My Contents Page Prelim at 02:21

As part of my preliminary project I have had to create a front page and a contents page for a school magazine. Here is the contents page that I designed and created. When doing this I wanted to keep the same effect as my front page so I decided to use the glow effect against the blue background. Once again I thought this was effective because it is light and attracts the readers eye. The pictures used were chosen because of the stories the magazine contained.

The layout of the writing was positioned in a certain way - following the path of glow on the background. I thought doing this would be better than it just being plain and simple.

My Front Page Prelim at 02:20

Once again this is part of my preliminary project and as the above shows my contents page this is the front cover I created. The main reason why I chose this as my front cover is because its simple and the picture relates to the main story. I chose the title 'BHS NEWS' because that is what the whole magazine is about and that needs to be stated clearly to the students and every reader. The main headlines 'COMING SOON' and 'BATTLE OF THE BANDS' were chosen because Battle Of The Bands is a big event that is held at school and attracts everyones eye because its a great time for everyone to show off their talents.

The main picture was chosen because its not like the normal picture you would see on a magazine that is advertising music events. I just thought it would be plain and simple to show off the talents that everyone has, not just singing. On the front of the magazine you can see I have written the features of the magazine and these have been placed asthough the student is looking at them whilst playing the piano. For the background, I used an inverted colour so it showed up a bluey colour and I thought it was quite effective because of the glow I used around all the objects on the page to make it stand out.

'Angel' - Double Page Spread Analysis 2 at 02:16

Although this is not the type of magazine I will be producing I thought I would analyse something different just to see if every magazine has the same concept and works in the same way. From this magazine you cannot see what it is about but you can see that it is mainly aimed at woman purely because of the colour scheme and the picture of the woman.

Through out the two pages there are mass spaces of white to intrigue and attract the readers eye. The thick strip of lilac on the left hand side contrasts hugely against the white background and has a minimalist appearance because of the amount of detail on it.

On the right hand side there is a small paragraph of writing. This grabs the readers attention because the writing is small and compact with an eligant woman posted next to it. At the beginning of the paragraph you can see the first letter is emboldened and coloured to match the theme so it catches the readers eye more than anything else and it draws them to then read the rest of the writing.

Music Magazine - Double Page Spread Analysis at 06:48

This magazine is presented with mainly a dark black theme with white writing, this makes it stand out and more visible because they are constrasting colours that catch the readers eye. The pictures used on the left hand side are all off balance suggesting the rocky magazine that it is. The mass contents off writing would initially put readers off but at the top it states 'The Main Event' so this would draw people to read it as they would be intrigued to what it is.

On the right hand side you can see that the colours have not been changed but the way they use them has. It is now presented as a white background with black writing. This is used to show that they are now talking about something different and is another techinique used to catch the readers eye if they wern't interested in the first main event. The picture in the top right hand corner is of a man that relates to magazine quite well. He is a rocker that is wearing black to blend in with the theme.

The pictures on the left hand side of the page are all the same contrast of colours to once again keep in with the theme of black and white.

Music Magazine - Contents Page Analysis 2 at 02:28

This is a simple coloured theme with a star striking picture of a glamorous city at the top to instantly make it seem asthough the page lights up aswell as the city. That picture takes up the top of the page which could account for a banner, it leaves the rest of the page for the contents and to other straight forward photos.

The title 'Contents' is written off balance and is written in white which is a contrast to the dark black back ground. The text on the page is split up into two sections 'Features' and 'Regulars', this could show the perception of features in the magazine.

The top group of text is tilted more the left with a picture that is also uneven and not all on the page. The text on the next page numbers have bolder headings to tell you what is on that page and underneath there is regular text telling you more information about it. This is a good technique because it helps the reader as if they don't know what its on about then they won't have to go searching the page just to see what it is about.

The bottom group of text is also tilted, but it is titled the opposite way - to the right. Also it does not contain extra information about the contents on that page. Each page number is presented in a box with a yellow background, this relates back to the colour on the picture of the city to make them stand out. On two of the page numbers you can see that there are arrows connecting with the pictures to the side. This is because the magazine wants to show you that the pictures are not just there for the fun of it and that they do relate to the stories in the magazine.

Music Magazine - Contents Page Analysis at 10:12

This is a very attractive contents page. Both sides have contrasting colours for the background so this draws in the attention of every reader. Not many people read contents pages but with techniques like this then it's pretty hard not to.

The left hand side has a dark background of black with an eye catching pink title at the top. The title uses a cool font to suggest its not aiming the magazine at the older generation nor the younger teenage generation - so most probably the older teenage generation.

The opposing side consists of a white background and this is the complete opposite to the black. This shows that they really want to attract the readers eye and get them to read this magazine. At the top of the page in the centre there is a small mug shot of the publisher, except it is taken from the side on an arial angle, this is a useful technique because it helps to have a picture when you are reading something related to it.

The writing on the right hand side is set out in two columns, this shows a formal aspect of the magazine. The font used for writing the 'contents' seems asthough its in a bolder font than all the rest. This is because its the most important part of the page as it tells the reader everything whats in the magazine so they need to make it the most noticeable.

The main attraction from those pages is the one on the left hand side where the guy is holding the guitar. This is because its a big picture and it jumps out of the page as once again having the black and white effect shows the contrast between each colour used. Many music lovers would be drawn to this page as it emphasizes the life of music.

Two other small things that are only little but instantly strike the readers eye is the yellow banner running across the picture on the left and the small yellow box on the left. This is because yellow is an unusual colour to use for that type of theme because it is mainly black and white.

'Kerrang' - Music Magazine Cover Analysis at 11:42

Kerrang is a very popular magazine. It is well known for its rock genre, along with a bit of metal, punk, thrash and indie. At the top of the cover there is an advert advertising a free CD, which always grabs the readers attention because everyone loves 'free' items. Its written over a yellow back ground which also gets the readers attention because yellow is not used through out the theme of the magazine.

The back ground behind the title is a strong contrast compared to that behind the rest of the magazine, this instantly strikes the readers eye. The black section behind the title could imply it is more of a metal magazine so you get the idea as soon as the magazine is seen. The title is spread out across the whole length of the magazine. Its in bold, block capitals to make it more noticeable compared to all the other magazines.

The white font compared to the black back ground makes it even more evident to see, even tho the main shot on the cover - 'Pete Wentz' covers half of it, Kerrang is so confident that they are already well known meaning they don't have to show the whole title. This shot is the main attraction of the magazine because of his good looks, good style and the prop he is holding. That ice cream makes the picture more noticeable because it does not really have any relevance to the magazine. As Pete Wentz is 'hotty' according to the younger generation who are interested in this sort of music, it would be them that are more tempted to pick it up because he is wearing thick, dark, black make up and it also goes with his black hair.

Down in the bottom right hand corner you can see that the back ground is a red t shirt and the bands stated there are written in white so once again the colours are opposing so this makes it more clear and visible. The subtitle in the middle of the magazine is shown in white, block capitals - the same through out the whole magazine. And also the sentence below is written in yellow which relates back to the ice cream and could also connect with Pete Wentz's interview with him saying he is loving life at the moment.