Magazine Mock- up 5

The masthead of this magazine is ‘classic’. However this album has nothing to do with the genre classic, instead the name classic gives a hint that this magazine is about the biggest hits, coming from old to new artists such as Michael Jackson and Ed shereen. This magazine has a wide range of genre, from rock to pop. The mast head is white. The main image is of a lady looking like a hippy/rock chick but in a modern style. The background captures a street, bringing an urban theme. The dateline is under the masthead and the barcode is on the bottom right. There are three cover lines and the main one is about the artist in the image. 

Magazine mock-up 4

The masthead is a serif font, white and black. It’s quite simple just like the logo. I have chosen the title ‘simply Dope’ because the magazine is full of American artists that all go under the genre of R&B and Hip Hop. The image is a close up of a lady wearing a red hat, which matches her red lip stick. Showing her white teeth, she poses quite seductively, with her lifting her right hand up, placing her finger on her lip. The background of this cover is red, giving a very romantic and seductive theme to this magazine cover. I’ve made nearly everything red to match a valentines theme, since this magazine is issued in the month of February. The dateline is right under the masthead. The barcode lies at the bottom right of the cover. The coversine’s are limited, the main one is about the lady shown and the one of the left is very simple, naming the stars the magazine includes.

Magazine mock-up 3

This magazine is more feminine. The masthead ‘Be unique ‘is very unique. The word unique is in a feminine and elegant font, it’s a serif font because the words join with each other, while the word be is big and bold, its more dominant. The master head consists of two colours, the font colour used for ‘Be’ is black and grey and the font colour used for ‘unique’ is pink. I have closed this to make sure this magazine will not only appeal to girls but boys with the dark and light colours clashing. The whole cover is covered with a close up image of a girl, with bushy hair and s=cheek piercings. This will attract more girls and young teenagers to this magazine. The cover lines are white, and the main cover line is about the girl in the image. We know this is the main cover line by the increase in the size of the font and it’s also in another style to the rest of the cover lines. Following all the cover lines are three diamante’s, personating the stylish theme of this magazine. The bar code is at the bottom left, and the date line is just underneath the mast head in black

Magazine Mock ups 2

My second idea is simple but it has an urban theme to it. The image includes a teenager with a high top which hints this magazine is going to have genres such as urban, R&B, hip hop and grime music and artists featured inside. He is also making straight eye contact with the audience building up a relationship. The masthead is bold and striking; however it is easy to say, it’s also placed in front of the image which makes the masthead more dominant and important. The masthead colour theme is blue and white, with the black music note; the background of this cover is black. The main cover line is about the boy in the image it stands out so that the audience will know the main article in this issue of the magazine. All the cover lines are followed with stars implying that this magazine is full of stars nothing more and nothing less. There’s also a sticker included which is the magazines slogan, this could attract more readers to have more interest about the articles in the magazine. The barcode is on the bottom left which is quite common for music magazines.

Magazine mock-up

This is my first initial idea. To convey the R&B, punkie rock theme I have drawn an image of a close up of a lady with extended, artistic eyelashes and ruff curly hair. The background of this cover is black to contribute to the punkie rock theme I’m trying to pursue.  She is also wearing black lipstick which has an impact on the theme of this cover, blending with the background. The type of clothing she’s pictured in brings back the R&B theme. She looks like she’s dressed up as if she was in the 60’s, consisting of the big hoops. The bar code is at the bottom right, followed with the magazines black berry pin code and the magazine’s web site. The dateline is underneath the masthead.

Profiling your audience

The ‘Boutique’ reader: Farida, 20, a passionate and trendy music fan. She’s into singing. Through her childhood that has been what put her in the spotlight in her family. She has a history of many performances and she has taken several musical classes such as the piano and voice practice. Her style is very contemporary, she never wears any artificial brands, partly because she comes from a wealthy background, she’s into Louis vuitton and Christian Louboutine. She’s a fashion trend setter and also loves to read star signs and read peoples actions towards things. Farida loves to live the high life. Her attitude is abominable at times, but her personality overall is engaging. Out of her family she the second oldest, with one older sister and three younger sisters. She’s into different types of music genres such as R&B, African, blues, hip hop and rock. Her main idols in the music industry are Michael Jackson, Madonna, Nicki Minaj and Beyonce. She doesn’t work, and she’s a student at Cambridge University. For the weekend she enjoys partying and meeting up with her family. Her eating lifestyle is very light she doesn’t tend to enjoy take always and fast food restaurants always.

To develop my product for my target reader Farida, I’m going to include several sections to do with fashion trends, which will consist of high street fashion, runaway fashion and Brands. In these there will be loads of celebrities wearing these products not just any un-known model. This product will contain more than one genre such as R&B, pop and rock. The artists that are focused on are Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Beyonce, Kanye west, Ed shereen, Chris brown and Lady Gaga, with a special section showing what’s inside Rihanna closet. There will be a star sign section at the end, giving in detail each star sign information of the month. There will be the latest gossip on the music industries, consisting of leaks of new singles and celebrity gossip. And finally there will be a lyrical double page, presenting lyrics of the top 5 singles of the month the product was issued.

Mood Board

Audience Research 5

Audience Research 4

Audience Research 3

Audience Research 2

Audience Research 1

Textual Analysis: Blender music magazine

Denotation

The magazine cover consists of a colour photograph of a woman looking directly at the camera. The pictures a medium long shot showing her head down to her knees and her arms are also visible. She’s standing up with her right hand on her hip, positioned in a strut pose. The background of the cover is light blue with a darker shade of blue stars all over the page. The photograph covers the whole of the page. Behind the woman is the Blender masthead. In front of her are five master heads, the font colour for these mastheads is yellow, black and white. Two of the master heads on the right are arranged in a column. On the bottom right is where the bar code is placed, while at the top right lies boxed picture of a man, it’s a medium and it’s much smaller than the main image. There’s also a strap line above the masthead.

Masthead

The Blender masthead is caustic: plain white with a blue back drop shadow. The font used a sans serif font the letters are individual capitals. The font has a cut going through each letter which might be a play on words with the title. The line in the middle of the masthead gives the theme of this front cover a rock look. The title of my chosen magazine is ‘blender’ magazine. The dictionary meaning of ‘blender’ is a person or thing that blends in no matter where he or she is. The conventional use of the word “blender” as the title suggests that the magazine is aimed at the typical cool people. The fact that the masthead is partly covered by the image catches the audience because when the look at the figure’s face, they instantly see the masthead. Also, the fact that the image is overlapping the masthead gives the magazine cover a 3D look and makes the front cover appear more interesting and modern to the audience. This is also the convection that most music magazine follows as they assume that the audience is already familiar with the house style of the magazine and helps the audience to easily recognise the magazine from other magazine.

Character

The front cover photograph is of the American singer ‘Kelly Clarkson’

Composition

She is posed in a teenage prom kind of way, with her hands on her hips and advertising her ‘woman of the year’ banner, by slightly lifting it with her left hand. Her body language is portrayed quite breathless, her mouth is open showing some of her teeth and her eye are looking directly at the audience, and this also creates a relationship with the audience. The target audience of the magazine are mostly middle age men so they always use a stereotypical pretty image a female artist and dress them in a way that appeals to men.

Costume

Her clothing is a damaged, silk prom dress, which blends in with the theme of this front cover. She also wears ripped up tights, a tiara and a banner around her right shoulder. Other than her trying to portray a prom queen look, she also looks like a rock princess. She’s blacked out and her lace gloves introduce an olden day’s look. Her hair is nicely curled and is styled to fit the prom look.

NVC

Her nonverbal communication is slightly seductive; her mouth is open showing her teeth. And she’s looking directly at the camera.

Lighting

The lighting is high, which helps to gloss the laddies skin. It also helps with the theme of this certain front cover.

Setting

There isn’t a setting but the light blue background with the darker blue stars helps to build up the prom theme.

Cover Lines

There are five cover lines. The font consists of three colours; yellow, black and white. This is a convection used by many music magazines to create uniformity. The cover line that relates to the photograph stands out more because the size go the font is increased. That will want the reader want to take interest in this certain article. The cover line on the right mentions different artists such as U2, Coldplay, my chemical romance, Kanye west and full out boy, this indicates that there’s more than one genre to this magazine, which will attract a wider audience. The cover lines are sans serif which indicated the magazine is more modern.

Target Audience

The target audience should be a range of people who are interested in the rock and pop genre. I don’t think the age range is specific because the main image captured on this front cover isn’t intimidating or over rated in anyway. For example from the age range of 10 and over. And the sex that this magazine attracts is both female and male I get this suggestion because of the kind of cover lines this cover represents.

Textual Analysis: King music magazine

Denotation

The front cover of this magazine introduces a colour, medium long shot of a lady. Her head down to her knees is in sight. She’s looking directly towards the camera, with her right hand on her hip and her left hand on her knee. Her body posture is bended forwards this can suggest she’s trying build a closer relationship with the audience she’s trying to attract. The background of this front cover is plain white, while her face and body covers the whole page. The ladies dressing are very limited and she shows her cleavage, this indicates that she attracting a male audience and that this could be a male’s magazine. And even doe the background is white and the clothes the ladies’ wearing is also white, she still stands out. Behind the lady is the magazine masthead. In front are six cover lines, the three on the left are separate while the other three on the right are in a column. The font colour of the cover lines is yellow and black. But the cover line that includes the lady in the pictures names is bolder than the other five cover lines. There’s a bar code on the bottom left.

Masthead

The King masthead is masculine. The font colour is black which contrasts with the white background. This makes the masthead really standout. The font used is also sans serif because none of the letters join into each over. King magazine is a demographic geared towards African American, urban audiences.  King is a monthly Mes magazine geared toward African American and urban audiences. It features articles about Hip hop and R&B as well as articles covering sports and fashion. The Title ‘king’ is really symbolical, it related to the type of audience this is aimed at which is male adults. This could make them feel like there kings when reading this magazine, making them think that their social class is at a higher level when they purchase this magazine.

Character

The cover photograph is of a successful American singer ‘Keyshia Cole’.

Composition

She is posed in a sexual and attractive manner, her body pose and body structure is very appealing in the eyes of the audience this article is trying to attract, which is provocative.

Costume

She’s wearing a white, V-necked swimming suite, which shows cleavage. This contributes to the sexual look she is trying to portray. The costume is chosen carefully to appeal to the kind of audience the magazine is trying to attract, who are most likely to be male. Her long pony tail, swayed to the side and her chunky jewellery could try and suggest a hood celebrity look or even a 60’s look. This is understandable because the King magazine is filled with hip hop and urban artists and articles, so this helps to sale the magazine.

NVC

Her non-verbal communications is very intimate; her mouth is open showing off her white teeth and her red tinted lips. And her prolonged eyelashes building up with the urban, voluptuous theme.

Lighting

The lighting is very bright making the front cover establish the main artist being captured. The white background makes the front cover also more vibrant.

Setting

There is no setting. The background is just plain white which contrast with the black, bold masthead.

Cover Lines

There are six cover-lines all consisting of the colours yellow, white and black. And are all sans serif fonts which imply that the magazine is more modern. The main cover line is very bold because of its increased font size, and it’s related to the artist captured on the cover. With all the heading of the cover-lines being in bold, this helps the reader have a brief idea of what the main articles in this magazine will be about. ‘Keyshia Cole’ is the biggest heading and cover line on the cover. This this draws the reader’s attention to the main focus of this article.

Target Audience

The target audience for this is more likely to be male. Aged 20 and over. The reason I have said this because this magazine contains some adult nature that is not suitable for under aged viewers. 

Example Textual Analysis: XXL Music magazine front cover

Denotation

The magazine cover consists of a coloured picture with a strongly built man looking directly at the camera. This is a medium shot; head down to his waist line is captured. He’s facial expressions is very fierce, his right hand is touching the handle of bag back. It looks like he’s taking something out under his left arm.  The background of this album cover is black but at the bottom the black fades into a lighter shade. This makes the cover more masculine which will attract more male readers. Half of his body cover the entire page. Behind the man is the XXL masthead, and in front of him lays one big cover line that has the artist’s name which is captured on the cover. The cover line is red and white which matches the masthead. At the bottom right is where the barcode is placed and in front of that is the magazine logo, ‘XXL’. And at the top right is a sticker that promotes a certain article inside this magazine.

Masthead

The XXL masthead is striking, straight forward and evident. It’s expressed by a red and white font. The font used is sans serif; the capital letters don’t join into each over, it’s also very flat. XXL sounds very explicit, sounds like a warning. The main colour of this is red, matching the colour of the masthead. The masthead XXL also donates the meaning extra and extra-large and emphasizes how this magazine is massive as are the rappers featured in it. The text is on a large red box which helps contrast the colours and show the magazines brand and image more clearly, the colour connotations of the red box, also represents the power and the energy the magazine shows.

Characters

The photographer is of an American, famous rapper ‘Eminem’.

Costume

He has no top on, but it is visible that he’s wearing trousers. He is also wearing a bag back and we know this by the bag straps on his shoulders and arms. His top body is captured, his body is very masculine and both he’s arms are tattooed on. What he’s wearing helps with the theme that this magazine is trying to portray.

NVC

His non-verbal communications is very fierce and could be intimidating to a certain range of people. He’s eyes are squinted directly at the camera which brings a sense of anger.

Lighting

The lighting is high; even though the background is black the main image is still presented to stand out, all the shine is on him.

Setting

There is no setting, however the black background helps with fierce atmosphere the man in the image is creating.

Cover lines

The main cover line has been done inventive way ‘EMINEM’ this has been bolded out with a very block capital font, consisting the colours, red and white, matching the masthead. There is also no filling in the font; the letters are just outlined with a red and white colour. And above the main cover line is a pulling line ‘Vengeance is’ That draws the reader in. A feature added above the masthead is the magazine slogan, to attract readers. It also imposes the image they are trying to create about hot there magazine is better than it rival competitors in the same magazine genre, making it seem like there providing more and offering better quality. XXL always make a main cover line large so it’s very clear to the reader what the magazine will specify in for its best and main story.

Target Audience

This type of magazine is not aimed at an older age band, and I feel this magazine would be aimed at 16-27 age group. My reason for this because the artist usually represented on the front cover are usually from a more recent era, which instantly shows us that the magazine is formed around the genre of music  these artists perform. With this audience I also feel that this edition is portrayed towards a male market as we can see this from the intimidating poses that are represented here.

Example Textual Analysis: Billboard Music Magazine front cover

Denotation

The front cover of this magazine consists of a woman looking directly at the camera; this indicates that the lady is trying to establish a relationship or connection with the reader. It’s a medium shot, her head down to her hips. Her posture indicates she could have been dancing, her arms are broad and her hands are on her hips. Her body overall is slightly slanted. The background of this front cover is coral however in the middle the colour format becomes a lighter shade, which makes this cover have a more warmth feeling and the photograph covers the whole page and the lady herself takes up most of the picture. Behind the women is the Billboard master head and in front of her lies five separate cover lines in yellow and white. The woman’s name is in a different font which is stylish and bolder. Underneath is a little speech. At the bottom right there’s a little annunciation with the billboard logo on it.

Masthead

The billboard masthead is bold and big. With coloured in letter, this instantly makes it recognisable as a logo. Billboard is a flagship property for the billboard information group. This also consists of the billboard biz. Billboard.com, billboard chart alert etc. Billboard is headquartered in New York and Bureaus in London, Miami and Los Angeles, and has editorial in correspondents in Major cities around the globe. Billboard's masthead is simple. The font is easy to read, the colour used for the masthead is black with the inside of the letters A and D coloured in blue and yellow and it is in Sans Serif.

Character

The lady in this front cover is ‘Beyoncé’ a well-known multi-talented singer.

Composition

Her body structure looks very playful and conveying, her pose and body language are provocative.

Costume

Her clothing is a silky material and the colour of her play suit matches the background of the cover. She’s dressed like a disco diva, with her hair complimenting the look, with a curly afro. Her makeup also blends in with the theme she’s trying to pursue with her lip colour matching the colour of her waist belt.

NVC

Her non-verbal communications is quite playful and energetic, but however seductive in a kind of way. Her body posture suggests that she was photographed while she was dancing. Her facial expression looks like she’s panting, showing her teeth. Her eyes are also directly focused on the camera; this builds a relationship between the audience and the artist.

Lightening

The lightening is bright but it has an indoors setting. The lighting sets a specific tone that compliments the theme of this front cover, it makes the cover looks like a disco.

Setting

The is very little setting but the lightning and colour of the colour gives a disco feeling. And the way she is posed is very suggestive of that as well.

Cover-Lines

There are five cover lines and all are yellow and white, the heading are yellow while the main parts of the cover lines are whit. This may be to draw more attention to the heading because it’s a brief outline of the main articles in the magazine, helping people know what they’ll be buying. The main cover line is about the artist in the image. This main cover line is in another font front the rest of the cover lines. ‘Back to run the world’ this will draw the audience to want to read all about this certain article, and because it’s in capitals it will stand out. The audience could feel cautious about the sort of issue that’s going to be in the magazine about this artist. On the right the cover line mentions ’70 + finalists Rihanna, Eminem, Taylor swift, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and more’ This hooks the audience to want to find out who the other artists are. A because these artists mentioned are all successful and modern that will attract a wider age range of people.

Target Audience

The target audience for Billboard which mainly is aimed at both gender equally around the ages of 17-29 because the layout and the contents of the magazine is mature but the font they use gives it its modern input. The magazine layout isn't overfilled with images and texts and is rather kept simple which one reason why it is aimed at late teens and young adults. Billboard magazine is an American magazine so the audience are likely to be interested in the American culture.

Example Textual Analysis: Vibe music magazine front cover

Denotation:

The front cover of this magazine introduces a photograph of a bald lady; this shot is a close up. Her head and neck shows down to her shoulders. However we are not sure in which direction she’s looking at because she’s wearing big bold sunglasses, her head posture is directed upwards, with her right hand leaning on her right cheek. It’s not clear what she’s looking at but the light is reflected on her sunglass, which suggests she’s in a studio and not outside. The background of the photograph is light blue, however her face and body isn’t covering the whole front cover. The sunglasses and the bright blue background suggest this magazine has a summer atmosphere. The ladies bald head makes it look like she’s a shop dummy. Behind the lady’s head is the ‘Vibe’ master head, there are also captions at the top of this bold magazine title. Nevertheless in front, are five separate cover lines, which consist of the colours yellow and white. These colours blend in with the summer theme of this magazine. A bar code is also visible at the bottom of the cover. And the lady’s name is in white and yellow next to the lady herself.

Masthead:

The vibe master head is very plain but loud, ensuring that is stands out. It’s expressed by an all white font, which is however flat. The font used is a sans serif font, all the capital letters don’t join up to each other. The establishment of ‘VIBE’ is vibe; it’s a commercial magazine with its own website. The purpose of this magazine is to make money. Vibe magazine follows typical magazine conventions. The masthead is placed in the centre and is bold and bright, contrasting the plain sky blue theme of the background, ensuring that it stands out from all other conventions.

Character:

The cover photograph is of ‘Amber Rose’, she’s famous in America.

Composition :

The way she’s posed is seductive because her mouths open, and even doe she’s wearing glasses you can still slightly see her eyes which are facing directly at the camera. She also seems not to be wearing any clothes because it isn’t in site, this adds to the seductive feeling and in addition sexual.

Costume:

The shot makes us think she’s naked but the photographer and director could have just made it seem that way when however she was wearing clothes underneath. The only item she wears is sunglasses. This can relate to the type of theme this magazine is trying to pursue which could be summery theme. The fact that she has no clothes on, will attract male attention. On the other hand the summery theme and the glasses she’s wearing will attract female attention because this item she’s using helps to give an idea to the reader that there could be a fashion section.

NVC:

Her non-verbal communication is also very seductive. Her head is tilted up, which her mouths open; displaying her red lips which is very glossy and her white teeth, and you can see that she’s looking directly at the camera if you look closely.

Lighting:

The lightening is very bright, her glasses show the reflection of the light its self, this could be because the photographer is trying to make it seem like she’s outside, with the blue background indicating the blue skies. This all impacts with the theme of this front cover.

Setting:

The setting is limited because all that’s captured is a medium shot of a lady with only a plain, sky blue background. This again helps with the summery theme, with the blue background relating to the sea or the sky.

Cover-lines

The cover lines placed both down the right and left side of the page draw the reader in while also giving them ideas as to what, and who will be included in the magazine. The main cover line is the largest and therefor directs the reader’s eye straight to it. The cover lines relate to the main image and also include the caption ‘the sexy issue’ which urges the reader to take an interest in the magazine. The opposite cover line titled ‘Lil Kim and 60 year old prostitutes’ with the number 60 in bold. This is a further contributing factor towards the reader wanting to buy the magazine.

Target Audience

As VIBE is aiming towards people who are interested in the hip-hop and grime music genre. Vibe magazine is around £2.50($4.99), showing that the target audience are average people with an average amount of money.