Chloe Price

Real media artefacts- Q

2012-02-14T14:57:00.003Z

Q music magazine front cover:

The name of this music magazine is just simply the letter ‘Q’, this is n effect name as its bold, stands out and is easy to remember, the ‘Q’ is carefully placed on a simple square shape to make sure it is not dominating the letter and is red shaped and the letter white, this makes it standout and shows the consumer it’s the name of the magazine, it is placed in the top right hand corner of the magazine and is very clear to see, to show the magazines brand identity clearly.

The colours used in this magazine are grey, white, black and red. All of these colours contrast well with each other and make everything standout. Although the background colour of this magazine is quite dark it doesn’t subtract from any of the writing or images on the page, it makes them stand out.

As the audience/ reader we are immediately drawn to an interesting and controversial image of pop sensation Lady GaGa. She is placed in the very centre of the front cover wearing leather trousers, gloves and nothing on her top half, conveying to how we normally portray Lady GaGa with her different fashion style. The way she had been photographed is to shower her femininity through her figure, clothing and pose. Femininity is also conveyed/shown through the style of writing, as the lettering that says ‘Lady GaGa’ is quite thin and slightly ‘flicked’ at the corners of each letter.

The front covers layout is quite simple and basic but carries enough information and images to interest consumers into getting the magazine. Different font sizes, bold writing, different shapes and colours are used for the writing to make it interesting and more appealing to the eye. Finally all the text is positioned around the figure of Lady GaGa to make her stand out and be the main focus of the cover.

Q music magazine contents page:

As you can see the same colours have been used for the contents page and the front cover, mainly red black and white. This helps the magazine to flow and to keep the genre of music throughout the whole of the magazine. The background to this colour is white which is basic and allows the text to standout and be clear allowing the consumer to be able to read clearly. For example the age numbers are in red therefore this makes it clear allowing them to see if quickly and efficiently. The Q symbol is position and is the same colour as the one on the front cover and the same position this is so the audience can easily recognize the brand of the magazine and to constantly promote the company name ‘Q’.

The layout of the contents page is very basic and simple allowing the reader to find the information they want quickly. Some of the information is set in text boxes, which gives the contents page a neater, more professional look. The contents page layout is set in three different columns so writing is easier to digest information. And is separated up with two different images 1 is a large image of a band/group to make it more eye catching and appealing and another smaller image just to break up the text and again make it more appealing and easy to read. Finally it uses different coloured boxed headings to highlight key information to make it standout and easy to find.

Q music magazine double page spread:

This double page spread has a simple design, but is very effective, in the way that it is eye-catching. On the left hand side of the double page spread it is an image and on the right hand side is the article. The reader can already tell before reading the article that it is obviously on the pop sensation Lady Gaga. The image on the left page is a mid-shot of Gaga, with her upper torso and head visible. She is clearly scene to be naked and has a lot of flesh is exposed, with her hands and a metal chain necklace covering the more revealing areas. This is then a very similar image to the one on the front cover. These two images have been used to link the two pages together and to make it easy for the reader to follow.

Even before reading the actual content of the magazine the image of Lady GaGa tells the story for its self, having a big impact on the article. The fact that she is showing a lot of flesh brings much attention to her straight away, Her hair is styled to be wild and untamed; this represents the artist to have a wild and crazy personality, which may be mentioned in the text of the article. The image itself has been edited in post-production into black and white, to create mood and a dramatic effect, and to contrast with the brightness of the large red ‘L’ on the opposite page to link them together.

By using this large ‘L’ on the side with all the writing it breaks it up and therefore the reader won’t lose interest in the article. The significance of the ‘L’ being red is that it contrasts well with the black and white from not only the image but the background colour and the black texts to allow it to standout and still make it easy for the reader to read through the article, also the connotations of red are usually danger which could be portraying the character of Lady GaGa which is also shown through her provocative and seductive image. Also with the lay out of the text in the article in two places it uses the drop caps to lead the reader through the article to make it easy and clear to follow.

Real media artefacts- NME

2012-02-12T17:39:00.010Z

NME music magazine Front Cover:

The branded name for this magazine is NME. It is placed in the top left side of the magazine in a bold, bright and clear font. This is to make it easy for the consumer to see, and straight away recognise the brand identity of the magazine. The colours used for the name are red, black and white, these three colours contrast well with each other and fit with the genre of music this magazine specialises in. The colours also reflect the name as NME can also sound like ‘enemy’ and the connotations for an enemy and blacks and reds.

A medium close-up of Lily Allen dominates this front cover. The reasons for using such a close up and large image are to make it eye-catching and make it stand out from other leading magazines. Not only is the size important to this front cover but the angle in which Lily is looking at the camera. As the consumer we immediately become drawn to her eyes, as she is looking direct therefore as the consumer we feel emotionally attached and therefore want to read. The appearance of Lily Allen is key as it keeps to the genre of the magazine but also represents the man subject to her story. She has wild messy hair, a lose checked shirt, dark black heavy eye make-up and her facial expression is very plain to show her attitude as if she doesn’t care. This fits with the writing to the left of her face reading. “I can’t keep on living like this. It’s doing my head in”. The writing is also used to frame Lily’s face to again make her the focus of the front cover.

The writing on the front cover fits with both the genre of the magazine and the article on Lily Allen. The first bit of writing is carefully positioned on the blank area of the magazine and is a bold, clear red font, this makes it stand out and easy to read. The Second piece of writing is larger and printed in the style of newspaper cuttings. This gives it an edgy and quirky look, representing the style of magazine. The writing is wobbly and different sizes and on a slight slant making the words look wild and messy again representing the article on Lily Allen. Most of the informative text on the front cover is in basic colours, white, black, and red fonts, to link in with the colour scheme of the magazine name.

The magazine also incorporates the colour yellow into it, as it’s bright and stands out against the other colours. The areas that our yellow holds key other information that is in the rest of the magazine. This makes it standout against the main colours used in the rest of the front cover for example red, black and white.

NME music magazine contents page:

At the top of the contents page it mirrors the front cover of the magazine by placing the name in the top right hand corner. This helps to keep the flow of the magazine and the style/genre of music. It also does this by keeping to the same colour scheme on the front cover, red, black and white, and a small amount of yellow, All o f these colours are strong and bold which makes it standout, easy to follow and entices the reader to look further on in the magazine.

There is a lot of information on this contents page and appears quite busy, however all of the information on this page is a good quality as it shows the reader just where to look for what they want. The layout is simple and easy to follow with the page numbers on the left hand side in a clear bright red font, a large image in the middle and a final column with bold subtitles almost like bullet points and arrows adding more information in an interesting and eye catching way. Also by using arrow shapes it encourages people to move onwards to the next page, shown by the bold red arrow in the bottom right hand corner. As you can see this contense page is full of text however it is broken down by the large image in the centre. It also draws attention to the main article in this specific issue of NME, I think this is good because it brings out the biggest article in this issue as there is so much text on the page and shows the consumer just where they need to find it, making it easy and practical for them. At the bottom of the page we are drawn to the text in the black box’s as it stands out from the rest of the page as the background is white, it also incudes bright yellow text which is the only yellow used in this page, I think it is a good place to promote subscribing to the magazine as this is where people firstly look when reading a magazine therefore they wont miss it.

NME music magazine double page spread:

Once again this page consist on the 3 main colours that are used throughout the 3 pages I have analysed, (red, black and white), this is to piece the magazine together and create a consistent flow and keeping to the genre of the magazine.

This page is linked very clearly to the front cover of this issue of NME. We are again immediately drawn to the image and the ‘cut out’ writing, just like on the front cover, this is then linking the two pages to tell the reader it’s the main article.

The layout of the page is very simple making it easy and clear to follow. The whole of the right hand side page is covered with an image very similar to the one on the front cover. She has an edgy look portrayed by her appearance, for example her checked skirt, rough messy hair, and her pose suggests that she is rebellious and doesn’t care what people think, which is shown through the large and bold cut of letters, which also catches our attention and reads “people think I’m an attention seeker, but in just honest.” The style of writing fits with the genre of music this magazine specializes in and portrays Lily Allen’s story before the audience has read the story, giving them an insight to the article, making them want to read it. By having these two large structures on the page it fills the space meaning less writing is used which may appeal to the audience reading the article as they will not get bored and move on, this is also true for the way its written. The article is laid out in order for the reader to follow easily; it does this by firstly starting off with a drop capital. This shows the reader exactly where to begin reading and addresses the audience directly. The text is in four same sized columns separated by gutters so that the reader doesn't get easily bored.

Miss D

2012-02-08T11:41:00.001Z

Well done Chloe- this is well-organised and clear. Now do some analysis in terms of what the results tell you and look at some real media artefacts.

Questionnaire results

2012-02-08T09:27:00.008Z

Q1) For this question i asked the question 'what is your gender?' i felt this was

a necessary question to ask as i feel that the gender may effect the out come

of other questions for example the genre of music. Overall i can see the the majority

of people i asked were male.

Q2) I asked an age related question as i felt this would effect the rest of the

questions, therefore i felt it would be a good question to put forward and

ask the audience. From my results i can see the most popular age group

was 15-20.

Q3) As you can see from the bar graph that all the people who filled out

the questionnaire did read a music magazine.

Q4) I asked a question relating to how often people would buy or read a

questionnaire, the most popular choice was rarely, however following

closely was sometimes which shows the people i asked have an interest

in music magazines.

Q5) For this question the most popular choice was pop, shortly followed by rock,

however when looking at these results all the categories were high in numbers.

This shows that there is a large variety of styles of music magazines which are all popular.

Q6) Supermarket came out the most popular choice for this question,

and buy a large amount, where as the other options were more

similar with numbers.

Q7) I felt that asking a question on price was an important question to ask as

it would allow me to see the most popular choice, allowing me to follow

these guidelines for my own magazine. the most popular choice was £1.00-£1.50.

Q8) As well as doing a price question on how much the consumer would

be willing to pay i also felt it would be good idea to find out how much

consumers actually pay for their magazines, the highest outcome was

£1.00-£1.50, showing that it matches my previous question on price.

Q9) The magazine that had been read the most was top of the pops, shortly

followed by NME, Vibe and the Kerrrang, this shows that the well known

names are mostly heard of and the most popular to the consumers.

Q10) What is your favourite music magazine and why?

For question 10 i asked people to state their favorite music magazine and why they

liked it, i felt this was a good question as it would allow me to see the most popular

choices of magazines. I also asked them to say why they liked it as it would allow me

to see their reason, the majority said they liked their magazine because of the artists

featured and the latest gossip.

Q11) I felt asking a question on the appearance of a music magazine was

important as well as questions on the audience. i asked what it was

that made them want to buy it, all of the options given were popular

and relatively close.

Q12) As you can see from the pie chart the most popular choice was, gossip on

musicians and the rest of the options were fairly similar in popularity, showing

all of the options are important and appeal to a wide audience.

Q13) As you can see the majority of people said that they find a contents page useful

when in a music magazine, i also asked them to specify why they find it useful, when

analysing the data for this question i found that most people said it saves time and allows

you to find what you want quickly and easily.

Q14) What are the reasons why you buy a music magazine?

I felt this was a good question to ask my audience as i felt it is important to understand

why they buy it therefore i can incorporate this into my own magazine, when analysing

this question there was a verity of different answers but the ones that came up most frequently

where the latest gossip on artists, and useful information- for example tour dates.

Q15) A lot of people said yes to this question and only a small amount of people

said no to this question.

Q16) The most popular choice in this question was ITunes vouchers, however all

of the options were popular, which shows people are interested in promotions.

Questionnaire

2012-02-08T09:19:00.002Z

1) What is your gender?
· Male
· Female
2) What age group do you fit into?
· 15-20
· 20-25
· 25-30
· 30-40
· 40+
3) Have you ever read a music magazine?
· Yes
· No
4) How often do you read a music magazine?
· On a regular basis
· Sometimes
· Rarely
· Other- please specify
5) What style of music magazine do you usually buy?
· Pop
· Rock
· Heavy metal
· Other- please specify
6) Where do you buy your magazines from?
· Supermarket
· Convenient store
· Subscribe
· Online
· Other- please specify
7) How much are you willing to pay for the music magazine?
· £1.00-£1.50
· £1.50-£2.00
· £2.00-£3.00
· Other- please specify
8) What is the price that you would normally pay for your music magazine?
· 80p- £1.00
· £1.00- £1.50
· £1.50- £2.00
· Other- please specify
9) Which of the following music magazines have you read before?
· NME
· Top of the pops
· Kerrang
· Vibe
· Other- please specify10) What is your favourite music magazine and why?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
11) What on a magazine cover makes you want to look/buy it?
· The name/ logo of the magazine
· The photograph
· The headlines
· The colours
· The band or artist that is promoted
· Promotions eg competitions
· Other- please specify
12) When you go to purchase a music magazine what are you looking for in the content?
· Gossip on musicians
· The latest up to date news
· Useful information- eg tour dates
· Promotions/ competitions
· Images
· Other- Please specify
13) Do you find if music magazines have a contents pages is useful? If yes why?
· Yes
· No
……………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………………
14) What are the reasons why you buy a music magazine?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
15) Would you like upcoming artists as well as well known artists to feature in a music magazine?
· Yes
· No
16) What offers/ promotions would you most interested in?
· Free CD’s
· ITunes vouchers
· Discount on concert tickets
· Other- please specify