Task 2 - Research and Planning - Extra case study

The genre I have chosen to do for my own music magazine is Afrobeats but there are not many afrobeat magazines out there so finding one to do my case studies on was hard but I used Q magazine and NME magazine instead because these magazine are where I got most of my inspiration and ideas from.
    Having said that here is a front cover of an Afrobeats magazine that I found online although I had never heard of it before. I was unable to find a contents or double page spread for it hence why it wasn't used as one of my case studies but here it is.

• This magazine front cover is quite basic as it doesn't have a lot on it, I think this has been done to insure that all the readers attention is kept on the image of the cover star. There is not much to the main cover line as it is just her name, "Lira" having said that it still does stand out a lot as it is the biggest bit of text on the front cover other than the masthead and also because it is in a totally different front than any other bit of text on the front cover. and lastly because it is white and it stands out really well against the colour that she is wearing. The masthead is quite simply just "African Muzik Magazine", although the title of the magazine is quiet basic and long they have put their own little twist on how they have spelt the word music which makes it more original and unique
• One thing that I did take as inspiration for my own music magazine was the look of the cover star, in this image of  Lira she look fierce and independent and I wanted to give this effect with my cover star. 

Task 2 - Reasearch and Planning (Case Study 2) -Q Magazine

Front Cover:

• The masthead of this music magazine is placed in the top left corner of the front cover and just like in other magazines it the most eye catching text on the page and this should always be the case because the masthead is the part of the magazine that the reader is suppose to remember.
• The cover star in this issue of Q magazine is Lady Gaga and the image used is a media long shot of her. What she is wearing goes well with the colour scheme which consists of red, white and black. She is not wearing much which is typical and expected from Lady Gaga but she is wearing is black and although this is part of the colour scheme she still does stand out really well and this is due to the fact that there is not as much black text on the front cover as there is white or red text so most of the black seen on the front cover page is on Lady Gaga. 
• The main cover line on the front cover page has been made really big across the middle of the page in capital letters and it is white, all these features contribute to how much it stands out which is a lot. The white against the grey background allows the colour to pop more. The cover star, Lady Gaga has covered parts of the main cover line, just enough for the reader to still be able to see what has been written there. The cover star also covers part of the masthead but when covering the masthead it doesn't matter how much of it is being covered because this is on every issue of the magazine and readers will remember what it is without seeing the whole thing on every magazine. How ever the main cover line on the magazine will be different on each issue of the magazine meaning it needs to be clear and obvious to the reader and also easy to read.
• Underneath the main cover line there are four other cover lines that quite simple just give the reader an idea of what other features there will be in this issue of the magazine. These cover lines are made really small in comparison to the main cover line and the text in the top left corner of the magazine but do still stand out because of the white highlight that has been put around each little cover line. In the top left corner of the cover page are some more cover line. One cover line begins using the name of the person  that will be featured in that article and the next cover line begins with a pull quote, this is effective as it uses a variety of techniques to persuade the reader to want to reader a specific article other that the main one.
• In the bottom left corner just like in other magazine there is a bar code and a price. The price has been made quite small on the front cover, I think this is effective because is makes it not very noticeable to the reader enabling them to look through the magazine to see if they like what they see and are interested in buying before looking to see how much the magazine costs rather than straight away seeing the price and being put off by it and not even taking a look through the magazine at all.

Contents Page:

• Due to the fact that the magazine contents page is spread over two page it makes it unconventional, having said that this could be very appealing to the reader as they will get the impression that the magazine is jam packed with so much that the reader would be interested in. Although there is a lot going on in this contents page, it is still quite neat and organised which is effective as it makes the reader actually want to read it as things that are well organised are more appealing to the eye.
• On the second page of the contents, the issue number is shown clearly at the top indicating to the reader that the magazine is consistent and successful with how many magazine they have already had published. and this also means that the content in the magazine is good and appealing to a specific audience..
• At the bottom on both pages is the website for the magazine which in a way tells the reader that there is a lot more to been seen on the website and or that instead of reading a paperback version of the magazine it can be read online. also at the bottom of each page is the name of the magazine next to each page number, this is effective as it is a good way of helping the reader to remember the name of the magazine without having to going back to the cover page.
• The colour scheme that consists of red, white and black has been kept consistent from the cover page which is good because on both the cover and contents page there seems to be a lot going on so keeping the colours the same keeps it from become too overwhelming for the reader which would quite simply out them off from reading the magazine.
• The first page of the contents page is more than likely the first side that the reader will look at so it is perfect that the features of this issue are listed on this side because people that read each issue of Q magazine already know the regulars and probably most look forward to seeing the new features in each issue.
• On the second page of the contents the regulars are listed and I couldn't help but notice that words are highlighted in different colours in the subheading under the regulars. Such as the word "special" which has been highlighted red unlike the rest of the subheading. This does a really good job at attracting the reader to this section of the contents page as although it is listed under the regulars section meaning that this will be in every issue of the magazine it give it a bit more of importance.
• A lot of the magazines articles have  been shown on the contents page in pictures instead of text which gives  the illusion that there is less on the contents page than there really is. In addition to this, having some of the articles presented as images could be a way of engaging the reader more as it allows them to see who is featured in the article without having to flip through the magazine to fine a specific article.

Double Page Spread:

• Once again the colour scheme which consists of red, white and black has been kept the same for the double page spread, which helps the reader to relate it to the front cover and remind them of what the front cover looks like without having to go back to it. This also helps the reader to remember the name of the magazine for future reference.
• The whole double page spread looks quite formal from the whole layout and simple colours and fonts. It had the typical layout of a double page spread which consists of a picture taking up one page of the double page spread and the other page being full of text. and the neatness of the columns on the second page adds onto the formal look of the double page spread.
• The image of Lady Gaga represents her in a sexual way due to the fact that she has no clothing on and is using a necklace and her hands to cover up her chest area. Her music is mostly enjoyed by females so this could ibe her way of gaining a hgher number of male fans because the sexual aspect of this picture is more appealing to males than it would be to females.
• There doesn't seem to be a specific title to this double page spread all that is at the top is her name and it is not big. I think is was kept small to keep all the attention on the picture of her. Her hair in the image used it a more messy but stylish kind of style which suits the genre of music that she makes. Her facial expression in the image also adds onto the sexual feel of the image because she looks quite fierce which would be attractive to males.

Task 2: Research and Planning: Case study 1 – NME Magazine

Front cover:

• The main cover image is of Florence and it is a close up, I think this picture was use as a way to connect with the audience as a way of persuading the reader to buy it. Also the cover star is wearing white in this image and this matches the white text which is use quite a lot all over the cover page. 
• The masthead of this issue of NME has been made white because it stands out against the red background of  Florence’s hair. Although it stands out against the red it also matches with the white top that Florence is wearing. The colour of the masthead also contrasts with the main cover line helping it to stand out even more which it is supposed to because the masthead of a magazine is meant to stand and be remembered.
•  On the right  side of the magazine cover there are a few other cover lines, which gives the reader an idea of the kind of different articles that will be feature in this issue of the magazine without them having to open the magazine. The colour is white just like the masthead but of course these cover lines do not stand out as much as any other important features of a magazine front cover such as the masthead or the main cover line
•  The main cover line is also a feature of a magazine that should stand out to the reader and in this magazine it does. The cover line was made black and is this only black text on the front cover, also its colour stands out against the white and red background.  In addition to this the cover line is very big in comparison to any of the other texts on the cover which makes it catch the reader’s attention easily which helps to persuade them to buy the magazine.
• At the top of this issue of NME magazine there is another cover line telling the reader that this is a special edition. Not only is this informative but it also as advertisement because seeing that there is something new about the magazine or in the magazine will attract more buyers. Here a pull quote that refers to the main cover line and the cover star is used which is effective as it is a basic way to give the reader of the magazine more of an idea as to what the article of the cover star will be about.
• Underneath the masthead of the magazine there is a slogan that quite simply just tells the reader what NME stand for.
• Like on most magazines there is a barcode which allows the reader to buy the magazine.

Contents Page:

• Just like in every magazine, the contents page tends to have some kind of title, in NME the contents page title is NME THIS WEEK and just like on the front cover, the title does not take up the whole of the top of the page. Also for a new reader they would be able to know from the title of the contents page that NME publishes a new issue of their magazine every week. In addition to this, the title is the biggest and most obvious piece of text on the contents page so the reader’s attention will instantly be drawn to it as soon as they open the magazine to this page
• NME Magazine lists the names of bands on the left side of most of their contents pages. Next to these band names are page numbers so that the reader can easily find where the band they would like to read about is, this is effective because it saves the reader a lot of time as they won’t have to go through the whole magazine to find who they would like to read about.
• NME uses subtitles going down the right side of the contents page such as, News, Features, Live and others. This is effective because readers are easily able to locate part of the magazine that they are or would be most interested in.
• An extract has been taken from an article and used in the contents page, this is effective as it is a way of drawing the readers attention to this particular article making them find it as they would want to continue on reading it.
• At the bottom of this NME contents page is a big, bold red arrow. Immediately when looking at this page your attention gets drawn to this arrow. This how been done to show a very important part pof the magazine or to show something that most people would be interested in.
• This magazine issues date has been places underneath the contents page title which gives the reader knowledge of its publication date and when the next publication will be,

Double Page Spread:

• From the way Florence is looking straight at the camera gives the audience the impression that she is in control and confident.
• This is a very uncluttered double page spread as it doesn't have a lot of text or a lot going on in the background which keeps all the attention on the main image of Florence.
• The main image is long shot of Florence in which she is dressed in all black enabling the reader to see her more aggressive side, In addition to this the way that she positioned in this photo shows her femininity and this links with the type of font that have been used for the title of this article and the drop cap as well. The font would be recognized by most as a "girly" font. Having said this, they do contradict each other in a way which that the femininity that is shown through the picture of Florence is a more fierce type of femininity whereas the type of femininity shown though the font of the title and drop cap is more of a gently and soft type of femininity.  the bright red colour that is her hair to pop out really well against the background. Speaking of the colours, the colour scheme has been kept consistent from the front cover, red, white and black. 
• In the background in big letters is written "USA" and this could mean to the reader that Florence has become big in the USA as she is British.  The fact that the letters are so big could be just to emphasize how big she has become in the USA and her achievements there as well. In the image Florence is sitting on some cloth that has the British flag on it showing that she originally Great Britain.
• The small amount of text that is in the double page spread is well organised into three clear columns making it more appealing to the reader and also encouraging them to read it.

Production Schedule