I think that the UN partition of Palestine and the subsequent establishment of the state of Israel in 1948n was the greatest turning point in the Arab-Israeli conflict to a large extent. One of the main reasons was because of the withdrawal of Britain.

The British mandate had been in effect for almost 30 years after it was passed in 1919 and the period saw very little development of Palestine. They had constantly placed restrictions on Jewish immigration but also upset the Arab community with a perceived pro-Zionist stance after allocating the Jews most of the Palestinian territory in the mandate’s recommendations. However this was a major turning point as both communities were now free from foreign rule which proved a catalyst for conflict between the two. The Arabs could pursue the independence that had been falsely promised to them in 1915 by the British just before the defeat of the Ottoman Empire meanwhile the Jews could pursue the independence they perceived was promised to them by the Belfour declaration of 1917. Numerous terrorist attacks had been carried out by the aggressive Irgun group like the bombing of the king David hotel in Jerusalem, killing 88 people. The fact that it was planned in their own Holy city and at the expense of 15 Jewish lives clearly demonstrated the extent of their unrest and their intentions of escalating conflict not just with the Arabs, whom they framed during the bombing, but also directly with the British, showing no fear in the face of a world superpower and their empire which started to crumble. It was therefore a great victory when Britain withdrew and contributed towards a growing sense of strength and unity.

This in itself is another reason for why the partition of Palestine was a major turning point because the civil war that ensued as a result demonstrated the new found power of the Jews, unity. The UN general assembly accepted the UN special committee on Palestine’s recommendations of dividing Palestine both Arab and Jewish state based areas that were either predominately Jewish or Arab. However this created ‘kissing points’ where both communities would neighbour their enemies whilst the holy city of Jerusalem would be governed internationally. Both of these are reasons why the partition would inevitably lead to further conflict as both sides wanted more territory and control of the capital. Irgun leader Begin announced ‘it will never be recognised’ and Israeli leader Ben-Gurion pointed out that Jerusalem was within Israel’s borders and was therefore unfair. The Arab high committee rejected the plan more firmly, not wanting to give up any more landing and believing the Jews should have a home elsewhere. It seemed that regardless of Britain’s involvement, conflict was always the outcome, and the partition would not change anything, suggesting that the formation of Israel wasn’t a significant turning point.

However, after the civil war, Israel surprisingly emerged as the victors which lead to a new age of peace in Palestine, showing that it was a major turning point. The Jews were underestimated by the Arabs and their allies. Egyptians invaded from the south with Syrians, Iraqis and Lebanese from the north. However the Jews were well organised and well lead by united leaders, something the Arabs lacked significantly.  They successfully defended the north and south territory and even took over west Jerusalem; only the Arab’s strong Arab legion of approximately 10,000 soldiers lead by King Abdullah halted them. During the first ceasefire in June 1948, the Israelis secured new supplies of arms from Eastern Europe and recruited more soldiers, amounting to 65000 by July. Many of their soldiers were also experienced World War 2 veterans, meaning they had the experience, the equipment, the numbers and the leadership to successfully defend themselves and win the war, The final ceasefire in January 1949 saw Israelis take 79% of territory compared to the 55% under the British mandate. It sent a clear message to the Arabs who were suffering the ‘Nakbah’ meaning ‘disaster’ after the fleeing of 700,000 Arabs from Palestine which emphasised Israel were a strong united force to be reckoned with. Under UN supervision, Israel and neighbouring Arab states signed an armistice leading to an era of elusive peace between the two up until the next major war in 1973.

It could be argued that the extent of the partition’s role as a turning point wasn’t as great as it seems due to the fact that no permanent peace treaty was signed and relations were still frosty between the two communities, meaning that conflict was still a possibility. Some Arab states refused to negotiate borders whilst the Arab league claimed Israel were to blame for the refugees and deserved compensation. Israel argued that it was Arab’s issue as they started the war and needed to accept the consequences themselves. Tensions also remained high despite the armistice as the Arab populations were immensely bitter and resentful following their loss whilst Israel were not keen on negotiating further to cement peace in the fear that they would lose land and take some responsibility for Arab refugees as a result. Therefore as this proves that peace in Palestine would only be temporary due to the underlying tensions that remained and the ignorance towards more negotiation, I can only agree to a large, rather than a full extent that it was the greatest turning point in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Explain, discuss and evaluate a topic in bio-ethics including the teachings of the three world religions regarding it 

Bio-ethics is the ethical and philosophical implications of biological and medical procedures in which wider societal implications are considered. All three of the world’s major religions have distinct teachings on both abortion and euthanasia which are just two key controversial topics in modern day which are hotly argued about. Euthanasia is the process of suicide in which you are prescribed a life-ending drug by your doctor whereas abortion is the legal ending of a baby’s life decided by the mother. 

It could be argued that Euthanasia is a necessary evil in order to relieve somebody from immense pain and suffering and therefore in today’s society we should make effective use of the advancements in the contemporary medical field in order to do the right thing and help end somebody who suffers a poor quality of life. However others may argue that we should be using such advancements to save life rather than end it as it is the morally right thing to do. Although the Christian religion teaches us to be compassionate towards the sick and elderly, as Jesus often did in the bible, it is heavily advocated that life is a precious gift from God and we cannot decide when to end it, we must live our life as god planned it and leave him to judge when it must end, otherwise we may be disrupting the natural and spiritual process that Christians believe death to be. No one has the right to judge the quality of another life as all life is of equal quality and therefore any increase in euthanasia in modern day may reflect the devaluation of life, making death more commonly accepted. 

This is certainly the case in Holland where there is a slippery slope in regards the principle of the value of life as attitude towards euthanasia is very lenient and overall it is becoming more and more commonly accepted. Children as young as 12 are viable for euthanasia whilst 75-90% of cancer patients opt for it and 42 psychiatric patients were given it.. Laws are meant to be 'good' so euthanasia being legal 'numbs' the conscience but it is only making death easier and thereby slowly degrading the value of human life. There are many implications in society to be considered bio-ethically as well what with the negative impact on the patient's family and the idea that euthanasia only gets rid of the sufferer but not the suffering. 

Despite this there are still many advocators of euthanasia who may argue that patients were a burden on the people around them, for example those who require 24/7 care. It is then their own choice, the utilization of their own free will to make a decision on their own life if they want euthanasia and no one should be able to take that choice away from them otherwise it would be breaching their human rights. However an argument against this would be that an individual may feel pressured into euthanasia if they feel like a burden meanwhile you can never be too sure when the next medical break through will arrival which may well save that person's life. Judaism is another major religion heavily against euthanasia as they believe that there are no exceptions to their anti-euthanasia law even if the person concerned wants to die. 

This is because Jewish people believe the value of human life is infinite and one must struggle until his last breath. In Judges 9:53-54 King David had a soldier executed after he aided in euthanasia to show that it was no different from murder. 

Similar to Judaism and indeed Christianity is Islamic teachings which also regards human life as sacred, believing that we should not interfere with the workings of Allah who has gifted us life 'And no person can ever die except by Allah's leave and at an appointed term' (Qur'an 16:61). However the Islamic code of medical ethics states 'it is futile to diligently keep the patient in a vegetative state by heroic means... It is the process of life that doctors aim to maintain and not the process of dying'. Therefore, unlike Judaism, there are some exceptions when it comes to euthanasia and some form of leniency but in most cases, they were wholly disagree with the supposed pros of euthanasia. 

Abortion is another controversial topic for discussion even amongst the three major world religions. People who argue for abortion might say that women have the rights to their own body and should have the freedom to do what they want with it whilst they might also point out that the woman had been raped, which means that it was not conceived in the proper way religions teach it should be and therefor abortion is acceptable. However the Roman Catholic Church teaches that abortion is gravely immoral as it is not dissimilar from murder. This is because its believed that life begins during the early fertilization period of the pregnancy as this is the starting point for life to grow, a human being with potential rather than potential for a human being whereas others may argue that life only begins when the baby is actually born and so it would only be killing an embryo rather than a baby. 

However this is heavily defeated by the fact that 9.7% of babies in the UK are aborted whilst alive with a total of 1200 in America. Babies are subsequently left to die even after living for up to 12 hours or they're burned, which completely contradicts the role of a doctor which is to save life, not to destroy it. Meanwhile 1.6% of abortions take place after the 24 week period where the baby is pretty much fully formed. An example could be baby twins who were born at just 22 weeks but still survived and grew up healthily, showing that abortion, in many cases, is the clear murder of an infant child. Other arguments against abortion consist of the damaging psychological effect it can have on the mother and the amount of cases where women were glad they kept the baby. There has also been research which proves that babies can memories music, showing that its not ok to inflict pain because their brain is active.. 

On the other hand, abortion might be acceptable if the mother's life is at risk and there are numerous medical implications that might over ride societal implications. This is somewhat supported by the church of England which recognizes that there are conditions where abortion may be morally preferable to any other alternative.  

This is similar to the teachings of Islam. The Qu'Ran does not explicitly refer to abortion and so schools of Muslim law permit early abortion in certain cases but is otherwise wrong due to their belief in the 'sanctity of life', 'whosoever has spared the life of a soul, it is as though he has spared the life of all people', which shows that whether it is a baby's or an adult's life, all life is equal. 

evaluation

Evaluation from steve98bc

The first three links are faulty and do not work for an unknown reason, these are the links:
first link: 
http://stevesasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-max=2014-09-21T21:37:00%2B01:00&max-results=7&start=56&by-date=false

second link: 
http://stevesasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/drafting-and-planning-codes-and.html

third link: 
http://stevesasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/drafting-and-planning_5.htmlfc

drafting and planning

This is the improved version of my contents page for my magazine.

I kept the same layout because i think it is unique but is just as coherent as other contents page's however i have extended the room for sub headings by minimising the size of the text describing the exclusive interviews. This is to contemplate for the amount of content a weekly magazine like mine should have. a long with the content that i have now filled in, i have also included simple black lines to separate each feature as well as individual page numbers, a common convention that directs the readers to exactly where they want to go to read about that particular feature.

The six sub-headings i used are the most common categories amongst magazines like NME and Q so i remained consistent with their style by including similar categories in distinct red sub-headings which separates each category of content into a neat coherent.

I also kept all of the fonts the same because they comply well with simple and coherent style of my contents page.

drafting and planning

This is my improved double page spread.

The first thing i changed was the size of the font, because like my front cover, it needs to be smaller if it is to be more realistic especially if its meant to be an article, which usually have small text.
I then added an introduction beneath the band name and above the article. This directly links the band's name with the questions being asked them and so it eases the readers into the article so they know exactly what they're reading about. I made it bold so that its distinctly and introduction which attracts the readers attention and then lures them in to reading the article as it gives an insight into what they can expect to find.
I also added another red box, much larger than the sub-headings, which is promoting my magazine's website www.ignite.com where readers can find a 'sneak peak' at my band's new album. This is a typical convention of music magazines, including NME who have their own website, because its common for magazines to advertise their website and the special digital content that they ahev that cannot come with a magazine.

drafting and planning

This is my improved front cover for my magazine and i am more pleased with this version than i am with the previous version because of the improvements that i made which makes it more realistic.

Firstly, i changed the font size of the anchorage text that accompanies the cover lines because these should be much smaller than the main cover line and overall helps create a more realistic scale to a music magazine. I also added another cover line to fill the negative space left by shrinking the font size.

secondly i changed the pug because its rare that a magazine like NME would advertise posters so i changed it to tickets for 'Glasto' an abbreviation of a festival that my target audience would understand and therefore be more interested in because they are mostly of a young demographic who use abbreviations frequently.

Thirdly i changed some of the featured bands like example because looking back, i don't think David Guetta was too realistic for an NME styled magazine but i think example fits well.

Finally i added an appropriate dateline and price in the top right hand corner above the masthead as this is a conventional location for a dateline, particularly in NME and i made it a realistic size so that it does not attract attention away from the masthead. I also altered the colour of the main cover line so that it matched better with the cover lines and masthead

target audience

I think i was able to target my audience effectively through my double page spread article through a number of ways. I was able to target my magazines young demographic by having the simple, easy to read sub-headings which provides clarity because they separate out the answers and makes it easier for them to identify what question and its corresponding answer that they are most interested in reading about. This is effective as teenagers and young people in general have short attention spans so using red sub-headings makes it easier for them to read and identify and so will become more attracted to this magazine.

I also targeted my magazines audience by including interesting questions that they would want to see asked to new and upcoming bands, as the questions reveal information about the band that they wouldn't have known before and they might be interested to know the life and story behind a new, hot band who they could relate to and potentially become a fan of.

I was able to target my band's target audience through the response of the band itself. Using words like f*****, mental and vodka, adds to the explicit nature of the band which is intriguing to indie rock fans as a lot of indie rock bands are open and explicit in their approach as its seen as rebellious and cool and so therefore indie rock fans would be more enticed to read about my band because they adopt the same cool, explicit approach. I further targeted my band's target audience by including vital information about my band. This would intrigue them as any indie rock fans who like the look of the band but don't know who they are would probably want to find out about their background, their opinions and their album so that they can get to know the band and maybe become and this would be particularly effective with any indie rock enthusiasts who are looking for cool, new indie rock bands to follow. My magazine gives them this opportunity as they feature the newest and hottest bands from all music genres and my band through their attitude, their opinions and their explicit nature help target their audience as well.

Research into similar products

As is evident in the above images and in most copies of NME, the date line and price are consistently the same, i have decided to research deeper into this as it was one of my improvements for my magazine and its one small yet significant element of a music magazine that cannot be over looked.

New NME magazines come out each week and therefore i shouldn't produce a magazine which comes out monthly like Q, this is important as the level of content is significantly higher in monthly issues than than that of weekly issues so therefore my magazine, 'ignite' should have a specific dateline like '1 February 2015' like NME.

This also effects the price, a monthly magazine averages at around £4 whereas in weekly magazines are much less like NME and their standard price of £2.30 and so i shall use a similar price.

The location of the dateline and price is always in the same place on nme front covers, in the top left hand corner above the masthead. There is an appropriate place on my magazine in which i could place my dateline and price but i must also ensure that it is of a small size so that it doesn't attract much attention away from the most important front cover elements like the masthead and therefore my magazine will also comply better with the style of NME magazines and its conventions.

NME magazine also includes a URL to their website, in small print in their barcode, so there is another element to consider but maybe not one as significant as the dateline and price. I may include a URL to my magazine's website in my DPS to advertise digital content in relation to my featured band the Desperados especially since they talk about their new album within the article so that could be the focus of the digital content on my magazine's website

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

drafting and planning

This is a rough draft for the ontents page of my magazine 'Ignite'.
I ensured the layout of the page was clear and simple so that it was cohesive, nothing too complex, this is so that the readers can quickly identify where they have to =go in the magazine to find what they want to read about. I discovered that this is a typical layout for a mainstream music magazine in my research :
http://stevesasmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/research-into-similar-products.html
I included the most important contents page convention, images, which dominate the page because they are the magazine's biggest articles and they can be recognised instantly by the readers without them having to read anything. The biggest image is of the main cover star, so the readers attention is instantly drawn to the main article and they are therefore more likely to read about it.
I also used sub-headings, made distinct by the boxes that they are in, and these help direct the readers to the list of content that they are most interested in.
I also created consistency with this contents page, not only through the images of the bands and artists whcih are advertised on the front cover but also with the masthead, once again positioned in the left third and, although it is not clear in this draft, the fonts and the colours (red and white) will also be the same.

organisation

These are the photos taken at the photo shoot for my next supporting band, 'Maverick'.
The two models have been positioned so that they look as though they are live at a concert to some extent, hence no direct mode of address.
I included two props, the guitar because they are performing live and a pair of sunglasses to show the cool attitude of the band's image.
I am going to use the image at the top because the camera is in a better position as it clearly fits both band members into the frame and i feel the blocking used in the bottom image isnt very effective as it doesnt provide the readers with a clear image of the band, especially since they are live on stage.
I also chose the top one because there is nothing in the background, it is pitch black, but lighting is still used effectively as it appears as though the band are in the spotlight which they would be in a real concert.
The costume and its colour was kept simple because this is a rock band who dont go over the top because the genre is quite serious, so therefore they are quite simple in their appearance

Organisation

These are the photos for my supporting artist, Jessica Rose, who will appear in the contents page.
I ensured to make the photos as realistic as possible which i did through costume as i think it reflects her image as a female artist. This is because the red roses connote love and danger and they also directly link to her name 'Rose'. Her dark hair and the black background also suggest that she has a dark and dangerous side which is part of her image.

I think i am going to use the image in the top left because i think her body language and facial expression here is the best in reflecting her sexy, flirtatious and also mischievous personality as a solo female artist in the hip hop genre. The others also show a lot of attitude but i feel the body language in the top left says a lot more about her provocative and dangerous personality

Organisation

Here are four of the images taken at my recent photo shoot.
The ones on the left i plan to use for my double page spread whilst i plan to use the ones on the right for my front cover. This is because it is a typical convention in NME magazines that the background behind the main cover stars is white because usually the main cover stars will be wearing a contrasting colour, black, and this contrast makes them stand out and look more important as they do not blend in with their surroundings.
I have chosen the image in the bottom right (the largest) to be the one that i shall use for my front cover. This is because, unlike the one above it, there is more attitude and attitude is key in creating a realistic and believable image for a band in a genre as serious as indie rock. Compared to the one above it, the model on the right has his arms folded, the one in the middle has his glasses tilted so that the direct mode of address is more distinct and more powerful and the one on the left has a more serious facial expression. These collectively generate more attitude which supports the image for this band, The Desperados, who are serious, dangerous but also cool.
The props i used, the black glasses, help compliment the black costume which together convey a hint of danger but makes the band look cool and modern which is another aspect to the image of The Desperados. This is important as the target audience for my magazine, Ignite, would be interested in reading about a young band who are of a similar age to them, especially if they appear cool and modern.
For the double page spread i have chosen the one in the top left. This is because unlike the one below it, the camera angle is better as it is head-on level with the band and generally looks better. However i also chose this image because of the lack of direct mode of address. This mixes it up a bit in contrast to the front cover and gives the band a cool, careless look because the band members are looking in different directions. However, the lead singer (middle) is still sustaining the direct mode of address, because he is the most important and influential of the band members and it maintains the interaction between the band and the readers which stimulates them to read.

Drafting and planning

This is a draft of an NME magazine and i produced it for three reasons:

a) To practise and become more accustomed to the editing process and the software i will be using for my official magazine

b) To enhance my drafting and planning

c) to further demonstrate my knowledge of the NME brand and to prove my skills in designing a magazine with conventions that comply with the style of the magazine and appeal to the magazines target audience

I like this draft mainly because of its colour scheme, red and white are the main house colours of NME and i made thorough use of these colours throughout my cover in order to create consistent, and overall, holistic magazine.

I also like the distinct cover lines which provide clarity for the readers and create a serious, formal approach which complies with the style of NME magazines.

However what i dislike about this, and therefore the reason why it is just a draft, is the abstract background, usually there is a blank, bright background whereas here there is a complex setting that distracts the readers. I also dislike the size of the main cover star, as i feel in comparison to most NME magazines, he is too small and therefore he doesnt look too important or authoritive, which he should be as he is the main cover star. I am also questioning whether it was necessary to include two secondary images to accompany the main image as they are not used too often in NME magazines but i think here in this context it works reasonably well.

Drafting and planning

I have decided to use this font for the cover lines and main cover line on the front cover of my music magazine. 

• I chose this font because its big and bold, it will therefore link to the big image of the main cover stars and it reflects how big and important they are as the main features of the magazine. 
• It also provides clarity for the readers who would be able to instantly see who the main feature is because of how the font is bold but also clear and easily readable unlike other fonts
• Finally i chose this font because it complies with most of the fonts found in music magazines like NME, shown here in a previous NME magazine that I have analysed: