Front Cover Construction 4

Front Cover Construction 4

RELOAD LOGO

RELOAD LOGO

I have come up with the original idea of creating a logo for my title like some other magazines such as RWD Magazine (left) that has the logo of a rewinding symbol which just separates it from the other magazines and makes it unique with its own style. I have come up with the idea of creating a Reloading symbol seeing as my title is called RELOAD. I came up with this idea when constructing my magazine and I noticed the reloading sign in the URL tab on my mac laptop. --------->I thought this would be a good idea to recreate this symbol as the 'O' in my title. I have started making this symbol as you can see in my front page construction above.

Font Research

 Font Research

In my font research I aim to decide on the types of fonts I wish to use on my front cover of my magazine. To do this I will need to look at various magazines that fit in with the genre of my magazine such as VIBE and RWD Magazine which can both be associated to the urban genre that I am following. I am going to look at some of the styles of typography and fonts used on the magazines I have analysed.

<-------- These are some of the examples of fonts that I would like to follow the style of when constructing my cover lines on the front of my magazine. The font is similar to the style I will use as it is simple and bold which will not draw attention away from my main headlines which I will have in a different, eye catching font. The Plus sign is a feature I would like to incorporate onto the cover of my magazine as it gives the magazine a unique look instead of saying 'plus'. I also like the idea of putting some text inside a box so it is different from the rest of the fonts and text, also so it stands out a little bit more from the rest. These images are from the TI edition of VIBE Magazine.

Magazine Analysis 3

Magazine Analysis 3

General

• The company that produces the magazine is VIBE.
• The target audience is around 16-25 for people that are interested in the urban/rap genre of music as most of their information and models on the covers are urban rappers.
• It costs £3.99 which is around the average cost of most music magazines.
• It has been published monthly since 1993, however it was shut down in 2009 but the founder Quincy Jones insisted she would keep the magazine alive as an online publication. 
• As of June 30, 2012, Vibe had a circulation of 300,943, of which 202,439 was paid, and 98,504 was non paid. 

The Cover

• The title/name of the magazine is called 'VIBE'. Originally, the publication had been called Volume before co-founding editor, Scott Poulson-Bryant gave it the name Vibe. Vibe is a very dominant and simple name but it gives people an insight to the genre of the magazine as the people who use the terminology like 'vibe' are associated with urban and hip hop. 

• The masthead/title logo is bold and stands out as probably the second most eye catching feature on the front cover because the model has to dominate the page. The use of bright red makes it stand out distinctively. Part of the masthead is covered up by the models head which could suggest the company are very confident that people already know the name of their magazine as it is such a well know magazine. 

• The magazine doesn't have a specific slogan or strap line, however it says at the top "All that was cool, crazy and crass". This headline at the top is basically summing up the year of 2010 and giving a brief insight/description to white happened in that year. 

• The main image on the front cover is of TI and he is a rapper which immediately ensures the customer what the genre of the magazine is. The posture and look that TI is giving is very intriguing, as he looking directly at the camera when the photo was taken. The way his hands are grasped together gives him a very stern, bold look. The lighting effects on TI's face and his shoulders are very effective as it look as if the camera shot has had some artificial light shining onto his face and shoulders. 

• There are no other images on the front cover which benefits the main image as there are no distractions when people are drawn to the magazine. The main image dominates the cover and there are no other images to look at, only the cover lines and title. 

• The content that is promoted by the cover lines is an exclusive interview with TI, News about Jay-Z's New York Takeover, Keri Hilson being a 'bad girl' and the miseducation of Waka Flocka Flame. Plus they are promoting free giveaways inside the magazine. 

• The typefaces (fonts) used are simple but effective as the colours of the fonts are white and red which stand out well on a blue background and they compliment each other as well. The sizes of the fonts vary which makes it more interesting to look at, also the fonts that are bigger than others are made bigger so they stand out more. Some fonts are bold and some are regular which they use to make the more important headline stand out. 

• The language features and devices I can identify on the cover of the magazine are quite informal which fits in with the genre and style of the magazine, which is urban/rap. The way the cover lines are used in various text sizes and colours are effective as they draw the customer's eye to the headlines. 

• VIBE does follow the same style/trend as other magazines such as RAP UP and RWD magazine, however VIBE have their own style but are only associated with the other magazines because of the genre that they all fall under. 

Magazine Decided Colour Schemes and House Style

Decided Colour Schemes and House Styles

 

 

Cover Lines Planning

Cover Lines Planning   

 

Title- RELOAD

Featuring Artists-                                                             Main Artist Exclusive

                                                                                                              Interview- Connor Stevens Wiley                                                                                                         

Devlin                                  

Giggs                                                                                                            Quote from Connor Stevens

Ellie Goulding  

Nicki Minaj                                                                                                   "                                         "

Boy Better Know                                    Main Image

Wretch 32 

Yasmin

Example                                                                                                          

Calvin                                                                                                            

Maverick Sabre

Interview with a famous artist-                                        50 biggest tunes right now!

Either Professor Green or Example

 Barcode

 

 QR Code

 Website                                                         Who is the greatest rapper ever?

                                                                        You decide

Date Issue   

 Header- Music Style Sport TV News Film Gaming

Magazine Colours and Cover Lines Research

Magazine Colours and Cover Lines Research

 

The colours I am aiming for on my front cover of my Magazine are similar to the two magazines on show here. Because of the blue baseball jacket my model is wearing it would be a good idea to match the blue jacket with a blue background. The model in this magazine is also wearing blue clothing which blends in with the background. In my research I have found that most magazines use red throughout the magazine as it makes text stand out more. I am going to use the colour scheme of red, white, blue and black throughout the magazine on my front cover, contents page and double page spread. The mix of red blue and white look really effective when put together. I am going to use this mix of colours on the front of my magazine. 

This edition of RWD Magazine also follows the same colour scheme as I wish to incorporate into my front cover. The mix of blue red and white really complements the model and is easy to read. I am going to make my title with a red font however leaving the 'O' in white as it will have a logo of a reload sign, following the name of my title. The type of blue I want to use for my background is a dark turquoise colour which makes the white and red text more appealing and noticeable. The cover lines on this edition of RWD magazine is more likely the style and shapeI would follow rather than the magazine above, simply because my model is roughly the same size as the model on the RWD magazine front cover. I am going to write the list of artist names featuring inside my magazine plus an exclusive with a famous artist. I will include some features from the VIBE magazine above such as the barcode, a header at the top of the page above the title and some quotes from artists. The types of cover lines I have looked at to use on my front cover are again, similar to this magazine as they use aligned, straight edged cover lines.

Front Cover Construction 3

Another change I wanted to make to my front cover was the background. I wanted to change it to white as I feel it would look better. All I did to change the background was to go to the fill paint bucket tool and select the background as the colour on my gradient was already white. The paint bucket tool is on the tool bar on the left. (below)

As you can see the title has now got a slight reflection and I decided it was not quite right. Therefore I made the opacity higher to make it seem like a more realistic reflection so you can't see it as well. To do this I simply went to the tool in the bottom right corner and used the slider to turn up the opacity (below) until I was happy with it. I ended up having the opacity at 80%.




Furthermore, the gradient tool was selected so I then clicked where I wanted the reflection on the second title to stop and dragged down from the middle of the two titles.

Now I had a layer mask on the second title I selected the gradient tool which will give it a reflective effect. I selected it on the tool bar on the left.








I then needed to create a layer mask (below) to edit the actual gradient and opacity of the vertically flipped second title. So I went down into the bottom right hand corner and clicked on the icon that looks like a small camera and as you can see on the image it is highlighted in a yellow box.









Next, I flipped the second title vertically to make it the opposite way round to the original title just like a reflection would be. I did this by right clicking on the second title and then clicking flip vertical.

Continuing on, I next wanted to add some effects to my title. I wanted to create a reflection effect. To do I started by clicking duplicate layer to create two of the same title. I did this by right clicking on the title that is in the bar in the bottom right corner and it comes up with a tab and I then clicked duplicate layer which is highlighted in the image.

FRONT COVER CONSTRUCTION 3

Front Cover Construction 2

As you can see now the title is inserted above my models head.
The title is simple at the moment but later on I will be adding colour and some effects to make it stand out more and seem more interesting to customers. I wanted the font to be positioned above the models head as this is what most of the magazines do, which I found out when researching into the music magazine market.





 The title was inserted into a new page and all I had to do was to click on the title and drag it into my other page where I already had my model. I had to hold it down onto the other page for a few seconds before it transferred into the other page. Once is transferred I kept holding down on the mouse and dragged it into the position I wanted it to be placed.

 After I had finished editing my model, I decided to insert my title that I got from the website www.dafont.com where you can type in the name of your title and choose the font you want. I went for a simple but bold font which is what Vibe and RWD magazine have on their front page as I found out in my research. To open the title I had already saved it so all I had to do was go to File -----> Open then search for my font, click on it and press open.







This screen grab is after I had finished using the spot healing brush and as you can see the two images are different if you look closely you can see there are no imperfections on my models face or neck.

Continuing on from my last development of editing my front cover I now wanted to clear up any imperfections on my models face such as spots, blemishes or uneven areas. To do this I used the spot healing tool (above) selected on the tool bar on the left. I made the tool size 15 which is relatively small and patched up any spots or imperfections I could see on his face

FRONT COVER CONSTRUCTION 2

Front Cover Construction

Now that the brightness and contrast levels were apparent I was able to select the amount of brightness and the levels of contrast I wanted to apply to my model. I selected the brightness to 20 and the contrast to 30 which highlighted his face more and revealed the brighter colours in his clothes. This makes the model stand out more on my front cover, which is how NME and Q magazine have their models on the cover, looking back at my research.



Next, I wanted to actually edit the body of my model. I wanted to enhance the colour and brightness on his clothing and face so I went to Image ------> Adjustments -------> Brightness and Contrast. Once I had selected what I wanted I was able to then change it and play around with how I wanted it to look until I decided I was pleased with the outcome.

  Once I had selected his body and all the features that I wanted to edit, I went to select -------->  inverse because at this point I was selecting everything apart from the figure of the body. Clicking on inverse selects the figure of the body and this is the only part that is currently selected. This would now enable me to edit the body without changing anything in the background.





 This is the first part of editing my model, I cut his figure/body out with the quick selection tool (below) by dragging around his body and zooming in to make sure I correctly selected the parts I wanted. In certain areas It was harder to select around the body as they are a similar colour to the background and it doesn't pick up the colour as well on Photoshop. So I had to zoom in closer and accurately select the parts I wanted.




This is a screen grab of my original picture of my model for my front cover that I am using. I am going to start making my front cover of my magazine, on Photoshop, from here and this is the starting point. I am going to create a very urban look to the cover of my magazine including urban fonts and maybe some slang.

FRONT COVER CONSTRUCTION 

Final Front Cover Photo

Final Front Cover Photo 

I have decided to use this photo for my front cover because I like the clothes he is wearing and the posture he is standing in. I have edited this picture in Photoshop to take away any imperfections and I have turned the contrast and brightness up slightly to give him a more enhanced look when standing out on the front cover of my magazine. I aim to select his body and put the figure on either a white or black background, with cover lines wrapped around his body depending on the colour of the background. I am going to maybe have the title above his head but I am not decided yet on weather to put the title slightly behind his head as this is what the magazines do in my Magazine Genre Inspiration. The colours of font and for the title of my magazine are maybe going to be blue, black and white as I have researched that the house style of magazines I am following mostly have three colours that flow without the magazine, also these colours in the text and title are usually found on the clothes of the model so that the unified house style all fits in together.                                                        

Magazine Final Photos

Magazine Final Photos

Target Audience Survey Questions

Target Audience Research

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Example of an urban song

Example Of An Urban Song

This YouTube video is an example of an urban song that I am following the style of when planning for my music magazine. Professor Green produces the style of music that I want to be involved in my magazine and he has the look that I want in my pictures for the magazine, which is casual, urban and modern.

Target Audience Research

Target Audience 

For my magazine I would like to do an urban music magazine which involves a few similar types of music such as rap, grime and RnB. According to the UK Tribes website...

 "Urban music is the most pervasive and influential genre in popular music, topping the charts around the world and sound-tracking the lives of many different Tribes. Members of the Urban segment are therefore very close to one of the biggest cultural signifiers in the youth market – although in planning terms, genuine Urban segment members make up a small slice of the market."

Above is a column on the website about the Urban segment on the UK Tribes website that involves information about Urban trends, fashion and linked groups. The column above are stats about the Urban tribe and gives you facts about how the urban tribe is formed. For example certain fashion and friend groups can influence the way people act classing them into different categories such as Urban. This is a screen grab again, from the UK Tribes website showing the media consumption for the Urban Tribe and how certain aspects of media can influence how a person can be perceived into a 'group/tribe'. As you can clearly see technology heavily influences the urban group such as internet, TV and radio. The groups that come under the urban category on the UK Tribes website are The Trackies, The Get Paid Crew, The Blingers and The DIYers. These groups are associated with the urban trend as they share the same similar qualities and characteristics.

Relating back to my genre of Urban music for my magazine I have researched into what Urban music is and how the idea of an urban group is formed by looking at the http://www.uktribes.com/urban website and the http://www.urbanmusicdirect.com/ website. I went on the UrbanMusicDirect website to find out more information about urban music. On the website it has so much information on urban. It has the latest rap, hip hop and RnB tracks with music video thumbnails. It has a category list as a sidebar near the bottom of the page to give direct links to categories such as music videos, news, albums and many more. 

From my experience of researching the urban trend I have come to the conclusion that the urban group are trend setters with their own style of fashion and interests. I will take on board what I have learnt from the research when planning my front cover and double page spread for my urban music magazine using information I have gathered from the two websites I have linked above.

Magazine Title Final 3 Names

I have come up with three final names to decide from for my title of my magazine. I had many names but I found out that most of them were already music magazines, so I have come down to three and I am going to do a survey to see which one to use. Once I have decided on the magazine name I will put it into photoshop and start editing the font. I have decided to use this font as my font for my title on the cover of my magazine. Rebound and Reload are good title names as they jump out at you and with the right colours put into the font I think either title could fit in very well with my magazine house style. Repeat is also a good title name however it doesn't have as much relevance as rebound and reload do to the urban style.

Magazine Analysis 2

Magazine Analysis 2

General

• The company that produces the magazine is Q.
• The target audience according to the publisher's website is roughly 16+ as they release a wide variety of music on their cover which could interest any age over 16.
• It costs £3.99 which is just over the average cost for most magazines.
• It has been published monthly since October 1986. 
• Q magazine suffered sales declines of almost 20% year-on-year in a tough first sixth months of 2012. Q was the worst performer in the music magazine sector, with sales down 16.7% according to the latest Audit Bureau of circulation figures released in august 2012. 

The Cover

• The title of the magazine is Q and it is called that because originally is was to be called Cue Magazine (as in the sense of cueing a record, ready to play) however they decided to change it to Q so that it wouldn't be confused with a snooker magazine, another reason is because Q is a much more effective name for a magazine and the company felt it would be more prominent on news stands to potential customers.
• The masthead/title logo is simple but effective as the background attracts your eye as it is a square section of red which is one of the first things you look at as a customer. It then has 'Q' in white which also stands out on top of a red background. The font of the title logo is quite formal but not too fancy in order to fit in with the house style of the magazine. 
• The strapline on the magazine says "The World's Greatest Music Magazine" which is quite a big statement as there are many other good magazines in the media market but this is a very bold and confident statement which could intrigue the customer into thinking the magazine could live up to its strapline.

• The magazine's main image is of one of the band members from 'The Killers' and he is giving a very interesting hidden look towards the camera. The fact that he is not directly looking into the camera, like most magazine covers, is very mysterious. He is almost looking upwards with his eyes looking down towards the camera. This image can easily attract a customer to the magazine just by the look he is giving. He is wearing rock style clothes and is wearing a leather jacket that he is holding onto in a striking pose which looks cool, stylish and effective for the genre the magazine is associated with.
• The other images that appear on the cover of Q Magazine is a small picture of 'Neil Young' playing his guitar and telling you about an autobiography exclusive. The other images on the cover are of small heads of people from Radiohead to promote their move from Rock Star to Radio DJ. Lastly there is a small image of a character from Breaking Bad to promote the TV Show inside the magazine to give readers an insight into what it's all about.
• The content that is promoted by the cover lines is of 'The Killers' and promoting Brandon Flowers being 'reborn'. Also Q are promoting 3 interviews in the top right hand corner of the page.
• The typefaces (fonts) used are simple but bold which is effective as they stand out but are not too strong to overpower the main focus on the cover, the main image and title. The colours of the fonts are fitted in with the colour scheme of the cover which is generally black white and red with the exception of 'The Killers' in grey. The graphics used in the bottom right hand corner of the page are of flowers and a small bird which is used to tie in with the title of 'Weediest Records Ever'.
• The language features and devices that I can identify on the cover of the magazine are simple language as there are no phrases or words that are too informal or formal. There is a general balance between the two making Q's language features simple and safe, appealing to every age group. The language devices Q use on their cover invites the reader in as they announce big exclusive events and information.
• Q does follow the same style/trend like a lot of other magazines such as NME which is very similar to Q magazine as they both have simple but bold fonts, simple backgrounds and intriguing main images on the cover. It is also a square magazine and not rectangle like most magazines, this is what is distinctive about this magazine as it is a different size to most.

Inside

• There are 146 pages inside the magazine.
• There are 14 pages of adverts.
• The adverts inside the magazine are categorised into perfume, technology, album releases, beverages and travel.
• List of features/article topics inside the magazine- Q Mail, Return of Radiohead, Rolling Stones return, Lunch with Ludacris, Fatboy Slim property pages, Charlotte Church interview, The Bluebells interview, Alice Cooper interview, Keane interview, Breaking Bad promotion, Neil Young interview, Pitbull interview, Example interview, The 50 Weediest Records Of All Time, The Killers interview, Robbie Williams interview, New Album reviews, Entertainment reviews, Live event details, Contests, Competitions and Florence Welch Q+A.
• Categorised features/articles- The Q Recommender, Q Mail, Interviews, Autobiographies, Album Releases, TV show, Contests, Band Returns. 
• There are 34 double page spreads inside the magazine. They are a mixture of interviews, band returns, event details and adverts.
• There are some pages where it isn't clear what the page is and it looks like it could be either an advert or an article.
• The magazine achieves a unified "house style" as the language is kept simple and not swaying towards either formal or informal too much. The colour schemes are kept very simple but effective as the colours and text all match throughout the magazine and the use of red white and black is both interesting and effective in the sense that it looks professional.
• The house style is appropriate to the target audience as there is a wide variety of music genres and relatable stories to read for all age groups for example for the older generation they could read about the Rolling Stones or the Beatles, and for the younger generation they could perhaps read about Example or Ludacris.

Magazine Genre Inspiration

Magazine Genre Inspiration

These are a few pictures of inspiration I have taken from music artists that I listen to. Their clothing and style is quite casual, they also dress very urban for example the snapback that Wiley (middle) is wearing and the hairstyle of Professor Green (top). The way they look into the camera is something I would like to reciprocate into my magazine photos as they are directly looking into the camera with an intriguing facial expression that draws the customer to the magazine. Devlin (bottom) is not the best looking artist to use for a magazine front cover photo, however the way he is dressed and the style that he is representing (urban) fits well with the genre I am interested in.

PROFESSOR GREEN

WILEY

DEVLIN













Below are a few magazine front covers that I am inspired to follow a similar house style and genre of. I like the style of the urban look as they are dressed casual and the poses on are very intriguing. The layout of the magazine is quit simple but bold which is effective as the key features of the front cover stand out. I like the idea of having either a white or black background but prefer a white background as it makes the model stand out more. Below is a screen grab of the cover lines on the Vibe magazine and I like the way the text wraps around the arm and I wish to incorporate this into my magazine. I would also like to use the style of the RWD magazine (right) is the style I want my model to look like.