School/General Magazine Research

Preliminary Task: Research of Existing Magazine Covers October 20

As a class we looked at various magazine front covers and spoke about their similarities and their differences. We noticed a pattern that reoccurred on almost every cover, we then found out that this was part of the codes and conventions expected of a magazine cover. These conventions included: mastheads which are conventionally found at the top of the magazine, banner headlines which are usually found in the middle of the page, puffs which are commonly seen on the right third of the page, menu strips which are conventionally found at the bottom of the cover, barcodes are usually seen at the bottom left or right hand corners, medium shot and cover lines which are frequently found on the left third of the cover etc.

Then we looked specifically at school magazines and saw that they had the same similarities as the other magazines for example having a banner headline, cover lines, main image etc. This then gave us a clear template as to how our school magazine should turn out in order for it to be recognisable as a professional magazine. I then used this newly found knowledge to create my preliminary task.

School/General Magazine Contents Page Research

Preliminary Task:Research of Existing Magazine Contents Pages October 22

Then, as a class we looked at various magazine contents pages and spoke about their similarities and their differences. We again noticed a pattern that reoccurred on almost every magazine contents page, we then found out that this too was part of the codes and conventions expected of a magazine contents page. These conventions included: mast head which are conventionally found at the top of the contents page, contents title, headings, features, institutional details, wide rage of camera shots etc.

Then we looked specifically at school magazine contents pages and saw that they had the same similarities as the other contents pages with having a contents title, features, many images etc. This then gave us a clear template as to how our school magazine contents page should turn out in order for it to be recognisable as a professional magazine. I then used this newly found knowledge to create my preliminary task contents page.

Preliminary Task Overview

Preliminary Task: October 24

We were given the task of making a school magazine by using the codes and conventions that we learned through our magazine research. My school magazine is a seasonal magazine and therefore it comes out 4 times a year, this edition was based on the winter season. 

I targeted my school magazine at 6th form students aged 16 to 18 as I new a lot about what they were going through as I too am going through it, this meant I new what my target audience wanted. I mainly targeted my school magazine predominantly at females as even though our 6th form is mixed gender the ratio of females to males are about 80:20 so I felt I would be getting more readers if I aimed it mainly at females.

My articles were on topics such as 'UCAS form tips' and 'how to keep up with revision'. I chose these sorts of topics because it related to the season of that edition, as during this time sixth formers are typing up their UCAS forms and getting ready for the exam periods to come.

Preliminary Task:Evaluation

Preliminary Task:Evaluation October 26

I learned through the process of making my school magazine, how to construct a magazine cover and contents page using the codes and conventions expected of magazines. 

I also learned how to work the basics of PhotoShop as it was my first time using it, I had a lot to learn about it. I learned how to adjust the hue of images on both PhotoShop and iPhoto to suit the colour scheme which was black, purple, red and gold.

Front Cover:

Baring in mind the common qualities of a magazine cover I used a medium close-up shot image as my main image with the right eye of the model on the vertical axis of the second third, this creates interest in the image. As my model I chose a girl who goes to the sixth form, this makes the image relevant to the magazine and it also makes it personal to the school. As the theme of this issue is winter I had the model where a warm jumper and a snood to reflect this onto the reader. I also took into consideration the mise-en-scene and had her holding berries and small bits of bush to symbolise Christmas and the 'holly and the ivy'. As there was a lot of sunshine on the day of the photo shoot I added an icy filter onto of the image to give a colder setting and I also altered the hue and contrast of the berries to really make the colour stand out.
I added a mast head at the top of the cover and made the model's head overlap it to show her importance. I also inserted a cantered banner headline with a cantered strap line just above it. I felt this gave the cover a slight edginess about it.



At the bottom of the page I placed a menu strip to give the reader a brief overview of what will feature in the magazine.
Next to it, in the bottom right hand corner I added a barcode so that the magazine can be electronically monitored. Finally I placed two puffs diagonally either side of the banner headline, this gives the cover a certain balance. I based the puffs on popular TV programmes which I know would attract people between the ages of 16-18.




Contents Page:


After producing my front cover I began to feel a little more comfortable in using Photoshop and I felt I could be a little more experimental. So as I was planning it out I felt confidant in going for a standard but not so common layout for my contents page.


I liked the idea of having several images in a 'blind' layout with the images being various widths to give it a quirkiness and each image would represent a featured article in my magazine. I did this by 'placing' images and then 'transforming' them to the height and width I wanted. Below this I wanted the mast head and the contents title, right in the centre of the page to really home in the branding of the magazine to the reader.






Then I felt I should stick to the vertical theme of the rest of the page and sketched out three columns onto my plan, however, in practice this didn't work out as the size of the writing would've had to have been tiny and unreadable, so I made it two columns instead.


I also added a horizontal montage strip just below the mast head. It consist of a range of shots. One of the images I placed in the montage was an image of my front cover, this is to show continuity of design.


To reference pages I added stencil font page numbers of different sizes, the larger ones being the ones mentioned on the cover. I also placed mini '4s' in the same font as the mast head to give references to the reader of what was also mentioned on the cover. This also creates a brand and a logo. 

Preliminary Task:Final Product

Music Magazine Research

Main Task:Music Magazine Research November 3

I researched a range of music magazines from a range of genres including Rock, Indie, R&B, and Hip Hop. This gave me an insight to what is expected of a music magazine and how each type of magazine attracts their audience in different ways according to their interests and style.

Institutional Research

Main Task:Bauer Media Group and Mama Group Research November 4

In order to enrich our knowledge on producing and distributing magazines we looked at various institutions such as Bauer Media and Mama Group.

Magazine Cover Analysis

Main Task:Planning

Analysis of Front Cover November 5

First, to understand what is expected of a front cover I made a spider diagram covering all the basic features present of a magazine front cover.

I annotated the front cover of KERRANG! magazine. I pointed out the main codes and conventions that are present on the magazine cover and many connotations of the underlined meanings.

I then annotated an existing NME music magazine cover to show some of the other conventions of a magazine cover.

Magazine Contents Page Analysis

Main Task:Contents Page Analysis November 20


First to understand what is common on all contents pages I devised a spider diagram with the basic outline of what a good contents page should consist of.

Then I took a look at a Q magazine contents page and analysed its uses of the codes and conventions commonly seen on music magazines.

I then did the same to a Glamour magazine as their audience differs to that of Q's.

Magazine Double Page Spread Analysis

Main Task:Double Page Spread Analysis November 21

Firstly, I created a spider diagram of the main codes and conventions expected of a double page spread in order for me to understand the common features that I will need to apply to my own double page spread.

Then I analysed a quirky double page spread and pointed out any codes and conventions that I noticed.

After, I looked a a rarer double page spread, it's layout isn't very common but I have outlined how it still manages to use the codes and conventions so that the reader can recognise it as a double page spread.

Questionnaire & Analysis

Main Task:Questionnaire & Analysis December 2

I created a questionnaire made up of 13 different questions with a variety of closed and open questions so that my results could be accurate and informative.I asked about 20 people to complete this music questionnaire in order for me to learn what would sell and what wouldn't.

Here are 2 examples of answered questionnaires:

I gathered the results from my questionnaire and used it to create a more visual evaluation to help me see clearly what was popular and what wasn't.