Front Cover Ideas

this is a quick sketch of an idea for a front cover for my music magazine. i used a scanner to upload this image onto my computer. the name of my magazine reflects the genre of music which the magazine is about. 


the colours red and black contrast and go really well together. this is a possible colour scheme for my magazine, depending on how my photographs turn out. 


the title 'wobble' in bubble writing isn't that clear to read, so when i come to creating my front cover on pages i will make it more easy to read. 


text would go on the left hand side of this cover because thats where the space is. 

Women In Media

Whilst researching, i listened to this podcast which discusses why women are still so under-represented in the media industry. some of the statistics shocked me (in the average month):

• 78% of news articles are written by men
• 72% of question time contributors are men
• 84% of radio reporters and guests on radio 4's 'today show' are men
• less then 10% of sport journalist are women
• less then 5% of sport coverage are done by women

These statistics show that there are very little (and decreasing) women in the media nowadays. The hours which people are required to work in the media are very un-family-friendly and are one of the reasons why women are leaving their jobs. When they have children (aprox age 30), and once their children are more grown up, they themselves are 'too old' or 'past it' to re-join the industry. 


I think if more females were involved in media it would give younger girls inspiration to get involved themselves. Annie Mac is a DJ and radio presenter who hosts a number of shows on Radio 1. Her main show, Annie Mac's Mash Up, airs 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Friday nights. She has featured on 'the culture show', 'never mind the buzzcocks', co-presented 'top of the pops' in june 2006 and more. I think Annie is real inspiration for aspiring females who are interested in the music media.


The front page of my my magazine features both a male and female. I have purposely done this so that potential buyers can feel like WOBBLE is suitable for either gender.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/audio/2011/dec/09/media-talk-podcast-women-in-the-media

The Impact Of Technology On Magazines

By 2020, media commentators predict that only 10% of magazine reading will be from hard copies on paper. Magazine markets are still quite traditional. They are old fashioned media sectors - e.g. very gender specific as the success of Zoo and Nuts of Glamour and Cosmopolitan confirms. Many magazines offer a free online download of their magazine. an example of this is Bristol's NITELIFE magazine, which i have researched before. http://www.nitelifeonline.com/12nitelife_jan.pdf this is the link to the January 2012 issue.

My Shoot

1)

the posters in the background of this photo advertise some of the venue where i took this. if i decide to use this image for my magazine then i need to decide on whether to keep them there or hide them.


2)

this would be a good photo for the background of my double page spread of my magazine because the the whole composition is filled. i edited it into black and white because the composition is busy so the colour doesn't need to be bright.
3)

i could crop out the right hand side of this photo because it is someones hand holding a drink - which is irrelevant and confusing. it draws eyes to that rather than the actual purpose of the picture (the two people).

4)

this is not that interesting so wouldn't be good for a front cover. the pixals arn't clear. it would be good for a small print in the corner of my double page spread/contents page.

5)

because this photo is landscape, it would be good for a front cover or contents page. the colours are really interesting and bright. it represents the electronic genre of music well because the tuning decks are clearly in view. i would easily be able to inset text onto this picture - there is a large space at the top for a title, the right hand side is free for text and so is the left bottom corner.

6)

this photo shows movement of the DJs. the effect is really interesting and unusual.

7)

because this photo is landscape it would be good for my front cover/contents page. the

8)

this photo shows people having a good time. even though the two boys take up little space, i wouldn't crop this because the light effect on the left and along the top is unusual.

9)

the lighting wasn't that good in this photo so i made it black and white. i could crop out the right hand side because it is just blank space.

10)

this photo shows the DJ clearly with some interesting light effects. if i was to use this photo as a main print, then i would crop out/draw over the phone in the bottom right corner, and i would also draw over the "pioneer" on the DJ's decks.

11)

the black in the top left corner contrasts well with the bright red lights streaming across the top of the image. this photo is similar to the one before.

12)

this photo shows the light moving really well. i don't think it could be cropped because there are faint images in the background which show movement of the character.


i took these pictures at Thekla - a music venue and club in Bristol. i used a slow shutter speed on my Fujifilm, Finepix S2000HD camera so that i could capture movement of the lights in my images to give them a special effect.  the colours in the images are bright and eye-catching - great for my front cover. i am really pleased with my photographs. 

editing


on iphoto i edited all of my images to enhance the colours and add effects. on most of them i adjusted the contrast to higher, increased dark tones and definition. on some of them i added the black & white effect. 

Planning My Shoot

i have decided i am going to photograph a dj/djs for the pictures for my magazine. i am going to make sure that the images (after editing) are very colourful and eye-catching. i am going to use an SLR camera with a slow shutter speed so that i can capture lights moving in the club/gig venue. i need to take a picture to go as the front cover of my music magazine, and pictures to go on the contents page and double page spread. i wont just take pictures of the dj's themselves - i will take pictures of the crowd/people enjoying themselves at the venue. 

Magazine Genres Titles and Ideas

this is a mind map of ideas/words which i thought of which helped me name my music magazine. After researching 'NME' and 'NITELIFE' magazines, i have decided that unlike 'NME', i want my magazine to be more concentrated on specific genres. i have chosen to base my magazine on electrically produced/modern day music genres, which include; techno, dance, dubstep and drum & bass. this type of music is becoming more and more popular with teenagers and younger generations.

In electronically produced music, rhythms are usually syncopated, and often shuffled and repeated. a characteristic of the dubstep genre is the 'wobble bass', where an extended bass note is manipulated rhythmically. the word 'wobble' is really catchy so i have decided to call my magazine this. 

like 'NITELIFE', 'WOBBLE' will be a local monthly issue which is based in Bristol. this idea contrasts completely with 'NME' magazine because 'NME' is worldwide and is a weekly issue. however like 'NME', 'WOBBLE' will include interviews of upcoming and current artists, but on a much much more local scale (Bristolian artists). 'WOBBLE' will be a combination of event details for the upcoming month  and information about some clubs in Bristol (like 'NITELIFE'), but only especially for electronic music based events and interviews about upcoming and current artists in the Bristol area. 

Magazines In Shops

when magazines are displayed in shops, unless they are lucky enough to make the front row, only the top 5cm (aprox) of the front cover is visible. when creating my magazine front cover i will make sure the top 5cm of the page is eye-catching, colourful and bold. the more eye-catching it is, the more people will want to buy it.

Inspiration

using www.photovisi.com i have made a collage of images to do that are associated with music/live performances from google images. after collecting pictures of live events, i have noticed that most of the better and more popular images are of male artists. this may be a coincidence or it might be that the media is actually concentrating on male artists rather than female artists. this collage has given me inspiration and more ideas of the kind of photo i want on my music magazine cover and contents pages.

Similarities and Contrasts between NME & NITELIFE

• 'NME' is a weekly issue whereas 'NITELIFE' is a monthly issue. 
• 'NITELIFE' is locally based (in Bristol) whereas 'NME' is read worldwide.
• 'NME' is £2.20 whereas 'NITELIFE' is free.
• 'NME' is available worldwide in shops whereas Bristol can only be found in some shops in Bristol.

Magazine Research Two: NITELIFE

 2. NITELIFE - "Bristol's essential listings guide".

NITELIFE magazine is Bristol's "essential listings guide" which features all the local venues that "you need to know about". It is a very simple free magazine which consists of mainly pictures. It advertises local bars and clubs and gives a monthly lowdown of what gig and events Bristol has to offer. You can find Nitelife Magazines in certain clothes/shoe shops in bristol, e.g. 'Cooshti' or 'Size'.






Front Cover:

This episode is January 2012's. The title is very bold and easy to read. The photograph takes up the most of the page. The colours used in the photo are bright fun and contrasting - which makes the photo interesting to look at. The red circle with 'Free' written inside stands out from the white background. When customers see the word 'free' they are more likely to look at it and perhaps take a copy because they know they don't have to pay - and no one likes paying!

http://www.nitelifeonline.com/

Magazine Research One: NME

For my project, i have to create a music magazine cover, double page spread and contents page of a music magazine. i am going to research and explore existing music magazines to help me get an idea of what they look like/are about.

1. NME - "new musical express".

NME started as a music newspaper (in 1952) and then gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, in the 14 November 1952 edition. In the 1970s it became the best-selling British music newspaper. An online version of NME, NME.COM, was launched in 1996. Today NME.COM has 5 million users per month. The NME magazine describes itself as "the world's most recognised and iconic music magazine", published to give a "truthful, honest, informed account of what's going down in music". NME includes news/information about lots of different genres of music but focuses mainly on guitar and rock music; Oasis Arctic Moneys, The Rolling Stones and many more.

• 80% of NME readers feel that music is an important part of their lives

• 79% of NME readers like to listen to new bands

• 63% specially choose to listen to indie/guitar bands

• 49% specially choose to listen to live bands in studio

• 52% are interested in taking a musical course/qualification

• 36% are thinking of buying a musical instrument in the next year

more statistics on http://www.nme.com/mediapack/pdf/nme_media_information_full.pdf

Front covers of NME all share the same "NME" logo at the top left corner of the page - usually in red but special edition covers are in different colours. the title is very easy to read as it is bold and stands out. The two front covers i have chosen are 2 of the 10 "special edition covers"and happen to be of much more modern music artists - Magnetic Man and Rihanna. the other artists for the special edition front covers are Jack White, Florence And The Machine, LCD Soundsystem, Kasabian, Laura Marling, Foals, MIA, and Biffy Clyro. Magnetic Man are an electronic music project consisting of dubstep producers and DJ's, and Rihanna, a female r&b role model. the colour schemes for both of them are simple - they only use two colours.

NME magazine are up-to-date and use new media to promote. They have a facebook, twitter and tumblr page which people can 'like' and 'follow' to find out very current news and information about music artists.
http://www.facebook.com/nmemagazine
https://twitter.com/NMEmagazine
http://nmemagazine.tumblr.com/

http://www.nme.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NME

Preliminary Task: Draft 2

i did a second draft for my school magazine front cover. most school magazines have their school logo on the page, so i added the marlwood logo onto the top left hand corner of the page. i still think the page looks quite boring and the speech bubble is quite tacky. i will include more text when it comes to making my music magazine. 

Preliminary Task: Draft 1

Using Pages, i have created a school magazine cover for my school as my preliminary task. Having never used Pages before, this was something new to me - it was very simple. I quickly learned how to insert text and shape bubbles onto the page and set the whole page's background to one of my photographs. I chose to use this photograph (cropped on iPhoto) because it has bright colours and gives a warm feeling about the school. It has a good composition that shows drama masks on the left, books in the background and a sixth form student enjoying working on a computer. I covered up the electrical plugs in the centre by putting a speech bubble over them because they look un-neat. When i come to create my final piece for a music magazine, i will include a more text, shapes and detail in general onto the front cover. it would also be a good idea to include the marlwood school logo on the page.


To get more of an idea of how successful this magazine cover is, i asked my friend annie (a sixth form student at marlwood school) what she thought of it. she said it needed more text around the picture, a few more contrasting colours because the colours i have used blend in together to well and dont stand out. she said i should write the date of the issue somewhere on the page. she also said i should include the marlwood school logo.

Photo Shoot For Preliminary Task

Using an SLR Camera, i went around my school to take photos of everyday school activities so that i could get a photograph to use for the front cover of my school magazine (preliminary task). i concentrated on Sixth Form pupils in particular.

My Photography - Rule Of Thirds

These are just two of the photos I took which contributed to my GCSE Photography coursework which particularly show effective usage of the rule of thirds.

Rule Of Thirds

Composition is very important when it comes to photography. The "rule of thirds" is a compositional technique with is a unique grid of lines arranged to divide your image into thirds (9 squares). Along one of these lines, or especially at an intersecting point of these lines, you want to position your most important (focal point) subjects in your photo. The rule gives an interesting effect which draws the viewers eye directly to the focal point.

School Magazines

Fearns Community Sports College School Magazine

These magazines are of summer 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Although the four different covers have completely different front pictures, they share the same format; having the school logo and motto at the top, with writing often on the bottom left corner - this shows that they are from the same school and follow on from each other. The covers uses bright colours and show pictures of students enjoying themselves which portrays the school as a fun place to be.