I am going to base my music magazine's design around NME magazine, and Q, who will also be two of the main rivals to my magazine.

NME magazine is Britains best known music magazine, with a usual circulation of around 30,000. However, this has declined greatly from the 1970's when it sold nearer 3,000,000. The average price of the magazine is £2.20 which is very cheap in terms of this type of magazine. The colour scheme is very simple (red and white), which is very recognisable as it is has been going for so many years. As well as this it may seem to be very sophisticated and advanced, as it is not busy or rushed, but cool and simplistic. There is only one main image of two well known artists back next to each other. They are looking directly at the camera to draw the audience in; women may want to be with them, and men want to be them. The target audience for this magazine is probably younger males, as there is lots of writing describing what is going to be in the magazine. This will appeal to them as young males tend to have a short attention span, as this promises to keep their attention.

Q is a less well known as NME, however it has a much higher demograpic at around 130,000. It costs more than NME at £3.90 which is quite expensive. The colour sceme again is very simple (black, white and red), which again is very recognisable, sophisticated etc. However there is one main image, but also a smaller image on the side. This may have been done to show that the focus of the magazine is not entirely on "morrisey" but also on "Neil Young". There is not as much text as with NME, this may be because the audience for this magazine would be older males, and they don't want a magazine covered in text, they would like it simple. "Morrisey" is looking directly at the audience, this shows that he is going to be talking to them personally.

This is my school magazine contents page. I have tried to make it seem up to date and contemporary, by using two fonts for the titles that seem to me to be modern and that the pupils will be able to relate too. I have used a simple black and white picture of the sixthform building as the background; this contrasts with the vibrantly coloured text to create a fresh, interesting feeling about it.

This is my school magazine front cover. I have chosen the name "Federal" as the the college is a "federal sixth form" and I believe it sounds believable and edgy. I decided to use the colour red for the title as it is very eyecatching, so it wil stand out to the potential reader. The image I have used, in my eyes, is very effective as it shows the two pupils looking very happy. This shows that they are enjoying the sixth form, and having a good time learning here. As well as this there are computers in the back ground, which shows that the sixth form is modern, up to date and the technology is available for the students.

Preliminary task

My target audience for my magazine is the pupils for the sixth form at william parker sports college. I have chosen this, because I am currently in this Sixth Form, and I think will be able to decide what the pupils would like in a school magazine better because of this. It will be for both male and female, so I won't make the design too masculine of feminine. I have chosen this as there are girls and boys at the sixth form, and i want my magazine to appeal to as many people as possible.

The purpose for my magazine is to let the pupils write the articles and inform and educate other pupils what is going on in and around the college. Because of this my magazine will be quite relaxed and the language will be quite informal and chatty to draw in readers and to make them feel part of the school. The front cover will be quite colourful and fun so that it is eye catching and enjoyable to look at. The title will be large and easily identifiable, however I have not been able to come up with a title as of yet as I am not very good at thinking up these sorts of things.

School magazine research

High profile magazine

This is the school magazine for an all girl secondary school. I believe that it is aimed mainly at the parents of the pupils, as it explains all about the trips that students are going (as shown in the picture) and the events going on at the school, which would make the school seem like the right place to be sending their child, as there is lots going on that would keep the pupils happy, educated and gaining knowledge through other means than just sitting at a desk and writing.

As well as this the title and text are very plain colours (black and white) and in a simple, plain font. Though it does stand out against the background picture, it is not as eye catching as other magazine titles.This shows that they were not designed to attract the eye of younger people, as if this was the case the text would be brighter, chunkier and more eye catching. Older people wouild be more attracted to the information given rather than bright colourful titles and pictures.

The picture that takes up the entire background, as is common with most school magazines. It clearly shows a pupil hiking/ rock climbing and looks very about it. There is a beautiful mountain, or hill, in the background which draws the viewers eye. This again is to show that the pupils are given the chance to go on amazing school trips and activities, that maybe other schools would not offer. As well as this it tells parents that the pupils are happy about going to this school and enjoy the trips. This is shown by ther massive grin on the mouth of the pupil that takes up most of the picture.

Introduction to coursework

This is my AS level media coursework blog.
In my first piece of media coursework I will creating a music magazine. It will be devided into three parts. Firstly I will be researching, planning, construction and finally evaluation. Firstly I will be creating a school magazine, which will educate me in how to set out a magazine, how to appeal to the given audience and how to take my own pictures and put them on the magazine. I will have to make a mock up of a front page and a contents page using photoshop and Indesign.

My only worry is that I have had no previous encounters with Indesign, and that I will not be able to utilize it very well.