The brief was to create a  front page, contents page and double page spread for a new music magazine, only consisting of my own photos edited in Photoshop. I researched online on the conventions of proper music magazines so as to be sure that mine would look like an actual magazine that would be on news stands and be available to purchase. Upon observing the magazines, I kept in internal checklist of the conventions they used, after deciding whether to abide or not by certain ones. I had a little look at how the institution showed what the music genre was via the front page, double page spread and contents page. I also looked at how they used certain features to attract people who were into that genre of music. After a little research I noticed that most music magazines chose text fonts, images and advertisements that fit in with the genre of the magazine. I did LIIAR evaluations of contents pages, front pages and double page spreads so that I could see how to design my magazine in a professional way.

Upon careful deliberation, I decided that my magazine would be based on pop music and aimed at about 15-year-olds to about 19-year-olds. I think people any older than that would find the magazine a little childish. Especially due to the vivid and bright colours I have used for it. However, although I said it was based on pop music, it wouldn’t be based on popular kind of pop music. I decided that the music and bands included in my magazine will be the less well-known, but still awesome, kind. To create this kind of image, I had to make sure my front cover appealed to that group of people and attracted them into buying it, then continued to do so throughout the magazine. I also needed to make it look like a conventional magazine so added an issue number, barcode and price. I decided to take a lot of pictures from lots of different angles so that I had lots to work with later on when I actually created my magazine. For my front cover picture, I decided to something a little quirky and instead of using a friend or somebody to pose I decided to use my dog. I dressed her in a furry dog coat that I had bought for her a while ago and looked like pop star attire and put on some reflective sunglasses to complete the look. I knew I was going to edit out the background of the scene when I used it in my magazine so it didn’t really matter where I took the photos. I took them near a blank piece of wall in my house so that it would be easier to edit that out using the magic wand tool. Because I was editing out the background, I didn’t have to worry about mise-en-scene that much. The only thing I did was put the dog’s paws on a keyboard and take the pictures. I wanted to make it seem as if the dog was a superstar, which is why she was wearing a designer jacket and an iconic pair of ‘rock star’ sunglasses. The fact that the sunglasses were reflective and you couldn’t see her eyes gave her the upper hand, like she was in control of the cover. For my double page spread I added a few humans (one of them being myself) into the equation so that it would have more relevance to the music industry. I had us both wearing the same t-shirt and some sunglasses so that we matched and it created a sense of unity. I again knew that I was going to edit out the background in the pictures so I took them in the same place I took the others. For the main image in my double page spread I took pictures of the band separately so that I could get the best possible images of all the band. Then, when I edited all the pictures together I ended up with a ‘super band’ so to speak, a collection of the best images all added together. The rest of the pictures were supposed to be of the band ‘chilling out’ and being relaxed so I just took a few pictures of me and my other model playing with the dog and wearing casual clothing. The contents page was a collection of the images I had left over and some of the dog that I’d taken before that I thought good enough to be used in my magazine.

I tried to make my music magazine follow the conventions of real magazines so that it would attract the right kind of people to read it and buy it every week. My front cover focuses mainly on the large image of the dog, which I think is a good thing as the dog represents everything the magazine believes in, the kind of thing that will be in the magazine and the kind of people that should be reading the magazine. The picture is a full shot so that the keyboard beneath the dog’s feet can be seen properly. People might not have realised that the magazine was based on music if there was just a random dog on the front which was why I made sure that the keyboard was visible. This probably wouldn’t be that vital for if there was a human on the front, but for mine it was. I used the coverlines ‘Candy rocks out on keyboard’ and ‘the pint-sized pop-star dog talks to PopVibe’. This explained the dog on the front and told us the name of the dog. I used the name PopVibe for my magazine, which includes the word pop, which is the type of music the magazine promotes, another way to tell people who look at the magazine what it’s about.

I like to think I have progressed a little since my preliminary task and have grown in myself. I’ve learnt more about conventions of magazines and have applied them to my own work. I think I’ve learnt to use Photoshop and the other tools more effectively to create something more professional-looking.

LIIAr Analysis of Double Page Spread

Language - The model, Rihanna, in the main picture on the page is not looking at the camera, but is looking at the audience she is performing to, which shows that she is popular enough to have lots of fans to go to her concerts. The fact that she is wearing a Mickey Mouse hat shows that she is a fun person and isn't afraid to be a little silly when it comes to her look. She seems to be wearing some kind of pink PVC leotard outfit with sheer panels, which is a very daring kind of look and tells us that she doesn't mind being daring when it comes to her clothes. The model also seems to be sat on the cannon/missile gun of a tank, which gives the impression that she likes to have very out there performances at her concerts. Her bright pink hair suggests an air of craziness. She seems to have a pink colour scheme going on in the picture, her hair, leotard, tank and the laces on her boots all being pink. There also seems to be a pink tint to the air in the background from the lights. The magazine has noticed the pinkness of the image and have used it to their advantage by making their anchorage also pink.
Institution - The institution is Billboard, an institution inside the institution of Prometheus Global Media. Prometheus publish a lot of show business magazines, which means that Billboard, a show business, fits in perfectly to the theme of the publisher. The fact that Prometheus only publishes a certain genre of magazine is a good idea as it means that, if somebody is looking for just show business magazines, they can simply find magazines by Prometheus and know that they are getting what they want. It's easier when publishers specifically print one sort of magazine, as opposed to a diverse range, because it means that if a reader likes one magazine that they print, they'll probably like the others too.
Ideology - The fact that the model is wearing a Mickey Mouse hat tells us that she doesn't mind being childish and having a bit of fun. The fact that the magazine has used this image tells us that they also believe in that philosophy - having fun and being childish is alright. She's smiling very widely and seems to be laughing, which tells us that the magazine likes people to be having fun and laughing.

My Contents Page

My Double Page Spread

Music magazine cover

LIIAR Analysis of Billboard magazine cover

Language - The people on the front, the Glee cast and the artists whose songs they have done covers of, are looking straight at the camera, which makes the viewer feel like they're looking right at them. This makes them feel involved and is supported by the sheer amount of eyes looking back at them. The long shot makes the scene seem quite impersonal, which isn't really a good thing . The coverline 'The Power of Glee' is actually a bit of a play on the fact that the Glee Cast made an album of Madonna songs called the 'The Power of Madonna'. The white that 'The Power of' is in matches well with the white of the masthead, which gives it a sense of unity. The fact that the word 'Glee' is in capital letters, boldened and in bright green makes it stand out really well against the rest of the cover. The little subheading underneath the main headline says 'from smash hits to a sold-out tour, how a TV musical about high school geeks became a singular success', which is a good summary of the story and the word 'singular' is really effective because it has the word sing in it, what the Glee Cast do. Most of the people are smiling on this picture, which makes them all seem very cheerful and friendly and you want to read more about people who are nice. The pictures have all been superimposed together due to the fact that all the people on it are quite popular people and it would be very hard to get all those people available for a cover shoot on the same day. Plus some of the pictures, like the one of Madonna, are from a long time ago and literally couldn't be reshot. The pictures look like they've taken a long time to find because they're all very meaningful images. Like the one of Cory Monteith, it's important that they capture his character exactly right so they've scoured and found a picture of him holding his football helmet to show that he's a football player.
Institution - The institution is Billboard magazine, which in turn is owned by the institution of Prometheus Global Media. Prometheus is an American publisher, as is Billboard magazine, and also publishes The Hollywood Reporter, Back Stage and Film Journal International, which are all magazines that have something to do with show business. Due to this, I assume that Billboard is also quite a bit to do with show business. If it isn't then it doesn't really fit in with the theme of the brand. However, I do think that this magazine is to do with that because the Glee Cast is on the cover and she is a huge star internationally. Due to the fact that the magazines published by Prometheus are all to do with one main aspect, we can see that they are not very diverse and maybe do not cater for all tastes.
Ideology - The fact that there's a person in a wheelchair on the cover really emphasizes the fact that the magazine is very much a believer in everybody is equal and nobody should be treat differently just because they are in wheelchair. There's also an Asian on the cover, which rids of any doubt that the magazine has any problem with race issues.
Audience - Due to the fact that Prometheus (the institution that owns Billboard) sells lots of show business related magazines, I assume that this magazine is also to do with show business. If it is then the audience of the magazine will be people who are interested in that kind of thing just as a spectator or who are interested in pursuing a career in show business.
Representation - The magazine using the Glee Cast as their cover models is very good publicity due to the fact that the whole idea of Glee is a group of people who are outcasts, but can be something amazing. It gives out a good message to people and tells their readers that they support people being themselves. This gives them good publicity.

LIIAR Analysis of Kerrang double page spread

Language - The lead singer, Billie Joe Armstrong, of the band, Green Day, is looking straight at the viewer, making them feel involved. The bassist and backing vocalist, Mike Dirnt, is also looking straight at the viewer, which creates double the effect. The fact that the drummer, Tre Cool, is not looking attracts attention because he is the only one who isn't, which is intriguing. The same effect occurs when you notice that Mike is not holding a grenade like the other two. The image is a medium shot, which is quite a neutral shot as it creates no statement, unlike a close-up which suggests intimacy. Even from this far away, however, we can see that the band are all wearing makeup on their eyes, which does make a statement. Makeup on men is uncommon, which is why it's so shocking to people when men do wear it. The fact that the trio are wearing makeup tells us that they like to be controversial and like to be unconventional. Most men would be embarrassed to wear makeup in public, but these three flaunt it because they are not ashamed of what they do. The fact that the magazine chose to feature this band even though they're wearing makeup tells us that Kerrang magazine likes the controversial, unconventional kinds of people that others would shun. It also tells us that Kerrang like the shock the reader by using people most people wouldn't think about hiring to be in the magazine. The magazine no masthead due to this being a double page spread as opposed to a cover, however, it does feature a title which reads 'Foxboro Hot Tubs'. The title isn't really that interestingly named, nor is it that eye-catching due to the boring colour chosen for it.

Institution - The institution for this particular magazine is Kerrang, which is part of the bigger institution of Bauer Consumer Media. Bauer produces lots of magazines, from sport magazines to women's weeklies, which tells us that they are quite a diverse company, either that or they know that they can make more money if they make more different types of magazine.
Ideology - The fact that the main image is a picture of a group of men all wearing makeup tells us that this magazine does not turn its nose up at people who do not stick to the usual conventions. The men know that they don't look like people want them to, but they don't care about what other people think because they know who they are. The magazine feels the same way - they know what they are like and don't want to compromise that to suit other people.
Audience - The audience is basically anybody who likes rock music, though more specifically it's aimed at younger people. You would expect it to be students or people who unemployed people due to the price, which is £1.80, as it's not too high for people from the E social classification to buy.
Representation - The people in the main image tell us that the magazine tends to feature those who don't comply with normal rules and regulations and do what they want, for example men who wear makeup. The magazine accepts those members of society who nobody else would, the oddballs so to speak, and moulds them so that they fit into their magazine. They don't change them, they let them be who they want to be, they just help them in reaching their full potential by featuring them in the magazine that lots of people buy. In return, the people featured pay back the favour by promoting the magazine. This is an example of synergy.