Fonts

Here are some fonts that I found on the interned which I like, and I think they would be suitable for my magazine's masthead, however, I haven't decided which font I like the most yet.

I like this font because it looks shiny because of the extra lines on the letters,however, I would like the kerning to be smaller, and the letters to be a little more narrow. Also, I would like it to have a little 3D effect, which is conventional of vintage music magazines.



I like this font because the kerning is lovely, and I would like it to be similar to this, however, the little decorations on the letters are not too appealing to me, and I would prefer it not to have any. Also, I wish it was all capitalised, and there would be no drop capitals.

This font that I found is lovely, I love the narrowness of it, and that it is in all capitals, however, I find the little dips in the bottom of the letters unappealing, and I wish it was sans serif. I love everything about this, apart from the missing 3D effect and the little decorations. However, the 3D issue could be fixed, as the effect can be applied using photoshop.







I like this font because it has lovely kerning and it's width is very thin, which I would like to apply to my masthead. However, I do not like the fact the top of some letters have a smooth curve instead of edgy ends, like the masthead of Vintage Rock, or Gothic Tuscan.
What I also have realised, is that this font may be a little too modern for my liking and for my genre, therefore I know for sure that this won't be the font I will use for any parts of my magazine.

Mood board for my theme

This is the collage that I have created,which links to my chosen theme for my music magazine, and possible themes/colours/props I might use that I created on Slidely. I really like using this little tool, as it creates a great finish, and makes it look lovely, also it has a wide range of things you can use, and I will definitely use it again in the near future.

Contents research 1

Links,synergy and brand identity

The magazine Metal Hammer has synergy throughout all of their issues, and in this one, the iconic masthead has not changed in comparison to the previous one because it is their housestyle and creates their identity. The gold used on the front cover is not used in the contents page which means that it is not type of synergy in this magazine.
Metal Hammer has a brand identity, as you can see, that even though there isn't much red, the brand's name is in bright red. This is continued to the contents page, which involves hints of red on puffs.








The contents page has many photos, which are laid out beautifully, also, looking at the style of it you can tell that it is definitely a Metal Hammer contents page, because of the style of photos, drop capitals and the colour codes. Also, the fonts used for the contents puff looks rigged and aggressive, which makes it look hardcore. The repeated use of blood red and their masthead creates strong synergy between their institution, the front cover and the contents page which makes it recognizable from the rest.

The contents page has quite a lot of text wrapping, even though it is very busy. This can also be seen in other issues, which can only mean that this is a convention that Metal Hammer has decided to use in between all of their issues and to make it part of their synergy and housestyle. I really like the way it is carried out and therefore I will consider using a similar layout for my contents page, when I create my music magazine to make it recognizable compared to the rest.

The masthead/logo of the magazine can be seen several times on the contents page, which defines it's brand identity, as due to that you will never mistaken it for another magazine's contents page.

Research front cover 3: Smash hits

          
The front cover that I will be analysing is Smash Hits, as it is an old magazine and it's style is very vintage. This magazine concentrates on the most popular songs at the time that it gets released. I really like the design of it and they busy nature of it, therefore I feel like analysing it will help me with my research and will help me find what I should or shouldn't pick when creating my own magazine later.






The Masthead

The masthead takes up a large section of the cover, and is very unusual, as it breaks the conventional style of mastheads, because it is in serif font, and has yellow and black shade, which makes it pop and look 3D and what I have discovered in vintage magazines, is that many of them have the 3D effect, and that it is almost conventional for them to be 3D. It is the lightest thing on the whole cover, as the letters are white, which makes it stand out. I like the kerning of the title, and what I also noticed it that most of the mastheads on most vintage magazines is similar.


What is interesting is that this music magazine does not have a housestyle, as it differs with every issue, so does they layout, for example:
I believe that it differs in order to fit with the hits that are released at that time, which I find interesting, as I thought that most of the music magazines would try to avoid looking different, especially with mastheads.
However, this magazine has been published for 28 years, which could portray that the change of the housestyle would mean that the magazine wants to modernise and change in order to fit the same target audience, however from a different generation.



The Image



The central image of the front cover includes the female model, who is in direct address with the customer, which is one of the conventions of photos in music magazines. Her facial expression is a mischievous smile, and due to the fact that the only thing she has to cover herself up with is the feather scarf suggests that the photo falls into the theorists Laura Mulvey's  'Male Gaze' theory, which says that women are viewed for the pleasure of men, which can be clearly seen in this picture. The model has heavy eyeshadow on, which is used to attract the viewer to her face.
The fact that the main headline says that 'Kylie Grows Up' suggests that she has grown as a woman, and not literally which can be portrayed in this photo. The white space behind her is dark red, which is a connotation for lust.
This photo also follows Richard Dyer's theory, as you can tell that she was told to make that facial expression and to pose like a coquette, therefore, 'A star is an image, not a real person' because she wouldn't look or act this way around everyone, she only posed for this magazine in order to please the target audience.






The Cover Stories




On the left side of the magazine, the cover stories are mostly written in box-outs, and the images have colourful frames which make them look more in the foreground than the background. The fonts used are mostly different, some in width and some in style or colour. Many words that are by themselves are in box-outs in different colours to drag attention.




On the right side of the magazine are all of the puffs and there are no pictures, which makes it a little more dull, however this is changed when bright colours are added to the text, and some of it is highlighted using box-outs in contrasting colour to the white space. There are leads which are or other artists who are included in the magazine at the top, along with a tag.
At the lower half of the cover there is a quote which takes up a large section of the page compared to the other text. It is related to the main story and is used as a kicker, in a way it is also a caption of the central image since it explains the main story and the image used to support it. The quote marks are larger than the quote itself which makes it the reason the reader looks  at the quote.




Extras


There is a pug at the top right corner of the front page which makes the reader interested in buying the magazine for the sheer reason of being able to win something. It is a distinct blue colour which contracts with the background of the front cover, and makes this small detail important and bright.



How this research has influenced my planning

• I know how to create effective puffs and pugs
• I now know how to make effective cover stories 
• I know how to add effective secondary leads

Research front cover 2: Vintage Rock

The front cover that I will be deconstructing is Vintage Rock. This magazine concentrates on the old/vintage rock, as it was made at the time when it was popular. I chose it because I am considering creating a vintage magazine.
I also chose this because I really like the way it's been designed and because of the unusual colour schemes and puffs.



The Masthead



The masthead has a very small amount of kerning, which I really like. The colour of it is silver and has shadow on some parts of letters which makes it look 3D, which makes it look very unconventional. I really like how it looks because it makes you look, even though it isn't bright like the rest of the front cover.
In between the Vintage and Rock, there is a little silver star which can be barely seen, however it is very effective and looks very beautiful. This magazine has been issued with the masthead like this all of the time which has become a convention for the masthead to always be silver and in the serif font.


The Image


The central image is a medium close up, however, the first thing that I've noticed was that the model, Ricky Nelson adheres to the convention of a photo because he is not looking at the camera, and the audience, this is used as an anchorage to make the reader look at the feature.  However, the reason he isn't looking at the camera is because he is looking at his own feature story. This is very interesting and is also agreeing with two theorists, one of them being Richard Dyer, and this theory which claims that 'A star is an image,not a real person..'  this is relevant because Ricky Nelson looks like he is part of the whole picture, like her was created for this front cover alone. Another theory that is supported through this picture is Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' theory, however it's not the men that are to be impressed, but it's the female audience. The star is pampered to have the 'perfect' face of of the times at which this was released, and his facial expression grabs attention. The colour scheme used on the model is very bright orange, which a pattern on his shirt, which clashes with the background very well and makes the whole front cover look like a pop art piece. What the image does with the use of bright colour is it drags the eye away from the white space which is around the top part of the model.



The Headlines


The Headline acts as a kicker, and the first two words reveal that the main story will be about Nelson, and also act as puffs to grab the audience's attention. The following two lines act as a lead which intrigue the audience and want to purchase the magazine. The font is sans serif, which is conventional, however, the black shade on some parts of the letters make it look 3D and that is very unusual and it challenges conventions of most music magazines.




Jack Rabbit Slim is the second headline which also includes a secondary lead, as the image intrigues the reader about the article more than it would without.
The feature itself is within a box-out which is a bright yellow behind some black, and this choice of colour makes the little lead stand out and catches attention.



Extras


The image is put together probably using photoshop, and it stands out because it looks like a vinyl disc, which makes it appropriate to the genre of the magazine and as it represents retro today, it is very conventional. 'Dance' has a drop capital which makes it appear as a usual word, where as 'Crazy' is in all capitals, and has an exclamation mark in the end which makes it act as a tag. The white silhouettes of the man and the woman dancing stands out very well, and shows what 'crazy' dancing is. Underneath the puff, the barcode is placed, with the dateline underneath.

The banner includes some cover stories which have photos of the artist included in them which acts as a lead for the reader. The names of the artists are in white, which match with their black and white shots, however, the text underneath is in bright yellow sans serif font, which is very eye catching and interests the purchaser. The Hollywood cover story acts as a kicker compared to the rest on the banner because of the distinct orange which is also the colour of the model,this portrays that this particular story is almost as important as the main story.

How this research has influenced my planning

• I now know how a quality colourful vintage photo looks like, which I could possibly use as an influence for my own shots in the future.
• I now know how important the colour scheme is depending on the genre of the music magazine that you want to create.
• I also know how important leads and puffs are, and where the should be placed for a good effect.
• I also learned how to break conventions but for great reasons, such as this main photo not being direct address.

Front cover research 1: Metal Hammer

This is the front cover that I will be analysing is by Metal Hammer.    

The magazine itself concentrates on the genre of Rock/Metal, and you can clearly see this because of the design and the bands featured that classify as metal/hardcore. 

The Masthead

The masthead has edge and is very sharp on most letters which interprets the genre being edgy, also is capitalised and in sans serif. 'Metal' is placed on the side of the H in hammer, and it is a very clever design, it also being their housestyle, it looks exactly the same on all of the covers. I think that it is in gold because it represents the quality of the music - 'Gold'.

This little quote is interesting because it is used to interest the reader as to what type of cult? Who is we? and is a very good puff.

The Image

The lead singer of the band is standing at the front, which makes him appear taller and more menacing than the rest. What is interesting is that he is the only one grinning out of the whole band, whereas the rest keep their faces serious which feels intimidating, and makes it look appropriate for a metalcore band. The tattoos are visible on almost all of the members which is a symbol of rock and edge, rebellion. The two of the models/members that are standing on each side of the lead singer have dog tags on their necks which makes them look even more intimidating and punk. What is unusual is that every member is wearing mostly black but the lead singer, who is wearing denim, this is interesting because it isn't a convention of rock/metal, but leather is. This is going against it, but not in an extreme way which is interesting.

The overall picture looks like the lead singer is being backed up by the other members, which makes them appear like a gang, and gangs are usually represented as menacing or hardcore.

The Fonts

The font of the band's name is very sharp and appropriate for it's genre. The colour is also gold, which can imply that the quality of their music is amazing .

'Declare war on the mainstream' is in white and is serif, but it is thinner and catches attention. The writing itself implies that the band wants to rebel and fight the usual and basic everyday which they call 'mainstream' which can also be linked into the way they pose, as if they are prepared for a fight.

Feature/Cover stories

There are none which is very unusual and it breaks the convention of a front cover of a music magazine, because the whole point in having them is for the customer to pick up the magazine and be intrigued as to what is inside. However this front cover doesn't do that, it rebels against the 'mainstream' of a front cover and it makes it look very interesting as it looks more like a poster than a front cover for a music magazine.

Extras

 The skull with the bat wings looks very rock, but is also the signature sign of the band, which  suits the genre of both, the band and the magazine very well.

It is in black and white which makes it look rather menacing, and it makes it quite conventional due to the nature of the band.

The bar code is a convention that no magazine dares to break, as it is essential in order to sell the product. Team Rock is next to the bar code, which is the name of the company that owns Metal Hammer. It is in serif font and is in very sharp colours which fit their purpose.

'The heavy metal bible' is a little slogan which is written in tiny font underneath the masthead,which is a very clever slogan as the reader will remember it after reading it because it refers to the bible, and how it is the core of Christianity, and this implies that Metal Hammer is the core of Metal.

Relevance to Theorists

This front cover is very relevant to Richard Dyer's theory which claims that 'A star is an image,not a real person..' which I believe is exactly what this front cover is telling me as a reader, that these band members have been made to stand in that pose, and have those facial expressions and were made to wear sunglasses at a dim place plainly because it makes them look intimidating and like a hardcore band. 

how this research influenced my planning and creativity:

• I would like to have cover stories, leads and puffs etc... to make my front cover more interesting
• I would like my front cover to be more colourful