Main: Front Cover Textual analysis & convention diagram

asdasdasdsdf a  The masthead is bright and bold; the font is it’s own specific design. It almost has a ‘computerised’ look about it.  This font can appeal to younger readers, such as teenagers and young adults, as it can be suggesting that it is modern and technologic. The colour of the Masthead makes it stand out against the brown brick building, yet the Masthead, unlike many other magazines is placed in front of the main image. The key is to make the magazine important, but blocking the main image doesn’t help.  Instead, the font is slightly transparent and allows you to see what is in the image. This effect is appealing to the eye and is useful for attracting readers.  

`The selling line, ’25 years’ can connote that the magazine have experience and so could be used to draw in readers, almost to say the they can ‘trust’ the magazine. The ‘25’ in the ’25 years colour’ supports this point: it could be implying that 25 years in experience is important. Teenagers and young adults want to be updated on the latest music, and so its experience is almost inviting them in to the magazine. The name of the magazine, placed beneath the A and the P, reads Alternative Press, showing its uniqueness or originality to any other magazine of it genre. In a way, as I said before, it is a little unique. The masthead for Alternative Press is placed in front of the main image after all, which isn’t supporting the stereotypes of this genre. The main coverline that reads 'Manchester Orchestra' was edited so each word would mirror each other

The main cover line: Manchester Orchestra, who are the main features of this edition of the magazine, as their image has been printed on the front cover. It could be suggesting their importance to the other cover lines. It says, between quotation marks, above the main cover line “You’re never done paying your dues”. Why would they say that, the readers would ask? What where they talking about? The readers would have to look in to answer their own questions. What would draw them in further is a hint to their answers; it reads below the main coverline: “fire in the soul” with the “fire” and “soul” printed in red, contrasting the white “in the”. This sounds and looks quite passionate to the reader.

In the image, they (Manchester Orchestra) are all dressed quite casually. I.e. shirts, jackets, hoodies and even a brown pork pie hat. It shows their confidence and comfort. This is supported by the low angle shot looking up at them, and capturing the blurred building behind as if to show that they themselves are towering and high up, representing their abilities to the readers. Andy Hull, the lead singer, is holding a cigarette (or what seems to be a cigarette). This connotes maturity, and would relate to an audience of their age (20-25), but could also relate to older teenage characters. Their NVC also connotes confidence, as they seem to be looking down at the readers. Again, this is supported by the low angle shot.

Main: IPC MEDIA Case study

CASE STUDY

IPC MEDIA is the UK's leading magazine publisher above companies such as UKMAG. IPC MEDIA publish, among other magazines in their men's division (IPC Inspire) such as lad's mag. NUT are NME.

IPC MEDIA produce over 60 iconic brands with print alone (magazines such as MARIE CLAIRE in the 'up-market women's division of IPC MEDIA and other prints such as WORLD SOCCER) that reach about a third of UK women, and almost half of all UK men. 

They don't only target audiences with their printed brands, but also with their digital brands. Where VOLKS WORLD magazine's target audience would generally be strong fans of the Volkswagen vehicle brand, found in the mass market men's portfolio next to NUT and NME is a website called MOUSEBREAKER. MARIE-CLAIRE's target audience is the middle aged women, and PICK ME UP (a gossip magazine under the mass market woman's portfolio of IPC: IPC Connect) would target mainly an upper class female audience/an audience varying from a teen age to mid-50s who belong to the working class but MOUSEBREAKER targets a male audience from teenagers to those younger than adolescence.

IPC also offer various niche magazines. For example sailing magazines such as BOAT OWNER and YACHTING WORLD that would target sailing fans and business men of various adult ages. Or magazines targeted at mothers and housewives such as WOMAN&HOME and WOMAN'S WEEKLY that hold cover lines such as 'my diet warning to my daughter' and articles on food recipes. Other aspects of their wide range of brands are sports magazines - which can be even more finely broken down into specific target audiences. For example MBR (Mountain bike rider) would be targeted at a mainly male teen to young adult (18-25) target audience who are fans of this style of sport. Another example could be the target audience of HORSE AND HOUND - a world known equestrian magazine (magazine for those who do work with horses) - which is those who usually live outside of the cities and in the country who are involved with horse riding or breeding etc.
The point is that IPC MEDIA, within its three portfolios (IPC Inspire - male division, IPC Connect - mass market woman's division and IPC Southbank - upper market woman's division), generate a figure of over 3.5 million readers who read IPC MEDIA products a week.

IPC really couldn't have generated such a figure if they hadn't been aiming at such a varied number of target audiences. This is the general reason why it targets a different audience with each magazine it makes. Although a lot of IPC MEDIA's magazines appear similar, in all realities they are actually targeted at small differences in the audience. For example, under IPC Connect, there is the gossip magazine CHAT and there is CHAT - IT'S FATE which is an edition of the magazine that not only covers gossip but horoscopes and mind reading and so plays on the fact that this target audience will believe what they read. The difference in targeting lies within that fact that some of CHAT's target audience will and won't be fans of this edition.
       The main reason as to why it targets different audiences with each magazine is to make more money because targeting less audiences than IPC's competitors such as MUSICMAGS or UKMAG will put the company down. The way these companies make more and more money is by tapping into audiences that have not been represented or worked for.
IPC MEDIA is a subsidiary company of TIME.INC who are, in turn, a subsidiary company of TIME WARNER who's parent division is WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT who cover music, television and film. This is another reason as to why IPC MEDIA targets different audiences with each different magazine. It helps create a more complex cross media convergence.

Main: Music Magazine Plan

Music Magazine plan

The main task is to create a Front Page, Contents Page and Double Page spread for my own music magazine. Before I start, I’ll have to study music magazines:

1.       Make a textual analysis of a music mag. front cover, not before looking at the conventions of Music Mags. make diagram out of it.

2.       Conventions diagram on a contents page.

3.       Create a textual analysis and conventions diagram on the double page spread.

4.       Conduct audience research.

5.       Make audience profile.

6.       Case Study of publishing house.

7.       Mood Board.

8.       Front Cover, Contents Page, Double Page spread mock ups.

9.       Unmanipulated Photos.

10.   Front cover final draft.

11.   Contents Page final draft.

12.   Double Page spread Final Draft.

13.   After Production Feedback.

14.   Evaluation.

Preliminary: Contents Page

Preliminary: Magazine Cover

Preliminary: Magazine Textual analysis and conventions diagram

The masthead, titled ‘Mixmag’ could already be suggesting its target audience is of about 16-17+ as it sounds quite informal. Another example of a suggestion of magazines teenage target audience is the selling line, printed above the masthead: “the world’s biggest dance music and clubbing magazine”. It’s mainly those of teen years and young adults who enjoy clubbing and who listen to dance music (initially played in clubs). What attracts its readers is that it calls itself ‘the world’s biggest dance music and clubbing magazine’, showing that there is so much to get from the magazine.
The main cover line reads:
“Move over Tongy!
ANNIE MAC
Is she ready for the biggest job in dance music?”
Tongy is, supposedly, a music Dj who is quite popular in the dance music world, and Annie Mac is a well known Dj for BBC Radio 1. The cover line is asking a rhetorical question, leading the readers inside the book to find the answer. Listeners of the genre would be ever more attracted to this article as it is implying that she is taking Tongy’s place. The reader is further attracted by the bolding of font and the colour change of the words “biggest job in dance music” because it emphasizes the drama to the reader.

In the image (medium close up), she is wearing a black top, a gold chain, and a single ring. The black contrasts with the white background and the fluorescent light she is holding in her hand. The chain around her neck has two different colours to it. Where the chain nears the light she is holding, the colour is gold, but as it draws more away from the light, it is black. This compliments the general colour and tone scheme of the image: black and white, or light and dark. For some reason, the colour brings out her facial features revealing her sharp beauty, which is piercing to most male readers, not to mention some female.
Her non-verbal communication suggests she is calm and cool, as she is gently gripping the light and slightly leaning on it. She has no worry of face, and she almost appears to be smirking, which in this case could connote confidence.

Preliminary: Magazine Analyisis

Denotation + Connotation
The masthead is in bold, is block capital, bright red. This could be used to suggest a power and strength Empire - it stands out against the blue, and it complements the magazine’s selling line: The World’s biggest movie magazine. As the selling line can only be bigger than the website link, I can only imagine the title is there to suggest to the readers that they really are bigger than the other magazines of its genre - aiding its competition. This idea also seems to be the same with the main coverline: INCEPTION (the masthead). But where the 'spiky font' of the masthead could represent Empire’s visual sharpness, and that they are able to strike the readers, the main cover line remains bold and strong, possibly representing the films power.
The Main image seems to be the centre of attention here. Di-Caprio (who is the main character in Inception) is in a suit, and holding a gun, probably representing a mix of formality and danger, and can relate to formal and dangerous people.
The suit (his costume) could be used to represent a class of people who have to work in a suit i.e Businessmen, federal guards etc. Many men can relate to this (appealing to the power complex men have - one of media's stereotypes on men), and the gun (a prop) could be used to represent a sense of power, bravery, but if you link the colour of the text with Di-Caprio’s prop, you could link it more with danger.

Preliminary: Magazine recreation