contents part of the page.

Institutional Context

There are many companies involved in the production, distribution, exhibition and publication of the magazine, i am researching into this as to see how the size of the company can effect my product, and also which company my product fits in to. The content of music my magazine will contain fits generally into EMI's and SONY's subsidary labels that had began as indie labels and eventually been bought out by global media conglomorates as the bands have grown in popularity. In terms of the content of writing, Magazines such as MOJO, UNCUT and even on occasion NME are producing very similartexts to the area in which i am heading, the latter two are published by IPC media, a time warner company, with MOJO being published by Bauer music in the United Kingdom. All three aim to produce a current set of findings within the popular music world, and are successful at doing so, IPC is a larger conglomorate company and therefore is of slightly more a mainstream nature than MOJO, which is why MOJO is of closer interest to me in terms of my magazine. MOJO, with Bauer, claim to work closely with their clients to develop innovative solutions to provide a brighter way forwards. Usually within the production of a magazine, there are many forces present, such as a graphic design specialist, chief editor, chief research and and many writing, this means all aspects will have to be in condensed format as i am having to conduct all areas myself. This is no excuse for producing a lesser end result though, many smaller yet still successful magazines have only a production team of a very small number and still manage perfectly fine, working in all areas could work as a bonus allowing a clarity of meaning in what was supposed to be achieved, which can often be lost in translation upon hiring a larger production team. MOJO have a tightly nit understanding between all personnel involved, one i would be wise in attempting to replicate in the production of my own magazine. It is established that my magazine is supposed to be of a higher, upper market more affluent attracting magazine, with this in mind, looks are important, and will be vital in the magazine fitting into its competitive environment, however i am going to use the ethos of smaller scale more 'human' companies in the actual creative input of the magazine visually and otherwise, it is my thoughts that this will make it a very different upper class magazine and appeal to a different sort of upper class market, possibly being the niche in the mainstream i am in with this magazine. To underline entirely, the roles i will be conducting in the production of my magazine will be as follows; graphic designer, costume designer, cinematographer, photographer/ possibly model, editor, writer, as well as lighting supervisor.

Initial Treatment

My magazine will feature a variety of visually exciting and appealing elements to it, with parts of it to be rendered by hand to create the effect of hand creation, and add to the homemade appeal, whereas in contrast to this, large areas of the magazine will be 'proffessionally' rendered thus higlighting greater the areas that are not. The strict colour pallette is to feature a predominant red, giving connotations of action and danger, alongside a contrasting white, connoting to purity and youth, and also less dominant colours of blue and yellow. The addition of the blue to the already dominant colours in the scheme, creates a retro and older feel to it, whereas the yellow creates a new pallete scheme possibly referring to the new and exciting industry that we are enterring musically. It will look stylish and eyecatching, different to the usual appearance of music magazines, more graphically interesting, with the use appealing images, photoshop rendered work, and a bold plain typeface for the masthead. The masthead is to be positioned centerally and cover the majority of the dead space in the top third of the magazine cover, it will be a contrasting white to the cover image, with a thin yellow outline backed on a thin blue line, bevelled and embossed and feature inner shading, this should help to add sophistication and allow the magazine to stand out from the beginning as a stylish looking publication. The other text will feature on only one of the sides, not both as i want to keep to a minimal design, It will also be in white font, or black if this is a more suitable match to the picture. Sell lines will be edited where appropriate, but will always match the masthead in this. The main focus of the image will be on the left hand side of the publication, with the text only on the right hand side, showing dominant ideology in that photograph is more important on the cover than the text is. The main photograph is to either feature an artist or band (undecided at the moment) addressing the reader with eye contact, or an action shot of a musician showing them in their culture/ environment, not neccessarily with direct address to the reader, it is however decided that both would feature a pull out quote from the inside interview running in 2-3 lines across the left hand side upper section of the bottom third of the magazine. A thin white border is to feature with a medium sized red line running centrally through it, other hand rendered ideas of presenting the text could include, srcunched brown paper as a corner piece, torn white paper with black type on it and black ripped paper with a chalf effect writing across it. These techniques will continue into the contents page, with a very similar layout however with a striped coloured background, and tilted picture box spreading to the left of the page but mainly in the middle. The contents is on the right hand side of the page, presented in a very similar way to the text on the cover, and sticking to the same colour theme as the cover, however possibly reversing which colours are dominant on this page to the cover. The picture box will feaure a hand made looking collage of what is to be expected inside, this would be a running feature of the contents page should more be produced. An advertisement regarding the magazines website and offers can be found below the tilted picture box and filling up the dead space in the bottom section of the page. The masthead will read the same way as the cover, however will say contents instead of the title. As for the double page spread, i am planning to run a photoshoot/ interview with a supposed 'new and upcoming band' that see themselves fitting into any of the previous eras of popular music and want to start a new based on this. The photoshoot should be held at a beach or riverside on an overcast day, wearing parka etc. if successful, i may choose an image from this shoot to use on the cover, if not i will use the same models in the studio to take a cover shot. The presentation of photos and interview should include a full page photograph, possibly presented in an old fashioned style, maybe a ripped page effect as a transition into the following page. The second page will feature a pull-out quote along with four smaller images from the shoot combined in a window frame effect and tilted, this will use of half of the page, whilst the bottom half is to be spilt up into four columns consisting of a short interview.

Proposal of Ideas

I intend to make my music magazine of a standard A4 size format. My intended audience is quite a mainstream audience of 16 - 40 year olds, who have a real interest in music that has been of a popular nature aimed at a teenage audience throughout British history beginning in the 1960s. However they also look for new and interesting music that is approaching from Britain and indeed overseas. The intention of my magazine is to inform my target audience of past, present and future exciting events within the music world, whilst also in keeping to an entertaining and still light hearted nature. I intend to achieve this through the style of language used - fairly coloquial, yet also using opinions and appropriate semantics and as to make the reader feel at ease in understanding the content of the articles. This technique should integrate the reader instantly whilst also help to engage them in provoking a reaction of some sort, good or bad, towards the opinionated article. I would like the publication to be an enjoyable read as well as a knowledgable lesson on music history, therefore i don't intend to make anything too intense an experience, which could spark confusion, and will attempt this by sticking to short bursts of excitingly phrased articles and sell lines. Magazines projecting the success of past music eras are not new to the publication scene, however i intend to make mine unique and stand out within the current market by focusing the entire magazine towards the great (much untalked about in todays magazine climate) events that have occured throughout the popular music history, whilst integrating exciting twists on new aspects of the industry and events in which readers can get involved with and be a part of. I gained the inspirtation to do a project such as this from my textual research analysis, and the most unique area of my magazine competing against other leading UK music publications would be the human element given towards the content and even the content itself, perhaps focusing on niche areas and projecting towards a mainstream audience.

Mood Board

I used this mood board to help me think about arrangements of figures or bands, when being professionally photographed for a shoot. I have taken some ideas directly from other magzines, whereas others are taken simply from photoshoots directly. I have also used this mood board to test run the colours together of which i am satisfied that they work. I have also tested out some fonts that i think might suit the design and look good as a masthead for my magazine. I think combining this with my audience research i have a strong idea of exactly how my magazine will come together, and how i would like my model to pose, whether this be directly addressing the reader or not.

Primary Audience Research - MY AUDIENCE

Write up :
My target audience will be predominantly of a male persusion, sharing similarities to magazines such as MOJO and UNCUT, in particular MOJO, obvious similarities would be the average age of the reader, being close to the mid thirtees (a strong ten years older than NMEs average reader age). My audience are technologically developed however still choose to buy physical content, whether this be music, film or even magazines, and in terms of magazines, although the majority are well acquainted with the web addresses of music publications, all will purchase issues that take their fancy. Many not only purchase CDs but also Vinyl records. My target audience tend to be faithful to 'up and coming' acts, as they all want to be in touch with whatever the 'next wave' of music is going to be, however their true love lies within music of the past, considerating this i will have to moderate the content of my magazine, creating a healthy balance between the two extremes. My research tells me that the audience i am producing for tend to stay clear of whatever the popular dress code may be, this means i will need to seek originality for my magazine and not include anything that it is too 'sell-out' and too far out of touch with the public, sincerity from everyones part. My target audience all specialise in music knowledge, and would like this to continue to expand, it is of their opinion that cliques from the sixties and seventees are of best use music wise, this could be either because they grew up as a teenager in these years, or simply that they have searched backwards for the style they feel close to, both categories apply to my audience. My audience appreciate quality and are therefore a high percentage would describe themselves as affluent, with a good disposable income, that is mainly spent on entertainment (live experience), culture and the arts and of course music, a majority of the audience fall into the category of social econimic grouping AB. Considering this it is also clear that my audience look for style and minimal congestion in a magazine, with a degree of human care and consideration into making it. They are not quite full on 'arty' types but can appreciate it, and do so often to that of which their favourite records wear, they do not forget this in a hurry, packaging is also a strong part of the appeal to most products my target audience will purchase. It is common for my target audience to be able to play an instrument of some form, they will spend a high percentage of their income on this, on well represented brands, which seems important to them in this criteria.

Featured below is a readership profile for my target audience portrayed through images and photographs only.

Primary Audience Research

Copy of questionnaire
that i am going to distribute.

It is important that both quantitative and qualitative data are used during the primary audience research, therefore not only will I be distributing the above questionnaire to my target audience, gaining quantitative data, but also gathering a small focus group of my target audience, answering the same set of questions but able to expand on their response, creating qualitative data. This will ensure that my product meets the expectations of my audience.

I have focused my questionnaire on ages between 15 and 40, this is a wide range gap, however the average reader of magazines such as UNCUT and MOJO, in which my target audience shares similarities with, have an average reader age of mid 30's. The content of the questions focuses on the factors of a music magazine as a whole package, and how my production could be presented based on this, in knowing what the audience wants.

Write up:
I asked 10 males and 10 females from a variety of ages within my focus group, to complete my questionnaire. With the majority getting involved through the internet or another form of media, with at least one music publication, with the majority out of those who do get involved being male.

It is the popular opinion of those i asked, to go against the latest 'in' look, with them all astonishingly looking for their own individual look. Upon first looking at the front cover of a magazine, the most common appealing factor of the cover was the colour, with a minority of females making the topic of it a close runner up. All, both males and females, were in agreement that new/ unsigned bands should feature more on the cover pages of music publications. The majority would buy a music magazine based on its front cover without even looking inside, whilst the majority of males look for high quality articles as well as photographs,a small minority of females take strongly to it not being an issue. It was common in both male and female replies for them to want strongly to learn about music past and present and this to be a running feature in every music magazine. To generalise, the majority do not read music magazines to keep up to date with their social lives/ peers, whilst a minimalist layout of the front cover design is the popular opinion all round, although a minority of males preffered the informative layout.

Focus Group:
To collect qualitative data with a range of people the same ages as my target audience, i asked the group what they would expect to see in a music magazine, and for them to highlight preferences in areas such as layout, colour theme, content, photography and portrayal of musicians, using specific examples if they could. I recorded the response i got and below have transcribed each reponse in no particular order, and sticking by my word of leaving all anonymous.

Transcription:
"Simplistic and stylish designs are usually better, but i like to see the style of design change regarding the genre of the cover feature band, or even seasonal theme, an example of the seasonal theme i've got is from an NME from October 2007, it featued dave grohl holding a severed head - i liked the way it combined seasonal halloween theme with grunge music genre, and also mocking his 'nice guy' image"

"If there's an in depth interview with somone, i like there to be a cut out from the interview to epitomise the feeling of the interview - i like to know if its going to be an intense read or light hearted humour before!"

"I like the photography to look real, for me it doesn't matter if they're looking at the camera, all i want is sincerity in the photograph cover, for it to show the real them"

"I really appreciate the complexity of MOJO's sophistication, their colour theme always looks spot on, bold text is a must and as a general rule only one image to be used on the cover"

"On a whole, i think its important that a leading music magazine should have a main feature article about great rock and roll, punk, etc bands from the past, and then include a wide range of musical era, id be happy to see A mixture of more interviews with the younger lot, and articles on the older bands!"

"I'm a big fan of colour themes that manage to single handedly capture the essence of a generation, i'd use the example of the britpop issue from the questionnaire, MOJO do a great job it, something like that is really important too"

"I would expect, from a leading music magazine, the quality of the writing to be up to scratch, light hearted enough to just read pretty absent mindedly but enough sustance to actually enjoy, UNCUT do a good job of this, particularly in their anaysis and reviews of situations"

"I don't want a lot, quite simply - original music, original and stylish layout design and a minimalist compostion, originality is the key, which NME tend to have too many 'off' weeks on"

"For me, it's really important for music magazines to take themselves seriously, they should report an effective overview of the latest happenings in the music industry, and not be too caught up on who's watching who's paint dry etc. Monthlys tend to do a better interpretation of this and that's what i'm into"


Overall Write Up:
This audience has proved really helpful and crucial in me discovering exactly what my audience wants to see in its music magazine, I will now use these findings as the base for my own project and build it to the audiences expectations. I will use space effectively and stick to a minimalist approach, I will use a colour theme that stays in touch with my subject and i will be sure to integrate music from all the popular eras into the more contemporary music scene and create a very bold publication.

Secondary Audience Research - READERSHIP PROFILES

Readership Profiles

Uncut magazine audience profile - from the profile research, it is clear that average reader of Uncut is male, averaging 86% of the entire market, with an average age of 37. Statistics show that 77% are in full time work, allowing them to earn on average an income of £29,263. Interestingly only 60% of the market are married. The audience research of readership profile describes Uncut as 'NME's cooler, older brother', which is a fair evaluation of its 'roots music' ethos. Uncut readers are very technologically involved, with on average of 86% downloading music a week, making more Uncut readers downloading 54% more than the average weekly amount. 68% of Uncuts audience own an mp3 playing portable device, given the fact that only 29% of men aged 37 actually own an mp3 player, which makes for fascinating results.
http://www.ipcadvertising.com/resource/78cq08efmszrn0r8it1l6yxr.pdf

NME magazine audience profile - from the profile research, it is apparent that it is very much a male orientated audience, seeing males dominant 69% of the audience with the other 31% is filled up with women. The average age of the magazine and only a supposed 52% are working full time, with a further 7% in part time employment, it is then no surprise that 29% are still studying in some form of education system. The readership profile shows that 76% have broadband out of the 94% that have an internet connection, showing speed is important. They are also spending on average 19 hours per week online, through, leisure, work or otherwise! Along with being 'down' with new technologies, NME readers also seem to be part of a new mass-spend scene in which each reader spends averagely £152 on footwear each year, £532 on clothes per year and a staggering £1229 on audio equipment per year, boasting that as the main expenditure of their interests. A rather tame £66 is spent on DVDs a year along with the 52% of the audience that own a digital camera splashing out a further £170 on digital cameras per year, showing that the recording of memories is important to readers.



http://www.ipcadvertising.com/resource/fd4e20nlh1xefkowjxdha4xu.pdf














Mojo magazine audience profile - The publication describe themselves as a journey into the heart and soul of music, featuring artists from The Beatles and The Clash, to Radiohead and The Ramones. MOJO's readership profile shows that it's audience is a predominant male affair, seeing 72%, out of these 72% a further 36% also admitted to consider themselves comfortable/ well off. The consumers main interest is music, and in more depth, the discovery of music, this is including both old and new styles, as it is the quality of music that is of importance to MOJOs audience, appose to the genre or decade of release.










http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/Brands/Mojo/

Textual Analysis - NME : CONTENTS PAGE

This is the contents page featured in NME magazine, it is a commemorative 20th anniversary special marking 20 years since the Stone Roses self titled debut album was released.The masthead can be seen extremely boldly positioned against black in a large white, very 'now' looking font, "NME" is positioned left of this however is made out to be of little significance next to "contents". The sophisticated colour theme has been not stolen but replicated from the original issue 20 years ago marking the release of The Stone Roses. To generalise, the red is used in tandem with the white and the black with the yellow, this allows almost for two different connotations, the yellow/black combination connotes to underground music scene and modern times, whereas the red and white portrays a very English vision and could be seen as a more retro implication, possibly referring to the wide range of music eras that the publication covers. In terms of the layout of the page, everything flows stylishly into the next, each picture box/ text box are straight edged, apart from one on either end of the length at the right hand side, wich help sophisticatedly hide dead space. Scanning the page from left to right, it would seem all the important textual information is presented from the light, with the plain left hand side column featuring and index of the bands appearing in this mgazine, implying that NME do realise that all of their audience do not look at all of their content and may seek for ther own interests. Three quarters of the larger, centre column is dominated by the main article, consisting of a picture and summary, suggesting that with the magazine being sold through its cover, the consumer will always be most drawn to that particular 'main' story, making it a very safe position for this. The remaining quarter of the centre column is used up through the promotion of their own subscription deal, perhaps this is of significance to both publisher and audience. It is surprising when into the third and final column, that the 'contents' is only now beginning, although it is bolder text than other columns, and easier to read, regarding its layout position, the assumption must be made that NME value their contents page for imformation other than the physical contents/page number combination of the traditional idea of a contents page.

Textual Analysis - MOJO CLASSIC : CONTENTS PAGE

This is The contents page featured in MOJO CLASSIc magazine's Britpop issue, which bears of relevance to the analysis. The masthead of Contents, is created in a very inspiring and unique way, it is made to look imperfect and sketched, and alongside computer enhanced layouts and images this looks very bold. The intention of the style in which contents is written, is almost to look like school book graffiti, which connotes to the idea that MOJO are expecting the majority of their targeted audience to see this issue as a return to their youth and school days. This can perhaps be seen as the USP of the page, and allows the page to appear very scrapbook orientated and again is very evident in the background photography arrangement, of which is merely an array of scattered record sleeves from the Britpop 90's era. On the desired scattered effect of Britpop memorablia, it is clear the function was to create something vaguely reminiscent of a teenagers bedroom wall or even floor during the 90's. Style and sophistication is added to the contents page with a slightly transparent white, bevelled-cornered shape, present underneath the text and above the photograph, allowing some of the image to clearly filter through, whilst keeping the main focus well and truly on the text. The colour theme is not present outside of the text box, however inside it, the blue, white and red theme from the front cover continues to shine in it's simplicity. The colour theme gives the page a real retro feel about it, allowing the reader to feel at one again with these particular colours, almost serving as a trip down memory lane.

Textual Analysis - UNCUT : CONTENTS PAGE

This is the contents page of UNCUT music publication, the masthead reading 'contents' is of the same retro style font that UNCUT can be seen wearing on the front cover, the interesting use of shadowing plays around with the traditional form of shape and creates a nice focus onto the page. The page is then setup in a fairly standard format with a picture box in the top left of the layout, three columns beneath it and running alongside both, a longer column feature from the editor. What makes UNCUT differ from this is how information and image is fitted inside this regular layout. In terms of the one picture box allowance, UNCUT have managed to include a feature photograph, along with two stand alone photographs, and a final image overlapping each of the three other photographs. The main photograph is oriented straight against the box layout line, the two other photographs are canted, each tilting in towards the middle of the page, unevenly, to create imperfect effect. This use of image layout connotes to the fact that it's targeted audience will be neither completely straight edged or a rule breaker, but will fall into both categories. The 'homemade style' arrangement is exciting to look at and it works as a media publication in its own stylish way, it also has a charming factor appealing to its audience, in the sense that they are not perfect, much in the way this isnt the typicalidea of perfect. The colums then stick to a strict colour theme, red, white and a pale green, the two main colums, feature white backgrounds, with gold font as the heading of each page and black font as a slight synopsis, this connotes highly to power and importance, so the reader knows this it is this that is of main significance to them upon just flicking through. the third column beneath the block of image features a bolder red as the dominant background colour, it is on reviews, audience can soon deconstruct that red means reviews in this publication, possibly connoting to the danger of the nitty gritty undergound scene in which music gigs of this nature thrive upon. Finally, the large column, spreading the length of the page, features a plae, bland looking green, with it being a note from the editor on the particular issue, it could be suggested that the green connotes to neutrality in the sense that the editor can take no sides of music, and must remain a 'neutral' to give a fair assessment of each musical project leaving all opinions aside. Not only by doing this does the editor establish a reputation and reliability but it also leaves a wide gap in the market for the consumer to say their opinion and what more develop it all by themselves.

Textual Analysis - NME : DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

This is a double page spread featured NME music magazine. The main focus of the spread is the extreme close up shot of Graham Coxon along with the large pullout quote taken from the interview below it. The artist is portrayed to look glum and miserable, this is executed through Graham's facial expression, the fact that it's an extreme close up shot showing facial expression in great depth, and also the dim lighting that barely sheds any of the artificial light onto his face. The dull colour, remains the theme on the second page of the double spread, particularly in the subtle vomit enducing shade of green that interchanges with a bold black of the font, both contrast greatly against the clean and purity of the white. The interesting layout of the text, in it's quirky altering of font size of each letter, draws the reader into almost the same as image might do, it looks to be in the semantic field of punk rock and roll, which would relate to the content of the text, in quite literally saying drugs, sex, and rock and roll, although worded with more integrity. The plain and drab colour scheme of the double page does have quite a homely feel to it, and comes as a welcome change from bright colours and loud photographs. The change of font size and font colour of individual lettering is designed to catch the readers attention, resulting in the pullout quote being of more success to the comercial market. The main photograph, features an unsavoury looking Graham Coxon, addressing the reader directly through eye contact, this also pulls the reader towards the article, using such a bold and contrasting image is no uncommon trait, the added factor that allows this particular double page spread success is the combination of facial expression, extreme close up shot, and use of white space, allowing the reader to really feel sympathy for and empathise with Graham before even reading the article. Also the combination of complicated text arrangement and bold photograph help stitch the two individual pages to become one, and make for a visually exciting and stylishly presented double page spread.

Textual Analysis - NME : FRONT COVER

The target audience of this magazine is young music fans that have a strong awareness and interest of the current scene. This is suggested by the use of language used, 'secret solo album', 'new Babyshambles album', 'win tickets', all implying that the consumer is not up to date with the latest information and that this publication will change that. The Photograph on the cover features a forlorn looking Pete Doherty, addresing readers directly, staring the audience squarely in the eye, as if almost a fresh bid for forgiveness from his fans from whatever his recent antics have involved. Pete Doherty is well known for his image and his iconic rock and roll danger, it is also well publicised that he is quite the 'sex icon' as well, thus allowing the magazine to push past boundries of mere music followers. Pete is very much portrayed and exploited here for his vulnerablity, as he often appears after a bad spell, to critics launching him as 'the new pete'. Although this particular time, the mise en scene of a cigarette lit in mouth, almost completely discards that image of a sorry saint, to one of a complete contradictory status.


The colour theme plays a large part in this issue of NME's cover, it is interesting that the first sell line about the main article of pete doherty features simply, 'no drugs, no police, no kate' each on respective lines, and in bold black font. It could be suggested that each line appeals to a different section of the targeted audience, 'no drugs' possibly aimed at the pure music fans that don't like to tollerate foul play in the music business, 'no police' appeals to members of the pete doherty 'tribe' that follow his every move, as it increases the chance of them catching more glimpse of him live, and finally the 'no kate' line deconstructs to connote to one simple word of 'single', exciting any female fans. 'Pete Doherty' is written in a large red font spreading most of the cover from the left across, connoting to dominance, the red also connotes to danger, perhaps implying that although currently there are no drugs, no police and no kate, it is not going to be long at all until they all come rushing back. The further contrast still appears in the binary opposition of white text on black background, 'Exclusively on the new Babyshambles album', although it literally is about something new, the white can also connote to a fresh slate of music appose to endless media controversy for Pete Doherty and the fact then that it is actually a music magazine so surely the most important factor should be the music itself. This case of Binary opposition is the same indeed with the photograph, Pete Doherty looking to be in a dark place, dressed in black, against the purity and cleanliness of a white background, two things never adorned to Pete's name.
NME's use of language is interesting as it appears they show a softer, filtered attitude towards the expicit content, especially on the front cover of their publication, quote by johnny borell "the cribs are talking bullsh*t", this suggests that they do actually care and acknowledge that they do attract a younger audience in addition to their targeted audience. The cover is absolutely crawling with examples of declaratives including,'crap name. great sound' and 'your 'instant expert' guide', this connotes to confidence of opinion and authority in the sense that people will respect and furthermore follow the nature of everything the NME prints, the fact that such bold honesty appears on the front cover can only reinforce this confidence. This is also apparent in the organisation of dead space and white space, everything is positioned neatly and stylishly around the face of Pete Doherty, the masthead fits tightly into the top left hand corner, whilst spherical sellers float innocently either side of the face.
In conclusion it is clear that NME are using their front cover as an advertisement for the type of article that can be expected once inside the publication, subverting stereotypes and appealing to their target audience this way. The clever use of statements allows consumers to feel in good and trustworthy hands, alongside an extremely tidy layout, a layout which compares greatly to the photograph of an unkept and perhaps slightly unhealthy star. It will be of great merit for me to consider such traits as these when finally going on to produce my own magazine front cover.

Textual Analysis - MOJO CLASSIC : DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

This is a double page spread featured in MOJO CLASSIC music magazine. The outlying focus is the photograph of Noel Gallagher, in particular the left hand side page of the spread, as well as the somewhat synical article heading of 'Britain's Got Talent'. The target audience of MOJO are those who appreciate what might be seen to be 'real' music by real musicians, considering this, it is interesting to then read a heading saying that of 'Britain's Got Talent'. Of course referencing the popular reality television series of recent times, the irony being that Noel Gallagher is on the other side of the spread, at a time when music was judged on merit appose to it's 'reality' qualities, perhaps adopting the mind frame and opinion of the targeted audience, in silently evaluating that Britain and talent are no longer associates.


The combination of photograph and heading is an attempt to provoke reaction from the targeted audience, an attempt to make them read the article, which it most certainly does in an effective manner. The iconography of Noel Gallaghers British graphically designed guitar, denotes to the heading of Britains got talent, perhaps suggesting that Britain no longer has talent, given that the photograph was taken at one of Oasis 90's spectacular Knebworth shows, a strong ten years ago. There is brave use of dead space on the right hand side page of the spread, which draws attention to and effectively emphasises the text, and amplifies the sheer size of the audience that this 'British Talent' have attracted. MOJO have stuck with a simple design, along with the patterned border featured throughout the publication, and a colour code in keeping with the British colours and photograph, the text is aligned left, bold and in a very British looking font, possibly connoting to the fact that oasis are British, and therefore the analogy that oasis have talent, therefore British people must all have talent and be great at everything.

Textual Analysis - UNCUT : DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

This is a double page spread featured in UNCUT music magazine. The wide angle shot of the band 'The Stone Roses', is the main feature of the spread, in particular bass player Alan 'Reni' Wrens, who is the sole member featured on the right hand side page. Alongside the photograph being of main interest, there is also a pullout quote scattered across the top of the spread, each line is angled differently to create sense of messy overlapping youths. This is also present in the front sizing and arrangement, each line different to the next, possibly connoting to the difference of each band member. The style compliments the photograph very nicely, as the band seem to be all over the place in comical fashion also. Consumers get the sense that the article is going to be from the point of view of Reni, and that it is his quote featured above, although he is not centered or in the highest frame position, he is in the foreground of the shot and the one most connecting with the audience, this is apparent through eye contact and hand gesture. The content of the image is supposed to correlate with the large pullout quote, this is particlarly evident in Reni's rather chimp-like pose, along with the general larking about of the other band members in the supposed serious climate of a photo shoot.

The fact that the photograph is in black and white, means that colour used by the magazine has a good chance of standing out, in terms of text colour, the only colour used is green, the word acid tends to be associated with the colour green, this choice could be to emphasise that. However it does also amplify the quote as a whole, and direct some of the readers attention towards it. There is also, hidden beneath strips of text, a Holland flag in paint format, strikingly similar to the one that appears on The Stone Roses debut album, the lemon in the top left hand side corner has also been created this way. The bridge that the band are on, looks amazingly alike to the iconic bridge that other Manchester band, 'Joy Division' were famously photographed on, the two bands obviously share similarities musically, perhaps this is suggesting that The Stone Roses merely began where Joy Division left off and possibly a near glimpse as to where the band would end up very soon.

Textual Analysis - UNCUT : FRONT COVER

The target audience for UNCUT magazine tends to be centered around those that place 'classic rock' as current in their music collection, appose to actual current music itself. Whilst a strong percentage of the musicians featured in this publication are still together, alive, or performing, it is evident that it is their past that steals the limelight. This is brought to attention by the fact that at least fifteen band names appear on the cover and not one has originated from the noughties decade of music. The colour scheme UNCUT has opted to go with of red,blue, and white suggests a sixties nature,a melting pot of music, now commonly regarded as 'classic rock', fittingly then that The Who are the main feature. The use of a pristine white background connotes to youth and the feeling of something new, the cover photograph originates from the sixties, which is now fifty years ago, this is perhaps suggesting that although now viewed by many as old, music by The Who is seen as timeless and is still enjoyed by the youth of today.

Consumers are instantly drawn towards Pete Townshend (left of the magazine) as space management has made him the easiest accessable to the eyes. His dress code is very working class, a casual shirt, tie and jacket strung open, this makes it very easy for the majority of the target audience to relate to him and therefore the band and publication, the fact that he is one of two out of the four that is actually giving eye contact, emphasises this. The mise-en-scene dress code of Pete Townshend could further be elaborated that in his world music is work as well as play. As for the layout of the cover there is quite a lot going on, but not so much so that it becomes congested, all the sell lines are tilted slightly, this perhaps connotes that the band are not very straight edged and in turn very rock and roll and compicated in their attitude. UNCUT are possibly presupposing that their consumers will also lead a rock and roll lifestyle and not linger middle of the road. The masthead is in a bold type, that gets blocked out by the photograph, denoting that the music or band is more important than the publication itself, the bevel on the masthead continues to connote style and sophistication, showing that this also should be a major part of a glossy music magazine.

The language used by UNCUT is interesting, their method of selling the magazine appears to be based on the exclusivity of information and objects, there is an extensive use of exclamations in the grammar denoting that they are the best publication for having this much to offer their consumers. They combine this with almost cliff hanger like introductions 'The Who their 30 greatest tracks' would be an example of giving the audience information to read on, absentmindedly consumers need to know what is number one in the list. There is then the second part directly underneath the first, 'by Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey', this adds excusivity, and almost creates a unique selling point that other publications fail to offer. With regards to this article they finally go on to use 'and many more ace faces...', here the publication is playing around with language of a different time period, an ace face was something The Who were constantly associated with, in their music and out of it, the use of elipses just adds to the effect creating a further sense of mystery. The centre type is experimenting with iconography, The Who have a famous logo in which the 'o' has an arrow pointing downwards, in order to avoid cost implications, UNCUT have cleverly switched the arrow to point upwards from the 'H', making it varied enough while still remaining recognisable, this is a trait publications will often use for such endeavors. The use of arrow continues as a recurring theme in the straplines to help establish it. 'The definitive review!', the use of this quote amplifies the bursting confidence at the seams, partcularly so when you consider that the topic in conversation is The Beatles, therefore by saying you have the definitive review of The Beatles remasters, you cannot afford to go out half cocked, however UNCUT know they are not, and this is why it works.

In conclusion, with the front cover being the main selling tool, it is interesting to discover UNCUTS strong approach to sell the cover with the use of exclusivity, through exclamations appose to any other type of sentence form. Therefore when planning my publication it will be of great importance for me to incorporate this technique into my own deisgn, along with findings from other textual research.

Textual Analysis - MOJO CLASSIC : FRONT COVER

The target audience for this magazine is music conscientious teenagers that remember the Britpop era at its last hurdle. They must have more than just a passing interest in Britpop as a music decade, and a fair amount of disposable income on their hands. This is suggested by the deluxe layout format of the magazine front cover and the fact that it is not only a 'classic' issue, spawned from MOJO's regular monthly magazine, but also 'The ultimate collectors edition', according to the header sell line. The red, white and blue colour pallet that the magazine has adopted for this issue, signifies a time period, which can also be linked back to 60's mod culture, that is said to have had an influential impact on the britpop music scene. The fact that Blur brace the cover appose to Oasis, a more globally known Britpop band, could possibly be a reference to the 1995 chart battle between the two, dubbed the 'battle of britpop', sell line 'the insane story of Britpops comeback kings' reinforces this idea. Blur, in particular Alex James and Damon Albarn are seen somewhat as 'sex icons', this is noticeable in Damons confident and cocky facial expression and also present in the way that all four are addressing the reader directly with extreme eye contact at a central and eye-catching frame position.
In regards towards the layout of the publication, everything is very smartly positioned, even the chaotic array of collaged photoshop work, behind the photograph, looks organised and neat, perhaps a reference to the fact that the issue is a collectors edition and its audience would be well advised to store it safely. The use of type and mise-en-scene connotes to typical Englishness along with its popular culture, adding a very retro feel to it. This is evident in the clothes that Blur are wearing, the prime example would be the traditional barracuta harrington jacket Damon Albarn is wearing, it has strong connotations with English heritage, particularly in the British music scene of the past. The smaller image showing Paul Weller clad with a guitar, positioned just above the footer sell line, could be seen to amplify the fact that Britpop was not just about the music, and the fact that on occasion music did play a very minor part alongside larger scale factors of culture, antics and fashion.
Dead space is dealt with well enough so that the consumer knows enough hard information to actually want to purchase the publication, but also the way it creates a main attraction to Blur, positioning all straplines/sell lines, pictures and masthead around the photograph and not interfering at all with how it will be viewed. There is an interesting lack of language featured across the front cover, although there are several examples of declaratives, showing the sheer confidence of the publication. It also suggests that the targeted market do not need hooks or cliff hanging interrogatives on the cover to actually go inside, the targeted audience, likewise with the magazine, are confident that they know what they want. Alongside the declaratives there is an exclamation, advertising a competition, in which the winning prize is a guitar, the magazine is here presuppsoing and encouraging that it's target audience are not merely music admirers but also know how to play instruments and dabble in their own music. The use of the quote "we had to much fun!", directly beneath an enlarged font strapline reading "BLUR", effectively creates a scenario in which the quirkiness of the text and exclamation combination, provides a pivotal focal point to start unearthing stories from the past.
In conclusion it is apparant that the front cover is an advert for the magazine. Therefore it's highly important that when planning my own production,I bear in mind that my target audience is of a varied age that reaches teenagers as well as the middle aged, with a healthy disposable income, and a strong interest towards popular music from previous decades as well as the current music climate. It is then important that the appropriate rules are followed regarding my target audience, allowing for consumers to be able to connect with articles and images and the magazine as a whole product. I will be making a conscious effort to incorporate sleek designs into the music lovers dream publication, allowing for consumers to know exactly what it is they want, without keeping them hanging on, and importantly to pack a subverse mix of music era's into each issue, as to make each one exciting and packed with historical, current and future music knowledge.