Product Analysis: NME Magazine

                                                                     Cover:

One of the most striking elements of this front cover is the colour – there is a very strong contrast between the black background, white text and multicoloured image, which immediately catches the reader’s eye and would draw them to this magazine over any other. The colours used are primary, but slightly faded, giving a slightly aged, vintage feel which links perfectly to the contents of the article about classic artist David Bowie. The image itself is positioned centrally so the eye is drawn to it, and is intriguing in that the face pictured is not looking into the camera, but is positioned on an angle and looking upwards at something the reader cannot see. This creates a sense of mystery which compliment’s Bowie’s eccentric style and would encourage people to read the contents of the article. 

Aside from the bright white colour, the text is also clever in its font – both an elegant, fancy script and a bold capital font are used which contrast and compliment each other while adding variety to the cover so it is not dull to look at. The masthead is written in this plain, bold type which makes it stand out, while words such as “Ultimate Hero” are written in a more complex font which emphasises the boldness of the statement and the prestige they are implying the artist has. The use of this phrase, followed by a list of people whom he has influenced backs up the statement and accentuates his position as a true musical legend. On the other side of the page, which is almost exactly divided into three, another column of text gives details of the other content in the magazine, and includes quotes to evoke curiosity and encourage people to buy it. The use of the “+” sign and opposed to the word plus is also a demonstration of the magazine’s ethos of innovation and being unique.

                                                                    

Contents Page:

The vintage theme evident on the cover is also present on the contents page of NME, with the font used for the title being relatively old fashioned and in black. This stands out at the top of the page and is positioned centrally to draw the eye to it. The page is image-dominated and the layout is quite scattered, giving it a busy feel which gives the impression that the magazine is packed with good content which will make the reader feel as though it is worth their money. It also appears quite chaotic, as if to suggest that music should not be neatly organised and is more about passion – in addition to this,  it is quite angular with the sections separated by straight lines at right angles, suggesting an edgy attitude and that the magazine is daring and unique. Again, a variety of fonts are used, which makes the page appear varied and interesting to look at as well as packed with information. The heading for each article summary is a quote from the artist themselves, and this will draw a reader in – for example “Just me and an acoustic guitar… that scares me” is a statement that could mean many things and people are more likely to turn and read the article to discover more. As in many magazines, the page number for each feature is attached to its associated image for easy navigation throughout the magazine.

                                                                     

                                                                                     Double Page Spread:

Similarly to the cover, the double page feature on Bowie uses an incredibly bold statement for its headline, to accentuate the grandeur of the artist in question. Using such a bold font in striking red block capitals also contributes to this, along with a confident stand-first opening with “He’s the most influential artist of all time”. The use of the lightening bolt in the same colour has a tongue-in-cheek feel as it is universally associated with Bowie and will appeal to true music fans. This carries through to the language and style of the article itself: it makes references to events in modern music (for example Lady GaGa’s infamous meat dress) which only music fans would understand, and the tone of the text of a whole is sarcastic and at times slightly cynical in the way it makes its point. The text itself is arranged in two blunt columns which are easy to read and give the spread a professional appearance. The headline slightly overlaps onto both pages, and acts as the link between the two which have very different content. The left hand page is taken up entirely by a close-up shot of the artist’s face, as he looks dead into the camera with an almost emotionless expression. This gives the piece a very intimate feel and gives the idea that we will get a true depiction of David Bowie behind all of the smoke and mirrors, and the huge, almost sinister picture also serves to highlight his power as a musician and the influence he has.

Diary Entry - Week Two: 7th – 11th February 2011

Following the preliminary task deadline on the Monday of this week, one lesson was focussed on evaluating this. For this we considered how exactly our magazine followed the codes and conventions of existing products, as well as the ways in which technology had been used in the construction process, for example using Photoshop and the digital cameras. During the following three lessons, the focus was on researching existing music magazines to ensure that our final product is as realistic as possible. We looked at the codes and conventions of existing covers, contents pages and double page spreads of a wide variety of music magazines, and selected five which we will analyse in detail.

Preliminary Task - Evaluation

Preliminary Task – Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Before beginning work on my product I analysed several existing school magazines in detail in order to ensure that mine adhered to these while still maintaining individuality. For example, I noted the fact that the colour schemes on both cover and contents pages generally matched those of the school logo or uniform, and for this reason I chose a pale blue, white and red theme for the heading and text on my magazine. In terms of the cover, something that stood out was the repeated image of students from school taking part in activities that suggest achievement, so for my cover I chose to depict a medium shot of a student sitting an exam. Contents pages, generally speaking, focussed more on text and less on images; therefore my contents page was heavily text-dominated with just one image. The language used here, I noticed, was usually very informal in an attempt to appeal to the students and be easy reading, prompting me to use a similar tone in my article overviews.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

One of the distinguishing features of my front cover was the masthead, which was an alteration of the school logo – for this I put my Photoshop skills to good use, using tools such as the clone stamp to edit out the original text on the logo and replace it with my title of By The Bay. The magnetic lasso tool was also crucial, in cutting around the school logo to place in the bottom right of my contents page, as well as the ‘Styles and Effects’ tool which I used on my images and text to give them a slightly 3D appearance and appear more attractive and unique.

     The other aspect of technology I have learnt about is photography – using the digital cameras and all of their associated equipment (such as tripods and lights) correctly was integral to the professionalism of my final images, as well as the health and safety aspect of using the equipment. In taking my shots, I experimented with the zoom and focus setting on the digital camera, and in creating my front cover image it was important to have light falling on the face of the model so I made use of the flash.

Preliminary Task - School Magazine

Cover:

 Contents Page:



Diary Entry - Week One: 31st January – 4th February 2011

Week One: 31^st January – 4^th February 2011

As an introduction to our Media Studies coursework, we were set the task this week of producing the front cover and contents page of a new school magazine – both to try out the skills we had acquired while learning to use Photoshop and to ensure we could work to a tight deadline. The task involved several stages that all had to be completed within a short space of time: First, to research the codes and conventions of existing school magazine, for inspiration and in order to make sure out final product was as convincing and professional as possible. I analysed five different magazines for this section of the task, taking notes on the key ways in which text and image were used. I then went about the task of actually producing my cover and contents page – only original images were permitted, so my photography skills were put to the test as I took pictures around school and transferred them to Photoshop in order to begin the design process. Having previously done a draft copy by hand of what I wanted my product to look like, the final stage was to add text and make any alterations to the images; putting all the pieces together to create my final cover and contents page of a school magazine. The final step of the process was to evaluate my work, considering both the ways in which I took inspiration from existing products and what I had learnt about technologies in the process of constructing my final product.

Preliminary Task - School Magazine - Drafts

Cover:

Contents Page:

Codes and Conventions of School Magazines

Although varying in many ways, there are a host of things that link the design of the four school magazines I have studied; from colour through to content. The overall design, I have noticed, is often inspired somewhat by both the school uniform and its logo – the Top Terrace magazine is a good example of this, with a colour scheme of red, blue and dark yellow taken from the uniform of the student on the cover.

     The emblem, along with the name of the school itself, is often featured heavily on the front cover, alongside a motto or short phrase to sum up the style and intention of the magazine: e.g. “Connecting classrooms all over the world!”

     An exclamation mark like this is used very frequently on front covers to display enthusiasm and to draw attention to the achievements of individual students and the school as a whole. There tends to be merely a very brief summary of the articles inside with more focus drawn to the images; typically of students wearing their uniform. Team photos are popular, along with others that recognise achievement (such as a student playing an instrument), and all of the figures are smiling, giving out a positive impression of the school.

     The contents page typically focuses less on images and more on text, although small photographs can be seen to be used to accompany the writing. There is a small headline for each article featured in the headline and its page number, and these fonts are often in a very bright colour to catch the eye, as can be seen in the contents of Fusion magazine.

     The language used is casual, in an attempt to appeal to the students, with phrases such as “Everything you need to know” and “Gives us the low-down” used frequently. Rather than “Contents”, CHiLL magazine gave this page the heading of “What’s going on?” to better represent everyday speech and appear informal and accessible.

     There is frequently a letter to the students from the head teacher or editor of the magazine, giving it a more personal feel, and in addition to this emphasis is put on the fact that most of the articles are written by students themselves, so it is not something professional and boring – the articles will be of great interest to the students.