organisation

Today i have received feedback from both my peers in lesson and my teacher who have identified what they would change, add or delete from my magazine pieces in order to improve them.

Front cover:

• Increase the size of the barcode
• include a URL link to my magazine's website
• Re-think about the real life artists i am including - are they realistic for an NME style magazine?
• include at least one more cover line to fill the 'negative space'
• decrease the gaps between the text accompanying the cover lines
• change the font of the pug
• ensure that there is a realistic dateline an price

Contents page:

• Decrease the size of the page numbers
• decrease the space around the images 
• decrease the space between the text accompanying themain features
• In the space created include more sub-headings and more magazine content for a more realistic contents page

Double page spread

• Decrease the size of the article text
• Increase the amount of article text
• Include an introduction to the interview to set the scene

I agree with all of this feedback and will dedicate a descent amount of time to making these improvements to achieve a higher grade.

drafting and planning

This is the official draft for my music magazine's double page spread featuring cover stars 'The Desperados'.

I created a simplistic layout which complies with the conventional DPS layout of NME, a large image of the featured band/artist on the left and article text on the right. A layout anything more complex would breach this convention.

I included a title of the band's name which stretches across both the image and the article section which directly links these two elements together for a more holistic double page spread in which everything links which further complies to the simplistic conventional layout of a mainstream magazine's DPS and provides additional clarity for the readers.

I created a lot of consistency with the other magazine pieces by keeping the same black, white and red colour scheme which reinforces the connotations of this being a serious magazine and the main cover stars being serious and almost deadly which complies with the genre of indie rock. As well as this i once again used the masthead in the left-third, all be it slightly smaller but it further emphasises this magazine as a brand and a unique product.

Other typical conventions i included is a pull quote, which is particularly seen in NME magazines, i used this to attract the readers attention to an important and more interesting piece of text found in the article to persuade them to read the rest of the article and i made this text distinctive by including a bold font and a colour that lifts the quote from the page due to the contrasting colour in the background. I also used a page number, typical small black text with a basic font and distinctive text boxes which help highlight the importance of the questions being asked to the band. These boxes are particularly effective as the text in it is larger and over a brighter background and so the readers are drawn to it, which is important as the questions are vital to the article without highlighting theire importance to the readers,  the rest of the text would appear to be without meaning or relevance.

drafting and planning

This is the official draft for my magazine contents page, although due to software errors it is incomplete.

I used a simple layout in which the images are laid out separately from the text but still link because of the quotes and the red graphics which separates each story into its own section so its easy for the reader to follow as they can choose which section they want to read.

The quotes which directly link to the image of that band or artist by being above or below the image are bigger and in a bolder font which is a convention used by NME as it draws the readers attention to what the band is actually saying which is more appealing than standard text because its actually coming from the band's/ artist's mouth. These quotes, like NME's,  are also of an explicit nature which intrigues my target audience because a younger demographic would be more attracted to explicit, rebellious text.

I also used another typical convention, sub-headings which are sectioned at the bottom and these allow readers to quickly identify where they can find the content they are most interested in. These sub-headings are easy to identify and read because of the white text appearing over the red bars which makes them distinct from the rest of the text .

These colours are used consistently throughout all of my magazine pieces but particularly here in the contents page, as it highlights the most important features because red has connotations of urgency and danger, for example the red page numbers, which are important and are therefore in red because they instantly navigate the readers to where they can find the band shown on the image which is overlapped by the number so it directly links and the readers in an instant know where to go.

I also used the masthead in the left-third for added consistency and some introductory text 'what's hot this week...' which is another typical convention which lures the readers into looking at what's on offer in the magazine

drafting and planning

This is the official draft for my magazine front cover.
In it i have included many of the typical codes and conventions that you would expect to find in music magazines and in particular, NME. These include a standard barcode, a masthead, a selling line and an image of the main cover stars. The masthead complies with the 'left-third' rule in which the magazine can be easily identified when it is stacked. The selling line also appears just under the masthead which is a typical convention in NME.

The main cover line is another convention which makes the name of the band stand out amongst the anchorage text, which is achieved through the colour, size and font, and this is important as it emphasises the importance of the band and directly links to the amain image of the cover stars.

 The font particularly helps achieve this as it is bold and presents the text clearly so it is easily readable and the colour contrasts with the background making it even more visible. This colour, red, has connotations of danger which suggests the main cover stars are important and dangerous which complies with the serious, dangerous image of an indie rock band.

 I used this colour throughout the front cover to create consistency so it looks professional, but the colour is particularly used to highlight the most important text i.e the cover lines, the masthead and the main cover line, which draws the readers attention to the most important and 'dangerous' text on the page which is the names of the bands and artists featured.

This red text is even more effective due to the main image which provides a background dominated by the colour black and grey which lifts the red text off the page, making it distinct and alo adding to the seriousness and 'danger' of the page because black is another colour that has connotations of darkness and danger, which overall helps create a holistic page due to its colour consistency and with its semantic field of danger and therefore importance.

I also included a pug which appears in its conventional circular, sticker-like form and are often found on the covers of NME. This advertises a bonus to the magazine and therefore entices consumers to buy the magazine.

target audience

One of the ways in which NME and many other mainstream magazines target their audience in their double page spreads is through text. They either use common text in an article form or text structured into sub-headings (questions). The first type attracts the slightly older, adult demographic who make up a descent sized proportion of the target audience and this appeals to them because the text is structured neatly and professionally so it looks more attractive to read. The second appeals more to the younger demographic who make up most of the target audience and this style appeals to them because the sub-headings are easy to identify and they could choose which section to read rather than having to read the whole thing and also because there is usually a mixture of both serious and humorous questions which would also appeal to both demographics in the target audience.

Another way in which they target their audience is through imagery. Regardless of age NME's target audience would be interested in the biggest and hottest bands because its a mainstream magazine which covers the popular genres i.e hip hop, indie rock and therefore the popular bands and artists, so it makes sense to use larger images that present the bands and artists as big and important as they're made out to be. The target audience would enjoy seeing massive images of massive bands and the images further entice the target audience to read the main article because of how important they appear on the page.

The final way in which they target their audience is through pull quotes. More often than not the main image will be accompanied by a large quote that stands out from the article. These appeal to the target audience because they are directly from the band's mouth which adds a special significance for the target audience who may be great fans of the band or simply interested in what one of the most hottest bands has to say. It also gives them a taste of what they can expect to find wihin the article and therefore entices them to read it

target audience

 following the research I did into NME's target audience http://stevesasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/as-i-am-using-nme-magazine-as-influence.html I have decided to investigate how NME targets its audience with its contents pages in hope that I can do the same.
One of the ways in which the contents pages above target their audience is through imagery. Each page is dominated by images which are laid out in a neat organized fashion. This is important because NME readers are mostly of a young demographic - mostly teenagers - therefore it is key that the page is dominated with a lot of imagery rather than text because images are more appealing to young people. Although I will not be including as many images as NME does I will still ensure that imagery dominates the page by using some larger images rather than lots of small ones.


This is the image I plan to use for my band, 'The desperados', in the contents page. I decided to crop and rotate the original image because I wanted it to appear as though, by looking in the contents page, the reader is only getting a glimpse of the real thing, which they would in the double page spread because I am using this image but in its full original form, so its like another method of teasing the reader into wanting to look at the full image of the band and the full article about them.
I also think by rotating it, it adds a sense of drama or danger, especially since the lead member is in direct mode of address to the readers. This would particularly appeal to my target audience because they would be more interested in a dangerous looking band and the fact that the arbitrary angle is used adds to the drama of the band and adds an air of mystery which young readers would take an interest in because they would be more enticed to discover who this dangerous looking band is.

Another way in which these contents pages appeal to its target audience is through text. Under each image, a part from the one in the middle, there is a quote in a large distinct font. This is effective because if the young demographic were to be drawn in to a particular image, they could instantly read the quote from that artist just below the image, and often the quote will contain something explicit or at least intriguing, 'crying in the first aid tent covered in blood', 'get your popcorn, juice, snacks'. The young demographic instantly becomes interested in the bands and artists that they may already know and are then drawn in further with a quote that would appeal to their nature as young people. I could do the same thing with quotes but I will definitely include text that links directly to the image and contains intriguing or explicit words in order to appeal to my target audience, who are also dominated by a young demographic