Existing Music Magazine Frontcovers

Existing Music Magazines

I analysed three music magazine front covers to get a better understanding of what makes a front cover look professional and to discover the typical conventions.

Music Magazine Moodboard

I gathered images of different genres of music magazine frontcovers to get an idea of how they are laid out and what they contain. This will help give me an idea of what I need to do when I come to design my own music magazine.

Audience Theory

This audience theory shows the knowledge behind a fact. It explains why we analyse something in the particular way we do, we must take other factors into consideration.

Audience Theory

PRELIMINARY Contents Page

I have now designed the contents page for my school magazine on the computer. I particularly like the school logo in the top left hand corner, I think it gives it a sense of professionalism. I decided to add this, despite it not being on my plan, because I feel this creates a theme throughout the magazine and highlights the fact its a school magazine. The articles on the contents page will all be articles in the magazine. I made sure they would be articles that pupils could relate to. For example; the school production article would be something pupils could be interested in as it is something going on in their surroundings. The aim of the articles is to make students feel they are up to date with the events taking place in their school even if they do not take part in it.

I made this page on a blank word document. I cut and paste the school logo in and then added the word 'contents' to make it clear what page this is. I then made three boxes as a outline to where i would put my images and then a larger rectangular shape where i would later write the article issues included in this magazine. I added the three images into the boxes and used a text box to write the page number of the article the image relates to. I then added text into the larger rectangular box stating all the articles and page numbers of the articles included in this issue.

When I come to make my music magazine I will take into consideration all the typical conventions we expect to see in a contents page. For example; editor's notes, a theme running throughout the magazine and images relating to the front page article headlines. I shall then apply this to my own magazine.

PRELIMINARY Contents Page - plan

This is the plan for my contents page of a school magazine. From looking at existing school magazines, I noticed that they all have a main heading telling the audience its a contents page, therefore I decided to include this on my own contents page. I thought I would put 3 images on the page so pupils can have a clearer idea of what the magazine will contain. I put the page numbers that the images relate to so if a pupil feels intreiged by the image, they can easily find out more.

PRELIMINARY Front Cover

I later went on to design the front cover on the computer. I decided to add some more headings because I felt the page was looking too empty and didn't looking interesting enough. However I think when I come to make my real magazine, I will add even more headings as I feel its still looking a little bare. I decided to change the title of the magazine from my plan, as I thought by adding the logo of the school as part of the heading, it looks far more professional. I like the main image because it shows a school student with folders, this is something the pupils can relate to as it is relevant in their school lives.

I created this page on word. I added the image for the background, then simply added text boxes to write the heading of some main features the magazine will contain. To get the school logo on the page I cut and paste it from the Greenshaw website. For my final music magazine, I shall use photoshop to create the pages because I think this will give it a far more professional appearance.

PRELIMINARY Front Page - plan

This is my practice front cover for my school magazine. From looking at existing school magazines I noticed the aspects they have in common. For example, they all have a heading at the top of the page. I wrote mine in a clear font so its easy to read, I decided to write the word 'Greenshaw' in a bigger font because it highlights the fact it is a school magazine. I decided to have one main image and have the headings around it because I think it makes the page look clearer and more attractive to the audience.

Existing Magazines

These are examples of existing school magazines that I have found and made comments about in order to help me make my own. I looked at the typical conventions they featured and the things I liked about them. Some of the typical conventions I found were; clear headings, easy to read font, one main image on the front page and article headings around the imgage. I will take all of these aspects into consideration when creating my own magazine.

Existing Magazines