Magazine Name Research

I need to think of a magazine name! I want it to be eye-catching and have something to do with music, I've thought of a few but they're not very original. I'm going to put them in a list and then decide which one I like the best, then I can do font research.

Magazine Names:

• Anthem                                                  
• Vibe
• Kickin'
• ICON
• Unity
• Fusion
• Crunch
• Pulse
• Crank
• Beat Box
• Rhythm
• Rising Stars
• Melody
• Dixie
• Fantasia

I've been looking at changing the language of the name to make it sound more interesting, like 'Melody' in Italian is 'Melodia'.

I prefer 'Anthem' and 'Vibe' because they are simple yet represent something from the Music Industry. I will now go on and research fonts for my magazine cover.

Image Research

After researching music magazine covers, I will now look at images which convey the same style, attitude and colours as the magazine cover I would like to produce. I have been focusing on young women music artists such as Lily Allen and Kesha as I would like my model to represent this type of rugged, care free attitude but not 'off the rails.' I will try to find blonde models in the images I research as it would make it easier to then take my first set of photos and design my front cover as I would know what colours go well together with the models skin tone and colour hair.

I have chosen Kesha for my first set of images to research as she has the rugged style and an unconventional attitude in the music industry. I think this will be interesting to portray in a magazine with my model, and it would not be predictable and boring such as other artists. My only problem is that Kesha does wear heavy make up and extremely rough looking and greasy hair, however I would like to see the outcome of this from my model and it would be fun to photograph.

I will now look at Ellie Goulding as she also has blonde hair and is a young music artist. Ellie Goulding has a different look to Kesha and I would like to compare them both, in order to decide which artist I would evidently base my own photography on, and which would be more useful for my model to portray.

After looking at these two opposing artists, I have come to the conclusion that I would prefer to base my photographs around Kesha's style and attitude. As I do like the images of Ellie Goulding however, my model would look very plain and boring with simple make up and clothing. I also feel that by using Kesha's style as a base I have a wider range of colours and fonts to choose from. I will now proceed in photographing my model and looking at fonts for the music magazine cover.

Image Research: Moodboard

This is a mood board conveying the types of female artists I would like to base my own models on. I have chosen the following models as they are young, up to date and have a positive career in the music industry.

Music Magazine Research

I have finished making my preliminary task of a School Magazine and contents page and it is now time to begin my actual coursework! I have to produce a music magazine cover, contents page and a double page spread while showing how I have completed each section. I'm looking forward to this! 


I have been researching music magazine covers for the task set. I have chosen a model to use for my magazine cover and I have been vaguely looking at pop, indie and modern pop artists, as my model is a seventeen year old girl with platinum blonde hair. I would like the shot to be eye-catching and bold. I have been researching reasonably young women who are mainstream artists.

Here are the first few magazine covers I found:

Gwen Stefani is presented here in black and white with a chalky background. I really like this cover the only thing is, I'm not sure about the colour scheme.. I would like my model to be facing the camera as I feel this image  would look better on a contents page or along with other images on a double page spread. However, the shape of the models face and styling are really interesting, I'd like to incorporate a strong style into my own work.

Florence (Florence and The Machine) is presented here boldly and this image is so striking I love it! The brightness of her hair contrasts with the paleness of  her skin, I think the image works so well for a music magazine cover. She has a certain attitude to her look and I like this. I would love to incorporate this type of attitude and look for my own magazine cover, especially with the contrasts of colours in this image.

'Ke$ha' is shown here with a mysterious, slightly vacant look in her eye. The colours of this magazine cover work well together, there is a constant yellow outline combined with small yellow text which contributes with her blonde hair. I like this magazine cover as this is the closest look alike to my model which I can find! She has blonde hair and blue eyes, much like my model so the colour themes are quite useful for my situation. I will take this into consideration, and research some more music magazine covers with artists such as Ke$ha or others which have blonde hair and a simple look, such as Ellie Goulding.

This cover of Amy Winehouse is very simple, yet really eye-catching. The back ground is just stone grey which helps to focus on the model, the contrast between her hair colour and pale skin is so evident it makes the cover look so impacting. I would like to incorporate the simpleness of this design into my own magazine cover, I do not want mine to be very busy and full of cover, I would like it to have a set colour theme just like this does.

Preliminary Task - Evaluation Questions

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My school magazine is for a nursery, so I my idea was to make the fonts clear and easy to understand with bright colours which drew in attention to the reader and made it stand out. I gave my magazine an overall theme of a fun, happy environment to work in, as this is how nursery schools are presented in society. I was sure to match all of the colours on my magazine cover to my own photography, for example my title 'KIDS UK' was in pink, the same colour and the child models bow. Researching school magazines proved more difficult than first expected, so I went with my initiative and drew ideas from my own creativity and knowledge of schools in general. 

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

By using a child model, it would be easy for the reader to identify that this is the age range for this nursery school. I wanted the front cover to be energetic and exciting, as for most people primary and nursery school was said to be the 'easiest' part of schooling. The high majority of young children in nurseries are energetic and playful, and I feel that by having an extremely happy child on my front cover helps to convey this message to the public.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

It is likely that St Mary's C of E Primary school would distribute this magazine, as the model I have used is a member of this nursery and the main idea I have of nursery schools are that of my own and my models opinion on them. I feel the target audience that would read my magazine would mostly be parents as it would contain application forms for new nursery students and show dates of important events; as parents are interested in their child's school life.

4. Who would be the audience of your media product?

The audience for my school magazine would be the parents and children who attend the nursery school. As it contains all the information about starting a new school, in an aspect it acts as a newsletter as well as a magazine. 

5. How did it attract/address your audience?

My magazine contains all the information needed for starting a nursery school and the information for parents whose children already attend the school. It has news bulletins on the front cover to convey the information inside, and the contents page contains bright colours, photographs of a happy child in a nursery school and this would hopefully have helped to attract people into wanting to read the inside of the magazine.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The main thing I have learnt how to do is use Adobe Photo shop for editing my photographs. I have conveyed this progress in my blogging, and explained the steps in which I have gone through to complete my photographs. I have learnt how to 'clone' and 'erase' unwanted shadows and lights in my images, to make them clearer. I have also learnt how to use Adobe In Design to create my final pieces. I learnt how to place images into the document and layer the images and text in an eye catching way to grab the attention of the reader. I learnt the basics of font and colour use, I hope to go on and familiarise myself with both of these programs to ensure that my final task is properly completed to the best of my ability.

School Contents Page

In this post I will be presenting the stages of making my contents page for my preliminary task magazine, I will explain each change and why I chose to do it.


First Attempt:

I chose a plain blue background for the contents because it needs to be clear and show what the magazine will contain. I have added an image of the same model to the page, to show continuity in the magazine. The images are different yet easily recognisable to be the same model. I am not entirely sure on the position of the image, however I can always change it if I am unhappy with it once other elements of the page are added.

Final developments:

I have changed the background colour to a pale purple and the Contents title font to pink to match the front cover of the magazine. I have placed an image of the front cover on the contents page to show continuity and also three images of the model from a photoshoot. I am pleased with this contents page as it contains clear writing and the images present the idea of a fun environment, which I was aiming for.