Concepts

It is common for music videos and even things like album cover designs to have a concept behind them, and this too applies to magazine covers and even contents pages at times.

This is a cover from a 2009 issue of popular US music magazine Billboard which features prominently Jay-Z looking over a river with a cigar. The concept behind this seems to be retrospect with the black and white effect of the photo and the text talking of Jay-Z's past with his old record label. Cigars are usually associated with the older audience so Jay could be seen as being self-aware of his age and looking back on his decorated career as an elderly man would over his own life.

This is another issue of Billboard, this time from November 2010 and features Rihanna staring at the camera provocatively. The concept behind this seems to be reinvention, with the caption itself stating "The re-reinvention of Rihanna". This is potentially a pun as one of Rihanna's many nicknames is "Rhi-Rhi". With the way Rihanna is looking into the camera, it could be that this 'reinvention' is to a more adult, suggestive Rihanna. The line "My fans don't really know who I am" could possibly mean how her record label and pushed this 'good girl' image on her and she is trying to shed it for her real personality.

Magazine covers

XXL - Main Image of Kanye West

The centrepiece of the magazine is an image of rapper Kanye West who claims the cover story. A clever effect mirrors the image below him which coincides with the text "LOVE  HATE". Each side could possibly reflect each one (the top image the Kanye that people love and the bottom the one people hate) despite him being the same person. This connotes how split the public's opinion of him with people loving him for his music and people hating him for arrogance and controversial behaviour. There is an all white background to keep the simplistic style of the cover with the only cover being the red of the magazine logo (which is also mirrored). The unique selling point is how the cover story is focused on Kanye West who is very popular around the world. This is inspirational for my magazine cover as it has introduced me to unique mirror effect and I want something similar and unique for my magazine as well as a simplistic style.

Classic Rock - Main image of Led Zeppelin

The main image of this magazine is the classic rock band Led Zeppelin smiling and looking happy into the camera, which goes along with the positive vibes in the headline and text accompanying it which heavily compliment the band and their possible future. Led Zeppelin are one of the biggest and most influential heavy metal bands in the world and would in any form attract a large audience, but the fact it is talking about a rare reunion makes it a unique selling point on this cover.

The Source - Main Image of Kendrick Lamar

The main image is a close up West Coast rapper Kendrick Lamar who is looking into the camera. He is wearing a crown on the cover. The caption under the headline is 'Compton's Crown Jewel' which obviously fits with the prop used. The unique selling point of this magazine would be the text at the top which says "2012 Year in Review", which is indicating the magazine has a summary of the year 2012 in the hip-hop world. This would attract people who haven't kept up with the genre as well as those who have, hoping to find their favourite artists highly rated. 

Magazine double page spread analysis

Magazine contents analysis

College Magazine front cover

Here is the finished product of my College Magazine front cover

College magazine double page spread

This is a mock-up of what a double page spread in a college magazine would look like

College magazine Contents mock up

This is a mock-up of what the contents page to a College magazine would look like

College magazine cover draft

This is the draft version to the front cover of my college magazine, and I expect that some changes will be made to it.

College magazine photographs

For the college magazine I had to take photographs around my Sixth Form to use on the front cover of it, here they are and if I think they're suitable for use

I won't use this medium-shot of a student looking at a map as it doesn't look appealing for a front-cover to make someone pick up the magazine

 This is a good landscape shot of the study room and would possibly be used in a contents page but as a front cover I'll opt for something a bit less vague.

 This will be the image I will use on the front cover of my college magazine as the medium shot fits right and the high angle gives a perspective of the work being revised at the college.

This is a good image of a fellow student working and could go well in a magazine article but I have already chose the above image to be used on the cover.

The high-angle image of the stairs (like the above image) would be used in an article of a college magazine rather then a cover.

College magazine analysis

What images have they used? What camera angles/shots have been used?

The image that has been used is a medium shot of two children smiling at the camera.

What is the mise-en-scene on the front cover?

The mise-en-scene on the front cover is two children in front of a green park-like background grabbing onto something with another child in the background on the extreme left with their back turned to the camera. The child at the front of the shot has a striped vest on, the child in the centre is wearing an orange shirt and the child in background has a blue polo shirt. The lighting is bright with the natural sun most likely being used.

Does the front cover engage the audience and why?

In my opinion the front cover does engage the audience as it features a headline involving children and their futures which can be a curious subject to college students who care about their younger relatives or possible children and wish to know more about their futures.

Who is the target audience? Age, gender, ethnicity, lifestyle etc

The target audience for this college magazine would obviously be college students, but also to people who are looking to possible enrol in the college and take a course there. So this would be the age of 16+, both males and females of all ethnicities. I imagine the lifestyle would be those who have college as a prominent part of their lives and wish to continue reading about it.


How does the magazine engage the target audience?

How the magazine engages the target audience is by having the big red banner for the masthead and the large bright main image of the cover. The colours are smooth and easy on the eye compared to being too extravagant with too much going on.

How do you know it is for this particular target audience?

How you know it is for this target audience is it having 'University' prominently next to the magazine name meaning the magazine is based around that and targeted to people interested in colleges and universities.

What is the ideology of the magazine?

The ideology of this magazine is for college students to learn more news and find out more about the college they attend or are planning on attending.

What does the college consider important?

What the college considers important is the future of children who could potentially attend the college and using this to get people to pick up the magazine and read, as it could be a subject which means much to them.

Using Photoshop

 I opened Photoshop and chose the paper size to be the standard A4.

I put in a picture of the hip-hop group N.W.A.

I right-clicked the layer of the picture and rasterised the image so it is available to edit.

I selected the Magic Wand tool...

...then removed the background as seen above.

I then inserted a background image which is completely different yet fits and looks like nothing has been edited.

While basic, these tools have helped me get used to Photoshop and be able create my magazine cover, contents and double page spread to a higher standard in the future.