Intended Colour Scheme

Using the website ‘http://colorschemedesigner.com/‘, I could formulate and manipulate various colour schemes that are displayed in such as way that you can see whether the colours compliment or degrade one another.

I know that I wanted a simplistic, grayscale colour scheme that features only one colour, and I decided that red was the most prominent and vivid colour when featured amongst shades of grey. The use of the red amongst blander colours would allow certain conventions to become highlighted and illuminated above other conventions, or perhaps all conventions could be complimented by the colours.

Final Colour Scheme

Example of Q's usage of red, white and black.

This is an image of my final colour scheme:

Final Colour Scheme

I think the colour used as the background of my magazine’s front cover will be of a similar tone to the larger colour in the diagram above, but I am not yet sure whether or not the pink-ish tinge will be applied. I may have it be the same tone, but desaturate it to make it gray.

The following image is a more realistic colour scheme:

Planning: Masthead Proposals

For my masthead on my magazine, I intend to have a stylistic, custom made font that follows similar styles to the mastheads of Rolling Stone and Esquire magazine.

Esquire’s masthead is stylish and unique is the way that it’s made up of a handwritten-looking text yet is quite structured and definite. The wide and prominent aspects of the masthead make it attractive and the colour is changed to best suit the theme of the front cover.

 

 All of the masthead’s above appear to have different colours depending on the background. This has been done in order to emphasise the magazine’s title, as to why on the lighter coloured backgrounds, darker and more prominent titles are apparent.

Another masthead that inspires my own is Rolling Stone’s design:

I have found a variety of fonts on ‘dafont.com’ that match the style of font that I am looking towards.  

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 Proposed Masthead Selection

Proposed Masthead Designs

Proposed Masthead Designs

Proposed Masthead Design

 

Above are a vareity of fonts that I found on ‘Dafont.com’. These are all fonts that are inspired by the style of Esquire and Rolling Stone’s mastheads, and abide to the elicit style.  The fonts above are all under consideration but I, above the rest, prefer the ‘Lobster’ font.

 

Magazine Production: Magazine Front Cover

Maestro - magazine front cover

Planning: Organization of Model for Photoshoot

In order to create a successful music magazine, I have to take a photo shoot to feature in my magazine. I have emailed the proposed models in request that they respond stating whether or not they are available for my magazine shoot.

Here is the e-mail I sent to the first model:

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“To: danielb@gmail.com; 27/02/2012

From: shaunbetchley@gmail.com

Subject: Media Photo Shoot

Hi Dan,

Just a quick question to find out whether or not you’re available for the photo shoot I have planned tomorrow evening (Tuesday 28th). If you are, could you be at mine at 6pm with a black suit and any coloured tie (preferably vivid) – and you will be staging as contemporary swing/alternative musician. Make your hair look quite Robert Pattinson-ish and be wide awake!

Thanks,

Shaun”

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Response:

From: danielb@gmail.com; 27/02/12

To: shaunbetchley@gmail.com;

Subject: RE: Media Photo Shoot

Hey Shaun,

Yeah, alright. I’ll bring my microphone too for use as a prop. I’ll wash my hair before hand and you can do what you like with it.

Cheers and see you tomorrow”

Existing Magazine Flat Plan

Magazine Flat Plan 1/2

 Second half of flat plan:

Magazine Flat Plan 2/2

 Front Cover Flat Plan for Kerrang!

FLAT PLAN for KERRANG

 Contents Page Flat Plan: Kerrang!

Contents Page Flat Plan for Kerrang!

Double Page Spread Flat Plan

Find Your Tribe Personality Test

My Result:

“You are Smart Urban! You want a good job and know that’s about looking presentable. You love the preppy look – the girls in Gossip Girl have great style. You hate anything uncouth – see fighting, drugs and Wetherspoons. You’re much more likely to be spotted at a cool club, or commuting to work.”

Most Apparent 'Tribes'

 The ‘Find Your Tribe’ quiz helps fit your personality to a stereotype, and these stereotypes are quite based on social and musical influences in a person. I will have to make sure that in my magazine, I appeal to the correct stereotypes, for example, in a rock magazine, you’ll want to appeal to the indie, mosher an emo stereotypes.

Magazine Research: Kerrang!

Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the ‘Sounds’ newspaper. Named after the onomatopoeic word that derives from the sound made when playing a power chord on an electric guitar, Kerrang! was initially devoted to the new wave of british heavy metal and the rise of hard rock acts. In the early 2000s it became the best-selling British music magazine.

Front Cover of Kerrang! Magazine

 Above, the August 2010 version of Kerrang magazine carries a Union Jack theme. This theme encompasses a red, white and blue colour scheme and a centre-image featuring ‘top’ British artists in the rock genre. Being a rock magazine, this magazine cover would successfully appeal to the specific audiences as it has a modern and vivid design. This theme acts as anchorage towards the centre image and vice versa, as the union jacks that are being worn by the models match the colour scheme of red, white and blue – which appeals further to the British audience of the magazine.

 As always with Kerrang magazine across the very top is a thin bar with text about one of the articles within the magazine and in this case a small sticker shape with the Relentless Tour logo attached which relates to the text featured. Below this as always is the title of the magazine, the writing is a large size and covers the width of the page, not leaving any gaps. The text is very bold, strong and also has cracked and broken effects added to it, this creates a sense of aggresive and rebellious text, which relates to the music and articles which are featured in the Kerrang magazine, this text works very well as it is very bold and stands out from the background image. The text also contrasts with the background image, as the background image is a very bright blue and its an edited image of the sky, where as the Kerrang logo is black and very bold so it stands out very much from the background image. Also the heads of the three people shown on the front cover actually cover the bottom parts of the Kerrang logo, in some cases half the letter. This makes them stand out completely and showcases them as they are the main article and the main story within this issue. Kerrang is also able to cover parts of the title as fans of the metal, rock and alternative genres will almost all of the time know about Kerrang and its logo so the whole thing does not need to be shown to the audience.  In the very centre of the front cover is the main article subtitles, this is above all other images on the front cover making it the main attraction, it also covers the width of the page and is large, it consists of blocks in diagonal positions and red and blue writing inside matching the theme, this stands out to the viewer. There is also a splash above this which is slightly covered by the main headline, it is also red matching the colour scheme of the front cover. The text also consists of the same colours, it is also very conistent, bold and aggresive matching the theme of Kerang but still keeping the proffesional look. Below the left of the main article sub title is a cut out of two other people, these are seperate from the theme in the way they look and the colours that they are wearing, this seperates them and makes them stand out.

 To the right of the front cover, below the main article sub title is a splash, which consists of black textboxes and white writing, this is also similar to the main theme but slightly different, but matches the other image on the left bottom of the magazine. The colours and effects used in each of these stickers, splashes and tabs are very bold colours and all the text is the same, making a consistent and basic layout, but also looks very proffesional and matches the aggresive them of Kerrang. At the very bottom of the magazine there is a red block which also consists of a white arrow inside, this box matches the theme. In this box is all the other articles and aspects included in the magazine, the writing consists of black and white and uses the same different texts that are featured on other parts of the front cover. This front cover is contrary to typical Kerrang magazine covers, as the most prominent colours are black, white and sometimes yellow or another bright colour, but this unnatural theme matches the main article of the issue.

Kerrang! Contents Page Analysis

Kerrang! Contents Page

Magazine Research: Rolling Stone

Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner, who is still editor and publisher, and music critic Ralph J. Gleeson.

Magazine Front Cover Analysis

Rolling Stone Magazine Cover

 Rolling Stone always features their trademark italic masthead where only the colour differs in each issue. The cover also generally features an engaging centre-image, here it being rap artist Lil Wayne. The white background allows for the masthead and centre-image to appear more illuminated, which engages readers more efficiently. As the magazine’s most prominent feature is the music (hence the title ‘Rolling Stone’), the cover story and apparent main article is based on Lil Wayne and the story ‘Lil Wayne Goes Rock’. This cover line is followed by an anchoring tagline ‘Rap’s Genius Changes His Game’. Each of the cover stories that are separated by a yellow rectangular piece of graphic are written in a bold, white font to stand out. Contrary to this: the date line, price, issue no. and website address that appear above the masthead are faded and very hard to see, as this is not a crucial convention in the magazine cover. Contrary to many magazines, despite this photograph’s bold, resounding appeal, the model (Lil Wayne) is not directly facing the audience, but I suppose this could intrigue audience. This photograph also acts as anchorage to the cover story, as it is all under the same topic/subject.

This magazine cover, despite the elicit style and colourful approach the designers have taken, is actually quite simplistic and is not too complex, and has a more organic aesthetic quality. A convention that conveys the magazine’s prestige and reputation is the cover line placed above the masthead in the top right-hand corner that states ‘The Bush Crimes – Inside the interior dept.’. This shows how recognisable the brand is and how established they are amongst audiences. Rolling Stone magazine’s design appeals to me personally and I think it’s a very simplistic yet elegant magazine cover. I like the simple yet well-communicated information, and I especially like the bold and italic masthead. I will take all of these positive aspects into the production of my own magazine.

Analysis of Rolling Stone Contents Page

Rolling Stone Magazine

Rolling Stone magazine features a vertical separation between images and body copy, with all of the featured imagery portraying different topics/subjects, which represent and appeals to the magazine’s wide demographic. The magazine’s main focus towards music is shown as two photographs are of music artists (MCR & Bruno Mars) and the bottom photograph is of Barack Obama (as the magazine traditionally contains political articles). On the right-hand side of the page, the contents are separated into ‘features’, ‘national affairs’ and ‘departments’. The dominant section is ‘features’ which would contain articles that appeal to a broader audience, and the ‘national affairs’ will be articles on american politics and the ‘departments’ are separated into subcategories which are ‘rock & roll’ and ‘reviews’ – and readers always love reviews. Each section of the contents page is separated by measures that are red, which abides to the recurrent colour scheme of the rest of the page. The titles of each section of the contents page are written in the red lettering, the same as the page references next to the article titles. The ‘contents’ title is placed in the centre of the splash inside a red rectangle and’s written in white lettering. This red rectangle features a date line and the magazine title below the word ‘contents’.

A small list features just below the review title about Kanye West’s new album ‘Dark Twisted Fantasy’ that gives page references in smaller, more insignificant writing about the less prominent topics in the magazine, films being one of them. This features in the magazine to appeal to a broader demographic and will give readers an insight to ALL aspects of society. Below this list, anchorage that refers to the front cover’s image informs the readers of the photographer and date on which the photograph was taken. This gives aspiring photographers or graphic designers the opportunity to research the photographer if the photo appeals to them. Below this reference, by-lines are apparent that show the designers and directors of the page for any design enthusiasts – so the magazine isn’t just for reading, it’s for admiring.

Rolling Stone Double Page Spread (DPS)

The immediate attraction point of this DPS is the sexually-orientated image on the right of Katy Perry, which is much more prominent than the seemingly blander body copy on the opposing page. The photograph is contrarily colourful in comparison to the body copy, which is in a neutral black and white theme. The centre of the splash on the body copy (main text) features the subject of the interview so it is a title almost, and this ‘title’ also features a pull quote taken verbatim from Katy Perry. The quote I am referring to is “I took mushrooms at a daft punk show” and “I had to throw myself into a shower fully clothed afterward”. This briefly teases the audience with the content of the article, and intrigues and enthuses them to read further. A drop-cap is seen just below this title which conveys that it’s a new paragraph, and the ‘A’ is in the same dark grey lettering as the main text body.

Double page spreads consist of much less that contents pages or front covers, but this is because there is a lot less information that needs to be conveyed. This DPS is only one story that needs portraying through words and images, so less images and more, but detailed, words are required to make this DPS successful. My favourite features of this DPS are the simplicity in the design, as it’s only three columns of small, traditional-styled text, with graphics atop the article that enclose the name ‘Katy Perry’ in a faint box to the left. Another component of this magazine that I think works well is the pastel-like colour of the photograph, and by pastel-like I mean not too saturated. This works well with the simple text-embodied page that opposes it, as neither page is too overwhelming or too bland.

I hope to borrow mostly from this DPS as it stands above the ones that I have studied so far. I cannot complain about this double page spread and its elegant simplicity stands far above the quality of the other magazines I have looked at. My magazine will not be a complex and highly concentrated magazine like NME or Vibe, but will be simplistic like Rolling Stone.

Research Into Magazine Institutions

Magazine Research: Uses and Gratifications Theory

One influential tradition in media research is referred to as ‘uses and gratifications’ (occasionally ‘needs and gratifications’). This approach focuses on why people use particular media rather than on content. In contrast to the concern of the ‘media effects’ tradition with ‘what media do to people’ (which assumes a homogeneous mass audience and a ‘hypodermic’ view of media), U & G can be seen as part of a broader trend amongst media researchers which is more concerned with ‘what people do with media’, allowing for a variety of responses and interpretations. However, some commentators have argued that gratifications could also be seen as effects: e.g. thrillers are likely to generate very similar responses amongst most viewers. And who could say that they never watch more TV than they had intended to? Watching TV helps to shape audience needs and expectations.

Most of the theories on media explained about the effects media had on people. It is the theory which explains of how people use media for their need and gratification. In other words we can say this theory states what people do with media rather than what media does to people. Also this theory is contradictory to the magic bullet theory which states the audience is passive. According to uses and gratification theory, it is not so people make use of the media for their specific needs. This theory can be said to have a user/audience-centered approach .Even for communication (say inter-personal) people refer to the media for the topic they discuss with themselves. They gain more knowledge and that is knowledge is got by using media for reference. There are several needs and gratification for people they are categorized into five categories.

• Cognitive needs
• Affective needs
• Personal Integrative needs
• Social Integrative needs
• Tension free needs

Cognitive needs:

People use media for acquiring knowledge, information etc., Among the audience some of them have intellectual needs to acquire knowledge this is not common to all only certain people have their need, each person have a different need for e.g. quiz programs on TV, in order to acquire knowledge and information you will watch news to satisfy the need, search engines in the internet, they make use of these to gain more knowledge. Particularly for the internet search engine they can browse for any topic under the run with no time restriction.

Affective needs:

It includes all kinds of emotions, pleasure and other moods of the people. People use media like television to satisfy their emotional needs

The best example is people watch serials and if there is any emotional or sad scene means people used to cry.

Personal Integrative needs:

This is the self-esteem need. People use media to reassure their status, gain credibility and stabilize. so people watch TV and assure themselves that they have a status in society for e.g. people get to improve their status by watching media advertisements like jewelry ad , furniture’s ad and buy products, so the people change their life style and media helps them to do so.

Social Integrative needs:

It encompasses the need to socialize with family, friends and relations in the society. For social interaction now a days people do not seems to have social gathering in weekend, instead they do such social interaction using media like the social networking sites like my space, facebook, orkut etc to satisfy their need.

Another example is you may not watch the particular serial regularly but because your friend watching, you also start watching so that you have common topics for discussion.

Tension free needs:

People sometimes use the media as a means of escapism and to relieve from tension

For e.g. People tend to relax watching TV, listening to radio and for satisfying their need for entertainment there by relaxing from all the tension, people watch films, films on TV etc

Note: The needs are individual in nature, and how u satisfies the need is individualistic.

E.g.: That’s why some watch news to relax and some get more tension by watching news, Program is same but people use it for different needs.

Taking TV today, most people watch reality shows because

• It is more realistic
• For entertainment
• Interesting
• New concepts (different from other programs)
• In a way you can participate
• Controversy, people crying
• Sensationalism

Criticism of Uses and gratification theory :

• The uses and gratification theory does not consider the power of media

• More audience-centered

• Positive point of the uses and gratification theory is it focuses attention on individuals in the mass communication process.

How I Can Apply This To My Own Work

The Uses and Gratifications Theory can help me gain an insight to the needs and necessities of media and how audiences use and perceive it. A music magazine’s fundamental purpose would be entertainment with advertisements and information as secondary purposes. Magazine readers generally have cognitive needs as well as tension free needs; so a collaboration of the two wouldn’t be a bad idea. By this, I mean the integration of information and entertainment through conventions such as imagery and graphics.  Readers may feel that an artist in an article is applicable to their social class or ethnicity, or perhaps it’s popular amongst a group of friends so allows for a topic of discussion, thus satisfying social integrative needs.

I will bear this theory in mind when producing my magazine work; as it will remind me that magazines have purposes and supply information and satisfaction to consumers.