A2 Inspiration

I've decided that I'm going to produce a music press pack - consisting of:
- A music video
- A digipak
- A promotional poster


The music videos and artwork that inspire me and will have a great affect on the work I end up producing. Here are some of my favourite music videos and album artworks:


Bowling For Soup - When We Die
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kztNroG_M-A

Hoobastank - The Reason
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV4DiAyExN0

Avenged Sevenfold - Seize The Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B2yzG6Gj0A

Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends (Long Version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU9JoFKlaZ0

Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones (Artwork)
http://littlesparrowreviews.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/600px-frank_turner_-_england_keep_my_bones_cover.jpeg

Green Day - American Idiot (Artwork)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/2b/Green_Day_-_American_Idiot_cover.jpg/220px-Green_Day_-_American_Idiot_cover.jpg

Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions
http://www.biffyclyro.com/ugc-1/gallery/79/82.jpg

Evaluation in the form of two double page spreads.

Instead of simply answering the evaluation questions; I've decided to design two double page spreads, showcasing my work in a creative and relevant way.

The second double page spread shows what technology I have used and how it has contributed to my task. It's not necessarily an article but is an advert you would find towards the end of a magazine.

Here they are!

Front Page, Contents Page and Double Page Spread - Done.

So here it is, my final design products! I'm proud of what I've created over the past six months. I feel as if I've really taken strides toward getting a good grade; so I'd appreciate any feedback saying otherwise or supporting that!

The front page is at the top, the contents page is in the middle and the double page spread is situated at the bottom of the post.


Here it is!

Front Page 'Evolution'

My ideas for the front page have evolved over the past couple of months. I'm finally happy with a design and will soon be finished and posting the end product.

But for now, here's the 'evolution' in pictures...

This was my first attempt. I ditched this design due to the photo having too many contrast areas. The bright white sky also limited my font colour choice.

I also felt within me, that I didn't entirely like the whole design either. So therefore, I scrapped it.

This was my second design. I felt more attached to this one and felt as if I could end up using it as my final front cover piece.

However, on revision, I came to the conclusion that the character on the front page was too small and there wasn't much visual connection with the reader. So in turn, I decided to start again - again.

THIS is what I'll be using for my front page. Some major changes have occurred on this design; including a change in colour of the logo and the background.

The photo is also much more visually engaging. The close up on the face of the character being used is much more appealing to the reader and also includes a key aspect; the eyes.

I'm going to develop this piece by adding more text to the "PLUS!" section and by adding more text & images on to the main part of the front page.

Double Page Spread Provisionally Completed

I feel as if I've done all I can (for now at least) in terms of my double page spread. It's been tough, but with thorough research, I've seemingly conducted something of relatively high quality. In terms of my own standards anyway.

I even went to the lengths of designing an album cover for the artist being used in my article. I also came up with the name of the album - "Corners-hop"

Here's what it looks like after a few hours of editing...

Second Photoshoot!

Having produced some quality images in my first photoshoot; I've decided I need some more conventional, close up images to use on my front cover. I feel as if the image being used on my front cover didn't focus on the subject (myself) enough.

So with more close up shots, more posing and more creativity, I should have my front cover!


Unfortunately, a technical issue wiped all of the images off of the memory card I was using. I didn't transfer the files on to the computer, instead I just took the images off of the SD card and edited them directly in Photoshop. However, I managed to retain the image I wanted for the front cover.


The image below is the one I'll be using for my front cover (as you can see by the black 'etching' in the bottom left corner)

Front cover work put on hold... For now.

In my media lesson today, I was furthering my front page design and was hoping to complete it, when I realised that it really didn't look like a front page. This may sound like bad news but there's light at the end of the tunnel! I've decided to use it as the basis for my contents page and to also start work on my double page spread (having completed my Q&A session and decided how I'm going to lay it out).

So my front page has stalled, but my contents and double page spread are well on their way!

My progress on my double page spread is shown in the picture above. Let me know what you think!

Double Page Spread Research

Double Page Spread Research

KERRANG! Magazine:

The title and pictures on this double page spread occupy most of the space. The main article is in fairly small text and only takes up a minor space on the two pages. The pictures are very descriptive of the band’s emotions and are very natural images; very similar to the ones that I am going to include on my front page and double page spread.

This article is particularly unconventional due to the article not being the central point of focus. It’s something that I would consider using.

The audience this double page spread would appeal to would be those of a younger age; it is somewhat inspirational, e.g. “We’re being the best MCR we can be!” – highlighting individuality and determination. More specifically, it would appeal to young people who are in bands or are aspiring musicians.

I like the way that the page is designed with bold colour, text and shapes to define each segment of the article, e.g. the rectangular strip on the right side of the page draws the readers’ attention to that particular section.

NME Magazine:

This double page spread is in stark contrast to the “Kerrang!” version. The page on the left consists of one picture and one, enlarged quote which highlights particular words to add emphasis.

The picture of the band members is fairly natural and furthers their ‘cool’ image. The image fits well with the text, with it giving the illusion that this quote was spoken whilst the picture was taken.

The left side page is consumed with one image and the quote, which leaves the right hand side of the double page spread filled up with text and rather cramped. I don’t particularly feel that this has a good effect on the reader and is somewhat ‘daunting’, seeing a barrage of text to plough through.

With this band being an older group of people and the colours and layout appearing more contemporary; this double page spread would seemingly appeal to a more mature audience.

Aspects of the double page spread that I do like are the colour change on “ANOTHER OASIS” and on the speech marks. The orange banner going across the main article body does well to ‘break up’ the text and also include a main quote to promote the article.

Q Magazine:

The design of this double page spread is particularly unconventional and contrasts against both the NME and Kerrang! Double page spreads.

The whole double page is a mixture of text and just the one image. However, interestingly ‘the rule of thirds’ is incorporated, which allows the whole frame of the image to be spread across the two pages and act as a background for the text. Something I would be interested in trying to incorporate into my design.

The font, or lack of it in the main quote, has a ‘punk’ or ‘zine’ feel to it. This makes the magazine look vintage and down to earth, and at the same time gives a rebellious look to the subject.

I like the look of the columns of text that are condensed at the bottom of the page, which makes easy reading and doesn’t appear too daunting to the reader.

I dislike the image used due to the expression on the subject’s face; it looks rather strained and false. I feel that it also doesn’t fit well with the main quote and the Punk Rock nature of it.

This article would appeal to young people due to the rebellious tone and imagery used. I think a more mature audience would and imagery used. I think a more mature audience would be somewhat offended and put off by the juvenile imagery and tone.

Rocksound Magazine:

The design of this page is particularly eye catching and artistic. When flicking through the magazine it would catch the reader’s eye and want them to read the article. Again, this is dissimilar to the other double page spreads that I have researched.

The image consumes the whole background of the two pages. However, Hayley Williams (the subject brought out in colour) is given a more foreground role and fits well with the colourful text. Her hair colour blends well with the font and colour choice of ‘PARAMORE’ as they are both ‘rough’ and bright at the same time.

The lack of text and layout of it entices the reader into reading the article as there isn’t an overload of text. This contrasts with NME, due to that magazine focussing centrally on typography and layout of text.

I dislike the seclusion of the other band members in the image. The article is about the whole band and not about this one character and can offend others that took part in the photo-shoot and article.

This double page spread would appeal to young people; equally to both genders as females look up to Hayley Williams and males tend to be more attracted to her. The article is appealing for differing reasons.


Metal Hammer




The design of this double page isn't particularly colourful and 'eye catching' - it's very specific to a particular issue and would only really appeal to fans of the band who knew what that particular issue was (Avenged Sevenfold's drummer died previous to the publish of this issue).


The image used is very powerful however, and makes up for the lack of colour and vibrancy. It gets all four band members in shot with the deceased member also in shot in the background in the form of a graffiti stencil. It's very striking and would emotionally appeal to a large number of readers; even if they were not interested in the band.


The use of a quote from a band member is also very powerful as you get an honest and compelling opinion from a person who has a real connection with the story being told. This double page spread is full of compassion and is very emotive.


I'm not quite sure what I dislike about this double page spread. If I had one slight criticism it would be that the italics in the body of text below the headline is a bit unclear; but it does fit in with the rest of the two pages.


This double page spread would appeal to various ages as the band has a very large fan base. However, the amount of deep meaning could become quite a burden on young readers aged between 12-16. So I think it would appeal to those 18+ as I feel as if they would understand the story a lot more and could even relate to it, due to more life experience coming with being an adult.

Front Cover Research

Kerrang! Magazine

Target Audience

·         Young people aged 12-25

·         Those who enjoy alternative music

·         Men and Women. Equally as interesting for both genders

Purpose

·         Insight into a rock star’s life

·         Feature on someone who has died – remembrance

·         Make the reader feel closer to their idols

Meaning

·         The main feature is Billie Joe Armstrong wanting to be secluded

·         He could feel drained/pressured by his lifestyle

·         James Dio is dead and it is clearly shown

Genre

·         Alternative – Rock music and all sub genres of it, e.g. Metal

Construction

·         Subject covers up the mast head of the magazine

·         Competition at the very top of the page

·         Text boxes are used

·         Name of the band is in large writing

·         Black, yellow, white and blue colour scheme

·         Font is in capital letters and very bold

·         Lighting effects on the image

·         Numerous images scattered across the page

Q Magazine:

Target Audience:

·         More appealing to mature audiences – Aged 18-40

·         Those who enjoy alternative music but don’t necessarily reject the pop world

·         This particular front cover would appeal particularly to men or homosexual women due to the provocative image of Beyonce. It has been used to draw in particular attention to her figure and facial features

Purpose:

·         Has a wide amount of interviews with various different people to show different perspectives on the music industry and past experiences that are specific to their band/genre

·         Emphasis on “20” due to the 20^th anniversary of Q Magazine, e.g. 20 Interviews and “Top 20 Greatest Albums and Tracks of Q’s Life”

Meaning

·         20^th anniversary of the magazine marking a milestone

·         Significance of the 20 being shown in the articles (or number of them)

Genre

·         Contemporary rock mixed with current alternative rock and pop music. My reason for coming to this conclusion being that they have a lot of front covers with various ‘icons’ but then the next week they may have a current pop star on the front, e.g. Beyonce

Construction

·         The text is focussed around the main subject (Beyonce)

·         Again, there is a lot of emphasis on the ‘20’ – it is in a larger and bolder font than the rest of the typography

·         Traditional ‘Q’ colour scheme of red, white and gold

·         Gold symbolising and furthering the 20^th anniversary importance

·         The magazine logo is traditionally in the top left corner of the magazine allowing space for image and text

·         Important and significant words and lettering are shown in bold or in a different, larger font size

NME

Target Audience

·         People aged 15-30

·         Those who enjoy alternative music

·         Men and Women. Equally as interesting for both genders

Purpose

·         Highlight a return of a significant figure in music

·         Express the magazine editors’ top 50 albums of 2008

·         Give the reader an insight in to the reunion

Meaning

·         The main feature is Blur being reunited

·         Rekindled friendship

·         Editors’ opinions are shown with the top albums feature

Genre

·         Alternative – Rock music and other denominations, e.g. “indie”

Construction

·         Subject covers up a large portion on the front page

·         Secondary feature at the very top of the page

·         Text boxes are used

·         Name of the band and ‘reunited’ is in large writing

·         Red, yellow and white colour scheme

·         Font is in capital letters and very bold

·         Black and white effects on the image gives a ‘vintage’ effect

Rocksound

Target Audience

·         Young people aged 13-21

·         Those who enjoy alternative music

·         Men and Women. Equally as interesting for both genders

Purpose

·         Simon Neil (Front cover subject) states ‘the revolution starts here’

·         Expresses the band’s opinion that they’re the ‘best’ band in the world

·         Introduces audience to this band

·         Expose new bands

·         Variety of bands featured to show the magazine’s diversity

·         Excites the reader – ‘revolution starts here’ etc.

Meaning

·         Highlights a particular band’s brilliance

·         Rock star ego is evident

·         This musician wants to be heard among others

·         Powerful persona as shown by the sword

Genre

·         Alternative – Rock music and all denominations of it, e.g. metal, punk, industrial

Construction

·         Purple, green and white colour scheme

·         Uniform, column text

·         Subject covers the masthead

·         Writing over the image.



Metal Hammer
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Target Audience

·         Quite a broad age group: 16-40

·         Fans of Metal/Death Metal

·         Men and Women. Equally as interesting for both genders

Purpose

·         Marilyn Manson is on the front cover to express his 'death and resurrection'

·         The ghostly look of Marilyn Manson acts a symbol for the headline

·         Highlights Marilyn Manson's debatable insanity and death like presence

ff      Variety of bands featured but they are all within the genre of 'metal' - Not a diverse magazine

·         Could potentially scare but at the same time excite the reader - use of make up and lighting

Meaning

·         Highlights Marilyn Manson's persona as being scary, unapproachable and at the same time     an icon

·         Manson's ego is evident

·         This musician is craving attention by wearing this make up and speaking of his manic past

·         Powerful persona as shown by the dirty hands, devilish make up and lighting

Genre

·       Metal/Death Metal

Construction

·         Black, red and white colour scheme - similar to halloween/horror colours

·         Centred text focuses reader's attention on the centre

·         Subject covers the masthead

·         Text over the image.
  'VIP' pass is a creative feature of showing other bands that are included in the magazine

Contents Page Research

Q Magazine

This contents page is very simple and somewhat abstract. The simplistic colour scheme of red and black and ties in well with the colours used in the main image on the contents page.

I’m a massive fan of using one image on the contents page and writing the text around the picture. This makes the page much more artistic and appealing to the eye. It’s something I would seriously consider using in my contents page design.

There is a clear distinction between the each of the headings for individual pages, which makes it more inviting to the reader, as they can see clearly what is inside the magazine.

The image used portrays a sense of mischief and immaturity about the character. This would appeal to a younger audience of a rebellious nature – particularly teenagers. The representation of young people in this contents page is stereotypical, due to the large headphones being on Billie Joe Armstrong's head, with his tongue poking out, dressed in stylish male alternative attire. 

Kerrang! Magazine

This contents page differs greatly from the one I’ve previously analysed. There is a wide variety of images that have contrasting messages; studio shots in comparison to on stage shots for example. This style of layout is attractive to the eye, due to the fact that opening this page would give an effect that is similar to opening a gift. There is a lot to get stuck in to and makes the reader excited of what is ahead.

The use of captions on the pictures gives life to the images and also welcomes the reader in to the magazine, making the contents appealing, rather than something people skip past when they pick up a magazine.

The contents list on the right side of the page uses subheadings to simplify the contents, which is useful if somebody is reading the magazine for a specific purpose or if there is a special feature in the magazine that would have encouraged them to pick up the magazine.

The page would appeal to a wide range of audiences, due to the diversity within the images being used. There is a mixture of contemporary studio images along with the more juvenile band pictures.

The font used is bold and is even more striking to the eye, due to every word being in capital letters. I don’t necessarily believe that this method of typography is appealing; it makes the magazine look amateur and can have a negative effect on younger readers and also those who are very pernickety over grammar and language etc.

I would definitely consider using elements of this contents page. The images used are more effective than the text, but that doesn’t necessarily make it an unappealing contents page.

NME Magazine

NME magazine’s contents pages are known for standing out from the crowd. There is a lot of text in the contents page; there was a lot of text in Kerrang! Magazine’s contents page but it was much more appealing and a less daunting task to read through. To me, this is more of a ‘first page’ as opposed to a contents page. It seems to me like there is far too much text here for it to be considered a ‘model’ contents page.

There is also minimal use of images in this contents page. There are two pictures which seem to merge in to each other; they also act as an image that would reflect a particular article.

I can see this contents page appealing to a more mature audience, due to the amount of text that is one the page and the more sophisticated fonts that are used. Other than a mature audience, it would appeal to young people who consider themselves to be 'indie' or 'contemporary' due to the attire of the musicians being very 'hip' and somewhat vintage. This represents a lot of NME readers and the stereotype of how an NME reader would dress.

I like the use of shapes in this contents page. It is a good way of differentiating between the separate headlines and fonts being used. I’d seriously consider using these shapes in correlation with the bold fonts.

Rocksound Magazine

This contents page is again unique. The split in the page is something that isn’t featured in the contents page I have mentioned; it gives a clear definition between text and images.

The headings of the article types and the ‘category’ they are under are neat and defined, giving the reader a clear definition of where things are located in the magazine. The text used also blends in very well with the description of each article; they’re both in the same font and are both in lower case. The use of lower case makes the magazine look fancy and alternative, e.g. many upmarket bistros and cafes tend to use lower case as a branding technique.

The ‘stencil’ effect used with the numbers, heading and stars contrasts with the artistic use of lower case lettering and is something I would consider using in my magazine. The main body writing is easy to read, but the stencil effect gives the magazine an alternative edge.


Both the images and the text represent very alternative styles and along with the text and typography, it furthers the idea that this is for the alternative rock market. The way in which the subjects in the photos are dressed and how they are posing would appeal mostly to teenagers, as they look to be posing in an unapproachable manner, looking like possible outcasts or less sophisticated members of society.


The split between text and images is very definite but is very appealing. I wouldn't necessarily split the page in two, but I would consider using images in one concentrated area of the page.


Metal Hammer


Metal Hammer's contents pages are renowned for being unique. There is a lot of text in the contents page; as was the case in Kerrang!'s contents page but it was much more appealing and much less of a task to read through. 

There is also a lot of images in this contents page. There are images to go hand in hand with text and to describe what will be the subject of the article will be and to give the reader a taste of what to expect when they open the magazine fully.

I can see this contents page appealing to a younger audience, due to the use of 'sharp' and 'aggressive' fonts. I could also see it appealing to a mature audience though, due to the amount of informative text that is used for a contents page; it's not entirely conventional. Also, the genre of music that is Metal appeals to a various age groups and it is entirely possible that a mature audience would find the use of 'alternative' fonts very appealing; it's very much down to social groups rather than a particular age group when it comes to Metal Hammer.

I like the use of shapes in this contents page. It is a good way of differentiating between the separate headlines and fonts being used. I’d seriously consider using these shapes in correlation with the bold fonts.

Double page spread and front page research complete!

I've completed my research of double page spreads and front pages for similar product research. I've gained a lot and will post some images of what I create soon.

Double page spread and front cover research nearing completion

I've nearly finished researching double page spreads and front covers. I've really gained a lot of inspiration from this research and have also seen what I do not want to use. 

Above, are some of my favourite similar media products. In short, I love the selective colour in the Rocksound double page spread of Paramore. The use of the rule of thirds in the Q magazine double page spread on Lily Allen is particularly attractive and something I'd definitely consider using.

The Kerrang! Front page is one that interests me due to the use of colour, layout and composition. However, I doubt I will be going down that path; I will be using more contemporary design methods such as those seen in Q magazine.