Magazine research

I have researched a music magazine and a fashion magazine in order to get an idea of what I need to include in my magazine. I have chosen the fashion magazine 'more' as it is a very popular and world wide selling fashion magazine, created to suit the ages of 16 and above. Which is what I am doing. I have chosen the music magazine 'NME', also a very well known music magazine aiming at ages 16 and above. My magazine will be quite busy on the front, as it will have lots of bright colours and writing that will be bold and eye catching to grab the readers attention.

Front Cover
Here is an example of 'more' magazine front cover. On the front cover is the main celebrity which is being interviewed for the magazine. For this week, it is Cheryl Cole, and the magazine is concentrating on letting the public be informed about what she is doing lately, whilst at the same time promoting her. The big bold photo enables the reader to know that when they are buying this magazine, Cheryl Cole will be the main story. The fashion magazine is very brightly coloured and has typical girly interests within it, such as fashion and celeb gossip.

Here is an example of the NME magazine front cover, I have chosen this front cover because it looks quite girly compared to the usual NME covers. The font is bright Pink which helps appeal to females, and the celebrity on the front cover is Rihanna who is a pop genre singer, mostly situated to females. Compared to the 'More' front cover, there is less going on. The focus is on the main celebrity, and the subtitles are concentrating on promoting music and informing the readers about new and up coming artists. I will definitely be using the techniques from the 'NME' cover and incorporate them within my front cover.

Contents Page

Here is an example of a music magazines contents page. The heading is big and there are a lot of photos that are connected to music. There is one main photo that is bigger than the others, which lets you know which band the main focus is on. I will do this with my contents page, making sure that my girl group is the main focus. This contents page doesn't tell you what is on every page, but tells you what is on the important pages. The page numbers are bigger and bolder so it makes it easier to see what page you need to turn to. I will include this in my contents page. Also, the simple colour scheme is effective, I presume that it will be the same colour scheme as the front cover, so I will ensure that I use the same colours as my front cover. 

Double Page Spread

Here is an example of a double page spread in a music magazine. The colour scheme is very dark and dull. However, the contrast of the black and white photos makes the photos stand out and enable the reader to be drawn to the music artist. The photo takes up one page, leaving the other page for writing about the artists There is not much writing, but it covers all aspects needed. There are also three more photos below of the artist. The use of a few photos, and not a lot of writing is a clever technique as it won't bore the readers with too much writing to read, and the photos are subtle, but demonstrate what the band is about. I will include photos and a page of writing in my contents page, as too much writing can worry the reader and lose their attention. 

Here is an example of a double page spread from a typical fashion magazine. The white background is a complete opposite to the music magazine, as it makes the page more refreshing and bright. The photo of the band is taken up on one page, and across a little bit of the other. The band are wearing similar colours, which is then used within the colour of the text on the other page. Again, there isn't too much writing, but there are questions and answers evidently laid out. I like that technique as it lets the reader chose which part they want to read about. I will use the refreshing colour scheme on my double spread, and I will make sure that my band take up one side of the double page spread. I will also make sure that my band are wearing similar colours, and then incorporate this with the colour scheme of the text. 

Magazine Training

Here is a magazine front cover that I created on InDesign for training for making my magazine. I learnt how to import photos, add different font in different colours and sizes, and learnt how to import a barcode.