Task 2 (a): Q Magazine Analysis

FRONT COVER

• Masthead: The masthead has always been positioned in the top left-hand corner.  It always has upper-case ‘Q’, white colour fonts and is layer upon bright red background. This helps to make the magazine to stand out, and it’s recognisable for the public.
• Main Images: The main image is a picture of Lady Gaga which portrayed her very sexualized, as she is topless. At the same time she looks scary and powerful, because of the gothic clothing like the spiky gloves and trousers, also she have dark smoky eyes make-up which give off a dark and fierce feels to it.  Lady Gaga is known as the modern ‘sex symbols’ that’s why the magazine portrayed her in a sexual provocative way, in relation the majority of the audience who read Q Magazine is male. On the other hand, she is known for a wearing weird outfit that’s why she is wearing an outfit that is very unusual. The image is also a form of direct address, the image of Lady Gaga is looking directly at the reader to create a sense of intimacy on the cover.
• Main Cover lines/ Anchorage: The writing ‘Lady Gaga’ is in upper case and contrasts against the grey simple background.  Some of the texts come behind Lady Gaga, and some of it comes in front of her; this set a more of a 3D perspective on the images. The anchorage said “Has RISEN!” and this is anchoring the cover lines “Lady Gaga”, since Lady Gaga is a global superstar the fonts goes along with the anchorage by exaggerating it as in like she is the ‘biggest superstar’.
• Cover lines: This is at the top right corner in bold and red colours fonts. The red connotes scandalous as red usually symbolise ‘danger’, and the cover line is much bolder than the main cover line; the bold fonts connotes that there will be a lot of shocking scandal and gossip that’ll being talk in the magazine.
• Colour Scheme: There are only are on the cover which provides a simplistic and professional looks. Because too much colours can look too cluttered, and it’ll put off the readers; since this magazine is targeted to much mature audience, therefore the colours is needed  be kept simplistic but yet classy.
• Skyline: It said “The UK’s Biggest Music Magazine” but Lady Gaga’s hair covered the ‘Music’, this may be done purposely. Since Lady Gaga is a well-recognisable musician, therefore the general public will recognise that Q Magazine is a ‘Music’ magazine. It is also persuading the public to buy the magazine, as the skyline stated that this magazine is the “UK’s Biggest”, so it’ll stand out more in the Newsstand, as others music magazine is competing. 
• Uses of Flasher: The flasher is noticeable because it is right above the main cover lines. Madonna is referred as the ‘Queen of Pop’ plus the word ‘exclusive’ suggests to the readers that this interview with Madonna is only exclusively available in this magazine, which persuade the readers into purchasing the magazines as it curious them. The use of the ellipses shows that there will be a lot of gossip inside and it creates a sense of eagerness for the readers.
• Puffer: The puff was used to give more additional feature to the magazine. They used red for the texts “Album of The Year Already” along with 5 red stars, so it will catch the audience attention first since red is a bright colours therefore it’ll be noticeable. 
• Barcode/ Price/ Dates: The barcode is clear along with the price and the issue date of the magazine. This is usually the main codes of conventions of a magazine, because the readers must know how much they need to pay to purchase the magazine, it also let them know if they are buying the most up to date magazine issue.

CONTENT PAGE

·         Masthead: The masthead has the same house style as the front cover, also the words ‘CONTENTS’ is bold and stands out, so it let the readers acknowledge that they are currently reading the contents page. 

·       Main Image: There are 4 images of Lady Gaga in the magazine with a big number on the sides representing the page numbers. All of the images are Lady Gaga which could be hinting that Lady Gaga is the most ‘exclusive’ feature in this Q Magazine issue. The main image has a really bright and edgy colour scheme, which suit Lady Gaga concept; as Lady Gaga is known for edgy and weird fashion sense. A different image of Lady Gaga has different shot type, for example: Medium shot, Medium close-up and close up; so it allows the audience to engage with Lady Gaga.

·       Colour Scheme: Again like the front colour scheme it is kept minimal so it has the same general house style. Apart from the images, the images tend to have much more colourful and bright colours, so the magazine house style will not be too ‘dull’ if it kept too minimal and simplistic.

·        Subheading: The sub-heading said ‘SMASH HITS SPECIAL’ which could be another feature in the article, as it is not just exclusively about Lady Gaga

·        Layout: It had 3 columns, and uses 3 textboxes so it looks much more organised. It also has captions and this give preview as what the audience should expect from each page. At the top-left corner it had a picture of the front cover, so it let the readers reflect what issue they are reading and how the front cover looks like. 

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD 

• Main Image: The main image is Lady Gaga; she takes up half of the double page spread. The picture has been put into black and white/monochrome because the mood seems very mysterious, and her make up looks very fierce at the same time. The black and white also gives the picture and article an ‘old’, classy look. A direct mode of address was used, so it let the readers feel like she is personally looking directly right at them.
• Mise-en-scene: She is topless which also reflect to the front cover, because in the front cover she was posing topless as well. However, the pose of Lady Gaga is making could be aimed to attract the male eye as all she seems to be wearing is a necklace. This is because she is portrayed within the media as a modern ‘sex symbol’; hence the image needs a relation between Lady Gaga and how the public view her.
• Colour Scheme: The colour scheme is very simplistic and it reflects the front cover, because the front cover had 3 colour schemes, and the double page try to maintain that colour schemes throughout the cover, contents and DPs. The colour scheme really goes well with the picture as it is in black and white, it gives off that chic feels which contrast along very well with the images.
• Layout: The of the double-page spread is very striking and is appealing, the article is split up into 3 columns and the letter ‘L’ is covering the whole page behind the writing which  you can see through it. This is a very common theme for ‘Q’ Magazine articles is that the first letter of the artists name is put in a large, bold vibrant, yet see through red over the text. This links well with the rest of the magazines colour scheme as it is in the style and colour of Q magazines logo. The ‘L’ is very prime and large, and the magazine is representing how ‘big’ Lady Gaga as an artist is as the letter ‘L’ is Lady Gaga first initial. Additionally, because the article was split into 3 columns the first columns had drops cap, which indicate where the readers should begin to read and this help the readers to breaks down the article a bit.
• Language:  The language style is quite formal but it is usually very casual, since ‘Q’ is targeted to mature readers they uses a lot of censored words, like rude/swear words. But this just makes the whole magazine seem much more grown up, and it is perfect for adult readers since ‘Q’ audience is mainly targeted to mature readers.
• Tagline: The tagline is almost like a ‘title’ in this double page spread, so it introduce and let the readers know who and what the article will speak about.

Task 2 (a): CLASH Magazine Analysis

Clash is a music magazine that contains music from a wide variety of genres including indie and popular music. It has grown to become the leading independent UK media brand representing music, fashion and film.

FRONT COVER

The colour scheme of the front cover is minimal and simplistic; despite the main images it’s quite retro and colourful, however the black and white colours for the text contrast along with the images, and it’s used to add a sense of sophistication to the magazine; whilst the images itself is really artistic and retro so the fonts colour needed to compliment well with the images. Clash magazine readers are typically aged between 20-31 years old, so these colours schemes help to connate a calm and mature feelings to the readers. Although, usually a magazines would use bright colours to stand out and attract the audience’s attention, whereas this magazine does the opposite in order to stand out against other stereotypical music magazines.  The first thing that stands out to the audience is the medium close-up image of the singer, Lana Del Rey, because the main images are usually the first selling point of a magazine. The mise-en-scene of the image is quite unique and angelic, because she has feathers surrounding her to show a sign of protection, as she is trying to block the sunlight away. She is also wearing minimal make-up which shows her ‘natural beauty’, and this connate the pureness and exquisiteness of Lana Del Rey. A direct mode of address was not used, like other conventional uses of direct mode of address on magazine covers to make the reader be attracted by the model’s stare as if they are looking directly at them. There is a lot of lighting surrounding her face, and she is using her hand to block the light to bring more attention to her face, therefore it’s creating a so-called shield against all evil while she is using indirect mode of address. This connate how Lana Del Rey looks very pure and innocent, and when the readers is looking at her it allows the readers to feel like they want to protect her. Most of the attention is drawn to the picture of Lana Del Rey as other sub images were not used; other small images weren’t used on the magazine, which makes it look simple and un-cluttered, as other images would draw attention away from Lana Del Rey and distract people.

The masthead 'Clash' is written in very large sans-serif font and the title is very bold and clear, making it immediately obvious what magazine is called and perhaps giving it a more sophisticated and classy feel. The anchorage text is ‘Lana Del Rey’ which relates to the main images to tell the reader what the main picture is about, and another anchorage text is ‘The American Dream Issue’. This is anchoring the ‘Lana Del Rey’ text and the images of her, because Lana Del Rey is nowadays known to be the ‘American Modern Icons’. The cover line is ‘Ready to Bloom Again’ which in reference to the anchorage ‘Lana Del Rey’, because the issue is Lana Del Rey’s ‘Ultraviolence’ album cover and this lets the readers know that she is ‘ready’ for her new album. The sell lines include very well-known artists such as Ariana Grande and Sage the Gemini; it also includes other music artists from other genres like Hip-Hop, EDM and R&B. These well-known artists from other genres will be likely to draw in more readers because it has fusion of different genres. The sell lines only mention well-known artists name in a list, and they did not give a lot away to the reader about what it will be feature inside the magazine. In some sense this could be quite effective because it is persuading and intriguing to the readers which would make them want to buy the magazine, as it would anxious the readers wanting know what the artist will be talking about in the article. The front cover fonts is very clear and easy to read from a distance, and the minimal use of text could also be a way to tempt a reader to buy the magazine, as it is not too overwhelming and it gives an elegant feel. Lastly the barcode, dates and pricing is placed lower-third left below the sell lines. 

CONTENT PAGE 

The contents page again like the front cover colour scheme it has been kept to a minimal black and white theme, in order to fit in the with the general house style and layout. Using two basic contrasting colours allow the text to be read easily by anyone. The use of black and white connotes a modern, retro feel to the magazine, which fits in with the sophistication and the quirkiness of the genre of music. The contents page actually has no images apart from two alternative front cover designs to inform the readers of the issue they are reading. The other issue cover is limited edition and this notice and excites Lana Del Rey fans who are reading the magazine, by persuading them into getting that cover since it is ‘limited edition’. 

The use of no other images actually makes the magazine looks more organised and professional, also the layout of the text is very well structured and is appropriately organised according to the type of article to make locating page numbers much easier for the reader without getting any confusion. The uses of line across the page to the section text also help effectively to give the magazine identity, as it is something that’s repeated on a lot of pages throughout the magazine. These lines also help to fill blank spaces and create an interesting design for the page; additionally, a lot of fonts have also been made bold in order for numbers and the titles to stand out better against the regular text. 

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

The double page spread also follow the same house style; the double-page spread with Lana Del Rey continues to use simplistic theme along with black and white fonts that was seen on the contents page. However, they changed the ‘Lana Del Rey’ anchorage colours to match and contrast along well with the images next page. In general, the images of Lana Del Rey present on the front cover and the double pages spread uses a rule of thirds as a lot of the images take up the whole page. The rule of thirds needs to be present in the images so it allows the reader to engage with Lana Del Rey, for example: in the double page spread the shot type of Lana Del Rey is medium-close up, and her arm is reaching out from the page; it looks like she is holding a camera trying to take a picture of herself. She used direct mode of address, as if the article on Lana Del Rey will be personal to them, as she is looking directly at them almost feels like she is talking to the readers.

The general layout of text is used effectively in order to frame the different images, such as the double page spread, where the text is altered and varied to fill the empty space. The unusual combination of different fonts throughout all pages of Clash magazine actually looks quite effective and fashionable, which suit well with the indie style of the magazine. The magazine uses simple sans serif fonts so it gives more modern and mature feels toward it. The language style is friendly formal despite the design of the magazine is quite fashionable retro and quirky. Clash magazine uses a wide range of advanced vocabulary – the text talks to the readers and treats them like adults. For example, “In Hollywood nobody drinks Anchor, because they prefer Fresh Peach Bellinis” if a younger audience read this they would not understand, since they are not legal enough to drinks so the magazine is perfect for adult readers. The language is also fairly genre-specific, like “her new album is what you call: California Driven” in order to engage with the readers.

Overall, Clash magazine gives off a grown up feel which is well suited for its target audience, and it has a professional and stylist look to it. The writing style is kept very natural and realistic which works well with the design as it kept very stylish and sophisticated, so it help to bring out the indie vibe. 

Task 2: Analysis Music Magazines; Contents & DPS (NOTES)

In today lessons we had a group task to analysis a music magazines, and my teacher gave as an examples of a content & DPS. This was very helpful because it allow me to improve and know how to analysis my 2 magazine case studies, also it help me to know the main conventions of a magazine so when I create my music magazine, I would now know what the main conventions will be needed so the magazine would look professional. 

       Contents Page Analysis:

• 2 pages are used for the contents
• Some editorial items are listed; for example, the images are placed on the contents to list some of the editorials; it enforces you to tell you what pages to flip.
• There are 4 sections; used to overview the whole magazine and it is broken down so it makes the readers much easier to read. The sections and pages has been organised very neatly, for example there is a title for each of the ‘main features’ that’ll be on the magazine, and then a captions to break down even more further so it’ll let the readers know what they want to read
• There are orders – for example, they used columns and alignment in a straight line so it is straightforward for the readers to read it, without getting confused. They also used textboxes so it is neatly arranged and very well organised. 
• The contents page reflects to the front cover, because it all has the same colour schemes, style and layout. They used about 3-4 colours scheme to keep it simplicity, however the images has a lot of colours so it looks attractive and appeals to the audience more – this is because, the contents page is usually the 1^st page in the magazine; therefore, the contents need to stand out so it give good impression to the audience. 

      Double Page Spread Analysis (DPs):

• The magazine is about ‘John Oates’ who was in a duo which is ‘one half of the most successful duo of all time’.
• The article has been laid out in columns using textboxes for each, so it looks professional and well organised.  The article also put different era picture of John Oates, so it bring flashback to the audience who grown up listened to John Oates music.
• The sort of tone they used is friendly formal - to interact between the artist and the readers like it is their ‘friends’. This magazine is aimed at mature readers; therefore there is a lot of advanced vocabulary being used. 
• There are two images of John Oates, one is close up in the bottom-right corner and the mise-en-scene give an ‘old-school’ style feels, because it could have been taken during the 80’s. Another images is the biggest out of all the DSP, is another picture of John Oates holding a guitar to show that despite he is old he is still active in the music industry – seen as a ‘legendary’.

Task 2: Analysis/Technique of a front cover (NOTES)

VIBE Magazine:

·         Always has a Masthead; always the largest fonts

·         Main images is the 1^st selling points

·         Ciara is behind the Masthead; show Ciara is the ‘main focus’ and the ‘centre of attention’. Despite Ciara is behind the Masthead but the magazine itself is universally recognised so it does not matter. 

·         Main cover lines – relate to the main model of the cover; it is the 2^nd selling points

·         Anchorage – it is a piece of text; which give more meaning to the images, and the images will also give meaning back, e.g. ‘Stand up Ciara’ it is anchoring the meanings, as she is couching while naked

·         Skyline - is the ‘additional information’ that may feature in the magazine

·         Teasers – to tease/encourage you into reading the magazine

·         Pull quote – ‘Not gonna hold back too much’ (connotation of the words, also anchoring the images meanings along with ‘Stand up Ciara’)

·         Lower-left third – When interesting information or gifts are placed, so it’ll ‘instant’ caught the attention to the audience

·         It will always has a barcodes/ dates/ issues/ brandings/ (sometime QR Codes) & pricing (psychological pricing - £4.99, £3.99 etc… so it looks ‘cheaper’ to buy the magazine)

·         3-4 colour schemes on the magazine front covers – to keep it simplicity and professional

·         The fonts VIBE – is straight/ formal and clear to read

Demographic & Social Economics = AUDIENCE PROFILING

This magazine audience is for males, because Ciara is portrayed sexualize – as a sexual objects.

Denotation – What you see (signifier)

Connotation – What messages/ symbol meaning is given off (signified) 

Main Images (Ciara):

·         Denotation – Sexy, young, black & female / Connotation – Sexualized, seductive, flirty

·         Mise-en-scene – she had had heels on (give more women/mature feels & appeals to the male audience)

·         Long shot – so all her body is captured as she is naked, therefore it captivated the audience; her facial expression looks very sultry – sexy feels, therefore it’ll appeals even more to the audience

·         Direct mode of address – when a models look directly at the camera/you; so it interact with the audience

·         Indirect mode of address – when a models do not look directly at the camera/you 

Task 1: Production Schedule

Evaluation for my Induction Magazine

Evaluation

In conclusion, for my research skills I think that I could have done more in depth research because most of my argument was ‘for piracy’ but hardly any ‘against piracy’. Therefore, if I’ve done more in depth research I could have balance my argument. But personally I found that when I was doing my research there were mostly ‘for piracy’ opinions, and hardly any ‘against piracy’ opinions. For my strengths, I think that there was a lot of public ‘for piracy’ opinions, and because my opinion toward piracy was that I do not against it; therefore it back up my conclusion. However, I think that my weaknesses was to find mainstream artist ‘for piracy’ opinions, although I’ve only found one which were Shakira but I wanted to find out more. During my research I found that mostly artist was ‘against piracy’ like Lily Allen, Gary Barlow and Ariana Grande, therefore if I’ve done more in depth research I could have find out more artist that may ‘for’ music piracy, and this would equally balance my argument. 

For my journalistic and writing skills, I think that my strengths was my journalistic style; for example, I used some mainstream artist to give their opinions about piracy, so it attract the target audience attention if they are a fan or enjoy listening to one of the artist’s music. Also I gave my opinion as well; discussing how my thought about music piracy. Yet, I think that my weaknesses was my writing skills; the target audience for my magazine is for teenagers and early 20’s, and in my questionnaire I asked “Do you think the language is suitable for teens, and early 20’s?” which majority of peoples said that I used too much formal and friendly formal language, therefore it did not entertain them into reading it and others also said that they got a bit bored after reading my article.

For my InDesign skills, I had learnt many things because I’ve never use InDesign before; therefore, I was not very familiar with it. But after using it quite often I was aware that I find it much easier than using other programs. The skills I had learnt from InDesign were making double spread pages, and add line in the middle of the page. However, I think that my weaknesses when I used InDesign would be adding colours, because my article colours scheme was very dull and plain. This is because I’d decided not to use any colours, since I got a bit confused particularly when I added colour to the background; whenever I add colours to the background some of my images were invisible or some images were not shown. Therefore, I find it very annoying and confusing so I decided to use much simpler colours like white, black and grey.

For my web publishing skills, I think this task was my weaknesses because I’d never use a blogger before so I got really confused when I was setting it up. But after using it frequently I find it very easy to use, besides it was not as difficult as I thought it’ll be from the beginning.  Furthermore, for the audience feedback I find it very useful because it allows me to have some suggestion on what I need to improve, and also find out what are my strengths and weaknesses for the journalism task. Overall, for my audience feedback I found out that my strengths was my InDesign skills, despite the colours scheme had many negative comments from the feedback, but from my audience feedback majority of people like my article by the layout and the fonts. Consequently, if I'd add some colours I think that my article would look much more effective plus it would contrast with the pictures as well.

In summary, I think that I would improve my journalistic and writing skills especially the language as it was not suitable for the target audience, since it is too formal. Therefore, I would use informal or add a bit of humour into my writing skills, then it’ll be appealing and likely to entertain the audience more. Lastly, I would also improve my InDesign skills by adding some colours, because I found out that if the magazine has no colours it looks really dull and serious, and this would not appeal to the audience. On the other hand, I would improve the layout as well despite during the audience feedback many people liked the layout, because it looks professional. However, on the second pages there is a massive white space, and from my audience feedback many people said that the massive white space make my magazine looks less professional, and it does not look nice. So next time I would make sure that I would not leave any massive white space, and probably add more images or more writing.  

Questionnaire for my Induction Magazine

Questionnaire

1.) Does it look like a magazine?

·         Yes

·         Yes

·         Yes

·         Yes

2.) What do you like about it?

·         Pictures, fonts and layout

·         Pictures

·         Pictures

·         Pictures and layout

3.)  Does the colour scheme match the magazine?

·         Yes, because it matches the picture – most of the picture is black

·         Yes

·         No

·         Yes

4.)  Does the fonts match the magazine?

·         Yes

·         Yes

·         Yes - fancy

·         Yes

5.)  Is the journalist and writing skills good? If not please state why.

·         Yes

·         Yes

·         Yes

·         Yes

6.) Would you buy the magazine? If yes/no please state why.

·         Yes, because it looks appealing by the pictures and fonts

·         Yes, because I like the layout

·         Yes, because I like the colour scheme and it really suit the layout

·         Yes, it looks professional because of the layout

7.)  Do you think the language is suitable for teens, and early 20’s?

·         No

·         No, because it is too friendly formal

·         Yes

·         No

8.)  How much would you pay for this magazine?

·         £2.00

·         £2.00

·         £1.00-£2.00

·         £2.00

9.)  What do you think is the strength/weakness?

·         Strength: layout / Weakness: colour scheme – it is too plain

·         Strength: layout & picture/ Weakness: the language and colour scheme

·         Strength: layout & picture / Weakness: colour scheme too dull

·         Strength: layout / Weakness: there is too much space, on the second pages – add some picture

10.)  Any suggestion for improvement?

·         Add some bright colour – the current colour scheme is too plain

·         Add a bit more picture, change the language it is too friendly formal – it would not appeal for teens / early 20’s

·         Add colours

·         Add more writing or picture on the second page; too much spaces  it look less appealing