Foundation Portfolio in Media The Research & Planning

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Front coversIn this music magazine the main thing that pops out at me is the title. This is because it’s written in capital letters and is bright white. The colour white is seen as quite a piercing and powerful colour and always stands out, making something easily visible. This is effective as compared to other music magazines it’ll stand out. Furthermore, as the text is bold it is also very evident that this is the masthead. The second most noticeable thing I see on this magazine is the main story. As you can see the story is singled out on it’s own on the corner of the magazine. This is to show that it’s the main story that is featured in this magazine. Therefore, if the readers are very interested in Rihanna or Chris Brown and their love life, then this would attract their fans. This can technically be a bad things it may only entice these particular people and not others, meaning that their would be not a lot of publicity for this magazine. Additionally, we can see that the magazine would mainly feature Rhianna as she is the main and only image seen on this magazine, proving that she is the key story and headliner of this publication. This magazine is mainly aimed at the ‘R&B’ genre as the artists who are featured in this magazine perform in this genre. This isn’t just seen through the main image of Rhianna but through the jewellery she is wearing, the stern look she’s giving and the colours used. The teal colour used as a background is seen as a tranquil and calming which definitely matches the genre of R&B as it’s seen as soulful pop music. On the topic of colours, the main colour scheme is black, white and teal. Black and white are both quite contrasting colours as they’re practically opposites. White gives a sense of innocence, purity and safety whereas black completely goes against white as it’s seen more of a mysterious colour and is associated with fear. These fit quite nicely with the theme of the magazine as R&B songs can vary from being mysterious and powerful to being sweet and pure, which pleasantly shows the variation in the R&B genre. The use of the colour white also links back to the title showing that ‘Vibe’ magazine is successful and inspirational. However, I will not be furthering my research with this genre as it would not apply to my target audience

The most prominent thing on this magazine is the masthead. Similar to the previous magazine white is a bold and protruding colour and signifies successes and cleanliness. This is a good idea for company as it secretly shows to the audience that they’re successful and they will continue to succeed in being a top music magazine brand and also showing their power. The main image of this magazine is Florence, from the band ‘Florence and the Machine’. As she is a well known artist who formed the group in 2007 she is very popular with some teenagers and people who would be in their younger 20’s. As she is part of the Indie Rock/indie pop music genre it’s seen as quite fitting for her to be represented in this magazine as the focus point. Another thing that’s prominent about this image is the colour of her hair. The colour red is seen as the type of colour to stimulate quick decisions, boldness and energy. Although it brings the magazine to life through sight but it also does this mentally. When we see red we either see danger, but as this is more of a subtle and calm red we portray the sense of passion. Therefore, from this image we can infer that Florence is representing her passion for music and song writing through a deeper meaning that just speech. Following this the cover story is showing in bold, black , capital letters. When we see something in bold we think of urgency or something being important that we must read, similar to a warning sign. However in this context Florence's’ name is in bold showing that she is important in this magazine and that it’s a must see, urgent cover story. As the colour used is black it contrasts very well with the red and white featured on this magazine front cover, making it more visible and noticeable. Furthermore, black is seen as a colour of mystery and the unknown, which means that NME are trying to signify to us that we don’t know much about what the cover story will be about unless we actually read the magazine. Additionally, the cover story is helped out by the quote as it gives us as the reader a little teaser of what they will be interviewing Florence about. The sell line of this magazine is “2 of 10 special edition covers”. Firstly, as it’s been typed in bold it shows that what is being said/written is important. Secondly, as it says that it’s a special edition it shows that there ill be content that isn’t in there normally as it’s not part of the norm NME magazines.

‘V’ magazine features Sam Smith on the front cover as their main image ,who is a soul, R&B and pop artist. As Sam Smith is classified as multiple genres it means that he appeals to a wider fan base due to his range of musical talent. Therefore this means that if these wider fan base sees him on the front cover of a magazine they’ll buy it and the magazine will grown in popularity. As we can see on his face just under his eye is the word ‘True’ typed on a piece of paper. When you look at this image the word true looks like a tear and when we cry we’re either happy or sad. However as the word true is taking form as a tear we can see the Sam is crying tears of truth. This could signify his music and how he writes his stuff based on true and real things that have happened in his life (for instance, he wrote a song about a bad break up). Furthermore, we could also infer that during his time of becoming a professional singer he has had to overcome a lot of hate and criticism from the public and music critics. Therefore the tear of truth could be symbolising how he has cried many tears over what has believed to be the truth by various media and public posts. Following this, ‘the masthead is seen to be in front of the main image but faded. This represents a sneak peak into the magazine and it’s main feature of Sam Smith. This is similar to when we look through a window and we see what’s inside the building, except with this we are looking through the masthead and seeing the main image which is the key feature story in the magazine. The front cover’s colour scheme is more bland compared to the other magazines that have been analysed. However, they have the main image as the focal point of the magazine by having Sam Smith in colour, the background in a dull grey and the fonts in white. By having the main image as the

As you can see on this magazine front cover the masthead is placed behind the main image but is the second biggest thing to be shown on the cover. This shows that although the company want people to know what they’re reading they’d rather the audience know who they’re reading about as it will most likely bring them more publicity if people see a singer (etc.) rather than just the logo. Additionally, the masthead is still very prominent on the front cover due to the font and the colours used. Throughout the front cover various fonts are used which may look confusing at first, but when you look closely they’re split up into different sections, one font for the masthead, another font for the main storyline and another font for the secondary storyline. By sectioning these off it makes it easier to read as you won’t get muddled up with storylines etc. Following this the colour scheme throughout is red, white and black. Red is the mot prominent colour seen and is widely used to promote something and bring people’s attention towards this object. It creates snap decisions to be made meaning that they’re using the colour red to grab the readers attention towards their magazine just by using one colour. Furthermore the colours black and white signify power and purity showing the different traits of different singers. For example Adele's’ name is written in white showing that he music has is pure but strong at the same time when it comes to the meaning of them being composed whereas, Keith Richards’ name is written in black showing that his type of music is very powerful and strong as well but in the way it’s performed rather than how it is sung. On the subject of colours, the strapline is shown in a gold circle which is very similar to the shape of a medal. The strapline here is celebrating the ‘300th issue’ of ‘Q’ magazine meaning that the colour gold is very suitable for such an occasion. This is because gold is seen to be a colour of achievement and success ,for example when you receive a gold medal it shows that you’ve won something and succeeded in the event/thing you were competing in. They’ve used this colour in order to show how successful they’ve been and how they’ve achieved their 300th issue of this magazine over a period of time. The main image of Adele is shown to be a quite a fair and gentle image of her. From this we can infer that her music is very elegant and has a lot of meaning towards it just through one image. Furthermore, by making her hair look like it’s being blown in the wind it signifies how her music is the type to blow you away due to the meanings behind them and shows that if you were new to her music it would be nothing you've ever heard before.

CONTENTS PAGESIn this contents page the main image is of ‘The Courteeners’. I

know this because it’s the most prominent image shown on the page and it’s separated from all of the other stories showing that it’s the most important. This is a good thing due to the fact that it makes everyone look there first and read the strapline about the story, which in this case is ‘“He’s just showing off” Liam Fray’s mum hit’s the nail on the head’. Liam Fray is a member of the band, meaning that by having such a personal comment made from a group members mum it may make the readers (especially fans) want to read the magazine, persuading them to buy it in order to read the full story. It’s a very clever thing to have such a dramatic strapline when promoting a story as it entices the reader and makes them want to know what happens next, which in this case the readers would want to know what else Liam Frays’ mum has said about him and the band. Furthermore, some of the page numbers are seen to be in red. As we already know red is the colour of passion, love, danger (etc.) and is a very good colour for selling and promoting things. Therefore, red is a very worthy colour for page numbers due to the fact that you need to promote the page number in order to sell the storyline. Additionally, there is a section of the page numbers which are written in gold which symbolises achievement and success. As Oasis is the band that is featured in this section it shows that the company want to sow how they’re celebrating Oasis’ achievements throughout their music career and instead of just congratulating the band they've rewarded us as the reader for all our support through various different interviews (etc.). Also by placing a box around the section about Oasis it shows that it’s a very important part of the magazine as well as The Courteeners. This is because it looks different to the rest of the page due to the fact that it’s sectioned off form the rest of the stories. Down at the bottom of the page is an image of Nick Cave who is a famous Australian singer, composer, musician and occasionally an actor. By featuring a person who has many roles and talents in his life it will appeal to more than just musical fans of him but to all the other sectors as well. This means more publicity, which means more popularity and therefore they'll become more successful. By having a section at the very bottom about what they have in their magazine every month it shows that these are the things that are very popular to their audience. These are the types of things that you’ll generally see in a magazine as sometimes people don’t want to just read about certain things but to also complete challenges and see the little funny things that are happening in the music business.

This magazines contents page has a very prominent title. The NME title is highlighted with a contrast of red and white making it stand out form the page as it’s the thing that has the most colour apart from the main image of the Arctic Monkeys. By using a bold text for the title it reminds the readers of what page they’re reading and let’s tem know that this is where they’ll fins the information for what the different stories are. The strapline of the main image has used rhetorical questions in order to question the reader about either their knowledge of the band or what they’d like to know about the band. For instance with the Arctic Monkeys they’ve questioned what they’re new music is like and how we should feel about it. By doing this we automatically create emotions and scenarios in our heads in order to create and image of what we think it will sound like. This means that the reader will want to buy the magazine in order to find out what their new music will sound like. At the bottom of the page is a black box which has a giveaway/offer in. Black shows power meaning that anything in the box is of importance and needs attention. Therefore people will see the box, read what’s inside and then understand that it’s an offer to save money. Readers love to save money meaning that it’s a great offer and instead of applying it to specific readers (for example if it was a ticket to a concert) it goes out to all of them. Also, the main words in this text are highlighted in yellow instead of white. The colour yellow is seen as a cheerful and optimistic colour therefore showing that the offer is very beneficial to many people. Furthermore, down the right hand side of the page is the list of articles and stories which are featured in this magazine. This is there so that the readers don’t have to look through all the pages to find an article, instead they can look down this list and find the specific story that they want to read. Also, if you’re in a shop and want to have a quick look at what will be featured in the magazine it’s much easier and quicker to look down a list before you buy it instead so searching through all the pages in the magazine. Linking back to the list on the right hand side it’s divided into five sections which are all written in capital, bold and dominant colours. This is so that if someone wanted to read a specific section or they were only interested in that section then they could easily find it and look at the stories which are highlighted in it. It also makes the page look more presentable and neat as if the stories were all muddled up then it would make it harder for the reader to find specific things and also would not look good enough for such a top

quality and popular magazine.

As you can see the main image is the featured thing on this contents page. Due to the fact that this artist aims her music at the younger generation, the position in which she is laying in and the colours used suit the target audience. In a way she has aligned her body exactly in the right way that the contents page has been laid out in, therefore instead of having a computerised border they’ve used the model as a border making it more modern and sophisticated. Additionally, her legs are shaped to look like a ‘V’ which is the same as the logo for this magazine showing that she is modelling for this company. By having the title laid out like that and not in a straight line it shows that this magazine isn’t like any other music magazine that you may see and that it is very unique. Also as it’s written in big bold letters and is shown in quite a large setting it shows that this is a very important page of the magazine. However, the symbol at the bottom right hand corner next to the title shows that there are three contents pages instead of just one. This would be due to the first page being overridden with a picture of the featured singer/band. This can be seen as annoying to the reader sometimes but they can also see it as the magazine having a lot of various stories which are different form one another, meaning that each page could be a group of stories which have certain features. Another thing about the list of articles featured is that on the first page it has stories that aren’t just about music. There is a section at the bottom for fashion and what different artists are either wearing now and their new trends or what they wore to certain events (e.g. red carpet events). This means that the readers won’t just be interested in the music side but also the fashion side meaning that the company will get more publicity and a wider range of readers who’re interested in various things not just the specifics. The colours used in this contents page are very plain and monochromatic. The colour silver represents mystery and sensitivity. By using these types of colours it shows the type of vibe that the magazine is going for. Furthermore as the colours are quite plain it gives off a certain calming vibe instead of a vulgar and dominant one, which will actually contrast to the information we’ll receive from the magazine and the article.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREADS The background colour of pink shows a sign of care and

nurture towards the artist. Nicki Minaj, who wants to be painted as the caring person that she is. However, she contradicts this with the clothes that she is wearing, the makeup, and the accessories that she has with her. For example the ‘LOON’ ring completely contradicts the vibe that the pink is giving off due to them being complete opposites. Also as Nickis’ wearing a prominent outfit of black and white zebra print it shows how she has very dominant personality and doesn’t care what other people think of her. It also shows that she likes to stand out form the crowd along with her music, and doesn’t like to follow the people but likes to be a leader instead. Furthermore, the word ‘gospel’ in the title is very contradicting to the genre of music in which Nicki Minaj sings in. This is due to the fact that Nicki is more of a Rap and R and B singer which has a completely different meaning to Gospel songs which are very elegant and not vulgar in any way. The word ‘gospel’ means truth which means that Nicki is saying the truth according to her genre of music. Another thing about the masthead is the typography of ‘the gospel according to’. It’s written in a more elegant and gentle way which supports the fact of gospel meaning the truth. The masthead then goes on to a completely different and opposite type of font with bold and large writing of Nicki's’ name. This shows how she is a bold character and how her truth is that her music is unique and different to others, which is quite like herself. The theme of this double page spread is quite fun and upbeat instead of plain and boring which shows that she targets her music towards more of the younger end of the age spectrum. This is shown through the colours used and the younger generation prefer to see right colours as it attracts their attention more than a monochromatic theme would. Furthermore, the layout of the interview is set up as questions and answers with a little bit of an introduction to Nicki at the beginning. This type of set up allows us to create a scenario in our heads and allows us to believe that we’re actually there

If we start with the masthead of the double page spread due to the fact that it’s a very unique way of laying it out. When we see people write/create messages like this it’s normally anonymously and used to get the receivers attention quickly.. This way of laying out the message is very suitable for this story as the this typography can be seen as attention seeking due to how unique it is. Furthermore, it does it’s job correctly because as soon as you open this age you’ll see this title and it'll draw your attention straight away, making you read the quote and as it’s a personal quote it’ll make you want to know what else the artist has said, encouraging you to read on. Also, as the title is laid out in such a wacky way it can show the different traits of the artist through writing instead of just images. As the theme of the spread is black and white it draws more attention to the artist’s image, due to the fact that she is wearing a bright red tartan shirt. This means that we straight away see that she is proving herself to be attention seeking which is very ironic as she claims she’s not. Therefore, we get the feeling of sarcasm not just in what she’s wearing but also in the way she is positioned, of her trying to prove a point and standing up for herself. Also, you can see that some things are also coloured in red to show that they’re important. In this double page spread I don’t feel like they’ve used their space very wisely as they’ve only filled one page with information and it’s in very small writing which can be hard to read. They’ve let the image and the title take over the spread meaning that the information is drowned by the image and typography.