Magazine Process Rebecca Franklin In my presentation  My Original Picture Plan  My Proposal  Draft Fonts & My Title  Draft Layouts  Photos And Their Manipulation  My Knowledge of Similar Brands  Other Magazine Analysis

Original Picture Plan  I planned to break conventions of rock music and take my photos in Southbank skate park, which has graffiti covered walls. I later thought it was too contemporary and those surroundings were associated with hip-hop/rap music too much to be appropriate.

Proposal  I am basing my magazine on rock music and on the new up and coming bands.  My target audience will be teenage rock fans. It will appeal to people from a wide range of social classes.  The kind of stories featured will be on following the movements of well-known rock bands, the up and comings of amateur bands and where are the ‘hotspots’ are to listen to music [gigs etc].  It will be sold in individual newsagents, supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s, chain newsagents such as WHSmith’s, and online subscription.

Draft Fonts  I experimented with different fonts for my title and experimented with text direction and alignment.

Title  I saved a copy of the black text on top of the red background just reading “Cr sh!”. I then imported the “a” as a new layer on top and used the eraser to create the cracks down the “a”. I then selected a section of the “a” and moved it to give it the illusion that it had actually been crashed.

Draft Layouts  I researched different ideas of layouts from different magazines of all genres and compiled a few drafts to chose from.

Photos I used the... Tool to reduce the contrast to give the black and white effect on the image, leaving the model’s faces and arms in normal colour.

Front Cover  I took the pictures of the four models separately, removed the background and added them all as new layers to a black background. I then used the blend tool to blend them and used the smudge to smudge the edges so it didn’t look as neat.

Contents Page Photos  With photo number one, I adjusted the brightness and contrast to get the desired effect.  With photo number two, I cropped and adjusted the brightness.  With photo number three, I toned down the brightness so the model was more visible.

My Knowledge of Similar Brands  I researched other rock magazines for their styles of layouts, style of photos, style of language used, style of colour and bands used.  I researched Q, Classic Rock magazine, Kerrang etc.

Magazine Analysis  The magazine, InStyle is obviously called this so that its readers can keep up to date with their fashion styles. The colours purple, pink etc obviously points towards it being a woman's magazine.  The target audience appears to be late teenagers to a woman in their late twenties to thirties, we can tell this by the mature layout and language used.  The competitors of the magazine could include Marie Claire, Vogue and Glamour. The circulation figures for InStyle are inconsistent. They recently had low figures of just over 150 thousand which is seen as low, but this was their target in the beginning. They also have soared recently in their figures; it increased its single copy sales by six percent.  The woman on the front shows the ‘typical’ woman, looking great with great hair, make-up, clothes, skin etc and the way she is standing suggests it is effortless. There are featured stories such as style diaries, high-street buys, gossip on celebrities, fashion advice and a percentage off a top internet shopping site. These obviously appeal to its desired audience; women. But this also implies that gossip, shopping and fashion is all that women care about; the typical stereotype of women that dates back to the war times that women are simple minded icons.  The appearance of this front cover implies that all women only care about looks and they all ‘desire’ to have the look; skinny. This appearance lacks the readers that are more intellectual/educated, younger teens & older women, and other body shapes; not ‘perfect’ in the eyes of the press.  This magazine’s genre is women’s fashion, it relates to this with the featured stories down the sides, its name is clearly setting up the genre and also the image of the woman on the front, showing her completely stunning and with up to date with fashion also relates to the genre.  The way that the model’s head is covering two letters of the title of the magazine shows that they production team are confident enough that people will recognise their magazine. This particular style of magazine definitely conforms to the codes and conventions for a women’s magazine which is, having the designated colour schemes, a beautiful woman on the front cover, the featured stories down the side etc.  This magazine addresses a range of people within its target audience, such as those who like to keep up with the new styles, those that are interested in what to eat to keep in shape and those who like to keep up to date with the celebrity news. It suggests that its target audience of women are house wives and have nothing better to do than keep up to date with the lives of celebrities and fashion.

Magazine Analysis  NME [New Musical Express] is called this because it gives details about music and any news about bands and artists etc. NME covers Indie/Alternative Rock and is owned by ICP Media. The target audience is indie/alternative rock fans and those interested in music.  The magazine conforms to the codes and conventions of an Indie Rocker magazine as it has red and black colours and it is quite edgy. The poses used are also quite provocative and therefore conforms to the stereotypical behaviour and attitude of Indie Rockers.  The major competitors of NME are Q and Rolling Stones. June 2009 circulation figures show that NME sold forty thousand copies compared to another competitor such as Q, who sold over one hundred thousand copies.  This magazine definitely presents a stereotype for its readers. This magazine presents Indie Rockers as provocative, dark and intimidating. The tone of the magazine also suggests that drugs are a main part of these types of fans’ lives; “the nation’s new favourite drug”.  This magazine is aimed at late teenage and fans in their early twenties. It relates to its genre of music by the colour scheme of black and metallic grey and the striking titles and images. The types of features within this magazine are information about new bands, new drugs, an old artist that has his first interview in five years and rivalry between current artists.  Advertising plays a massive part in this type of magazine, because as well as the artists being in there informs the readers and fans about the whereabouts and activities of their favourite stars but it also advertises them as artists. Anyone who appears in a magazine such as this is therefore advertising themselves and their music.