Photoshoot Ideas- Music magazine

Different genre music magazines have different colour schemes, photo angles, layouts etc. The pop/R'n'B music magazines are more candy coloured and bright because they are suitable for most audiences, the rock/metal magazines are darker and the shoot is normally of a band, whereas in other magazines, the key image is of one band member/artist, because they are the most recognisable.

For soft pop, (the classy stuff e.g- Christina Aguilera, Cheryl Cole, Mariah Carey, Beyonce knowles) the key image is more glamorous and the colour scheme is more neautral.

Rap music, the shot is usually taken in a studio, the artist is photographed in a mid shot or head and shoulders shot and there arn't many colours used.

Most magazine front covers are taken in high-key studios.

What do you want in a magazine?

Simple questionaire, please copy paste&fill in your answers

(put an X in the box [X])

1.What is the best free-bee to recieve in a magazine?

Make-up/hair/beauty products [ ]

Candy/sweets [ ]
Posters [ ]

Music downloads [ ]

Other (please specify) [ ]

2.Favourite article?

Celeb gossip [ ]
Music realted-new atists/interviws [ ]
Fashion [ ]
True stories [ ]
How to...? articles [ ]
Sports or Film [ ]

3.What attracts you to a magazine?

Free-bees [ ]

Colours [ ]

Pictures [ ]
Interesting articles [ ]

Price [ ]

Weekly magazine, buy it anyway [ ]

4.Anything inparticular you would like to change about your magazine?

.......................................................................................................................

Thankyou you beautiful people.

Media studies- 24/09/10

Attempt 2, my laptop is so against me today, if i don't make it through this blog AND publish it, i may throw it through the window. Fingers crossed. Wouldn't want to explain that one.


So, this lesson we learnt about signs and codes, how things can trigger memories with a simple logo, picture, or word. For example, the golden arches makes us see McDonalds, we see past the image to what it stands for.
3 Basic types of sign and code;
-Iconic sign- appear exactly like the thing itself, but always represents more.
-Indexical signs- indirectly suggests what they mean, acting as cue's to existing knowledge. (e.g. Golden arches- McDonalds)
- Symbolic codes- act as signifiers of meaning totally disconnected from what they denote.

I also learnt that in advertising, different people are used to raise appeal for that certain thing, for example, make-up is often advertised by attractive woman to make the buyer think "Wow I could really look like that if I bought this product!?" when really we all know its just photoshop and a hell of alot of botox. Beauty is only skin deep in advertising and you'd be surprised how the model has an effect on the buyers view.

Semiotics- A way of explaining how we make meaning.
Signs- Smallest single unit of meaning.
Denotation- Literal meaning/thing in itself.
Connotation- Suggests another meaning.

Front cover designing

Right, I've done a few comparisons between different magazines, but what makes the front cover stand out, more importantly, how does it stand out to different people? Could you imagine a 30 year old man picking up and issue of Bliss for its free lipgloss mascara combo and tips on how to get super shiny hair?

I will investigate different magazine covers and why they are appealing to different sex's and age's, I might even find a few ideas for my own magazine.

Brand ID.

The big name across the top of a magazine (title, headline...whatever) shows alot about the magazine, showing the buyer what they are buying for one but also showing new readers some information about the magazine, for example, if the Brand ID was pink, purple and had love hearts scattered around it, you'd naturally view it as a girls magazine.

see the difference?

Cosmopolitan is a fashion magazine, there are several plugs over the cover to draw people in such as "359 sexy fashion finds" and "The real reasons men cheat". These are clearly aimed at a female buyer, whereas Kerrang magazine is a music magazine for rock/metal/punk bands fans to read up about tours, band members and even get posters of these bands. The magazine is for both genders, and doesn't have any plugs directly aimed at either sex, the colour scheme seems more "manly" because there isn't any "girls colours", which could also lead us to think there is alot of sexism in magazine making.

Colour design.

Colours seem to change on magazines throughout seasons, yellow is a bright happy colour so it could be used on magazines to represent Summer, orange however is a more Autumn-y colour so the colour of the magazine can also show season as well as sex.

Media Studies- 17/09/10

So, first lesson of media, I have done some research on magazines, we discussed the headlines, colour schemes, layout, mast line, main image, brand ID, cover lines, date, price & issue number, barcode, print size, camera shot, strap line, eye line, framing, font design, puff, plugs, point size, studio shot and mode of address.
We also spoke about different types of magazine such as Aspirer.


i've done some research on what age group magazines can be aimed at and if it's determined by genre.
Magazine 1: Animals and you
This magazine is about animals judging by the title and pictures, also a girls magazine, the colour scheme is light blue and purple and there are pictures of young girls holding animals, the logo is a paw print in the shape of a love heart. Also a free gift is issued every week and "cute" posters. The description says it's perfect for 7-11 year old girls who love animals and pets, so pretty much your average young girl. The headline is writen in a curved comic style print with a pink outline, there isn't any specific layout, pictures and words seem to be just randomly placed over the page.

Magazine 2: Mens health
Mens health is a magazine for men, or butch women, or maybe just women who like looking at half naked men...The title is always in the top center of the page in bold red letters, and the main picture is usually of a shirtless man with alot of muscles, very defined muscles and in black and white, it is also a mid-shot picture. It doesn't come with a free gift, but there is alot of advice on how to gain muscles. I don't think it has an age group but it is obviously aimed at men who work out!

Both these magazines are entirely different.