Magazine Front Cover Deconstructions

I've deconstructed three magazine cover on powerpoint and have uploaded them to slideshare.

Magazine deconstruction from daholstead

Institution Research

I have conducted research on multiple institutions so I can make an informed choice on a magazine publisher for my music magazine.

Bauer Media Group

The Bauer Media Group is one of Europe‘s leading media companies, based in Germany. The Bauer family has managed the publishing company since its creation 138 years ago. Bauer publishes Q magazine, Kerrang Magazine and Box Telivision.

IPC Media

IPC Media is a Time Warner Compan. With more than 60 iconic media brands, IPC creates content for multiple platforms, across print, online, mobile, tablets and events. As the UK's leading consumer magazine publisher it engages with 26 million UK adults - almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men. IPC publishes NME, Nuts and Uncut magazine.

Future PLC

Future is an award-winning international media group and leading digital business. It reaches more than 51 million international consumers a month and create content and advertising solutions for consumers online, on tablet & smartphone and in print. Future PLC publishes Guitarist, RHYTHM and Total Guitar magazine.

 

Hearst Magazines

Hearst Magazines, a unit of Hearst Corporation, is one of the world's largest publishers of monthly magazines, with 20 U.S. titles and close to 300 international editions. The Company also publishes 20 magazines in the United Kingdom through its wholly owned subsidiary, Hearst Magazines UK. Hearst Magazines publishes Cosmopolitan, Marie Clarie and O magazine.

Dennis

Dennis Publishing is one of the world’s leading independent publishers. Founded in 1974, the group consists of a number of operating companies in the UK and USA. Dennis publishes Viz, PC Pro and MacUser.

Imagine Publishing

Imagine specialises in producing high quality, good value, international content for enthusiastic technologically literate prosumers. Imagine Publishin publishers Play, SciFi Now and X360.


In summary I have chosen the Future PLC because of it's lack of music magazine which includes a commentary section and reviews and on popular music artists. Future PLC also already reaches a very large audience and can offer the technology to design for smart phones and tablets an application for my magazine.

Analysing Previous Student Work

Rockhound:

Strengths -

• A large range of pictures are included in this magazine which provides a somewhat good aesthetic.
• This magazine contains a consistent font style and choice of colours which helps strengthens the magazine's sense of brand identity.

Weaknesses -

• Although there are multiple images used, the quality of the images are pretty poor which results in the overall aesthetic of the magazine having a poor quality.
• The front cover of the magazine has a very different style to all of the other pages which ruins the brand identity the creators of this magazine were attempting to build.

I would award this magazine with a grade C because of the largely consistent style throughout all of the pages with exception to the front cover which largely stands out. There's a good variety of images used in this magazine, however they are of mediocre, at best, quality.

Reckless:

Strengths -

• This magazine demonstrates an effective use of the double page spread and a good main article with relevant images.

Weaknesses -

• The images used throughout this magazine are very distorted and have a bad overall quality.
• The masthead on the front cover of this image appears very distorted and severely damages the aesthetic of the front cover.
• There's no consistency with the font and colours used throughout this magazine which results in the magazine having no overall theme.

I would award this magazine a grade E because of the lack of overall theme. This magazine also contains some very distorted images which have a very poor quality.

D.I.R.T:

Strengths -

• This magazine has a consistent font style which establishes a brand identity and keeps a good consistency throughout the pages.
• I was impressed by the contents page aesthetic which contained good quality images and a very clear and consistent theme.

Weaknesses -

• This magazine does not contain a large variety of images which results in some of the pages appearing dull and therefore the space on the pages is not being used very effectively.
• The style of the magazine is quite dull and colourless overall.

I would award this magazine a grade D because of the lack of image variety and dull theme. This magazine however does have a consistent font style and a good contents theme aesthetic.

From looking at previous student work I have discovered the importance of having a consistent font style and theme so a brand identity is established. The quality of images is also key to showcase an overall high quality magazine. I will be sure to not make the same mistakes previous students have made by taking high quality images and applying them effectively as well as deciding on a font style and colour to use throughout the magazine.

Coursework Stage 1 Planning

Type of Magazine:
I've decided to create a music magazine for my coursework. I came to this decision because of my general interest in music.

Name of Magazine:
I have yet to decide on a magazine title as I'm trying to come up with an eye catching title which can help me set up a brand identity and stand out from other, similar magazines. Coming up with a good title can also present my magazine as unique and hopefully attract an unreached audience in the market.

Audience:
I am aiming to attract an audience of people who are very interested in music overall. I aim to attract males aged between 16-30 who show a keen interest in rock/pop music and who also show some interest in the writing and production of music as well as being fans of some of the biggest artists in the music business.

Outlet:
I aim to get my magazine sold in the same places where the most popular music magazines are sold. The outlets where I aim for my magazine to be sold are; petrol stations, supermarkets, music/record stores and book stores.

Selling Point:
The selling point of my magazine is to cover the latest news in the music business through commentary reporting and high standard journalism. My magazine will also provide behind-the-scene exclusives on the records currently being made be some of the most popular musicians in the business as well as the most exciting up and coming artists. I also aim to provide credible reviews of all the latest music releases in the pop/rock genre as well as highlighting some of the best new releases on the independent music scene. My magazine will also contain exclusive interviews with the biggest artists in the business.

Theme Article:
My theme article will be an exclusive look into the recording and writing process of a popular music act's difficult second album. The theme article will contain a brief interview, exclusive release of working song titles, new images of the band and an account of how the recording/writing process is going for the artist.

Front Cover Image:
My front cover will contain one main image which will relate to the theme article.

Inside Images:
On my contents page I will provide images relating to various articles throughout the magazine to improve the overall aesthetic of the contents page and showcase the exclusives included in the issue. My theme article will contain numerous images relation the main article and will be positioned to provide context onto different parts of the article.