Front cover research 6- Rolling Stone

Consolidating my ideas research: contents page

I would like to use an interesting layout for my contents page, for example, a large photo in the middle, and text wrap on it, to make it more interesting. What I would like to have in my magazine is strong synergy in between my front cover,contents, so that the reader would still be aware as to what magazine he is reading.

I should make it clear as to what genre my music magazine is even on the contents page, so it would be clear to the reader without doubt that this is the genre that they will be reading about.

I know I would like more than photo on my contents page, so it would be more intriguing than just one simple photo.

I would also like to have a colour scheme to my contents page, an editor's note and little details as such in order to have that professional finish in the end.
The style of my photos should be retro, some in black and white and some rather bright in contrast. I would like some of them to be naturalistic and not making eye contact with the photo, I would also like some to break some conventions but not too much.
I would like to have different styled fonts, with different kerning, size, style of font and colour in order to split the information clearly ,and the page numbers to either be on the photos or the side of the text.

Consolidating my ideas research: front cover

These are the things I have liked/disliked from all of the front covers that I have researched:

I would like to have cover stories, leads and puffs etc... to make my front cover more interesting, as it would be more aesthetic, bright and attractive to a viewer of my age. Having intriguing leads would ensure that the reader would want to purchase my magazine. I would like my front cover to be colourful as it would be conventional of vintage magazines to be bright and vibrant.

Since I know how important the colour scheme is depending on the genre of the music magazine that you want to create, I will ensure mine will be bright and joyful. Not only are details such as those are important, but also links to social media are essential as they are one of the key things to attracting a young teenage audience.

I also know how important leads and puffs are, and where the should be placed for a good effect, and I will apply this knowledge to place my puffs accordingly on my front cover.

I now know how to make effective cover stories , so that they would intrigue a reader to pick up the magazine, and I hope to use this on my own magazine. I will also add effective secondary leads, as it will help me create a high quality front cover.

In order to have a vintage masthead, you mustn't make it 3D, however, I would like mine to be 3D therefore I will pick a font that has a gentle hint of 3D.

The main picture does not always have to be at the centre, but I would like mine to be as close to the centre as possible. I will possibly include a sharp looking pug to grab the attention to the reader.

I know the importance of picking a good layout and whitespace , and so I will spend some time trying to find the perfect one for my own magazine.

Front cover research 5: Q

I will be looking at this Q front cover for inspiration for my own work, in hopes to make my layout appear professional. Not only is that the reason I will be analysing Q, but also because Bauer releases this magazine, and that is one of the constitutions that I am interested in to 'selling' my magazine for.

What I really like about it is the colour scheme, and how the cover stories are placed around the central image.
What I find odd is that the whitespace is so plain, however it is effective and actually looks good, having a busier whitespace would drag the attention away from the central image, the cover stories and possibly the main headline.







The masthead

The iconic Q is in the red box-out as always, with it's housestyle white serif letter, which is placed at the top right hand corner as usual.
However, what is unusual is that there is a little slogan just above the name, in the boxout. Q does that at times, but not usually, this break it's own housestyle and convention, which I find rather odd.
What is also odd about the use of the masthead overall is that in some issues, the masthead is brought to the foreground and hides parts of the central image, depending on size. However, on the equal amount of time it is brought back and parts of the central image go on the foreground of the box-out, just like in this instance, that the model's hair and slight part of head is seen in front of the masthead.


The Image

What I like about the central image is that it's placement is not exactly central, as it is carefully composed alongside the actual cover stories. I also like the pose of The Smiths, however, their facial expressions look awkward and forced, which I find rather unattractive in a photo.
I also really like how the colour scheme of pink is accompanied by the strong black and white effect placed on the photo.








The Cover Stories




The main cover story is large, and bright because of the fiery pink, and small kerning ,sans serif font.
I love the size of the name of the band and the fact that such a colour is used as it is considered not masculine, it is very unconventional for a male band to be accompanied by such a colour.
What I also really like about  this cover story is that there is a pull quote from possibly a review that states how they feel about the band. I will consider using something like this for my own magazine, as I feel it is very effective.
What I also really like is that 'The' is in a little box out, and even though it is plain black, it still manages to stand out just as well as the magnificent pink. The underlined text is in bold, and the words themselves intrigue me as a reader because of how dramatic they sound, and therefore act as a lead.

I really like the location of this cover story, and I will try to locate one of mine in a more distinct location on my front cover as well.

outfit ideas for a future photoshoot

DPS research 4: MOJO

How this research influenced my planning and creativity:

• I now know I will use page furniture in order to make my DPS more interesting
• I will use an effective colour scheme such as this one
• I will consider taking a similar style photo for my DPS with my star.

Research: Q&A style articles (FLEA)

I have analysed a Q&A to learn how to form such style interviews and how to make them interesting to read, and I hope this will help me with writing in the future.




My favourite part of this article is this beautiful photo and how it is the centre of the article. It is a full body image and I really like how text wrap is used around the photo, and it is the main thing of the article- the artist that the article is about.

contents page analysis 4: Q

DPS research 5: MOJO

After planning out my own DPS I have struggled with the main photo and what it could possibly look like,the layout, the colour scheme and the size of page furniture.

However, after doing a little research on this DPS I have been influenced with new ideas.

This research really helped me with the creative thought of my DPS and how far i can go with outrageous photos that are fun and interesting. Not only did the photo help me but also how the title of the article can intrigue people who enjoy specific things, so for instance, this headline would interest people who care about fun and wild reads.

Star images in magazines

I will be looking at some star images and how they are portrayed in magazines, in hopes of it helping me figure out what type of star image I want to create by making my model pose, act, look, and express in a single photo, such as these:
Axl Rose and Dave Grohl, how they differ and what their poses are achieving.
Looking at Axl Rose's pose (Left), the dramatic shadow on his face makes him look intimidating, and the cold facial expression with the slightly tilted face makes him look rather threatening and serious,this suits his heavy rock genre very well. The way he is dressed, black, and a hint of pink from his bandanna is an interesting combination which goes against the convention of a rock star.
Overall,this photo is very serious, dark and intimidating in comparison to the light, black and white but more exposed shot of Grohl. Also, the direction at which he is pointing is his band name, and the slightly opened mouth makes him appear nice and friendly, as if he would be saying 'Hey, this is my band, you should check it out!'. This is important because the genre of his music is much lighter in comparison to what Guns N Roses perform, and therefore appeals to the audience which would be looking at the magazine.

These two star images are very interesting, because they differ so significantly, however the genre of the music is exactly the same.
This star, Kurt Cobain, was posing in a natural way, and makes this photo look as if he was unaware of it being taken at the first place.
It is in black and white, and a medium close up. Cobain is not facing the camera/audience, but rather looking intensely at someone.
This sets an overall serious tone of the magazine itself, and is a connotation of the style of his music, as it was never easy going, it was rather heavy and in minor, serious tones. The reason this photo could be in black and white is because of the lead which explains that Cobain has been dead for 10 years, and could be so serious because of respect for him, his talent and music.

In comparison, Pearl Jam are all clearly posing, with one of the members containing a serious face with sunglasses, the following up member is making a silly expression, the next one does not look pleased with his mouth taped shut and the next one appears to be screaming whilst intensely staring at something. All of these facial expressions and the positions adhere to Dyer's theory that they are 'an image, not a real person.'.
What is also very different is that all of the members are wearing bright yellow suits with black flowers on them, which makes the picture overall rather vibrant. The yellow contrasts with the purple whitespace because they are opposites reflecting on the colour wheel. I believe this was chosen on purpose and is a connotation, makes the reader think that this band will be vibrant and fun to listen to.

Whilst looking at all of these star images I have found that semiotics are very much so important, and not just of the star and the posing, but the links to everything that is on the front page at times as well. A good example would be this, The Stone Roses, their picture being clearly unposed as you can see how natural the group's embrace, and how real their emotions towards each other are. What I really love about this photo is that they are truly appreciating each other, and this links to the headline of their possible article in the magazine: 'Adored' which is also one of their songs. I love the links between every stage and I aspire to reach connection which is at least similar to this in my own star, the image and the link to the remainder of the magazine.


What I adore about this image of the star on the front magazine is that it is also unposed, and even if it is, it looks extremely naturalistic. I want to achieve such emotion in my own star, for the viewers to see how passionate my musician is about what they do. I also love the posture of the singer and how the banner us placed in between his legs. This singer breaks conventions by not having a direct eye contact with the reader, just like most of these do and that is what I have noticed is usual in vintage/retro magazines,therefore I might consider not using direct eye contact with the reader myself.
Using a full body shot for a front cover is rather interesting, however it is not conventional of most vintage magazines, therefore I might not do that, unless I decide to challenge them in the near future.







How this research influenced my planning and creativity:

• I would like to play with the foregrounds and backgrounds of my photos just like the last photo
• I would like my photo to be as natural as possible
• If it is visibly posed, I would like it to be lighthearted and not end up looking menacing, instead friendly and approachable.

DPS research 3: Q (Guns n Roses)

How this research influenced my planning and creativity:

• I know I would like a colour scheme on my DPS in order to create syngery
• I will use left justification in text
• I would like to use a drop capital in a similar was to this DPS

Locations used in existing magazines

I have decided to take a look at some location photos used in magazines that are already existing, hopefully inspiring my own photographs to be original and more interesting.

I really like this photo because of the location which is very rural, in a field. The colours of the nature surrounding the musician are very calm and soothing, this can be seen as the musician himself looks very calm and happy.
I like this type of scenery because it is very calming and could imply that the artist in the photo is a calm, down to earth person.
What I also like is that the musician is dressed in dark, natural colours and is letting his guitar rest on him. Also the way he is  sat down makes him look very relaxed and feeling comfortable in the place that he is at, as if it would be his happy place.
Since I haven't yet decided as to whether my star's personality will be wild or very calm, I will consider this as a connotation for peaceful, happy, down to earth and calm.






I am not too fond of this scenery as the snow is too plain for a background in my opinion. However, this artist looks very calm as if he belongs here, and he is not dressed with a coat, which make him look like he prefers the cold and I really like that.
Not only is he calmly playing the guitar, but he is also not making any eye contact with the camera/reader, instead her is concentrating on the playing. I really like this pose because it looks like the shot was taken without him knowing so, and that is what I find oddly charming about this photo.
The overall colour scheme of this photo is cold as there are no reds,yellows or anything like that, which could imply that this person is 'cool'.




This photo was taken at a children's park, on the swings but that's not what I like about it.
What I actually like about this photo in particular is that these artists don't even look like musicians, they are having fun on swings and acting wild, drinking. I also love the way this photo was taken, not on the ground and not exactly posed, the photo is in mid-air and the models are in movement.
I also love how one of the model's legs are placed on the actual text and text wrapping is used to make them pop.
Overall, I think this is one of my favourite photos because of the style, how it was taken and how natural the stars look.

DPS research 2: MOJO

How this research influenced my planning and creativity:

• I would like to use a similar foreground to heading technique just like in this DPS
• I would like to use drop capitals to grab attention to the actual text
• I would like to use interesting colour schemes to make the DPS aesthetic to the eye and more pleasing to read.
• I do not want to do central justification, but left instead.

Reseach: Target audience 1 (masthead font)

These are the fonts that I have chosen to do for my masthead, and these are the votes made by my target audience: 16/18 year olds.

my favourite 6 photos

I really like this photo because of the way that my model is posing and how she is holding the guitar and how her facial expression is. I also love the fact that her tattoo is slightly seen which makes it more subtle.

I also love the way her hips are moved slightly, which makes the pose a little sexualised. However, there is no emotion in this photo and it just looks very general. I would like her  to look more lively in a facial expression than this. Another issue that I have with this is that you cannot see her high heels which are actually rather important as they are used as a connotation to represent something, in particular it is the colour of the heels that is important.

What I like about this photo is that is more interesting than the first one, as it is a side view photo. The tattoo is visible so it is clear what convention I am breaking, and I really like the fact that her high heels can be seen, which are fiery red, and are a connotation for danger and passion. What I also really like is that she isn't standing straight, but has her leg slightly bent and the guitar is tilted towards the camera, which makes everything more visible.
I like that this photo follows Laura Mulvey's theory on male gaze: her pose is not static and she is making eye contact with the audience, which is more appealing at times.
The issue that I have with this photo is that there isn't much emotion in it and I would prefer my photo to look more natural and not as constructed.







The only thing that I like about this photo is the way the guitar is held, and the leg position.
I don't like how her arms are resting on the bass and how she is smiling: it looks forced and unnatural which is the opposite from what I am looking for in a perfect front cover photo.






What I like about this photo is that it looks more natural than the rest of them, as my star is concentrating on the playing of the guitar, and not posing as much as on the rest.

No eye contact, and a side profile of her face is used which I like, because it looks more original than other photos.
I also really like her leg positioning and how the red of the bass matches the colour of the shoes perfectly.
However, the folds on the backdrop are irritating the eye, and the stool does not match the theme or anything at all, which would mean that if I would decide to use this photo, I would have to photoshop the folds out.

What I like about this photo is that the model's face can be seen much clearer than in the remaining photos, however I do not like that there is a shadow on the front of the model's face and the light is on her back.

I also do not like her facial expression and the way she is posing, as it looks extremely unnatural and almost awkward.

I really dislike that she is looking upwards which makes absolutely no sense and I would never use this photo for anything.

This photo is my favourite out of them all, as even though it is clear that she is posing, her arms, face and posture looks much more natural than any of the precious photos, also there are no creases in the background and there would be no need for editing.

I also really like that her makeup,hairstyle,hair accessory  and tattoo can be clearly seen in this photo,whereas in the remaining ones not every feature was seen.

Overall, this photo is the best, however, I would have preferred to have a full body photo, but if I would have to choose out of any of these photos to use one as a front cover, this would be the one.

preparing for photoshoot

For the photoshoot I have used a Nikon D7200 DSLR fitted with a 35mm prime lens. It was placed on a tripod for a steady shot without blurs.  I have also used a continuous lighting with softbox in order to get the perfect lighting.

During this session I have learned how important lighting is, and how it will affect the picture.

I have also learned that having a correct background is important as it can disturb the eye in either a good or a a bad way.

I also learned that it is important to guide your model and tell them what exactly you would like them to do, how to pose, more their head or tilt, sit etc...

Finding good poses was not hard as I knew exactly what I wanted and how I wanted it to be done. What I did find difficult was framing the photo and not getting over the edge, however, this has happened on some photos, but that is not a problem as I will easily edit the photo and crop it slightly to get rid of the unwanted parts. 

Lighting was an interesting thing to experiment with, as I have tried to take photos with one side without any lighting and creating a dramatic shadow, it was fun to try and the outcome was interesting. To get emotion in the picture was rather hard as I am not yet sure what I exactly want out of the picture emotionally. However, I will try to in the future photoshoots.

 This is me preparing my model for the first photoshoot session and drawing the tattoo on her arm which I wanted in order to break conventions of a vintage music magazine. I feel as if the tattoo was successful and made the model look more strong yet still feminine because of the style of the photos.

Overall, the photoshoot went as planned, apart from the hairstyle, as I was not able to get the curl in the fringe to stand. However, I made it look different but it still looked fine in the end. The tattoo turned out slightly different than I wanted it but the final product looked lovely therefore I have kept it the way it turned out.

Overall, my research on front covers, and my mood board has influenced the models final look a lot, as the makeup is iconic 1950s look, and the hair was supposed to be too, however I was not skilled enough to be able to achieve the pinup hairstyle. The floral tattoo is my own way to break conventions but not in a very harsh manner, as the tattoo itself is rather feminine and matches with the dress.

I have tried to create a representation of a strong,confident lady who is a bassist which is rather unusual for a woman as they do not play the bass guitar as much as men. However, with the dress, which is a slim fit and the red guitar,lips and heels which is a connotation for lust and danger. So this model is not is not extremely sexualised but not too much in a literal way.

Because of the way that my model is dressed the target audience will be young teenagers because of the bright colours and the poses that are used by the model.

Contents page analysis 3: Mojo

How this research influenced my creativity:

• I am considering to doing a similar layout for photos because I like this one so much
• I should make it clear as to what genre my music magazine is
• I will create synergy between my front cover, contents page and DPS so it would be clear to the audience that all of my work is from the same magazine

First idea for a masthead

For my first masthead I wanted it to be called 'Vintage Vibes'. However, I discovered that the name is used for another website...

Since I fount this out, I realised that maybe it isn't the best idea to call my magazine something like this...

DPS analysis 1: Mojo 2002

This is my analysis of a Mojo contents page, which I have annotated on the yellow space below.

Photoshoot plan

Initial ideas creativity: Double Page Spread.

I have thought about the design of my double page spread, and I think that having one large photo on the page would be perfect. It would be the main article of the magazine, and it would be of the model that was posing for the front cover central image of my magazine. The photo would be the model posing cheerfully, preferably sat down on an object. I have not yet decided on a colour scheme, however, I would like the start of the article to have a massive drop capital, because I really like the way it makes the article appear. I have found some lovely examples to show approximately how I would like the drop capital to look:

I aim to use a drop capital in a similar way to this one, as it looks very interesting and grabs your attention due to it's size compared to the rest of the text, this is the effect that I would like to achieve myself. 

I would like my text to have more than one column, and be nicely arranged, which would make it nice and easy to follow and read. The text itself would be aligned on the left side, but probably not on the left. However, if I decide to break this convention I might align the text on both sides of the column.

The title of the text would be large and easily noticeable, and in a funky vintage font which would create synergy between the front cover, the contents page and the double page spread.

Initial ideas creativity: contents page

For the contents page, I will make look rather busy, as there will be a large amount of photos which could possibly be the larger section of the contents page. I would like to have somewhere around 8 photos, which would all differ in sizes and style. The photos themselves would have the page numbers on them, and further information would be distributed on the side of the page.
I have taken this inspiration from these contents pages:


                         

I really liked the way the photos on this contents page are spread out, and I would like to do something like that myself. I also like how the page numbers are distributed, alongside of the photographs.

                         

This contents page is my favourite out of any I have seen, and this is the one I got inspired most by. I love the layout, and I will use something similar, however, the information will be distributed differently, and I will use different colour schemes.

In my contents page, I will have text scattered and placed according to the placement of it's photo. The size of it will be similar, and sans serif. However,larger font will be used for little subheadings.

Initial ideas creativity: front cover

I have thought about my front cover photo, and I would like to have one star, a female who would be wearing a dress resembling the 50's style,playful heels, with winged eyeliner and pinup hair with a fabric headband and a curl in her fringe. She would be smiling and holding a guitar in a wild pose, with one of her legs in the air.
She would have a floral tattoo on her arm which would be visible and would break conventions of vintage, as tattoos are a symbol of rock. Also, since vintage guitars are electric, I would get the model to be holding one in her shoot. By using this pose and the props, I will adhere to Richard Dyer's theory that 'A star is an image, not a real person...' because of how she will be constructed and directed by me.

My second idea for a pose would be a medium close up of the model, which would be her not having any eye contact with the audience and breaking the conventions in that way. She would still be in the same dress, with the same makeup and hair but the only difference would be that she would look more mature. However, I do not necessarily want that, as I want to show to my audience (teenagers) that old/vintage is not aimed at the elder, more mature audience only. I want to show them that it has a fun spin on it, and anyone can listen to it, including them. Using this pose, I would adhere to Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory, as she would look sensible, mature and beautiful, extremely feminine. This appeals to Mulvey's theory because she will be posing to the pleasure of the male audience.

I would like the electric guitar to either be black, red or blue which would look great with the model and her dress, and makeup.

I will take these photos at a photo shoot at my college, which will allow me access to better quality props to create a great photo, however, I will take some more without them, which will allow me to work at different locations, and make it look more interesting.

I have decided that I will manipulate the colour of the photo using photoshop, to either make the colours incredibly bright and eye catching, or dimmed and stained, which will represent vintage.
However, both effects represent vintage in their own ways, so I have not fully decided on which I will choose yet, but I believe I will make this decision after I have taken the photos.

For the cover stories, I will get them to text wrap around specific parts of the magazine, and some for sure will have secondary leads which will make it appear much more interesting and busy in appearance. The font will be large and colourful, but not as colourful as the central image in order to help it stand out more. It will have a pug, a banner and a bar code, either on the side or the bottom right corner of the front cover.

The masthead will be very large, and take up a 1/5th of the page, it will have kerning and will be tall and thin, with 3D shading on it to make it appear extremely vintage, as it will adhere to the vintage convention of having any sort of effect, mainly 3D.

Comparison of my front cover research

I will be analysing the different features that are used in all of the magazines' mastheads and central photos of front covers that I have researched. These will include Metal Hammer, Vintage Rock, Smash Hits and Q.

The Mastheads

3 out of 4 of the mastheads I have analysed have serif font, which screams of the past and retro. This is mainly because after looking at a lot of magazines I have decided straight away to go for vintage.

What is also similar on Smash Hits and Vintage Rock is that they all have a 3D effect on them, to make them stand out from the rest of the magazine, this is conventional of a vintage music magazine, as usually they have 3D effects on them.

However, on the remaining Q and Metal Hammer, they do not have a 3D effect on them. Metal Hammer's design is overall rather different compared to the rest, as it's genre is very different.

Q is the only one out of the mastheads which has a box-out to make it stand out from the whitespace. However, it is the housestyle of Q, so it is not surprising. It does not break it's own conventions, but adheres to the usual vintage style.

The Images

What is interesting is that each and every photo is so different from each other, in styles, colours, poses, conventions and theorists linked to them.
For example, this Smash hits central image is a single model, who follows Mulvey's Male gaze theory. The way she is positioned also follows to Dyer's 'A star is an Image' theory. However, this central image is different from others because it attracts a young male audience due to it's composition. It is also the only photo which has a female model.

This central image is similar theory wise with Metal Hammer and Smash hits photos, as they all have been contructed to pose that way, and look unreal, like Dyer's 'composed star'. What makes this photo so different from the others is that it is the brightest from them all looking at the colour scheme, which makes it appear  like pop art. Also ,this photo is the only one that does not have direct eye contact with the reader, however, that doesn't make it look worse than the rest, in reality, it makes it stand out the most.

This photo is similar (in a way) to Q, with the whole stone roses band posing for the central image, however, it also differs significantly to it because they are posed more strategically and are clearly told what to do, which makes it similar to Smash hits and Vintage Rock in relation to Dyer's theory that they are all stars who have been created, they're not real people.  What makes this central image stand out the most is that this is the only photo that is a full body shot.

This photograph differs the most out of all of the above, not only because of the way The Stone Roses are posing, or the way they are dressed, but because the photo is not in the centre, rather at the very bottom of the front cover.

Their facial expressions are very naturalistic, which goes against Dyer's theory, because they look very casual, as if someone snapped their photo at a gathering rather than a professional photo shoot.



how this has influenced my planning and creativity 

• I now know that I will either make my masthead really colourful or stained, possibly black and white.
• I will not have a group of people for my front cover photo
• I would like to break the convention of direct eye contact with the reader

Content Research 2: Mojo

Research front cover 4: Q

The front cover that I will be anaylsing is within the category that I have chosen to do for my own music magazine, vintage. It is interesting that it is Q that I will analyse, because I discovered that it's masthead wasn't always the brilliant red. A long time ago, it was a mustard yellow, when they had a different editor, and their conventions were different.




The Masthead


 The masthead's background colour is a worn mustard, which gives me the impression of the 80's/90's which makes it very effective,however, in that era having 3D fonts were more conventional than 2D, which technically breaks them. The deep black of the masthead itself stands out compared to the stained yellow box-out. I really like the contrast of the colours, especially the fact that the box-out isn't too bright. The font itself is in serif, which makes it look very smooth and is very pleasing to the eye. The letter is very wide (which personally I do not like too much) and is very large. It's placement is at the top right corner, which hasn't changed at all throughout the years, and became Q's housestyle.


The Image 


What is very interesting it that the central image isn't exactly in the centre. It is located at the bottom of the front cover, and isn't as large as the central images usually are,therefore it adheres to conventions of any music magazine, including vintage. That (in my opinion) leaves the front cover looking rather unfinished, as it leaves a lot of whitespace.
The band have a very casual look,which is odd because the stone roses are a rock band, and if you didn't know them you could never tell and they are not wearing anything outrageous, which can imply that they aren't trying to stand out from everyone fashion wise, but they only concentrate on their music. Their facial expressions are very casual, however, they still look posed and positioned because of their stances and poses. This reflects on Richard Dyer's theory, as they are stars that 'are constructed.'. What is odd, is that even though they have been positioned to pose like that, they still don't look like they are trying too hard, which is what I love about this central image so much. The fact that they aren't dressed to impress anyone challenges Laura Mulvey's theory, which is Male/Female gaze.

However, after looking at the central image and then the heading for it, the image starts to make more sense to me. They are posing this way because they are acting out the heading, they are asking the reader: 'What are you waiting for?'. So their casual style actually means that they are challenging the world with their style and their music.

The Cover Stories

The overall layout of the cover stories is very unusual because they are placed higher than the main story, and overall take up more space than the main story. What is also very interesting is that almost all of them include secondary leads, and have bright colour, including this Prince story, which actually looks more rock than the main cover story, which is also very unusual. What is also unconventional is that because it has such a dark background, it makes it stand out on the pale whitespace. and because of that this was the first thing that I looked at on the magazine front cover.


This little cover story creates a connection with the reader, and forms prosthetic personalisation, as it asks the reader: 'Remember your first gig?' which makes it sound friendly and approachable. It also makes the purchaser nostalgically think of their previous experiences, which is related to the magazine.
The colouring of the secondary lead is very tinted orange, but makes it stand out compared to the plain whitespace. The style of the photo is very basic, which makes it appear very 'pop art'-like.

This cover story is the only one without a secondary lead, however, it is large in font, which is unusually white compared to the rest. The box-out of it is a checkered shirt background, which links to the story directly, in an amusing way.



These two cover stories are placed in a very unusual place, which is directly next to the masthead. However, these photos do not have a large amount of background to them, which makes them blend in more.
Their headings are in striking black, which contrasts to the whitespace, and makes them pop.




The Extras

As unconventional and odd as this front cover may be, it still sticks to some traditional conventions, such as having a barcode at the bottom corner of the front cover.


The other convention that it sticks to is having a pug, at the top corner, in bright colour with buzz words which attract the reader and tempts the reader to purchase this magazine.




How this research has influenced my planning

• I now know that in order to have a vintage masthead, you mustn't make it 3D
• I now know that the main picture does not always have to be at the centre
• I now know that I will possibly include a sharp looking pug
• I know the importance of picking a good layout and whitespace