TOP OF THE POPS CONTENTS CONVENTIONS.

This was the only example of 'Top of the Pops' contents page that I could find on the internet. Even though this is just one style model, I can still draw plenty of conventional features and techniques that the designers have used.

First of all there is a text box at the top of the page which displays the masthead for the contents. At the end of this is an ellipsis which creates feelings that there is plenty more information to be found out within the magazine.

Alongside this there are plenty of other text boxes which show snippets of information on what you will find in the magazine with large page numbers printed in front of them.

For each text box there is different categories of text such as 'Wins & offers' and 'Celebs & gossip' showing that there is plenty of information in the magazine.
As well as this the subheadings are placed in text boxes at the top of 'their' content, and printed in a curly font; this is suitable as the target marget is for young girls - they tend to like this style of font as it represents 'girliness'

Mid shots have also been used to show the artists which feature in the magazine - these have a large page number printed on the picture to inform the readers what page they can be found on.

A page number is also displayed at the bottom of the page, but centered so it is visible and people know what page the magazine begins on. For this it has used the teachnique of 'WOB' (white on black) so it stands out from the rest of the text and so it doesn't clash with the rest of the colours on the page.

A copy of the front cover is also on contents page in the top left hand corner. With this page numbers are surrounding it of the pages where you can find the front cover content. These are made visible by being made bigger and arrows pointing to where the information indicating the page they are located on.

TOP OF THE POP MAGAZINE DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD.

From looking at four examples taken from the Top Of The Pops magazine it is clear to see that the image takes up a lot of the page and dominates over the text. The images range from mid shots to long shots however the size still remain fairly similar size when compared to the others. From the images you  can see that they all give the reader direct eye contact in order for them to feel more targeted and making the text more personal.

Other conventional features on the double page spread is that they use are the same graphic design of the page number. The effect they use is WOB (white on black) to make them stand out from the rest of the text and so people can see clearly what page they are on.
Another typical conventional feature used is little puffs of direct quotations which has been quoted from the artist in the main interview; this allows the reader to be drawn in to what is being said.
Each double page spread has also been set out in an interview format to supply the readers with lots of hot gossip and information about the artist.  
As you can see from the bottom two examples of double page spread the masthead is a quotation from what the artist has said - however it has been enlarged so it stands out from the rest of the text so it acts as a 'title' for the text.

TOP OF THE POPS FRONT COVER CONVENTIONS.

From looking at four examples for Top of the Pops magazine it is noticeable that the main image is usually a mid shot, with the artist giving the readers direct eye contact, making the magazine seem more targeted to them.
As you can see the house style of the top two magazines are different to the bottom two magazine covers. This is because Top of the Pops designers felt like a change was needed to keep update the style of it, to more of a modern design hoping to fit in with more readers. The re-vamp gave it a fresh new look to help entice possible readers into buying the magazine as well as the continuous readers getting a better view of it.
Another conventional feature in this magazine is the barcode/price/date/issue is always placed at the bottom of the magazine cover, to stay out the way but still to seen buy the reader and retail store.
Sell lines are also jotted around the edge of the magazine cover to grab the readers attention and to make them more interested in what has been featured in the magazine.
Big bold titles have also been placed across the body of the artist to inform readers who the are if they are unaware of who they are. This is a convential feature which I am definitely going to use on my magazine.
Also on the new updated version of Top of the Pops magazine they do not have a tag line. This could be because it is not really needed and people may not have paid attention to it before seeing as it was placed under the image the majority of times. 
A continuous feature on the front covers is skylines. These supply snippets of information on what is also included in the magazine. I will use this in my magazine so it sticks to conventional ideas.
Bursts are also used on each magazine cover which supply information related to fashion. Seeing as these appear on every I think it will be a good idea to include this on mine. 

SHINDIG!

This is a very good example of a magazine which is aimed to a niche market. A niche market is a target audience aimed at a small audience. This opposite of this is a mass market which is aimed to the majority of the population based around a popular genre to what a vast range of people favor to.

Shindig! is a magazine based around 4 music genres: mod, psych, freak beat and garage rock and is published 6 times a year. 

The normal magazine costs round about £4.95 while the back issues cost round about £8.50 each and the books cost £9.50-£17.50. With the magazine you also have the option to subscribe to it meaning you pay for them all in one go and receive the copies in the post - the only advantage of this is that you only save a little bit of money!

From doing research and viewing a version of the magazine in class, it is clear to see that colour plays a massive factor within each copy. Some fans see this as a big attraction as it livens the music and magazine up and gives it more interest and appeal. 

As you can see from the name of the magazine (shown above) the font is very adventurous and has kind of a 'hippy' style. This could be used due to the magazine being individual and aimed towards a niche market so that it gains more interest. The use of the different colours placed behind the title could represent the variety that the magazine holds, yet show its high profile, positive attitude it produces. 

Social media such as Twitter and Facebook have been incorporated on to the website to help advertise the magazine in order so people become more aware of it. In the Twitter advertisement on the website it says "Shindiggers on Twitter" showing that people who are involved and like the magazine have their own recognition, making it seem as if they are part of a 'group'.

This is the latest issue of the magazine.

MY TARGET AUDIENCE.

When it comes to creating a magazine, you have to consider and pay a lot of detail to the kind of audience who you want to target the magazine for. This is very important as it determines the content involved in the magazine, the house style of it and mostly targeting it to sell to the specific audience. The way I have based this is by following the acronym of 'sagel' meaning socio-economical class, age, gender, ethnicity and lifestyle.

• Socio-economical class: I think that the majority of the population is middle/working class, therefore I will be basing my magazine around this social class. I think this is a good idea as they will  still be able to afford the magazine and it will have the correct level of formality for them.
• Age: 13-17 (middle of teenage years) is the age range of my target audience as most pop magazines have a similar target audience and have been very successful. This has influenced me to create my magazine based around these ages. As well as this I think that the content of the magazine will be more fun and exciting seeing it's for younger people.
• Gender: I am aiming my magazine to young females as I feel this will enable me to use a wider range of features as I feel that the information will be easier to apply to it.
• Ethnicity: For my magazine I am going to be aiming it at British and American people as the majority artists are an English or American origin therefore it will have more appeal to these audiences.
• Lifestyle: The kind of lifestyle that my target audience leads it like any other typical teenage girl - obessed with boys, the latest gossip and the newest trends. After doing some primary research I found that their favourite shops are Newlook, Rev, and River Island. Also I found out that a lot of them are on social networking sites such as Facebook and some even venture off into Twitter. From this it could be possible that I could link some of the magazine features on to a social networking site in order to gain more recognition and popularity. Most of the target audience said that shopping, going out with friends, music and social networking were their best hobbies and Nandos was their fave place to eat! As well as about 90% of them said they owned an ipod or some sort of mp3 player and their favourited genre of music was mostly pop, however some commented that Indie/R&B was becoming more popular between the 13-17 yr old friendship groups. On average the top 5 artists that were most played on their ipods/mp3s were Justin Bieber, One Direction, Jessie J, Rihanna and Katy Perry. This information could be useful as if they are so interested in their music, then surely they would be just as interested in articles produced about them-meaning more interest in the magazine! A lot of them also said that they love pets such as cats and dogs; this could be a thoughtful idea to use in my magazine as it would gain more of the audiences attention seeing as they love them.

INDIE MOOD BOARD.

This is my mood board based on indie magazine styles, front covers, double page spreads, and logos. I found this hard to create as I felt like not much attention is paid to this genre, therefore little quantaties of magazines a produced just focused on this genre. I thought I would produce this mood board to help make a decision on what style of magazine to create.
On these covers the logo/masthead is very bold and dominant on the page compared to other kinds of magazines such as Top of the Pops or Vibe. This could be used so the readers familiarise themselves with the magazine and so it can be easily spotted on the shops' selves.
Single artists are mainly used on the covers of the magazines that I have chosen, which could reinforce ideas of idependence. The magazine 'INDIE' kind of breaks conventional ideas as most of the 'models' are not giving the readers direct eye contact, which can affect the way readers feel about the magazine. By looking at the cover, it makes me feel excluded in the sense that I do not feel targeted or connected to the information that the magazine contains.
The images of the front cover are again centred in the middle with the text surrounding it. Mid shots are typically used on INDIE magazine, whereas mid shots and long shots are used on Q magazines. This is definitely a conventional feature what I am going to use on my magazine.
Similar to other magazines Q has the artists name in BIG bold writing across the main picture, making the readers aware on what main artist is being featured in the magazine.

INDIE MOOD BOARD.

On this mood board that I have created I have focused on the main bands and artists that are in the indie genre. As I do not pay much attention to this genre, I had to do lots of secondary research on what kind of bands and artists feature in this style of music, overall Wikipedia came in very helpful seeing as it listed e v e r y o n e who performs in this music! As well as this I asked a friend who prefers this genre of music to any other and listed several indie bands; this came in very useful.
Some main artists who I'm aware of such as Coldplay, Kaiser Cheifs and Ellie Goulding feature on this mood board and are fairly recent. From doing secondary research into the indie artists I found that they are all very similar when it comes to image; this is supported by the pictures on the mood board as you can see they all look similar yet unique and different at the same time. Further more this is assisted by the ideology of indie bands; this is mainly them being 'unorganised', independent, and unfound.
By looking at the images, it was obvious to see that the majority of the artists were bands rather that individual artists. If I wanted to use conventional features for my magazine, I would have had to take this into consideration and used a group of people (so that it looks like a band) for my image on the main cover of my magazine rather than just one as a individual artist.
As well as this the expressions on the artists face look quite focused and serious which kind of matches the style of their music. Along with this most of the pictures have feature direct mode of address (eye contact) which makes the readers feel more personalised.
Similar to the pop mood board, I have included a varitey of camera shots which range from mid shots, long shots and close ups. I think the most effective picture is a mid shot because it shows a significant proportion of the aritists while it focuses on more detail to their upper half of the body; this could maybe make the readers feel as if they are more informed on information and knowledge about them.
From looking at the images, it is noticable that the colours used are quite dull and dark which could reflect off their lyrics - typically to do with things that relate with alcohol, drugs or real life. Considering the colours used are quite dim it creates negative thoughts and connotations to the music and artists.

POP MOOD BOARD.

This is my mood board based around pop magazine covers, double page spreads and logos. I have chosen images from the internet which appeal to me and interest me to use similar conventions on my magazine that I'm going to produce.

On the top right hand corner of the mood board are two nail varnishes which came as free gifts with the 'We ♥ Pop' magazine. This inspired me as it gave me further ideas on what I could include to entice more interest from my target audience. I think this would be a good idea to use seeing as I have chosen my target audeince's age range to be similar to this magazines age range. The free gifts would obviously attract more readers as everyone loves a little treat. If I base my free product around makeup, notepads, stamps, or accessories, they will be more appealing to my target audience seeing as they are growing up and becoming more interested in 'grown up' things such as makeup.

From looking at each magazine cover, visual imagery suggests that bright colours are their main house style; this could be because young girls are often very positive and full of life and will be attracted to magazines which portray similar connotations. As well as this they may find it more enjoyable to read while catching up on all the latest celeb gossip!

BIG, bold fonts are often spread across the main image of the artist, stating the name of who it is (making the readers aware on who the main article is about), as well as making it more 'in your face' on who the magazine is featuring.

As you can see on the majority of the front covers, the artist has been centered on it in a mid/long shot. However the double page spread normally contains just a long shot. On the front cover, the splashes of text to do with the magazine content, normally gets 'splashed' around the edge of the cover, rarely overlapping the main image. No matter what image is placed on the front cover, the artist is always giving the reader direct eye contact  (direct address) in order to make them feel more connected and involved with the content of the magazine and artist.

The logo / masthead of the magazine, seem to have their own distinct style and are often recognisable. All the titles are printed in bold so that they stand out of the self and grab the readers attention.

On the double page spread, it is also very typical for the title of the article to be a pull quote on what has been said in the text. This is a very good feature to use as if the quote is something that is similar to 'gossip' they are more likely to read it and find out on why it is being said.

POP MOOD BOARD.

On this mood board that I have created I focused on typical pop artists and groups that have been in the public eye and typically are favourites from people like us!

From my general knowledge and some internet research I had a wide range of pop artists/groups which I could choose from to place on this mood board. As you can see above I have included a mixture of new and relatively old singers to help me get a clearer idea of how pop artists are represented. The artists I have choosen, range from new singers such as Katy Perry, Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Beyonce to the oldish singers of the Spice Girls, Britney Spears and Christina Agularia. From gathering these images it was obvious to see that pop artist have maintained ideologies of being glamorous and attractive over the years. However in contrast to this, when researching some of their music, it was noticable how the lyrics tend to change in terms of what they sing about. I have even included a picture all teenage fave of JUSTIN BEIBER!
Common ideologies of pop music lyrics are to do about relationships, love, or family however now present pop singers are writing lyrics to do with sex, alcohol, or money, and they are starting to slip and combine it with other music genres. This can include artists such a Nicki Minaj, Rihanna and even Chris Brown.

When choosing the pictures, I made sure i varied the kind of camera shots in order to give me ideas of what kind of shot would work and look best for my magazine cover. As you can see these range from several mid shots, close ups, long shots and even a high angle shot. Personally I think that either a mid shot or long shot would be appropiate and suitable for my cover.

By looking at the selected pictures I noticed that a majority of them have bright colours which supports the ideology of pop music being, positive, colourful and happy. Also all of the female singers have flesh showing but in an appropiate way, not making themselves look 'slutty' or degrading. The way they are dressed seems to fit well with their style and the kind of music they sing seeing as they are quite bubbly characters and confident about themselves.

Taking these factors into consideration it would be a good idea to incorporate these into my own magazine as it will be more appealing and expected for the readers and knowing that they will be accepted by the majority of the readers.

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF Q MAGAZINE.

Q

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Conventions from this magazine which I may want to include in my own music magazine...

• On the cover of this magazine they have included a menu bar at the bottom of the page displaying extra information on some of the content what can be found in the magazine. I think this would be a good feature to use on my magazine cover as it would attract more readers seeing as they will most likely be interested in the stories within the magazine.
• In the double page spread, I like the simplicity of it as it doesn't look overcrowded or squashed together. The use of paragraphs sections the text up nicely making easier to read while looking sophisticated - I think this would be a good feature to include in my magazine.
• I like how the main image on the front cover of this magazine is a long shot, as it shows clearly her emotion and what is going on around her. The plain background allows the image and writing to stand out more, drawing the reader's attention in. 
• Also on the cover, discourse markers have been used on the top right hand side of it which clearly breaks the text up into seperate sections, adding more variation and excitment to the front page. I like the idea of this as it's distinctive and unconventional to any other music magazine.

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF TOP OF THE POPS MAGAZINE.

Top of the Pops

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Conventions from this magazine which I may want to include in my own music magazine...

• I quite like the idea that on the double page spread an interview between the band members and magazine editor was being carried out. This would be good to include as it makes the magazine have more of an informal tone and creates a sense of fun and excitment.
• Throughout the magazine, there was a lot of use of direct address, ranging from direct eye contact from the images to the readers and in the text addressing the readers as 'you' or 'you're'. This would be a good feature to use as it makes the reader feel more involved and comfortable when reading the magazine.
• Another way in which the magazine helped engage the readers and to help it feel more personal to them is by using rhetorical questions on the cover and double page spread. I think this is a good feature to use because it makes the reader think more about the article and their personal opinion on what's happening.
• I also like the idea that a smaller image of the front cover has been printed on the contents page with enlarged numbers and arrows pointing to where you can find the topics which have been displayed on the front cover. I think this is a good feature to have as it allows the reader to navigate around the magazine easier, finding the hottest stories quickly.

MOST POPULAR GENRES.

Seeing as I have to create a music magazine for my main task, I thought it was important that I done some research into the most popular genres and a bit about the artists and bands that feature into that genre.

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After doing this 'secondary' research I think I am more likely to base my magazine either round the pop or rock/indie genre considering they seem more exciting and adventurous.

MEMES AND TROPES.

A trope is something that occurs over a period of time and creates a common convention. For example a trope of a horror film would include scary setting, tense music, bloody and gory scenes.

Closely related to this is a meme, which can be considered as ideas or beliefs that get carried from one person to another and so on. The word 'meme' is derived from 'mimeme' which means something is imitated.
Commonly music memes get transferred into tropes; this is because other artists/bands hear some lyrics or music notes they like and try to interpret them into their own music. Eventfully all these memes turn into the majority of people liking them, turning them into tropes.



An example to this is when Disney Pixar produced and released the film 'Finding Nemo' in May 2003 and a year later Deamworks produced and released the film 'Shark Tale' in 2004. Both of these films have a similar story line and are both based around sea life, fishes and sharks however it was said to be that each company knew nothing about the making of the other film.



Another prime example to this is the original version of 'Dragostea Din Tei' sang by O-zone; this was released in 2004 and the notes within sing 'maya he, maya ha'. From this Rihanna and TI have picked this up and in their song 'Live Your Life' and the song has the same notes 'maya he, maya ha' sang in the exact same way. This song was released in 2008.

Tropes and memes to do with POP music:

Pop music is seen as 'mainstream' meaning that a lot of pop artists and bands get recognised on a day to day basis and are very popular. The typical ideological tropes paired to pop singers are that they tend to be highly glamorous and good looking, with a sense of dignity about them considering they don't sing about drugs, sex or alcohol. They normally have a more positive attitude, singing about relationships, love and happiness. However as time has progressed on usual pop artists are breaking away from these tropes and are including more sexual and alcohol related lyrics which could have been influenced from other music genres such as R&B or rap. An example of this is Rihannas lyrics of "Cheers to the frickin' weekend, i'll drink to that" which is portraying ideas that pop artists get influenced into singing about alcohol and sexual references. When it comes to the pop genre of music magazines, they used to be relatively moderate and stick with the latest songs produced by artists and bands. However as the younger generation are becoming more interested in the latest celeb gossip and love life, pop magazines tend to include all the fresh hot gossip what artists and bands have been up to and their latest fashion/style, rarely putting the main focus on the music side of things; meaning that these features are now the tropes of a pop music mag.

Tropes and memes to do with INDIE music:

The 'indie' genre often implies ideas that it isn't well known and has a individual feel about it seeing as it isn't mainstream; this may be because people are not as fond of it compared to pop, R&B and so on. Indie bands usually have a unquie tone about them and often have tropes about being not as glamorous or attractive, independent, and seem to produce an 'unorganised' feel about their music.

This style of music tends to focus on real life issues, being unsensitive and sometimes singing aggressively in certain songs, rarely singing about love or relationships. Indie music magazines seem to reflect the idea of quite compact, busy content, with plain colours which reinforce the idea that the music doesn't have much life and normally stays within the set tropes.

RESEARCH METHODS.

When doing research, there are several methods to do so which makes the experience a whole lot easier! Below are the four main ways of carrying out research that can help me when it comes to designing my magazine and the main advantages and disadvantages about them...

• Primary - This type of research is normally done independently, and is usually done through surveys, questionnaires, interviews, and direct observations. Some of the advantages of this is that the information can be found out quickly, it is highly controlled meaning the information is relevant and the research can decide on how the information is gained. Some of the disadvantages to this is that you have to prepare everything yourself (i.e. questionnaires, interview questions), once the information has been gained it could be out of date/not neccessary anymore, and people may not be willing to fill out questionnaires or attend interviews.
• Secondary - This type of research has already been done by another person. This could mean that it could be found in books, the library, newspapers, or the internet. Some of the advantages of this is that most of the information has already been found out for you, it in inexpensive compared to primary research and it isn't time consuming. Some of the disadvantages to this is that you may not find all the information you are looking for, some of it may be unreliable and the information found may not be up-to-date.
• Qualitative - This type of research focuses on the 'why' and not the 'how' of the topic you're researching; this includes finding reasons on peoples attitudes, behaviours, culture, lifestyle etc. Emails and in-depth interview are ways in which this data can be gained. An advantage of this is that individuals can be studied in more depth, however a disadvantage of this is that open ended questions from the interview can take a while to analyse meaning it is time consuming.
• Quantitative - This type of research focuses on the numerical side of what you are researching, including things like numbers and statistics. This is based on peoples opinons so that the researcher has hard statisitcs and help to guide indeas or put something forward. Surveys and customer questionnaires are the main ways of gaining the data. An advantage of this is that it is reliable and a good way of finalising results, however a disadvantage is that they require a lot of effort and are time consuming.

Research I am most likely to carry out for my task:
I think the most appropiate way to collect data for my music magazine is either doing primary or secodnary research. Primary research would be ideal as I will have personal opinons and facts on what people of a similar age would expect, however carrying out secondary research will save me a lot of time when it comes to researching the graphology of other magazine styles to help influence ideas for mine.

HISTORY OF NME MAGAZINE.

BRIEF HISTORY:
New Musical Express (otherwise known as NME) is a weekly music magazine which started being published in 1952. The magazine originally started out as a music newspaper but finally moved into the magazine style in 1998 and it was one of the first magazines to include a singles chart. Along with this it became the best selling Bristish Music Newspaper and was usually paired with gonzo journalism (journalism to do with claims and objectivity) but then got associated with punk/rock style music.

WHAT IS THE TYPICAL CONTENT?
Within each NME magazine, it is typical to find a 'Band Index' on the left hand side of the contents page which lists all bands you can find in the magazine and supplies the readies with the page number to find them on. Every 70 page issue is split up into 5 sections: news, radar, reviews, live!, and features and within these it provides you with all the lastest informaton and gossip about your favourite bands.

WHO IS THE TYPICAL READER?
According to the National Readership Survey (NRS) it seems to be that around 253,000 people purchased this magazine during October 2010 to September 2011. The website also splits the males and females to see the difference between the statistics. On average 167 men purchased the magazine during this period whereas only 86 females brought it. Alongside this the age ranges show the difference on which age boundary buys it most; 15-44s have brought 218 copies while 45+ have only brought 34 copies.

MAGAZINE HOUSESTYLE:
Through each magazine, it shows consistancy as the mast head is always in sans serif, upper case, red print with a white border saying 'NME' and is usually placed on the top left hand side on the page. A main image is usually centered on each cover to help draw the readers attention and give them clear insights on who is being featured within it. Alongside this, a subtitle of the artist being displayed it splashed across the image in a bold eyecatching colour. Other text commenting on what else is in the magazine is printed on the sides of the image so people can read it easily and so it doesn't dominate over the main purpose/picture of the magazine topic.
Similar to Q magazine, the artists/bands give the readers direct eye contact which can allow the reader to feel more involved and engaged into the magazine.

WHO PRODUCES AND DISTRIBUTES IT?
IPC (international publishing company) Media produced NME. Time Warner, which is known to be one of the largest media companies, distributed this magazine.

HOW SOCIAL GROUPS ARE REPRESENTED:
This magazine is based around the genre of rock/punk music and bases their main artists and bands on that style of music in order to gain more attention from readers. Obviously as the majority of readers favour this genre of music, the magazine continues to target them with their continuity of indie bands and artists being published on the front covers. Plain and simple colours are used throughout each magazine cover which could support ideas that these bands are not mainstream or 'pop' seeing as pop music tends to associated with happy, positive thoughts meaning that bright colours often are paired with it.

HISTORY OF Q MAGAZINE.

BRIEF HISTORY:

This is a monthly music magazine which gets published every month in the UK. The first ever issue was published in 1986 and the people who founded it, felt as if people were forgetting the old generation of music which is being influenced by all the new technology. In the previous years the magazine was called 'Cue' however got changed as it could then be easily mistaken for a snooker magazine. They decided to name the magazine 'Q' because they felt as if it would me more dominant when on news stands.

WHAT IS THE TYPICAL CONTENT?
Some of the main features in the magazine are a review section including the latest releases, reissues, concert and film reviews, radio and television reviews and music complications. Also within the magazine is supplies the readers with a list of the upcoming gigs and tour dates so they know when their favourite bands and artists are playing next; this is essential as the majority of people reading the magazine may be interested in booking tickets. The magazine is most commonly known to print compiling lists which range from 'The Greatest 100 Albums' to 'The Greatest 100 Singles".

One of the best features this magazine has is the 'spine line' which is when they print a different message on the spine of the magazine on each issue; this leaves the readers trying to discover what the purpose of the message is. 

WHO IS THE TYPICAL READER?

By doing research from the National Readership Survey (NRS) it seems to be that males are more interested and purchase this magazine more than females. 345 males have brought this magazine and only 132 females have brought it; this could show that males tend to favour this genre more when compared to women. On the NRS website it also shows the number of issues sold within two seperate age ranges. 15-44s brought 386 issues of Q magazine whereas 45+ brought 90 copies of it. However with this I don't think the age ranges were split up to the best ability as teenagers and young adults will more likely purchase this magazine rather that middle-aged people.

MAGAZINE HOUSESTYLE:

In each copy of Q magazine the mast head is printed in an upper case white 'Q' letter placed onto a red square background. Both of these colours compliment each other as the red draws the attention to the white title. On the front of the magazine cover the designers make the it look quite plain and simple, and stick to the '3 colour scheme' using the colours black, white and red; this can be effective as it doesn't look over complicated and is pleasing to the eye. The main images, usually mid shots, are central on the cover and take control over the rest of the page which could show signs that the artist is powerful; this may be a good feature to use as readers may feel more tempted and interested into purchasing it.

Most of the time, the artists or bands photographed on the covers of Q magazine seem to be giving direct eye contact to the camera lens, which could help engage readers in to the magazine, while making it more personal for them.

WHO PRODUCES AND DISTRIBUTES IT?

Q magazine is publised by Bauer Media Group (a German publishing company is which increaing in size and is based in Hamburg. It is also known to operate in 15 countries worldwide). Q magazine is distributed by a company called Frontline.

HOW SOCIAL GROUPS ARE REPRESENTED:

Typical social groups who tend to read this magazine can be seen as indiviuals, prefering indie/punk/rock bands, seeing as they don't conform to popular pop artisits and bands such as Rihanna or Lady Gaga. It feels as if people who like indie bands only favour to these and don't sample more mainstream bands/artists; this then leads me to think that when pop artists feature as the main subject on the magazine, that they don't gain as much interest and lose some regular buyers who are large indie fans. However this can be benefical as it gains readers who don't normally take interest into this magazine.

DIFFERENT GENRES.

Within the world of music, it is typically known for music to fall into different types of 'genres'. This means that music gets stereotyped into different categories depending on the style of music. All the different types of genres are listed below:

• Pop
• Indie
• Hip Hop/RnB
• Rock/Punk
• Heavy Metal
• Classical 
• Folk
• Dancehall
• Dubstep
• Drum and Bass
• Jazz
• Blues
• Country
• Reggae 

TARGET AUDIENCE, IDEOLOGY & REPRESENTATIONS

Target Audiences

When creating a magazine, the target auidence is the most considered aspect when  putting it together; this then is designed to ensure that is pleases the people it is aimed and makes sure it appeals to them.

In this, the use of pictures, colours and fonts all need to reflect and represent the genre of the magazine and who it is aimed towards. For example, dark, dull colours such as black, grey and reds are more likely to be found on an indie/rock magazine, where as colours like blue, orange, pink, green and yellow are more likely to put associated with a pop magazine.

To help support this idea, below are copies of NME magazine front cover which is categorised into a indie/rock genre.

As you can see from the two examples the titles are printed in a large red bubble font with a white border, which immediately draws attention to the magazine cover. The large images gives clear indication on who is mainly featured within the magazine and the increased size of the tag line suppling insights of what the article is going to be about.

The colours used throughout the cover clearly demontrates a bold, powerful display which could similarly show connotations of the genre of music it is representing for and is targeted at people who favour this kind of music and enjoy the thrills and excitment it brings.

The facial expressions on the artists faces seem to be plain, lifeless or either quite aggressive that can show the representations of the genre of music as either being quite dominating and controlling over the audience.

All of the colours, fonts and images come across as quite forward and in your face which can show that indie/rock music is unsubtle, noisy and harsh in which the target auidence may enjoy and like.

The black background used on both magazine covers conveys ideas that the music is quite dark and maybe isolating considering many people may not enjoy this style of music however for people who like it, it may influence and interest them more into purchasing it.

As you can see from the two main pop music magazine covers the colours tend to be very girly, pretty and quite pastel. This could show mainly that they are targeted towards girls or the female generation. This can also be supported by the idea that the artists on the covers are both male bands which girls are more likely going to be interested in and find them attractive. All of these features are used to capture female attention and to help lure them into buying the magazine. 

There are several images of boy bands and 'instant makeovers' which are all at interest to girls. The more pictures and 'girly' features there are on it, the more likely people are going to be interested into wanting to buy it. 

All of the fonts are sans serif which ables to portray modern and up to date thoughts signifying all the information invloved is 'in' at the moment and is the latest hot gossip girls tend to want to know.

Ideologies

This is when people have certain beliefs or ideas about something in particular. For example, some people may have a range of thoughts on different genres of music and this would show in the way they represent themselves.

Two genres what show obvious different ideologies are pop and hip-hop. The main thoughts about pop music are that it has positivevibe, non violent or explicit, never abrasive and usually has universal appeal whereas hip-hop music tends to be associated mainly with drugs, sex, violence and being aggressive.

Thinking about the target audience, this may also be included when people have ideologies. With all the positive diction with the genre of pop, it would make more sense if the cover was full of bright yet calm colours, yet because of the negative diction being asscotiated with hip-hop/rock it is more suitable for the the colours to be dark and plain.

MAIN TASK.

Now that I've completed the preliminary task, it is now time to start on my main task!
For this it has been asked that we create a magazine front cover, contents page and a double page spread focused on the topic of music.
To begin, I am going to do some research into the history of music magazines, typical content and the typical reader, who distributes and produces the magazine and find out all about what interests people most. Along with this I need to find out research methods and do a textual analysis on existing texts.
When I come to creating my magazine I need to take into consideration

• creativity  side-making a moodbaord of ideas and possible images
• chosing technology im going to use
• chosen genre of what it is going to be
• my target audience.

MY TWO CHOSEN IMAGES.

Front cover

I have chosen to use this as my main image for my front cover of the magazine I'm creating as it shows clearly that Southfield is a highly successful school considering the background is a trophy cabinet. The model has a slight smile on her face which could show that she is happy and comfortable with the environment she's in and could create further conotations that it is a positive atmosphere. The use of the mid shot allows the readers to have a clear insight on the setting she's in due to the model wearing school uniform and it shows a significant amount of the background. When taking the mid shot, I told my model to look straight into the camera lens in order to produce a picture which has direct eye contact; this could allow the reader to feel more drawn in and connected when looking and reading the front cover. Within the mid shot, I have decided to include a clip board in order to look professional and shows signs of hardwork and a sense of dedication to school life, hoping the reader will see that this is a high achieving, good school.

Contents page

I have chosen to use this as my image for my contents pages as it is not as direct as the picture above yet still displays suggestions that the model is working hard and in an enjoyable environment due to the slight smile on her face. The use of her eye contact with the key board can also support this idea that she is dedicated and focused on her work. I have chosen to dress my model in their own clothes considering the school has a sixth form as well which could help show that they are reasonably laid back while still demonstrating that work and education is a main aspect to the school. The mid shot used shows what the model is doing, (computer work) that could display to the readers that the school is up-to-date with technology and work can be done on computers.

MAGAZINE CONTENTS PAGE.

colours match -show profession

chatty informal register

mid shot to help show what is going on in the setting

friendly voice in the editing letter to help the reader feel more welcomed and connected when reading the magazine 

direct address is used throughout to help the reader seem more personally addressed

MAGAZINE COVER.

During the process of making my front cover, I thought a lot about how I could involve key media terminology into the design to portray clearer ideas and similarities to a regular magazine.
I have named the magazine SSFG (Southfield School For Girls) however I have wrote it in 'Princetown LET' font which shows ideas of an typical high school font that can often be associated with American Basketball theme. I have decided to use this font as it gives the cover a bit on an edge and makes it different to what you would normally expect to see. If the title is a bit different and quirky, it may be more likely people are going to be interested in reading the magazine and see what inside information it holds. 
Underneath the title I have decided to include a tag line 'your weekly school gossip mag' that can be paired and associated with the magazine. Along with this I have used direct address in it 'your' which can make the reader feel more included and part of the magazine seeing as it is addressing them directly. 
In the top right corner of the cover there is a burst/splash which can draw the readers attention and can help influence them into buying/reading the magazine. I have chosen to give away a free pen which can be found in the burst to make the readers feel more tempted into reading the magazine. 
The mid shot image I have used is dominating the page which can show that the school is strong and powerful in the aspect of education while it shows precisely what the category of the magazine is.

Throughout the cover of my magazine I have maintained the same 'Arial' sans serif font with it being the same size to show continuity portraying ideas of a structured, professional school. As I have used a sans serif font it displays that the school is consider as fairly modern and more up-to-date with technology and general teaching. 

Also through the front page I have continuously used an informal chatty register in order to target my chosen audience of school children, which then helps them to feel more comfortable and relaxed when reading it.