Possible Fonts

 Could be used as a band title. Could work well in bright colours. Could go with electronic/rock band.
From this website.

Letter very long. Interesting but could to difficult to read on a colourful background. From this website.

 Bold and plain.Will be easy to see but boring. From this website.

 Could be used for title. Big easy to read. Could work very well

 Will work well for band name, if featured genre is country/western/ gothic.
From here.

 Can work very well for band name. Especially if  featured genre is dubstep.

 Could be used for band title, an font. This could work very well depending on the colours I use. From here.

 This could be also work well. Could work well for many font, apart from how thin the writing on. If I use this one I will need to find a colour scheme that works well. From here

Very curvy and soft writing. Although not suitable for main font could be use for a small part like title (like in magazine gramophone.)

Inspiring Images.

Here is a collection of inspiration images from around the web in positions I could have my model posing in.

Analysing Other Kerrang!

Top half of page features large photograph of a musician from featured article. This takes up a lot of space. Gives and background. Has more photos layered over the top. But looks good.

The bottom half contains the contents. It is easy to read, uses a repeated colour theme. Is interesting (has boxes with words in so everything is easy to read. On the bottom right there is a small advertisement asking you to subscribe to Kerrang. The page is not over crowed, or too empty, so is easy for viewers to look through and find what they want.

Analysing: NME

NME’s logo is red, using a bold capital font. This is a lot like Q’s logo, however it is clearly recognisable. It will be easy for people looks for the magazine, to find it.

The same font is used throughout the page. It is used in columns. The font switches between red white and black, with a box beneath the writing of the appropriate colour so the writing is easy to read. Because of this all the writing on the front cover is easy to read unlike Billboard.

The writing is in rough columns along the right and left side, but not on the bottom. This keeps the writing interesting to look at, and the picture beneath is still easy to look at. Like previously mentioned magazines, the band name is place of the image of the members.

The background photo looks to have been torn up and the sellotaped together. Despite this the image is still easy to see. This also runs with their reunited theme. This gives the cover and interesting and eye catching appearance.

Contents:

 The contents page is big and easy to read.  Below the subheading of different title pages there are photos of artists faces on pages featuring them. The images of the artists face are in little circles with the numbers below them. If someone want to read a page on a particular viewer they can quickly find the correct page.

It carries on with the colour theme. (Unlike Classic Rock.) On the outside red black and white where used on the font. This has been repeated on the contents page. This is good as it makes it easy to see different section of this page, so viewers can quickly find what they ware looking for.

The bigger articles are centred in the middle of the page. With the main featured article at the top with the biggest picture. Other famous artists just featured below them so readers can quickly become attracted to buying the magazine.

There is no spare space left on the magazine. Although nothing is cramped and overlapping. This gives the page a used, but not overused feel. Make the magazine look neat, tidy, and interesting.

Double Page Spread:

This double page feature the main group in a smallish photo in the middle of the pages. The picture is not particularly interesting or pretty, so it is probably best it is small. However this picture could have been small and a better quality photo in it’s place, as that does not look good.

The bottom border does has writing highlighted in pink. These are arguments from people.  This has left a lot of space around but this does make the page look empty.

The page does not look interesting. Although there are columns of writing and many pictures, it doesn’t look that good. The pictures are too small and the columns fill with too much writing, without using different colours or sub headings.

Analysing: Gramophone

 

The title is in a banner across the top of the cover. The title is in capitals in an easy to read font. The white strip across the top make the magazine easy to recognise no matter the changing pictures on the front. This will make it easy for it to quickly find its readership.

The writing is done in a tall but classic font. This matches the classical music the magazine is reviewing. This font easily reaches its older target audience.

The font on the page uses blue, white, and black.  The blue matches the clothes on the person. The round circle is blue, and uses the black and white font. This is a good colour theme that matches the picture beneath it. This is easy to read and looks good.

This magazine is clearly aimed towards and older audience. It is easy to read with it’s simple style. It uses a picture of a person from the 18th century. Magazines aimed towards younger audiences tend to have younger, alive people featured on the cover. With this person on the cover it makes clear who the target audience is.

Contents:

 The contents page is no good for its readership. Although the featured writing is written slightly bigger, the contents writing it’s self is written far to small. I have difficulty reading writing that small, and older audiences tend to struggle reading, this will make the writing extremely hard to read for its target audience.

The contents page uses the same cursive font for the subheading. It then uses the same fonts for writing, changing the colours of gold and black.  This is neat and very simple to follow. This is perfect for it’s audience.

Double Page Spread:

This double page has the title written in a hand written style. It is interesting, pretty, and big enough to read easily. Making it good for its audience.

On the left side is one large picture of the person. The person is talked about in the article. The layout is simple and easy to read, although plain.

There is a quote in the centre of the article. Although most of this article looks good the quote is place in the middle.  I do not think this looks good. Although it does again use the gold writing previously used through in the font, it looks like there is too much space left around the box and this does not look good.

Analysing: Classic Rock

 Front Cover:
 

This cover is set up around a photograph. The image of the band featured looks to have been taken on a stage (the red curtain behind them). The photograph it cut into two half. The first half featuring the band. The name of the band is written below them in what looks like out of text box. Below this the photo carries on. This photo does feature mainly there feet, but there is a cd over this that makes the photo takes up this space.

On the lower half columns go in rows on the right and left hand side.  There are no photographs in these columns like in the Q magazine. The writing is in gold and white. Band names are in a bigger, capital, square font. The other writing is in a smaller neater cursive writing. I think this works better than with little pictures. It looks neater, and prettier.

The title of the magazine, ‘Classic Rock’ is written above the band. It is all written in the same font, only the word class being slightly smaller. The band each have members that overlap a letter in in the title. But this does now block out the writing and make it impossible to read like in Billboards magazine. This overlap makes the magazine look good.

The magazine has a small banner at the top of the magazine. It advertises the free CD coming with it. The CD is of he features band and this further attracts the audience into buying the magazine. This banner works well with encouraging an audience to buy the magazine.

White, gold and beige are used throughout the front cover. On the font, on the border of the boxes, and on decorating other areas of the boxes. It is a good, and attracting style, and it would make sense if these colours were repeated throughout the magazine, or at least on a few pages. However this colour theme is never used again in the magazine. Nor is it a similar style on other issues of classic rock magazine. The only repeated thing on this magazine, as in other issues is the title ‘Classic Rock’ is a rather plain font with two stars around it. This makes the magazine harder than necessary to recognise from issue to issue. Overall, the colour theme on this magazine looks good, but the designers should seriously consider getting a consistent colour scheme, like the magazine Q the constantly uses the colour red.



Contents:

The contents page is simple. The page is white, it features a black and white photograph of the member that fades. It contains the contents the contents, and a quote. However the font the writing is using is not the same as what was used on the cover. Neither are the colours. The contents use red writing, and have a red circle featured like it is their main colour scheme. On the front cover there is only one red circle in the top corner, and this seemed to go only with the red background. Although this page works by it’s self, it does not work with the whole magazine.

The page features a quote from one of the band members. “It’s like a Cinderalla story...” Although with first glance this may just seem like any ordinary quote, whatever the bands story is, I don’t think they’ve seen disney Cinderella, let alone heard the original. It’s just I am doubting that these people were forced, 24 hours a day to clean their step mothers house, and it is highly improbable that each of these band members have two ugly step sisters. Although the quote does look good where it is placed, and it does make the contents look good, I think another quote would have worked as equally well, if not better.

Double Page Spread:

The double page spread uses a texture background that looks a lot like the texture used on the cover. However the textured paper look on the cover is beige, and the texture paper look here is white. This makes it look like it is attempting to use a theme, but it fails at that. However the textured background does look good here.

The spread uses two main different photographs. Like in the Q magazine. However the photos here are both exactly the same size. The text areas do not allow for a slightly bigger or smaller photo. This makes photographs look like they are merging into each other.  This does not look good. It makes the page look crushed, and uncomfortable.

There is a framed image of a band member playing a guitar. The frame is digital. It looks like there is rust on it, and there is a shadow effect used on it. The other two images are not frames in such a style. The image does no look well place. It is centred with text away from it. It just overlaps the other image. This makes the small image the centre of attention, which it should not be on a double page spread. Because of this I do not think this image works well.

Analysing: Q

        

Brandon Flowers is featured on the front cover of the music magazine in the same way Kerrang has featured Gerard Way. The musician is looking out to the audience. His band name has been place over him, as well as his own name so people can immediately tell who he is. Although this is almost identical to Kerrang, it still gets across the message, the featured article by letting the reader know who the featured article is about.

The bottom right hand page overcrowds the front cover. Down the left hand side of the magazine, beneath the logo, is a column. The column contains mostly writing and a few images. The image of the person slightly overlaps a little of the writing. However this still looks good. On the right top hand side in the cover is a box full of writing, using different font sizes and colours. The image of the man slightly overlaps this and it still looks good. The bottom right hand corner is made to look like a corner of the page turning over. There is writing in the corner, and a red circle and heart above it. The both overlap the image of the man. I feel this takes away the viewers attention from the main article on to this little corner. I do not think this was a good idea, and the magazine would look slightly better without it.

 

Red is used throughout the magazine. Red is the logo, and banners the pages. On the bottom of the page is a small red line banner. The embedded quote is red, and the text box surrounding the featured name ‘Brandon Flowers’ is in red. This looks good, and is a great continuum throughout the magazine, constantly reminding the readers what magazine they are reading.

The logo banners the page. It stats on the left page, the here is slightly transparent over the photograph. The red stops being transparent on the left page, but it carries on bannering it. This is good because from just the double page spread anyone can immediately tell the article is written in the Q.

Instead of using one large page photograph of Brandon flowers, there is two different photographs. One large photograph had no been taken in a studio, these photographs have been taking on a more comfortable set. In the first one he is playing a guitar on a seat. On the second one he seems to be in a studio. Although large photographs of people taken in a studio do work, this more informal comfortable setting of the photographs also work.

Analysing: Kerrang!

Front Cover: KERRANG!

The Kerrang magazine makes it clear what the main article in the magazine is about. It has done this by putting a the band member Gerrard Way in a mid shot on the cover. This photo of him is pointing out to the audience to attract their attention. The band name ‘My Chemical Romance’ has then been placed over the photograph. This works well as it leaves no mistakes or misleading to the audience, anyone finding the magazine will immediately recognise what it is about.

The main cover is busy but functional. There are three more pictures on the bottom left hand side. More writing above the right and left corner in columns. It has two banners, and a code bar. There is no spare space left anywhere on the magazine. However despite this it is still easy to read, and viewers are easily able to tell what the articles on the magazine about.

Double Page Spread: KERRANG!

The double page spread of Kerrang is neat and easy to read. The main page has two simple black columns for of an interview that is easy to read. The other page a large photograph of the band. Unlike the front cover the band is not surrounded by any writing. The background is plain, and simple. This makes it easy to read and the picture of the band is easy to see.

The band photograph has been taken and edited well. The background is a light grey colour and this takes up all the background of the page. The photograph has been cropped to take up most of the second page, and some of the first. This makes it easy and interesting to look at for viewers.

Analysing: Billboard

It is difficult to read the title on this magazine. This is because there is a close up photograph, of Lilly Allen, over lapping the title. The model is centred in the magazine. The style of a model/musician overlapping a title is not unusual (example Kerrang! From analysing Music Magazine 2). However the magazine Lilly Allen is featured on is not famous like Kerrang! So this does not work well.
The writing throughout the magazine cover is difficult to read. The font colour on the magazine is white. This is easiest seen on the word ‘Allen.’ Lilly Allen is wearing a white dress and accessories. This makes the word nearly invisible to read, and this is no good for any audience he magazine is aiming for.

Although a lot of the fonts on the magazine do not work, the pink sub-titles work. These pink sub-titles do not match the green in the title, and they do not work well with the white writing, however they do work well with the grey background. Grey and bight pink or blue look good with each other. The bright pink colour is the only readable font on this magazine.
The green dot makes no sense. In the title of the magazine, inside the ‘d’ there is a green dot. Inside the ‘B’ this is no green. On the rest of the magazine cover there is no green. The green dot does not make the cover look pretty or cool. This is why the green dot makes no sense and I find it a massive design flaw.

The photographer has taken the photo of Lilly Allen that does not look good. The photograph looks too bright, like there were lights, and flash used. This has made some patches of her skin nearly bright white. This has effected the readability of the white font used. Certain parts of her face look orange and uneven, this is why the photo is bad.

The genre of this magazine difficult to tell. The image of Lilly Allen led me to initially believe this was a music magazine. The title of this magazine Bill***rd does not make much sense, and I cannot make out the word. The subtitles have words like ‘360 deals digital dollars’ this confused me on the genre. Overall the design of this magazine is awful for finding its correct audience.

Begining The Music Magazine

In this second I will creating part of a music magazine. The parts I will be creating include the front cover, the contents, and double page spread. This blog will include research. This will be in the form of analysing several magazines that I will buy and scan in, and find on the internet. I will then post images of inspiration. This inspiration will help me to decide what position I can have my models posed in, for use throughout the whole magazine. I will show my rough versions and all my design versions as well as layouts, and the process I used to create them. After I take finish taking photographs of musicians, musical people, and instruments to use in my magazine, I will upload these. I will then experiment with mock and rough page designs. I will record all photo and editing/Photoshopping I do, and of any problems I encounter. I will then upload my final on to my blog.