Flatplan of Front Cover, Contents and Double Page Spread

This is an evaluation of my flat plan in comparison to the research I carried out previously in this project.

My magazine is for anyone of ages 16-21 of all genders. It will be a hip hop magazine even though most people that answered my magazine said they like to read celebrity gossip magazines however most people said that they would choose to read a hip hop magazine to read out of the other genres.

Doing the questionnaire earlier, I found out that most people buy magazines on a weekly basis and get attracted by the colours red and black whereas other colours such as pink, blue, orange or yellow do not catch their eyes as much. Finding this out, I knew that I should base my magazine on the colours red and black to attract as many audience as possible however I will be using the colour grey for the background because I personally think it match’s great with those colours

I am going to price my magazine at £2.45 and the reason being for that is because when asking around, I realised that most people spend around £1-£2 on their magazine. I also think that £2.45 is a reasonable price for a music magazine which has many interviews, posters and articles issued. The magazines XXL and Word Up that I chose to analyze have buttons on its front cover, however I think my magazine will look good and also not as plain so therefore I will have a button on the top below the title. I also have a selling line at the bottom which says 'CONTEST: Win Mc Naz CD's and T-shirts!' Word Up magazine has selling lines and that is where I got the idea from to add a selling line to my front cover. 
I will have a medium shot of Nazir Shah as on my front cover under the title so that both the title and the image stand out. I have writing around the image so that it does not cover the photo. 
On my contents and double page spread, the title will be the same font as my front cover so that you can see the link. I will again have a big and bold title. The writing on my contents will be on the left hand side of the page rather than randomly place because I think it looks more professional this way and also it will be easier for other to read. On the right hand side I will have a long shot photo, and underneath that a smaller, medium-shot photo. 
The image on my double page spread is again of Nazir Shah in a medium long shot. This photo will be on the right hand side, this is because both of the double page spreads that I analyzed previously had images on the right writing on the left. I think this is a good idea because it makes both the writing and photo stand out clear and noticeable. 
The title on my double page spread starts on the top left page with a little bit of it leading on to the right hand side of the page. The stand first and quote is right below that so that the reader reads it before the article. It will also be writing in bigger fonts than the article. Below that there is plenty of space for my to write my article. 

Analyzing Content Pages: XXL and Word Up

XXL
Text: The text on the contents page is similar to the front on the front cover. This shows that it is the same magazine and does not confuse people. This is written in black so that it is instantly readable and is bold so that it is the first thing you read when you turn to that page. The features are written in white which is clear and noticeable over the grey background.


Colour: The main colours on the contents page are grey, red, black and white which carries on from the front cover. Again this shows a link so that it feels like you are reading the same magazine. The black top and black trousers that Dr. Dre is wearing also matches the colour scheme of this page. 


Image: The image of Dr. Dre takes up the bottom left of the contents page. That is the only image on the contents page which hints out to us that Dr. Dre is the artist that is interviewed in this magazine. The artist photographed on the contents page is the same artist on the front cover of the magazine however it is a different image. The continuous images of Dr. Dre tells us that he is the centre of this issues XXL magazine.


Layout: The title of the content page is at the top of the page just like most magazines so that it is the first thing you see on that page. Things that are featured in the magazine are all placed on the right side of the page  with Dr. Dre's photo placed on the left. There is a quote above Dr. Dre's image written in big. Around it is a clear space so that it is readable. 

Word Up!
Text: The text on this contents page are on the left which is different to the other magazine I analyzed. The cover stories and features are written in white which whereas the title is written in yellow. As you can see these colours are continued from the magazine cover. 


Colour: The colour of the writing on this page are yellow and white which is noticeable over the blue background of the page. The images on this page are previews of what is inside the issue so therefore the colours are depending on each individual page. This is not colour schemed to fit the contents page. 


Image: There are six images on this page and all of them are images of pages which are issued in the magazine. In a way this is a good idea because it allowed people to see what is issued in the magazine however in my opinion I prefer is there were fewer images so that the reader is surprised at what they see when they flick through the pages. 


Layout: The layout of this contents page is simple. All cover stories and features are written below the title down the left hand page and all images are placed on the right. The images take up more space then the actual text on the page and the title isn't that big either. 


Doing these magazine covers will help me make decisions on how to make mine later in the project. Word Up and XXL magazine covers are completely different from each other, both of them has helped me in different ways. 

Music Magazine Cover Analysis

During this slideshow, I will be talking about the front covers of XXL and Word Up magazine. 

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Double Page Spread Analysis

Reading through pages in magazines, I have learnt many techniques that producers use in their double page spreads. Most magazines have a big image, with a big and bold title and a stand first as well as the article or interview itself on its double page spread.

I have spotted many things when analysing a double page spread in Word Up magazine. Starting of with the background, I instantly knew that they used gradient tool using the software Photoshop when editing this. The colour is darker at the top left corner of the page and gets lighter towards the bottom right hand corner.

On the right side of the page there is an image of the model Nicki Minaj in a medium shot which fills the whole right page of the double page spread. The black top she is wearing goes well with the light grey background. She is looking at is from an angle of gaze, showing a connection between her and the readers. She is posing with her hands on her head to emphasize her hair that often changes to different styles and colour. This also makes the tattoo on her hand stand out. The pose that she is doing shows her inner self let out and how she really is like. Lastly, there is a shadow effect on the image which shows the great use of photo editing software that is used on her.

At the top of the left page, there is a blank space. This makes the double page spread look better because it makes the writing that comes after it look clearer and more effective, because it shows that ‘less is more.’ The title is ‘BEFORE SHE WAS BORN’ and this starts a quarter down the page with enormous writing so that it is visible and readable, and also the first thing we read on the page. The stand first on this page is written in bigger fonts in this article, most people tend to read this before the article because it allows us to have a preview of what the article is going to be about before we read it. Under the stand first is always the journalist’s name. Reading through the article, there are many quotes from Nicki Minaj which shows the type of person she is and the type of way she speaks. The article starts of with a big and bold ‘E’ that announces the article and overall, it isn’t very chatty but rather formal.

The second double page spread that I analysed was from a different magazine called XXL. The two double page spreads have many things in common for example in both articles, the image fills most of the right hand page leaving the article/interview on the left, both with big and bold headings that start of a little lower down the page, however this double page spread has a lot more writing than the Nicki Minaj one.

The background colour for this double page is a creamy-white. The artist model Dr.Dre is looking at an angle of gaze however he has a very serious facial expression. The image is taken in a medium long shot so that we can analyse the black clothes he is wearing.  You can tell that this image has been photo shopped well because of the sepia/old fashion effect on the image. The colour of it looks similar to the background.

This double page spread is written smaller then the first double page spread analysis because there is more writing, however it is still as effective as the other one. The title is the first thing that people would read when they see this because it is catchy, big and bold. Alliteration is also used in the title which pulls the readers attention right when they start reading the beginning. This article does not have a stand first but on the other hand it does have a paragraph on history for people who have missed out. This interview is different is different from the Nicki Minaj one. In the Nicki Minaj double page spread, there are a few quotes whereas this one has a more of a question/answer layout where the interviewer asks a question and Dr.Dre answers them. The questions are written in bold and the answers are normal. This makes the question stand out more and just like the Nicki Minaj double page, this is not a very chatty interview but a more formal one.

I have learnt many techniques when researching and analysing these double page spreads such as having a plain background with a big image of an artist on one side and writing on the other. I will definitely make my title big so that catches peoples attention and is the first thing people look at to read.  For my own double page spread, I will add a lot more writing than the first double page that I analysed and hopefully as much as the Dr.Dre double page spread. 

Reader Profile

Amirah is a 16 year old girl who’s in her first year at sixth form. She is studying Media studies, Music and Design and technology. She is very serious when it comes to her studies and has a high interest in all her subjects; she is focused towards all of them however her favourite subject is Music because it is something she can relate to as she loves singing and wants to become an artist when she is older.

Amirah is very adventurous, living everyday like it’s her last. She loves trying out new things with her close friends and browsing the World Wide Web, going onto socialising sites such as Facebook or MySpace. She has been to many karaoke parties and also does covers of other singers and posts it on YouTube where she can get a lot of views and feedback from viewers.

Trey Songz, Drake, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and Tyga are some of Amirahs favorite artists. She gets inspired by them and looks at Nicki Minaj for her fashion tips but creating her own looks out of it, she also loves to read about them in magazines such as XXL. She has been to a lot of these artists’ concerts in the o2 arena in London with a lot of her school mates. That’s how much Amirah actually loves music!

In the future Amirah defiantly wants to for fill her dream of being a successful, popular hip hop artists were her songs can change peoples lives all around the world.

With this reader profile, I’m sure I can create an entertaining music magazine that will  amuse my readers.