Conventions Analysis Double Page Spread

Media Language: 

• On the double page spread, there is a main title that starts on the left hand side of the first page, then overlaps the double page spread.  The word 'Revenge' stands out because  while the rest of the language on the title is very simple, the word seems to stand out because of what it means. However, it is effective to use the word 'Revenge' because it could be interpreted into meaning that Mark Ronson is making a comeback, which is a good use of media language.
• The Main Image is very effective for many reasons. One of them is that Mark is dressed in black, with only red showing at the bottom of the photo. Because it has been taken against a white back drop it makes him stand out because of the what he is wearing and it also makes him look very bold. Another reason, is the broken trumpet in front of him. I find this very interesting because it shows that he is no longer using it  and 'Revenge' is how he is changing the way he creates his music, and the trumpet represents that.
• The use of pull-quotes underneath the main title, makes it very short and gives a small amount of information from the interview. Because this is what the interview has written and chose to put it in that position, it makes it more effective and stand out against the white back drop.
• NME has an interesting colour scheme. One reason why it is interesting is because black is a very bold colour and stands out, just like the colour white does. And the contrast of them both works really well and manages to stand out against the white back drop.
• The columns are spaced out at a good distance, as well as including bold writing to highlight key parts of the interview which appear to be important to the article.  What I also like is that at the beginning of each column, the main letters 'C' & 'R' are made much bigger than the rest of the text and is made bold and the colour of the font is a black.

Ideology: The ideology behind the double page spread is that Mark Ronson has a style of being very bold, and this has been portrayed from the front cover to the double page spread which can be seen. On the front cover, the colour scheme is black and orange, whereas the double page spread colour theme is black and white. It is ironic that they have kept the same two colours but not included 'orange' in the double page spread. 

Audience: The audience view on the double page spread is that it will appear to be very bold and that will make it stand out and seem very interesting, because of the colour theme that has been applied and the image also making it look more effective because of the prop that has been used. Also, the pull quotes can also help because the readers will be drawn to the article about Mark Ronson and his comeback, and because of what has appeared on the double page spread, makes the audience more interested.

Representation:  The representation of this double page spread is that it is all about Mark Ronson and his comeback. The main image on the left page includes him and the masthead has his name at the top, which makes it very clear that this magazine issue is about him. The columns are about his big comeback and how he is better than ever, and that he has made changes and his music isn't the same as it used to be.

Conventions Analysis Contents Page

Media Language: 

• Logo & Contents - The logo is very bold and stands out against the black background. Also, to anyone that is reading the magazine, they will know that they're still reading the same magazine, rather than a random one. Because the contents is on the side, it makes it very easy for the reader to find what they went to read. The title at the top of the page, is also bold and because the colour of the font is white, it makes it stand out.
• Main Image- The main image is an important part on a contents page because when opening the magazine, that is the first thing that the readers sees. Also, the image is very dominating because it takes up most of the space on the page. The image also links to one of the featured articles inside the magazine which readers can read. Also, it shows the band 'Kasabian' performing.
• Date- The date is an important part for the magazine, because there is many different magazines that get published. And by putting a date on them, it will allow the readers to be able to the exact date that it was published.
• Features- The features on the contents page include page numbers, which give reference to the location of articles, with their name so that the readers will be able to turn straight to the article that they're looking for. Also, Their is also a continuous colour scheme through out the page. Also, there is advertisements at the bottom of the page which could be based upon other contents on the contents page.

Ideology: The Ideology of the contents page is that it is informing the readers about what articles are inside the magazine. For example, it has different topics which can be seen on the right side of the image. Some of these features are: News,  Reviews, Live and Radar. These are some of the different topics that the readers are interested in, because the reviews wont just be about one artist, it will be about many others as one could be about seeing them in concert. Whereas the news is about what is going on in the music business, all about the other artists and what it is that they're doing.

Audience: When reading NME magazine, the audience will be interested in different parts of it. Some may only read it for the reviews, whereas other may be interested in the news. From the information I found, it is very clear the music has a big impact on the readers life's and this magazine plays an important role for music lovers of the Rock/Indie genre. Also, the contents page gives the audience a different choices of what they want to read.

Representation:  The Representation of the contents page is that it is giving the audience guidance as to where they can find an article that they want to read. By having a contents page, this means that when the reader opens up the magazine they are immediately being able to see what page the article is on.  Also, it gives information about the main article, by including some of the text and a main image.

Conventions Analysis of Front Cover & Brief

Music Brief: To design  a front cover, contents and double spread of a new music magazine.  All images and text used must be original, a minimum of four images must be used.

Media Language:

• Masthead- The masthead is very bold and stands out, due to the colour of it being orange and the size and font. This makes it effective, because it is a dominating icon which makes it clear what the title of the magazine is. Also, because it is a short masthead, it will also be very easy for the audience to remember.
• Selling Line-  This used to say what type of genre the magazine is, so the audience know what it is that they're expecting to read when purchasing the magazine.
• Featured Articles- On the left hand side of the magazine, it shows some of the featured articles that are inside. The way that this is written is very short and straight to the point, but also the sub-titles are worded so that the audience will be interested in reading about the remaining articles. By having effective sub-titles and featured articles, it makes the magazine appeal to the audience.
• Main Pull Quote- The main pull quote is used to show features from the interview. Because Mark Ronson is on the front cover, and the main article being about him, the have used some keys words to say how he has changed. And this can be seen in the main image, showing that the main pull quote relates to the image. Also, the colour of the font is white, which is standing out against the orange background behind it, which is also the same colour as the main article font.
• Main Feature Article- This is what the reader will be reading about. The main article stands out from the rest of the featured articles, because the size of the font is much bigger compared to the rest on the front cover and the colour is orange, which stands out against the white backdrop. Also, it says 'The Reinvention Of', just by seeing that will automatically make the magazine look interesting because on magazines you wouldn't expect to see words like that used.
• Main Image- The main image of the this photo is a medium close up. Because the image has been taken this way, it allows more articles featured articles and plugs to be added onto the front cover. What I like about the image, is that he is holding a broken trumpet in both of his hands. I find this very effective because is links to the main pull quote which says 'No More Trumpets'. Also, because it has been taken against a white backdrop, Mark stands out more despite him not wearing bright clothing, he still stands out because of the use of the lighting as well.
• Barcode- It shows the price and release date of the magazine, so the audience knows whether or not it is the newest addition and the price has gone up or down.

Institution: NME stands for New Musical Express. It is a British music journalism magazine which was first published in March 1952. The founder of the magazine is Theodore Ingham. The price of the magazine is £2.20 and is published weekly. NME readers feel that music is the most important part of their lives and that they like to listen to new bands. Some of the readers don't always buy a magazine, but instead read it online by subscribing. This shows that technology has a big advantage of how many copies that NME sells, From most of the information, it appears that the readers are interested in technology. they have access to the internet and own a computer.

Ideology: The ideology behind NME is that it is a Indie/Rock Magazine that has a target audience between the age of '17-30', which shows there is a large age group.Also, the front cover shows that NME mainly focus on artists who are making a comeback. For example, Mark Ronson is on the front cover and it clearly states that he is 'Reinventing' himself.

Audience:The average age of readers is 25, which suggests that it is mainly targeted at young adults who are in their late 20's. It is also mainly focused on men, between the age of 17-30. From the percentages shown 73% of men read the magazine, whereas only 27% of women read the magazine. This shows the magazine is mainly aimed at men, more than women.

Representation: The representation of the magazine is the way that the artists are portrayed on the front cover. On other NME magazine covers, they're all different from one another. This could be because of the style that the artists portray themselves as, or being stereotypical. On the front cover, there is lots of featured articles making it look full, which maybe how NME want the design of their magazine. There is a use of bright colours which suggests that it isn't going for a dark theme, but instead a light coloured theme and this could mean that. It is clear that the magazine chooses a colour scheme based upon the way that the fans would expect to see them.

Information found: http://www.slideshare.net/zlorhenley/nme-media-informationfull-2011

Finished Product As Last Post

This is my final product. I am happy with the outcome of the magazine cover and contents page. I think that the front cover works well, the colours are bright and stand out.

Creating/Designing Product (Print Screens)

 To begin with, I opened up the photo in Photoshop on an International Article. I then expanded the photo so that it would fit the size of the article. I decided to use this photo because of the lighting and the background is plain, so if I was to cut anything out, I would have a problem with the different textures.

 Next, I decided to add the Mass Head, I used the font 'Trajan Pro', the same as the magazine cover I created for as an introduction to Photoshop. I changed the size of the font to '72' because it fits across the top of the image and makes the font look more bold, the colour also helps make it look bold.

 I then went on to start adding featured articles. I decided to change the colour of the font to blue, because there was hints of it in the photo and I wanted to created a them which linked to the photo. I thought of different types of feature stories that would seem interesting, and I decided on stories that you would expect to see in a college magazine.

 Then, I added the main feature story which is 'Success Stories'. I chose to have this as the main story because I think that it is good to see how people have succeeded once leaving college. Also, I changed the colour of the title to purple and made the brightness of the photo a lot brighter as I thought that it was too dark.

After I made the changes, I then went onto adding plug, which would mean that tickets could be won to upcoming events. I thought this would be a good idea to use, because young people like concerts and festivals, and this would appeal to them. Also, I added a barcode and social media logos which is something you would expect to see on a magazine cover.

To finish the cover, I added the main feature story, and made the font bold to emphasize that this is the main story of the magazine. Because the colour is red, which is also very bright this makes it stand out much more. Also, I added an issue number and the date to let the students know when it was published and what number of the copy it is.

When it came to creating the contents page, I had a few ideas of how I pictured it. I knew that I wanted the images to one side so that the page list would be at the right side and that way nothing would overlap, and it wouldn't look too crowded. I opened up a new International Article and added one of the cover photos that I had taken. I then opened up text and began to use the colour red, same font and made it the same size so that it would be at the top of the page.

Next, I then began to add the page list. I used the same colour as the Mast head because it related to the theme of the cover. Then I carried on and began to write the feature story title of what was going to be inside the magazine. I know that in magazines they have adverts so the page numbers are spaced out because of them.

To finish it off, I then added a second photo like I had in my draft version of the content page. Even though I didn't add a third image, I think that it looks good with out it because there is everything that you would expect to see on a content page.

Photographs For Front Cover

This is the first photo that I took. I decided to do it against a white wall back when it came to editing and cutting parts out, I knew that patterns wouldn't be in the way and would make it easier to edit.

What I like about this photo is that she isn't being completely serious, instead she is laughing about the situation which is something that students do.

However, I don't think this would be a good magazine cover because she isn't looking directly at the photo and it's taken from a long shot.

The second photo is very simple and something that you would expect to see on a college magazine. The student is looking directly at the camera and is holding her folder.

What I like about this photo is that she is looking directly at the photo this time, compared to the first one when she wasn't. Also, the lighting is just right, it isn't too dark or too bright, so when it comes to editing the photo in Photoshop all I won't have to change the lighting as much as I need to.











 The third photo that I have taken is showing that she is smiling while looking at the camera. What I really like about this photo is that she is smiling while looking directly at the camera, which is good because it shows that she is having a good time.

However, the problem with this photo is that at the time that it was being taken, she moved her hand which has caused he hand to blur. If she didn't move it then this photo would be good for the front cover.

When I took this photo, I asked her to stand on a side because I thought that the lighting would reflect much better rather than her looking straight at the camera. This worked out well, because on the right side of the photo, it is much brighter compared to the previous photos that I have taken.

Once again, the lighting in the this photo is perfect as you can see the colours stand out more compared to what they used to. But the only problem with this photo is that her eyes are closed. At the time that I took this photo, she was in the middle of blinking and I took the photo at the wrong time. However, if her eyes weren't closed then I would use this as the magazine cover.

This photo is one of the best photos that I have taken. She is looking at the camera, not blinking and her hand isn't blurred from moving. Everything is exactly how it should be. Also, the lighting is the same as the rest of the photos. Overall, this is one of my choices for the magazine cover.

This photo is a medium close up, even though the rest of my photo's are long shot I can always crop them using photo shop. However, this photo is taken against a textured background with two different colours which seem to make her stand out from the rest of the photo.

Also, the lighting of this photo is much better than the rest of the other photo's because it is in natural daylight which is the best type of light.

This is my second favourite photo that I've taken. What I really like about it is that she is leaning on a side while looking at the photo, smiling as well.  Everything in this photo seems to contrast very well and the only thing that I would change about it is that I would make it a medium close up.

The final photo that I've taken is slightly different compared to the second one. This one is taken so that she is facing the camera directly and holding her folder. I think that this image could be improved if I had taken it as a medium close up.

Basics Of Photoshop

 To begin with, I opened up Photoshop and created a new International Article. Next, I placed the photo on top of the blank A4 sheet which I then expanded so it would fit the same size as the sheet. I decided on using this photo because it was very simple and I liked the black and white effect, as well as the different lighting.

Next, I decided on using the font 'Tajan Pro'. I liked how it was very simple but stood out at the same time; I decided to keep the font white because it looked bolder, as the top of the image is a lot darker. The size of the font is '72' and it fits across the top of the photo which works well.

Then, I added a plug at the bottom of the page, because that it where I would be adding a competition as it would make the reader interested in seeing what it is that they could win. Also, I added social media logos above the barcode because when looking at the front cover, it would be easy to notice and the colours of them stand out.

To finish the editing off, I then went on to add feature articles, as well as the main article. Also, I made sure to include what number the issue is, the date and the price.