CONTENTS IDEAS

Similar to the DPS, I have been researching different contents pages to collect ideas for my own contents page. I have got 3 different looking contents pages to explain what sort of things I would involve in my own contents page and what sort of things I wouldnt ...

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I like the way the word 'contents' is shown on this contents page, this is a regular feature in Vibe magazines. This is something I would like to include in my own contens page, however a criticism I have is that it looks quite bare and the actual contents is looks small and squashed into a corner, in my own magazine I'd like there to be alot of contents on the page, maybe even writing over the star on my contents.

 

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The elements I quite like about this magazine is the page numbers being big and varied in size as it creates a more fun looking contents page, also the letter from the editor as it has a friendly concept about it, letting the audience know who the editor of this magazine is and shows their personality, these are elements I may include in my own piece. In contrast, I dislike the layout and the business of this contents as it looks to compact and less professional.

 

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I'd say this was close to my ideal contents page, as its not to busy but also not too spacious. I like the colour scheme used in the magazine, and how the woman is involved in the colour scheme by her dress. The only things I would do different is maybe add a editors letter and do the word 'contents' the way it is done in Vibe magazine.

DOUBLEPAGESPREAD IDEAS

I have been doing some research on ideas for the layout of my Double Page Spread and found some that I really liked but also some that I'm not particularly keen on...

I really like how the pictures are set out in this DPS because it makes the page look more exciting and noticable, I also like how the smaller pictures at the top are black and white whereas the bigger one is in colour. As I really like the way they have put the pictures on the page I may involve it in my own piece of work.

 

This DPS has a lot of elements that break the page up, for e.g. the pictures and the questions that are in bold; breaking up the page like this makes it look more compact and busy, portraying a fun and easy to read piece. The main part I like about this DPS is the questions in bold, purely because it doesn't make the writing look so longwinded and boring, it breaks the text up for the reader- this is something I may involve in my DPS.

This is a DPS I am not too keen on, the reason being that I dislike how there is not colour involved in the double page spread, also as an audience member I don't think it grabs me in as much as it should, although the picture is quite eye catching and may draw people in due to Katy Perrys eye contact, I think once your eyes are off Katy Perry and onto the writing the audience would turn the page due to the fact there is a lot of writing on there making it look boring and almost as if you have to put loads of effort in to read it.

I like the colour scheme in this and I also like the picture. There is a light grey and pink colour scheme throughout which is attention grabbing but also looks very professional which I like. I really like how the picture of the lady looks 3D almost, also unlike the rest of the DPS, the person is not making eye contact with the audience; this is unorthodox, perhaps to grab the readers in even more. This is something I may try to do in mine, however will have to try a range of photo types to see what would look more suitable and professional in mine

 The element I really like about this DPS is the red 'L' in the background, it makes the page stand out. The red 'L' also matches the look on her face, as she looks intimate and having the 'L' being massive and red connotes to intimatcy because red connotes to love and passion. This is something I may think about involving in my own work.

 

IDEA.

I have uploaded this to my blog because it has gave me an idea for my own magazine. Instead of placing a coverline over the cover star, VIBE has used the writing on the stars top to create a coverline which is a very unorthodox and clever thing to do. I'd like to involve something unique like this in my own magazine but will have to research more magazines so I know how to do it without it looking odd or tacky.

R&B Research - Magazine Genre

The genre I have chosen for my music magazine is R&B, and to make sure I know all about my genre and what it involves I have done some backround research on where it comes from and what its all about.

R&B stands for 'Rhythm and Blues', it is a genre of popular African-American music that originated in the 1940s. The term has subsequently had a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s, the term rhythm and blues was frequently applied to blue records. Starting in the mid-1950s, after this style of music contributed to the development of rock and roll, the term "R&B" became used to refer to music styles that developed from and incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and soul music. By the 1970s, rhythm and blues was used as a blanket term for soul and funk. In the 1980s, a newer style of R&B developed, becoming known as "Contemporary R&B".

I have researched some R&B magazines that could help me with making my own magazine, the magazines I found are Blender and Vibe.

Blender;

Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities. It compiled lists of albums, artists, and songs, including both "best of" lists and "worst of" lists. In each issue, there was a review of an artist's entire discography, with each album being analyzed in turn. Blender was published by Dennis Publishing.The magazine began in 1994 as the first digital CD-ROM magazine by Jason Pearson, David Cherry & Regina Joseph, and launched on the web in 1997. It started publishing a print edition again in 1999 in its most recent form. Blender CD-ROM showcased the earliest digital editorial formats, as well as the first forms of digital advertising. The first digital advertisers included: Calvin Klein, Apple Computer, Stephen Colbert, Toyota and Nike.

VIBE



Vibe is a music and entertainment magazine founded by producer Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip-hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down production in Summer 2009, Vibe was purchased by the private equity investment fund InterMedia Partners and is now issued every-other month with double covers, with a larger online presence. The magazine's target demographic is predominantly young, urban followers of hip-hop culture. The magazine owed its success to featuring a broader range of interests than its closest competitors The Source and XXL which focus more narrowly on rap music, or the rock & pop-centric Rolling Stone and Spin.

Preliminary Task - My Contents Page

This is the contents page I produced for my contents page;

I have put the word 'contents' jumbled up on top of the school badge; I got the idea of jumbling up the word 'contents' off a different magazine that I have shown earlier in my blog, I liked the idea as it is unorthodox and fun-looking; this would suite a school magazine as pupils would rather see fun-looking titles rather than boring ones. I placed the words on top of the school badge to show that this fun-looking font is representing St.Thomas Aquinas, perhaps suggesting it is a fun-loving school, also it links the contents page to the front page as the front page has a school badge placed on it. I have put some of the fonts in a yellow colour to brighten up the page a bit and to draw attention to those certain things. The main event on this page is the 50th Jubilee as the picture links to it and the writing underneath the picture relates to it; this shows that pupils should know about this as it is a big event. The coverlines I put on the front cover I have also involved in the contents page, again to link them both together and to show that I have extended more on the coverlines by following them on to the contents page. I put the word 'happening' like 'appening' because it relates to school pupils and how they write nowadays so pupils would be more intrigued and relate to it more. The school mission statement has been added because it is something all the pupils in school should know so it reminds them of it; this would be a regular feature. I am pleased with my mock up of the contents page, to improve I could involve a letter written by the editor and perhaps more pictures so it looks more packed.

Preliminary Task - My Front Page

For the preliminary task I created a school magazine front cover and contents page, this is my front page;



I have named my magazine 'STACS outstanding'; I have named it this because recently STACS has been said to be 'Outstanding' by OFSTED, so having this simply fitted recent events. I chose to do STACS in that font because it looks like a school type of font, also it something that would stand out to the pupils in the school causing them to remember the masthead, so it's easier for them to notice it if they were trying to find it whilst being amongst other magazines. I like the font of the 'outstanding' underneath it as I like the look of it being partially 'scratched out'; this could relate to kids and there hand writing in school, suggesting its not always perfect. For my main coverline I have put 'Head Girl Reveals All'; I have put this because it relates to the picture on the page. I have chose to put the font and colour like so because it links with the mast head showing the whole magazine is related and links with eachother. With the writing on the page I have kept a certain colour scheme - black and red - because it links with the school colours, also having a certain colour scheme shows it is all linked to the same magazine and makes it looks more professional. However, there is one part that does not fit in the colour scheme and that is the '50th'; I have put this in a bright yellow font because I want it to stand out to the students as this is something all students should know about. To improve my piece I would add in a PUG to attract more readers, also I would change the bright blue lines so a more sophisticated colour due to the fact I think it makes the magazine look rather amateur and unprofessional. This partially matches up to the draft version I completed apart from the fact the picture is slightly smaller and there isn't a PUG at the top, however overall I am happy with my front cover.

Draft Front Cover and Contents

This is my draft front cover and contents page for my preliminary excercise which is making the school magazine. I have put a medium shot of one person on the front cover however I am thinking of changing that and having two or more people on the front of the cover instead of one due to the fact it is a school magazine and having more people on the front cover relates to a community which is what a school is. Everything else however is staying put, the masthead is going to be big at the top so people know and remember the name of the magazine. I like the layout of the contents page, I got the idea for the contents page off this magazine;

Although in this magazine the picture will be of school kids/children etc, as my target audience is school kids. I have uploaded this to my blog to show how I taken ideas from other magazines and put those ideas in my own work and managed to edit it to my own personal style somehow.

Codes and Conventions Task

I have put a main cover line on four magazines, I chose what coverlines I would put by thinking about what is on the magazine already and what would suite it. On the first one, 'film' magazine, i put the coverline as 'sweat blood and tears' due to the fact there is a woman on the cover with blood over her face. Also the magazine must have a relation to films therefore hvaing 'sweat blood and tears' links into the name of the magazine as in films there would be atleast one of the three, sweat, blood or tears.

For the magazine 'M' I put the coverline 'Lady Gaga Uncovered'. I firstly made sure her name was included in the coverline as usually when a star in on the cover the main story is about them. I then thought of uncovered as she is slightly covering herself with her hand, so the picture and word 'uncovered' have a good contrast. I chose to use this font as it suites the style of Lady Gaga, fun but also weird at times. The 'uncovered' is in a different colour because that is what I want the audience to see, as if they already know who Lady Gaga is they will only have to look at the picture, then they're eyes will be drawn to the 'Uncovered'.

For the magazine 'pitch' I copied the idea I had for 'M' magazine, which was to include the star on the front page in my cover line. I have put the font for the cover line in a rather creepy font as the picture is quite scary, the font suites the tone of the front cover. I also used the line 'what skeletons are in his closet?' due to the fact he looks evil and as though he could have done something immoral.

For the magazine 'Freedom' I put the coverline as 'Are you ever safe' this is because I feel that if someone was constantly watching you, you would feel on edge and weary, and it links to the eye staring. Also I included a story about 'Chantelle' an ex big brother contestant because the maagzine is to do with big brother so it'd make sense putting a story about big brother on there. However I dont really like the story as you cant see the writing that much because of the background of the magazine.

Self Assessment: In the codes and conventions task I tried to match the coverlines to the style of the magazine, e.g. for the magazine 'Pitch' there is a scary looking picture of Marilyn Manson so i decided to put scary looking font as the coverline. I also matched the coverlines to what the magazine was like, e.g. Freedom has 'The big brother issue' on it therefore I put the coverline 'Are you ever safe' refering to someone constantly watching you. There are a few things I could have done to improve this task, I could have included pugs and puffs and more coverlines.

Peer Assessment: Good things about this task is you kept the same colour scheme in each magazine with links to the codes and conventions, also the font matches up to the style of each magazine. My improvements would be that you include more pugs and puffs to avoid the magazines looking bare. 

CA Magazine

I created the cover line, pug and puff on this magazine. I focused on the typography so certain meanings came across to the viewers. I made Christina Aguilera's name italic and bright red purely because her lips are bright red and she looks very beautiful and perfect, and this would relate to the italic writing. I made 'The Rise and Fall' very edgy, almost like someone has chipped away at the writing, this is to represent what it says. The fact she has risen and fallen relates to parts of the writing being damaged, as part of her might be damaged. I made the pug of this magazine a funky font because it is eye catching, also the 'Top 10 R'n'B' and 'Free' is a bright yellow colour so peoples eyes are drawn to it, therefore persuading them more to buy the magazine. I put 'Chris Brown strikes again' in capitals because of the story related to Chris Brown before, it would attract a mass audience as a lot of people would want to read about what has happened. The font of the writing underneath matches the font of 'Christina Aguilera', making the stories look part of the same magazine. I uploaded this to my blog to show that I have been practising making my own coverlines, pugs and puffs. This magazine also gives me ideas for my music magazine, as I am thinking of doing a 'pop' magazine and this is 'pop' genre.