Q Magazine: Research

Q MAGAZINE

Q magazine is a monthly music magazine published in the United Kingdom. Originally it was founded because the creators thought there was a lack of music magzines that were aimed towards the older audience. Now it is one of the most popular music magazines in the country.

It looks more sophisticated than NME and Kerrang, but it still has the same features of having only three colours on the cover page. Lana Del Rey, pictured on the cover is in the centre of the page. she is bleeding and is wearing a tiara. Her head wound links to the story about her. "LANA DEL REY So What's So Bloody Good?"

NME Magazine: Research

NME

The NME magazine was originally named the New Musical Express, shortened to its current state later on.

It was founded by Theodore-Lloyd Jones and first published in March 1952 as a music newspaper which then developed into a magazine. Nowadays, NME is one of the most popular music magazines and the online version, NME.com, is now the world's biggest standalone website. NME is now edited by Luke Lewis.

MAGAZINE COVER



NME issue 3rd week of 2013

The picture of Liam Gallagher is very large, effectively acting as the background.

The colours are bright, attracting potential reader.

The logo is slightly covered thus demonstrating that NME is very recognisable.

The fonts are very similar, the only changes being the colour and size.

There are only 4 colours on the cover, making the cover simple but effective.

Other stories within the magazine are shown in "snapshot" polaroid pictures with small captions.

The NME logo is the only part of the cover that is block red, meaning that it is the first thing the readers' eyes will travel to when glancing at the cover.




CONTENTS PAGE

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

The double page spread is taken up by the large picture of Florence Welch.

The use of three main colours are apparent again in the double page spreads.

Florence Welch is the main focus point of the double page spread.

The main text  is considerably smaller than the large titles.

The text is traditionally positioned and has a formal font which contrasts with the subject matter of the magazine and her costume.















Brief

AS Media Coursework

Print

For my AS Media course I have chosen to create a magazine cover, contents page and double-page spread.

The magazine has to be about Music and has to incorporate original photos.

I will take inspiration for my coursework from existing music publications.
I also have to create a preliminary piece which is a college magazine. This college magazine also has to incorporate original photos.

Preliminary Pieces

PRELIMINARY

For my Preliminary piece I had to produce the cover and contents page of a new student
 magazine.

I decided to centre the magazine around Winstanley college, like a newsletter.

I took photographs around the college campus an used them within the magazine.

 For my cover page I took a photo of a guy playing the drums. The fact that the guy is actually a drummer makes the magazine seem more authentic. The drummer is facing away from the camera giving him a sense of mystery which ties in with the story featured, there is an "exclusive interview" with Liam implying that he does not give interviews often. Looking back on the preliminary cover I can see that it is quite dark and I would also add more photos to the front cover to give the readers a taste of what is in the magazine.

I think I am more satisfied with this page rather than the cover page. The asymmetric, almost jaunty shapes show a sense a continuity from the cover page. The only elements of this contents page I would change is probably the layout of photos on the right hand side. I think it looks boring now and I would also change the font of theinformation on the page.