Contents page

This is my final contents page

Double-page spread

This is my final double-page spread

Front cover

This is my final front cover

Experimenting with fonts

This is an experiment with fonts and names

I had a selection of different photos i wanted to use for my front cover, however i chose this photo. Although it is quite a common and ordinary pose, i feel that it stands out and helps portray the message i was aiming for.the smile shows Cameron Graces personality however the big eyes shows her confidence and authority within music.

I selected the front cover image and started editing it.I cut out the background and experimented with different colours.


Once i had picked a background colour i carefully spent time editing each section of the photo ensuring there were no white spaces or unwanted parts left. Using Photoshop i also brightened the photo slightly to ensure high quality and a bright, eye catching photo.

I decided to name my artist "Cameron Grace". It sounds natural, simplistic and catchy making it memorable for the audience. I decided to try out different fonts for her name. Whilst researching different magazine front covers, I saw every artist/band having their name bold across the front of the image. This gave me confidence to display "Cameron Grace" bold across my front cover.

I knew the font needed to be bold but I did not know whether it should be sans or sanserif. Instead of deciding i got a variety of both styles each with individual differences.
After closely looking and asking a few peoples opinions, I decided to use either the first font or the last font.




I liked the detail and shape of the first font however I knew the second was much more bold, distinctive and effective towards the genre of music Cameron Grace has. This is why I decided to use the second font.

Contents page

Before making and designing my own contents page I closely looked at some examples. I found some professional music contents pages and also some older students who have designed their content's pages in the past.

Picture 1: Picture 2:

Picture 3:

Picture 1 and 2 are from professional magazine whereas picture 3 is a student trying to make an effective music magazine contents page. All three clearly are targeted at different audiences however they have many similarity's between them.

Picture 1 is from Q magazine, it is targeted at a rock audience. The format of the contents page compared to the normal front covers is very simplistic and organised. I think this works really well and still manages to fit in with the genre. It includes two picture to keep the audience interested whilst at the same time not taking any attention away from the important page numbering.

Picture 2 is from the magazine Icons- a classic Hollywood stars and lifestyles magazine. I think it portrays the genre very well. The classic black dress worn by the model help emphasise the the "glamor" of Hollywood and also fits in with the theme of movies and red carpets. This helps target the magazine towards the audience. I also like the relaxed, simplistic format of the contents page. Although the colours are all very plain e.g. black and White it really helps accentuate the genre. I will try and include this effect within my magazine as I think it is affective and important.

Picture 3 is a student magazine trying to portray a hip-hop music magazine. I assumed this genre because of the colours and pictures used.This is a very important thing to do and I hope I can portray my genre through the contents page. The yellow against the black stands out a lot which immediately attracts attention. The variety of sizes of fonts on the page help the reader see the main articles and less important ones. I like this effect and will consider it whilst making my own. However the format of the model I do no like so much. Although the pink outlines helps it stand out and fit in with the rest of the page, I think it looks less professional and doesn't fit in as well. Furthermore the variety of colour against the black looks effective yet I do not feel it would be effective within my own magazine.

The three different contents pages all have different target audience and genres. Picture 1 and 2 are most relevant to me however I found it interesting to look at a completely different genre of magazine. Although picture 1 is more simplistic and could be descried as boring, I think the way in which the colours remain to fit in with the magazines colour scheme is effective and the messages are read. In comparison the boldness of picture 3 would grasp the readers attention first and could be more suited for the Target audience I am aiming for. I like the style of font on the header however I feel that there could not be a running theme through all the pages whereas picture 1 has.

This brief looking at contents pages has helped me think further into the making of my own magazine contents pages.

I know the importance of colour and layout and hope to make my own contents page as successful.

Looking at front covers

When I thought about the type of style and format I wanted my front cover to be , I needed to decide on what my main feature would be.

I decided to use my friend and dress her in the style of pixie lot, lady gaga etc...

these are a collection of styles I am aiming to achieve through my photography.

I feel that the bold make up and striking poses grab the audiences attention straight away and make the artist appear interesting and unusual , this convinces the reader to read the magazine as they want to know what the article is about.

The clothes worn are almost as important as the artists themselves. Readers like to see the unusual clothes worn and get inspiration for a new style of clothes.

However this type of artist does not appeal to a wide range of audiences. To ensure that I'm not being too specific with the target audience the writing and other features displayed on my front cover will try and attract wider audience whilst at the same time showing of the main article.

Analysing these front covers has given me inspiration for my own format and I know now the kind of style I need to achieve in order to reach out to a wide target audience. I need to ensure that the pose and style of the model won't just reach out to a female audience but also a male. This is what worries me with a single female artist however if i was to use an all boy band the same thing may happen but other way round.

Deciding on the name

To come up with my final magazine name, i wrote a list of all possible ideas and names which could be suitable.From this list i cut it down to these 9:

1)Harmony
2)Megaphone
3)Beat it
4)Andante
5)Chorus
6)Polyphonic
7)Horizon
8)Invincible
9)Remix

In order to decide my final name i created a survey which i sent round my demographic

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CVRS8XW

My music survey

I knew it was necessary to come up with a suitable survey in which I can ask a range of participants. I came up with a large selection of questions which I then narrowed down to what seemed the most relevant 10. To make analysing the results easier, I composed my survey on an online website called "surveymonkey.com".

I thought about the type of questions I would ask; open or closed , music based or general magazine.

I believe that I have a wide variety of questions within my questionnaire and think it will be helpful in making my final product.

This is a link to my finished survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=bYhU39WKVkvToizkupL1Zw_3d_3d

Once I had sent my survey to a variety of friends of all ages, I needed to analyse the results in a way which would be most effective to me.

These are my analysed results:

My first question is about age.81% of the results were aged 16-18. I purposely asked more participants within this age group as that is my main target audience. This then made this result unsurprising.

When I sent my survey to all the participants I tried to ask an equal amount of boys and girls. My results show I asked more females which won't effect my magazine too much. Although every genre of music has a target audience, it isn't based of gender of audience.

When I started to analyse my results to the survey I realised that this question was not necessary to me completing this cover.However some music is suited more for certain ethnic groups, which is why this was interesting for the rest of the results.

The response to this question just shows me how wide most audiences' music taste is. It gives me confidence that a mixed-genre magazine will suit and work well with my target audience. I found the written responses interesting as I did not think it was that popular within the music industry, especially with my age of target audience. Nevertheless the two main responses- pop and rock, shows me that the main artists I need to talk about should be within the genre.

This response shows me that although my target audience don't often read music magazines, there is definitely a gap in the market for a magazine aimed at teenagers-young adults. The "never" response which has such a high percentage could represent that this age of audience don't want to read music magazines. Nevertheless I believe they will want to if it interests them enough.

I realised after sending out my survey that this question is not necessary for making my music magazine. I will not be making multiple issues. however the slightly higher percentage for monthly shows that my audience prefer to have time to read every article thoroughly and not rushed in time to get the next weeks issue.

This result did not surprise me. Concerts and gigs are very popular with the modern teenager/young adult. It will be good publicity and useful information to know when their favourite bands are playing live, however it will also enable less familiar bands to have a chance to publicise .

When I analysed this result I found it useful for planning my celebrities in my own magazine, however I regret not to ask an open question following on such as "who would you like to see on the front cover" or a question similar to that. This is because I don't know what celebrities they like nevertheless by researching different magazine I have a general idea of the type of celebrities currently interviewed.

When I asked this question I was hoping to get more personal responses, however the two I did get were very useful. I had forgotten to think about sports in my magazine. Although it is a music magazine i think it could benefit adding little articles about sport or sport related to music. Nevertheless from the closed question responses I can see that reviews are very important and will definitely include a wide variety of music,film and TV reviews.

I decided not to give option responses for this question as I thought they may just pick any random answer. Instead I gave them a space in which they had to fill in. I included two questions within the one as I felt they combine well together.The responses to the freebie question were limited but use full. Most people admitted they are not the main influence into buying the magazine which gives me confidence not to worry too much about including one. However it tells me with the other responses that the front cover and main article is very important. If it doesn't stand out it will not interest them as much. I know now how important he front cover is for Good sales.

After analysing my results carefully , I now have a good understanding of what my target audience want to see in a music magazine and what I must incuded in order to make is succesful.

An analysis of a double page spread-(NME 24/10/09)

This article is instantly opened as soon as the reader reads the magazine. It is the first double page spread of every copy of NME which allows the regular readers to expect and look forward to this article. This article is so necessary as is focuses purely on why the readers buy this magazine; to find out all the latest from the music industry. This article allows the readers to see what new music is worth buying and what’s not. This could be perceived as benefiting the readers as they may enjoy knowing all the latest current bands before everyone else.



All the bands featured are not very common which allows them to get publicised and the readers to listen to music they are not so familiar with. It enables readers to see new genres of music and artists, giving them an advantage on what’s hot and what’s not.All the bands featured are not very common which allows them to get publicised and the readers to listen to music they are not so familiar with. It enables readers to see new genres of music and artists, giving them an advantage on what’s hot and what’s not.



NME also benefits from this article as most of the songs talked about are available on their website which attracts attention and recognition to it. They have clearly identified which singles are free to download which instantly will attract the reader to listen to it and see if they like it. This almost verifies that the audience will definitely listen and see if they like it, as it’s free and they could find new music to love for free.


The colour scheme is very simple and keeps in theme with the magazine logo; red and white. The stark colour scheme means that readers will always associate red and white with NME. However the order of colour varies which adds attraction and does not let the reader get bored looking at it. The three main colours; red, white and black are all bold, eye catching, colours normally associated with music in which NME is normally aimed at within the genre and style. All three colours represent a rock type of genre. If they were pink, purple and orange you would get the feel of more pop. However the colours they have chosen resemble the genre they are aiming for and are most likely worn in clothing by the target audience.


Although each section varies in size the format remains organized keeping the readers interested and able to read clear short extracts. It remains in the style of “typical” magazine spread e.g. lots of sub-headings with a clear paragraph underneath .This is an extract from a 1969 edition of NME which shows the organisation and layout to be similar to this current episode:
Nevertheless the variety of colour, language used g shown help bring the magazine up to date and in a style in which readers will enjoy to read.
This article also reveals what latest songs arn’t as good. Although this opinion may not be shared by all readers, it gives them an idea on what might not be worth listening to or spending money on. The readers will normally trust and believe what the articles say by the journalists, there opinion and reviews will be important to the readers. I think the “not” section is also important to remind the readers that others opinions will not always be the same as theirs. It might encourage them to listen and see for themselves if they like songs which others may not. Furthermore the language in which the “not” part is shown is very colloquial and almost humorous for example “.
It almost makes the song worth listening to just to hear how bad it is. The response makes the song sound fun and not so serious whilst at the same time criticizing.



There is an image of each of the 10 bands; this brings life and colour to the page but also helps signify the genre of the uncommon bands which will help the readers see which songs they are more likely to like. For example ,you can see by the fashion and image what type of music it will be such as this image shows grunge mixed with an urban rap. This will help attract certain songs to certain audiences. A good thing about this regular article is it shows all types of genres not just rock. For example, last week there was a review on Britney Spears(NME 10/10/09) this allows all types of audiences to read and see if there is anything they might like, a friend of family member may find this article useful and fascinating for them as well.


The language has a formal yet informal tone to it. They compare “we fell to earth” to “Mork and Mindy” for example. This allows the reader to understand they type of formality in which the music is sung. The formal language is shown through the use of alliteration and sibilance for example “sickly sweet and “hauntingly harrowing”. This adds humour and allows the readers to stay interested in the extract. However the level of informality also is shown through the text for example “hipster wankers”. This reflects the personality of the artists, but also helps signify the genre at which this magazine is aimed at. An older generation may not be so aware of this language which helps aim the target audience of that certain band but also the magazine as a whole.


In conclusion analyzing this double page spread has enabled me to understand more about the layout and content needed to ensure a successful double page spread. It will help me make mine successful and effective

Analysis of front cover

Enable to understand the type of content needed to make our front covers look realistic and effective, we analyzed an existing magazine front cover to understand the importance of every detail included.





Colour: the colour scheme on the front cover is very bold and simple. All the writing is in white or gold. However the
title of the magazine “NME” is in red which is outlined in white.
The white outline matches the rest of the front cover colour
scheme, however the red allows the title to stand out and
add a bit of variation. The background is a solid black; this
allows everything else to stand out effectively on it. The
black background and typography colour also helps
represent the genre of the magazine. If it bright and
colourful it could suggest more of a pop magazine.
However the use of dark colours suggests more rock
and acoustic/individual music. In the bottom right corner
is the barcode with price, date and website. Although the
price remains in a black font like every other barcode,
the date and website although small is it a red colour.
This does not stand out instantly however allows the
reader to recognise the colour red to be match with NME.


How the cover tells the reader about content/genre. The typography gives most of the content away for the readers, however the actual bands themselves help identify the real genre of the magazine. For this addition of NME the main image and “spotlight” of the front cover is Kurt Cobain. This immediately represents a genre of rock and grunge. The other teasers and strap lines allow the audience to get a full understand of what type of article will be included which help make their decision on whether or not this magazine is for them.


Layout: the lay out of this October the 10th
episode is very organised and simple. All the
main and interesting articles are displayed
around the main central image. This is very
effective and it allows the most advertising
of the content to be shown and wastes no
very big and in the centre which draws
the reader’s attention straight away.




Images used: There is one main image of Kurt
Cobain which tells the reader he will be a main feature
in the magazine. It is in black and white which fits in
with the colour scheme of the front cover



The essential feature such as barcode, price, date and title although may not seem symbolic, they represent extra details to the magazine. The title NME has been shortened from the original: new musical express. The abbreviation does not represent the music genre as well however it is more short, snappy and memorable. The people that do recognise the old title will understand how it relates to the magazine as it shows the readers the new, most update music. The “express” represents the amount of information talked about and suggests it is a regular magazine. The price for this episode of NME is £2.30. In the current magazine business magazine tend to be between the prices of £1.00-£4.00. This makes NME seem not too expensive however not to cheap. This could represent the good articles and feature the readers could read about if they bought it, whereas a cheap low end cost of magazine suggests the articles will be cheaper and less information will be published.


Typography: the text on the front cover varies in style depending on the message. The artists which are talked about in articles are situated around the main image in the style of handwriting. This reminds the audience of the time when journalism was more classic; just writing in a bar. The colour is in a sequence of white then mustard gold, white ect. The artists named vary genre. There is Jimi Hendrix who is a classic NME featured artist but also artists such as Jay-Z. The other typography shown on the front cover is more bold and formal. It advertises the main features. Although the font is serif the colour scheme remains the same as the rest; white and gold.

Before starting to design my own music magazine, i looked through and researched different magazines and the style in which they portray. I analysed many different genres in order to fully understand the type of audience they are aimed at. I found a copy of "NME" from 1969. At that time it was still called New Musical Express.Although the image has changed in terms of colour, format and editing, the change that stood out most to me was the change in music genre content. In the 1968 black and white paper magazine the content was more classic rock with articles such as Bob Dylan and Cliff Richard, whereas in the 2009 glossy bright colour magazine although the content is still based around rock such as Jimmy Hendrix, the amount of "pop" and modern hip-hop is increasing e.g. Jay-Z and Arctic Monkeys.