Front Cover Analysis - NME

In terms of target audience, this magazine is aimed at middle – working class (social grades B – E), white males aged 16 - 34 who are interested in rock music. The conventions on the cover are aiming the magazine towards the target audiences needs.

I will begin my analysis with the imagery used. The imagery does not does not go against pre existing conventions, it does this by using a extreme close up on the star vehicle which is the lead singer of Florence and the machine which also connotes the genre and it represents the primary target audience and their needs. The magazine in short will represent white men aged 16 – 34 who are into rock music because the star is a rock musician it relates to the audience although the audience may include a female audience because they can relate to the female singers featured. The imagery appeals to the target audience as well because it features a female on the front cover, as Mulvey states, “women are seen as objects of sexual desire” which could show how it can appeal to male readers because the picture of Florence is very alluring in the way her face is potrayed, for example her red hair can connote lust which may be a factor and also she is posing in a desirable way which draws the readers attention to her.

The masthead follows the conventions of magazines where it’s emblazoned on the top of the magazine, its big, bold and visible which is useful for when the magazine is being sold in shops because the top may only be visible at the top, this would appeal to the target audience because they haven’t changed their logo which people will recognize and they have not changed its overall look and style keeping it the same.

The colour used is fairly neutral using black and white for the writing which makes it easily visible in places while in others it makes it harder to read which is a negative aspect of it, the model has red hair which can connote lust which is also going to appeal to the target audience because of its connotations. The colour contrast also makes the magazine stand out by using white and red which could appeal to the target audience because it is not really bright but it is also not overly dark which stays well within the common conventions of a music magazine.

The layout of the magazine is fairly common in terms of the conventions of magazines because it features one main, central image, teasers but not too many on the page, a Masthead and suitable text. The central image also takes up all of the background making it stand out, the barcode featured is stereotypical of the magazine because its in the bottom right corner of the magazine out of the way of any features of the magazine.

The Typography is more formal and filled with more information than the usual magazines, it contains a very modern writing font and looks very clean and tidy which is a common convention of a music magazine of this genre, although some music magazines look more messy, this may be because of the band that is being featured. This could appeal to the target audience because it is a common convention of this magazine.

Main Task

Now that I have finished my prelim task, I feel that my skills in photoshop are good enough to produce a good quality magazine, which could be aimed at a particular target audience and have high quality images and text that is suitable for it's readers.

Prelim Task Evaluation

By way of evaluation I feel that the preliminary task of creating a front cover and contents page for Bodmin College was relatively easy, this was because I had used Photoshop before at GCSE.  As Bentley (1997) states “The making of the new through the re-arranging of the old”, I have applied this through the use of common magazine conventions of using; a Masthead, colour scheme, tag line, imagery and suitable fonts. I found it was very simple to put the magazine together but the planning section I found difficult because I had a wide variety of ideas as to the magazine design, this was because the design had to cater for the target audience and there is a large age range meaning the stories, text and design all had to appeal to all of the different age groups. 

My magazine has used and followed the common conventions of magazines that have been applied to every major magazine published for years, it follows these conventions by using a masthead, tag line, colour scheme, issue number, suitable fonts and imagery that is suitable for the target audience. My magazine also represents particular social groups such as youth by means of using imagery that is relevant to the age range that is considered as ‘youth’ in the form of the main image on the front cover, which features a ‘youth’ relating to a rugby story which is the focus of the magazine in terms of the stories. 

My magazine appeals and attracts the target audience through the use of text/fonts where I have used I more teenage orientated font which has a more relevant appeal to my target audience and is more suitable than fonts like comic sans. It also addresses the needs/interests of my target audience by using stories which are going to be appealing to the audience by including their interests and using models of the same age meaning they can relate to the stories. It also attracts the target audience through the use of colour because the colours used are not gender biased and they are not too bright making the magazine neutral in terms of gender appeal, although the main image features a boy it may still appeal to girls in a reverse of Laura Mulvey’s theory that “women are seen as objects of sexual desire”.

From this process I have learned how to use different aspects of photoshop which I have previously not used in my GCSE course, this has improved my skills in magazine creation in terms of making a detailed masthead, with varying colours. Imagery that represents the target audience and is of a good enough quality to be on the magazine cover. And I crucially learned the correct layout for a college magazine in terms of text, colour and image ratio which means that I have to use a colour scheme which isn’t bright and sickly or too dark and doesn’t have image and text all over the place like a soap magazine.

Looking back at the prelim task I feel that I have learnt how to correctly make a magazine, take appropriate photographs for a front cover and contents page, make a magazine plan that has all of the relevant common magazine conventions. From this task I have progressed enough to make a high quality magazine cover that will appeal to a particular target audience and be suitable for a market.

Front Cover

Contents Page

Pictures I have used and didn't use

Planning and evaluation of the Bodmin college magazine

For my prelim task, I have designed a magazine front cover and also a contents page for my magazine. I have used a variety of photographs, which I have edited in Photoshop, some of the pictures I have taken were not too a high enough standard as they had reflections in the background or they were too bright. 

Some of the other photos were taken from a long distance and the background did not look suitable for the front cover image and id did not appeal to the target audience, as it was too immature.

I chose not too use this picture because of the background setting, this is quite obvious that the lights reflecting off the glass and the reflections of other people in the background can still be seen, the picture itself however was a good distance mid-shot.

In the end I decided to use the model in this picture by taking out the background in photoshop.

Flat Plans

Here are my flat plans which I have created with my target audience in mind, and from my survey monkey results.