Research

Q


Q LOGO This is Q's Logo. The logo is simple and yet different which works well as it represents and relates to the bands that they feature. Q music magazine focuses greatly on alternative and indie types of bands. Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology. Every other month, Q has a special edition. These have been about musical times, genres, or a very important/influential musician. This attracts a bigger audience by creating things to look forward to and including exiting features.Q's current editor is Paul Rees, former editor of the UK edition of Kerrang! Kerrang has a different style to Q magazine but as the editor has worked on Kerrang it will broaden the audience and create a less strict genre. Q now has a Radio station and a TV channel as well as a magazine which will create more publicity and bring in more money. The magazine currently sells at £3.90 and is published monthly. The target audience varies depending on the content of the magazine but it is mostly aimed at 16 - 25's of both gender The audience is split 75% male to 25% female and is affluent (with 68% ABC1) who listen to an individual genre of music which is shown by the sophisticated logo as it does not use lots of colours which would be more appropriate for a younger audience.

Lady Gaga Cover This is one of Q's Covers. The main image covers up a lot of the key features on it which makes the main image stand out. Even though the logo and the main cover line is partially covered up we still understand what magazine it is as it is well known as well as the main feature cover line. The other cover lines are placed around the main image to make it stand out more and the fact that the image appears to be 'sandwiched' between the word Gaga makes the image seem 3D. Sex appeal is used in this cover to attract more of a male audience.

Kerrang!

Kerrang Logo This is the logo for kerrang! This logo is a lot more 'scruffy' and out of the ordinary than Q which attracts a more specific audience. Kerrang is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the sounds newspaper. Named after the onomatopoeic word that derives from the sound made when playing a power chord on an electric guitar, Kerrang! was initially devoted to the new wave of British heavy metal and the rise of hard rock acts. In the early 2000s it became the best-selling British music newspaper. Angus Young of AC/DC appeared on Kerrang!'s first cover which initiated the style and genre that the magazine would commit to to keep a sustained audience . Launched as a monthly magazine, Kerrang! began to appear on a fortnightly basis later, and in 1987 it went weekly. 

Green Day Cover The way Green Day are represented on this cover reflects the style of the target audience. The main image is again in-front of the cover title which shows that the content of the magazine is a lot more important than the magazine title itself as regular buyers will buy the magazine regardless of the content but in order to attract more buyers the magazine will have to try to draw them in with images that stand out.


Vibe


Vibe Logo This is the logo for the magazine Vibe. Vibe is magazine for the Hip-Hop genre. The magazine owed its success to featuring a broader range of interests than its closest competitors The source and XXL which focus more narrowly on rap music, or the rock & pop-centric Rolling Stone and Spin. As of 2007, Vibe had a circulation of approximately 800,000. Advertisers ran the gamut from record labels to fashion houses to various cognac brands.
Eminem Cover In this cover there is one image which is a mid-shot of a feature in the magazine. The cover is very neat and organised with a very basic background and not a very wide variety of colour unlike other magazines like Kerrang. This helps define the different types of audience and shows that a different template is used for different types of genre.




Cover analysis'

Final Cover

First Cover Attempt

Initially my sub image had no border around it which i felt looked too tacky so i included a order to make it blend in a lot easier. I also created a shape to go behind my main cover line to make it stand out a lot more better and it also exaggerates the colours making it more eye catching. Lastly I changed the order of the cover lines so the feature of the main image was easily visible.

Final Cover Attempt

This is my Final attempt at my cover. I have chosen to include a pug as it highlights a good reason to pick up the magazine and is eye catching due to the bright color. I have used less bold font for the date as it is a lot less important than the other cover lines and Masthead. I have decided to place the Masthead at the top centre/left side of the page. I chose to put it there because it does not get in the way of the main image and it will be the first thing people will see when they look at the magazine so it was important that i made it look attractive, eye catching and interesting which is why i included a tagline under my masthead. My tagline is "your college, your news" this engages with the audience and makes them feel more personal with the magazine concluding in them feeling more liable to read it. I have a sub image which gives the audience a quick insight as to what is featured inside the magazine. The colours i have used make the text stand out and is not biased to a more female nor male audience.

Photography, Masthead and Cover lines

                                                                  Photography for cover

This is the main image for my magazine. I have chosen this because it is college related and fits the specification of a midshot including one person. The person it includes resembles the main target audience for his magazine making it more attractive to passer byes. The image also relates to the main feature of my magazine.

Coverlines
The cover lines i have cosen to use are "10% off your  NUS card" this will attract readers as they will want to save money and as the magazine is free they will have no reason not to read the magazine. Another cover line i have chosen to use is "Courtyard in November, whats on the menu?" I chose this because it will give insight on what themed dish's the cafe would be serving for example children in need themed biscuits, this could potentially create more money for the college by encouraging people to buy from the college cafe rather than shops outside of college. My main cover line is "Are you happy with your subjects?" This is an appropriate cover line because November would be the time that any First years would have gotten used to their course and developed a certain like or dislike to it.

Masthead

This is my Masthead. i chose this font as it is a classic example of college font featured frequently in movies or on college hoodies. I have kept the color basic to keep the potential audience as wide as possible by not being biased as black is a neutral color. I created a tagline to create a relation between the reader and the magazine.

Proposal

I am aiming my magazine at 16 to 20 year olds of either gender who attend Southdowns College. I will achieve this by using unisex font, colour and features. I will use appropriate language and images to appeal to my target audience by making the features relative to college life and activities happening close to college. I will make the language relatively easy to read and use informal style to relate to the audience.

My magazine will mostly be about college life and things that will help with getting to college, finding places and doing better in your classes by providing tips and activities that could help to improve performance. I will use cover lines like "Fastest way to get to college" or "Chess champ, Meg's touching struggle".

I have decided on the title "SDC Today" as it is relevant to college and fits well on the cover. I rejected some titles such as "Southdowns college news" as it was too original and long and would not look good on my cover. For my tagline I would have "Your college, your knowledge" as it is referring to the fact that you deserve to know whats going on in your own college also it is catchy because it rhymes.

The magazine would be published monthly with occasional seasonal specials in months like october or december advertising halloween or christmas events. An example of a cover image for my magazine would be a medium close up of a student using one of the college facilities.