Research: Colour

COLOUR

 

 

When designing a magazine you have to make sure that you stick to a colour scheme. Picking the colour scheme is important because you have to make sure that the colours do not clash. Any colours that are opposite on the colour wheel should not be used with each other, whereas colours that are next to each other work well together. No more than 5 colours should be used on a magazine as the human brain finds it hard to focus and the magazine becomes confusing. 

Research: Typography

Serif and sans-serif are the different types of fonts used for a magazine masthead. Serif uses flicks at the ends of the letters whereas sans-serif does not. Sans-serif is used more often for the mastheads as serif is harder to read from a longer distance.

This image shows kerning. This is the spacing between each letter in a word. Equal spacing makes the word easier to read and makes it look a lot neater.

 

Total Film Magazine Annotations: Double Page Spread

I like the font for the main title on this double page spread as it fits with the retro 70's theme of the film they are talking about. The red and white colors contrast well with the yellow background and are easy to read. The large letter at the start of the article is the same font as the main title which looks effective and would be a good idea for my own double page spread. The image on the right side and the text on the left means that when the reader is flicking through the magazine the first thing they see may not be the picture but the brightly colored background helps to make this page stand out. The writing is set out in a easily readable format making it look readable. However, this double page spread does not use a pull out quote from the article which is something that i think looks effective and will be using for my own double page spread.

Total Film Magazine Annotations: Contents Page

This contents page is different to the others that I have researched as it spreads across two pages. The pictures that they have used on the contents pages are very large meaning they have had to spread it across two pages. As this is a film magazine the large images are good as it shows the readers certain moments of the film, however I do not think that my contents page will need this many large images. They have sectioned the text into columns which I think is a good idea as its neatly lays out the text making what you need to find easy to access. The images have the page numbers that they will be seen on but do not have anchored text so the readers do not know what the image is relating to.

Total Film Magazine Annotations: Front Cover

The image on the front cover for this magazine is good as the woman has full eye contact with the camera, attracting the audiences attention straight away. This magazine cover is different to the music magazine as the cover lines are half images and half pictures. This is good as if you are not interested in the main image you may be interested in something that is on the smaller images. These are on the left side of that page because in a shop the magazines are laid out so that the left side is showing and people are more interested in images rather than text. I do not like the mixture of red and white writing on the bottom right cover line as I think it makes the writing hard to read because of too many different colours in one section.

KERRANG Music Magazine Annotations: Double Page Spread

The image on this magazine is good as the artist is looking straight into the camera. When the reader is looking through the magazine this picture is going to stand out. He is also swearing in the image which fits with the rocky style of his music. However, the image is in the centre of the page so if I was to pick this up in the shop and was to flick through this i would more than likely miss the image making me less attracted to the page. When i make my double page spread I want to make sure that my images are along the outer parts of the page. 

KERRANG Music Magazine Annotations: Contents Page

This contents page has a lot of images with anchored text which I like as it helps to navigate people around the magazine easier. The circle that contains the masthead 'contents' has a worn out effect to it which fits with the genre and makes it looks a little rocky. The yellow writing against the black shape for the section titles work well as the colours make it easy to read. When I make my magazine I will use the idea of writing an editors letter on the contents page because I like the idea that they have written to the readers about their magazine.

KERRANG Music Magazine Annotations: Front cover

 

This front cover has a mid shot of five famous artists and they are all directly looking into the camera. This really grabs the attention of the readers and buyers as they may not be interested in all of the artists but they are more than likely to like at least one of them making this magazine targeted for a wider range of audiences. I do not like this idea as it makes the page look overcrowded and messy. It also does not easily let the audinence know what the main feature of the magazine will be. The masthead is covered by the images making it hard to read, but regular Kerrang buyers would know already know that it was called Kerrang, but this would make it harder for irregular buyers to recognise the name. I do not like the postitioning of the barcode which is on the middle of the right side of the magazine, I think that it looks better on the bottom of the page. The word 'ROCK' has a worn out effect which fits with the edgy genre which I like.

NME Music Magazine Annotations: Double Page Spread

The pictures on this double page spread are placed in the middle of the two pages. I do not think that this is good as when flicking through the magazine you are not going to be attracted by the images which people are more tend to focus on. Although, using a bright yellow background makes this page stand out anyway as it is very different to the rest. When you open the page to read the article the yellow makes the writing harder to read as it is a very small font anyway so using a yellow background does not make it easier. The large pull qoute is good as it is in big bold writing, standing out on the page. It is also quite a strange quote so would attract the readers making them curious about what it means. There is not much of an article as there is only two small paragraphs of writing so when I do my double page spread I will do a bigger article.

NME Music Magazine Annotations: Contents

 

The contents page sticks to the colour scheme of the front cover which is good as it looks neat and matches. The headings for the features and regulars column are against a different colour background which makes them stand out making it easy to find these sections. The black background and white writing is used for the main column 'features' and also for the smaller headings for what is on each page. The fact that these are the same colours makes it hard to figure out what is what at first a look. At the top of a contents page it normally has a headline saying 'contents'. This contents page has the headline 'inside' which is differnt to normal contents but may be hard to recognise that it is the contents without concentrating. When I create my contents page I will be using the headline 'contents' rather than inside as I think that it makes it much more clear to the readers what the page it. I like the idea of making the headings to each column against a different colour background as it stands out. When I create my contents I will use more than one picture on the contents page as this one uses only one. 

                                                                                                                                                                                          

NME Music Magazine Annotations: Front Cover

 

This front cover has a mid shot of the members of Kasabian who are looking directly into the camera. This is good as it attracts the attention of the audience straight away making them more likely to buy the magazine if they are interested in this genre. The regular colour scheme of NME is white and red so using a large, bold, red font for the name of the band 'Kasabian' keeps within the colour scheme making the magazine look neat and professional. They also use white for the cover lines as it is the other main colour of NME and use is against a black background as these two colours contrast well together also making the cover look neat and easy to read. When I create my magazine I will take the idea of using three main colours on my front cover as I think that it makes it easy to read and does not become to messy.

Research: Double Page Spread

BASIC CONVENTIONS OF A DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

 

• The person used for the main image on the double page spread makes direct eye contact with the camera. This creates direct address and entices the reader to buy the magazine.
• A pull quote is used withing the text or along the image. This is normally the most interesting line from the article written to grip the audiences attention.
• The article is written in columns, but with pull quotes or sub headings breaking the text up so that it does not look like too much writing.
• There is normally one main images that takes up one whole page and sometimes crosses over to the other page.
• The first letter of the article is written in a large and bold font to show you where to start reading.
• The journalists name is written somewhere on the article.
• The most important things that are shown will be put to the left and right top corners, so that when the reader flicks through the magazine these are the parts they see and it encourages them to buy it.

 

 

Research: Contents Page

BASIC CONVENTIONS OF A CONTENTS PAGE

 

• The contents will have one main image, usually relating to the feature article.
• There will be other small images on the page, between 3 and 4.
• The images have to take up 50% of the page.
• The colour scheme for the contents page has to be the same as the front cover.
• The small images should have anchored text, usually a quote or description, with a page number directing you to the page this image relates to.
• The writing is split up up to three columns, each with a clear headline i.e Features, Regulars.
• The word 'contents' should be used at the top of the page as a masthead.
• Some contents pages have the magazine title on the contents page as well, if not just the logo.
• The issue number and date is placed at the top of the page.
• Some contents pages have a letter from the editor, subscription information and social networking websites.

 

 

 

 



Research: Front Cover

BASIC CONVENTIONS OF A FRONT COVER

 

• A front cover should have a one main image, a mid shot of somebody. They should look straight down the camera to gain eye contact and attract the buyers.
• A front cover needs a headline that stands out. It needs to be bigger and bolder than the rest of the cover lines.
• The cover has to have a main focus such as a celebrity, this would be the main feature of the magazine.
• Your magazine needs to have attitude.
• There should be three main sections to your front cover. The main section with a large image and the main cover line. Second section with the main cover lines and the third with a few smaller cover lines.
• Make sure there is contrast between your colours, if they clash you will not be able to see the writing.
• The positioning of the masthead is not important. It can be at the very top of the page or a cover line can be written above the masthead.
• Magazines are stacked in the shops so that the left third of the magazine is visible. The most attention grabbing cover lines and pictures should be on this part of the magazine so that you attract your audience.
• Photography sells more and looks better on a front cover rather than illustrations.
• The background of the image you take should be a solid colour. Patterns will make the cover hard to design when it comes to adding text.