Rough cut plan

• Plan out poses and costume for model 
• Take photos of model in the studio
• Plan out design for all three pages using analysis
• Write article 
• Do audience research
• Come up with title for magazine 
• Decide on the actually content of the magazine
• Gather up other models for little photos on the front page 

We love pop magazine analysis

The main colours used in the we love pop magazine is blue and pink, with a bit of yellow, all colours I find go together very well to create a girly, yet high impact front cover. The colour pink is stereotypically appealing to girls and has connotations of girlishness which pretty much sums up this magazine. All the fonts are very bold which I've noticed is a common recurrence in pop music magazines, as it creates a big impact and makes the magazine stand out on the shelf among the other magazines. The layout is very chaotic, containing a lot of images and information which shows that their is a large content inside of the magazine, persuading the reader to buy it as they will be getting there money's worth- it also shows that there is something for everyone inside (within the 12-18 target audience). The main image is a very well known pop star Ariana Grande, well known for singing, and acting on children's TV show which will make her a very familiar and admirable icon to the reader as they will know who she is and most likely admire her for her talents and her appearance as he is very pretty. Like always on pop music magazines her face has been airbrushed to make her seem even more admirable. The story title "Ariana Unleashed" will appeal to the reader as it gives the impression that Ariana has been holding back something and she is finally letting it out, which will be very interesting to read about, her hand gesture also suggests this because it is as if she is shouting something out.  Unleashed could also suggest that she's breaking out of something, promoting rebellion to the reader, which is something that would appeal to the target audience as they are at the age where they are starting to want to rebel a bit- going out out, maybe drinking alcohol and going to parties, and if they see Ariana rebelling then they will think what they are doing is acceptable. The title of the magazine is placed in the top right third of the cover in a speech bubble. I love the way it is in a speech bubble as it really links to how chatty the text on the page is which I'm sure will be demonstrated in even more detail in the article from a double page spread in this magazine. Also, using a love heart instead of actually writing the word "love" out in the title will also appeal to the target audience as 12-18 year old's are in school, not loving it much most of the time, so would rather see pictures than read because they have to read in school. Also this age range are very familiar with texting and social networking, all which vastly contain the use of emoji's and emoticons, which is what the love heart looks like. Going back to the fact this age range won't be enjoying school much brings me to the bottom right third of the front cover where there is a caption saying "back to school" then the word school crossed out and replaced by "cool", which the reader will be able to relate to a lot because if they don't enjoy school they aren't going to find it cool, and since they are reading a pop music gossip magazine they are obviously going to be bothered about being cool as there are a lot of tips how to be like celebrities and follow trends in these types of magazines. From this magazine I will be definitely taking into account how chaotic the cover is, and how a lot of images, text and bright colours will really stand out among other magazines. The vast use of the colour pink is also something I had already decided will be featured on my front cover as a house style colour as well as on my contents page and double page spread.

I think the main focus of this contents page is the heading "We love this...". It is written in capitals to really exaggerate on what they are saying, then the ellipses at the end is used as a persuasive technique to make the reader want to read on. The majority of the page is taken up by images with page numbers next to them. I like the way this is done because it really simply visually shows to reader what page to go to if they are interested in the people that are on these images. All the images consist of well known celebrities. Mostly beautiful women whom the reader will want to look like, and attractive men whom the reader will probably crush on. The pink background and text connect with the front cover through the house style, and is very welcoming to girls. There is more writing in the writers note section then there is on the actual stories, and there is more images than both which conveys we love pop magazine as a very visual magazine, which highlights the fact that it's aimed at a low age range because it is a really simple to see what the magazine contains. The writers note is very informal and has very simple language which really makes the reader feel like it is directed towards them, which is very welcoming and something I will be including in my magazine. A difference in my magazine will be that I will take up more space for stories, and a few less images than used here.

This is a Christmas edition therefore doesn't completely fit the colour scheme of pink and blue, but it does still have a lot of the blue. Two of the main connotations of the colour blue are reliability and responsibility, which will link in with the integrity of the magazine and what is represents- that the stories they publish are all reliable. But also, the story is all revolved around Olly Murs. On the image he is surrounded by the colour blue suggesting that he is a responsible person, therefore the readers parents would approve of him being an idol. The article is set out in the same way as the other pop magazines I have studied in the format of question and answers, which is very chatty and informal, therefore easy for the reader to read. The fact the article is so chatty links to the speech bubble that the title is written on, and overall gives the magazine and very friendly and open vibe. The main image of the page is Olly himself, and he takes up the whole of the right hand side page which is something I like a lot, it looks quite simply made but it again makes the spread very visual like the front page and the contents page. It is a mid-shot of Olly so you can see his face clearly and see the clothes he is wearing. This appeals to the target audience as he is an attractive man, and it shows he is stylish and fashionable, something teenage girls are bothered about. The article it's self only has two columns which is different to usual articles as they usually contain three columns. I think this is because the page has a lot of images on which is a consolation for the third column. In my magazine I will be having three columns because I don't feel as though two is enough, but I will be using a large image that will fill up the majority of one side of the double page spread. A thing I really like on this page is the pun on the heading, I personally find it really clever and humorous and I am in the target age range, therefore think it would be good to think of a clever pun for my headline. 

Seventeen magazine full analysis

The colour orange is used a lot on the front cover of Seventeen magazine which represents social communication and optimism, linking to the main image on the page, as the model is smiling and has a very happy facial expression, showing she is a very optimistic person herself.  The colour purple used connotes imagination and creativity, linking to the some of the stories mentioned on the front page; for example "500+ fashion ideas", this will allow the reader to be creative in fashion . You can tell this magazine is solidly aimed at girls because of the stories. The subjects relating to "hair", "flat abs" and "periods" and very girl orientated and are things that the reader will be able to relate to, which makes it a lot more appealing. All of the font is bold which really stands out and makes the story-lines stand out, as well as making them seem more interesting as it stands out so much. On the top of the magazine it informs you that the magazine is the "Hair Issue" which is a sort of semantic field on the front cover, as hair is mentioned as a story on the front cover and on the main image, the focus of the girl is is her hair. It is the focus of the top two thirds, and her face isn't really photo-shopped like other magazines do to women, which makes the hair more of a focus than her face. This appeals to the target audience as teenage girls are very conscious about the way they look, which includes how their hair looks. She is a very well-known actress from the Tv series "the vampire diaries" which will automatically draw in fans, and also people who aren't fans as she is an attractive girl which teenagers will find admirable. As well as the fact she isn't photo-shopped much making her hair more noticeable is also shows how much of a natural beauty she is which is what and most girls want to be like, so they will look in the magazine to see if they can achieve this using the "253 new tips and tricks" and the "500+ fashion ideas". From this cover I get the sense of honestly, and naturalism, to me it comes across as a very trust worthy magazine and I don't feel like I have to worry about anything being faked or over-exaggerated. On this cover I love the way her hair as been edited onto the page so perfectly, all the hairs are there with non being cut off, and has an extremely professional look, which is something I'm going to work hard on in my magazine.

The contents page of Seventeen magazine is basically set out into 4 quarters of the page. The top right corner of the page is an image of two girls dressed up in quite fashionable clothing. They are doing quite typical teenage girl poses, which also looks very amateur. This has been put on this page as it will be very familiar to teenage girls. These are the types of poses they will do with their friends, and the type of clothes they will want to be wearing, therefore they will be interested in finding out in the magazine how them as normal teenage girls can also take part in wearing these fashionable clothes. The other three quarters are split into the main subjects of stories within the magazine, all containing images relating to the subject. This makes the subjects very visually obvious which is always a good thing when aimed at teenagers, and teenagers are stereotypically known to be fairly lazy, and images are something that would appeal very much to the target audience, There is an image of the girl group "Little mix" above the celeb chat section which takes away the amateur aspect shown in the first quarter, and shows there will still be a lot of professional aspects to the magazine. All of the stories are set of really simply and clearly with the page numbers large and the stories of the size with a little bit of information next to them. The actual stories are actually set out in a different colour (pink or blue, which is the colour scheme of this particular issue).  The colour pink used has connotations of girlishness and love, which are the main things usually covered a pop music magazine, it usually includes stories on celebrities love life, which you can see from the contents page is the case in this magazine. Like I've pointed out in my previous analysis's the colour pink is a colour that I will be using frequently in my music magazine. 

This double page spread colour scheme and house style matches the contents page on the previous image. The font is portrayed as very girly and has a large impact at the same time as it is bold  but has little flicks on the end of the letters to make it quite fancy and pretty, which is he type of font that typically appeals to girls. When I studied the top of the pops double page spreads, the main image was usually the main focus of a large section of the page whereas in this magazine the image only fits about a third of one side of the spread. There is a lot more text in the story then usually found in pop magazines. It is set out similar around half way through the story as top of the pops, when the story basis around questions and answers two and from the reporter and the celebrity. The language in the text is fairly simple, but a bit more complex and formal than top of the pops. This portrays Seventeen magazine has slightly more grown up and formal, which I found was also shown through the front cover as it wasn't as chaotic as other pop music magazines I have analysed . The main image on the page is of the celebrity who is getting interviewed, who again like in all my other examples is a very attractive young lady, who's face has been photo-shopped to make her look even more admirable to the reader. From this magazine I will be using the idea of my story being laid out as questions and answers, but more simply and less formal than Seventeen magazine does. Also, for the headline I really like the bold font with the flick on the end, I think this will really appeal to my target audience- but I will be using the colour pink rather than blue as it will fit better with the house style colours I have planned to use.

Top of the pops double page spread analysis's

The house style colours of pink and purple on this page instantly send the message that this story is going to be very girly and, and if you link the colours to the word “dating” on the headline of the story (which is a quote from the article) you make the connection that Taylor will be talking about boys, therefore more appealing to girls. The two main focuses for the eye on this double page spread is the caption, which takes up the top left and middle thirds, and the picture of Taylor take up the whole of the right hand-side third, which creates a sort of border to visually show the reader what to expect in this article, which is information about Taylor and her dating life. Her face is the focus of the top right third down to the fact that she is a very pretty celebrity icon whom many teenage girls look up to and admire because of her beauty, and this point is a place the eye is automatically drawn to, so it is easy for her to be admired. Her chest the focus of the bottom right third again to attract girls as this is a part of the body that is important to girls, but also to sexualised the image to attract a small percentage of boys. It is a mid shot so you can see all these areas, including the mise-en-scene of the image like hair, makeup and clothing. She is wearing quite a plain top so that you focus more on the topic f the story which is dating rather than fashion. But her hair looks very silky and well done, her face has been airbrushed to make her seem flawless- again as teenage girls will believe this is what they actually look like and aspire to be like this. The straight red lipstick she is wearing could again link to getting a male audience and red has connotations of seduction, but mainly is again used to enhance her beauty. The font on the headline used is the same font that is used on some of the top of the pops front covers and contents pages I’ve looked at, linking their house styles together. The font is bold to stand out, and has little curls on the edges of the writing to make it more girly. The image of Taylor takes up the majority of one of the pages and there is nothing but her face and the headline over the top third of the two pages. There are also two images within the story line which gives the reader and insight into what the article will be covering, and the whole article is set out into separate sections of the interviewer asking the interviewee questions, displayed as the questions in purple and the answers in black. The article consists of a regular 3 column structure on the left hand side page which is very typical of most magazine genres, but also contains an extra 4th column with the picture on the right hand side page which makes the page look slightly chaotic, similar to how the front covers of the top of the pops magazines are presented. I like this layout of the texts as it’s  informal and very easy to read. As a reader it makes you feel like you are involved in this conversation and understand what is going on very easily; therefore my article will be laid out very similar to this. It is very simple conversational language which is used which I think is ideal for my target audience, as 12-18 year old's will be in school, and will do a lot of reading of formal texts with complicated language, so when they get home they won’t want to be feeling like they are doing school work when reading, they just want to be relaxed with a simple article.  I also like how the main image covers nearly a whole side, and I love the hearts placed in the background behind the headline and Taylor's head, I will also experiment into doing something similar to this in my magazine. 

The colour scheme in this version of a top of the pops double page spread is different. It still has a hint of pink, but is more of a peachy-red colour covering the page. The font colour is the same colour of the clothing that Justin Beiber is wearing which is the main image. Similarly to the previous article, the main image fills up nearly the whole of one side, and the main focus points are his face, and his groin area, the two most stereotypical places a teenage girl would be attracted to on a famous boy. It is a long shot to show is all body, and the groin area is being thrust forward towards the bottom right third point to make is a focus point for the reader to look at as soon as they open this page of the magazine. The same font is used for the title, bold with flicks on the ends of the letters to make it more girly. The article is set out as a conversation to make it informal and easy to read. The layout of the page is very simple and nice to look at, front the colour scheme linking everything together to the images being placed in focus points for the reader. The article is set out in a regular 3 column structure which is very common of most genres of magazines, making it easy to read, nice to look at, and doesn't overwhelm the reader too much. The facial expression of Justin on the main image is very straight and serious which makes the magazine seem less childlike and a bit more serious, which will appeal to the target audience as 12-18 year old's are wanting to be taken more seriously so this could make them feel like less of a child. In my double page spread I my main image will be focused on the right page taking up the majority of the page, and my model will most likely have quite a serious facial expression to send off the same message to the reader as top of the pops does.

On this version of top of the pops the main image covers the whole of the right side page. The house style pink colour is used for the on the title, and when questions are asked within the text, the same layout as the articles above. Again, this photo has been sexualised by making the focus point of the main image her bum and chest area, in the middle third of the image. This article brings across a very different theme to the other two I have studied. The other two were about dating and relationships, very girly. Whereas this article demonstrates rebellion which is something many 12-18 year old's will try out at some point. This shows a large variety of subject topics within the magazine which tells me that when creating mine I need to have a large variety of different subjects shown in my contents page. The font for the title isn't bold in this article, it is more harsh italics which links to how most teenage girls will suffer through the harshness of discovering themselves, and the italics show how many will be able to relate as italics are usually used for speech and the reader will be able to personally voice their opinion to themselves when reading this. The story is very shocking in comparison to the stories you usually find in these magazines which is emphasized  by Cher's facial expression on the main image. I think this appeals to the target audience as you find out in this article that it's about rebellion and something most parents don't approve off therefore teenagers will subconsciously be drawn to it. I find this story line intriguing but for my article I'm going to stick with a story about relationships or love, as it's a lot more common in pop magazines, especially when the target audience is vastly aimed at teenage girls, who are just discovering and are fascinated by love and relationships. On all 3 of the top of the pops double page spreads two different colours have been used for the headline, I will be using black and pink, and will most likely be a quote from the article like all these examples have shown. From this article in specific, I like how the drop cap at the start of the article is highlighted pink, it is done quite messy on this example to demonstrate the rebellion of the story but I am going to take this as inspiration -along with the other areas of pink on this page which really emphasizes the girlyness of the magazine genre. The language like in all of the examples I've analysed is very conversational and open, which is something I'll definitely be taking as inspiration for my article. 

Top of the pops contents analysis's

The contents page from the old edition of “top of the pops”  is set out very simply and has specific laid out sections to help the reader easily find their way through the magazine.  The bright pink colours links to the front cover demonstrating their house style. The page numbers are scattered around the contents page in large bold writing, again showing the simplicity of the format. The abbreviation of the word “magazine” to “mag” as the title of the contents page really links to the age range of the target audience being around 12-18. This is the age most children will be getting a phone/social media and using text talk, to will be very familiar language to them. A thing I like about this contents page is that there is a photograph of the front page, which page number annotations around it informing you what page to find all the images and information from the front page within the magazine. I think this is very useful as I find it many magazine you are very drawn in and interested by the things seen on the front cover, but are often hard to find within the magazine; this makes it a lot easier to find the stories you are interested in, again appropriate for the target audience as teenagers are stereotypically impatient and easily bored. I love the layout of this contents page and the way they are set out into different columns; “we love boys”, “celebs & gossip” ect. These features will definitely influence my contents page, as well as the pink colour scheme used for the font and different features within the page.

The newer addition of “top of the pops” is set out in a similar way but with a different colour scheme. Rather than pink they have used purple which is less over-the-top and could be seen as more mature (personally I prefer the pink and think it appeals more to the target audience). The page numbers which are plotted around the page aren’t as bold or bright but still do the job in making it easier for the reader to find the exact story/page they are wanting to go to. In the top right section of the page there is a writers not which is very personal and welcoming to the readers. The note starts with “Hey Girls” which again is personal and will appeal to the target audience as this is the type of informal way they interact with each other, or like to be interacted with in the way. Again it has the picture of the front cover telling you where everything is found within the magazine which I think is an excellent idea to keep the readers drawn in. The “Inside your mag” title is written inside a speech bubble linking to the fact that everything is fairly chatty in this magazine and informal. It has a purple background linking to the house style and is overall nice to look at which again appeals to the target audience as teenage girls are very interested in their appearance therefore the layout of this magazine will have an influence on how engrossed they are to the magazine. From this contents page I’m going to make the idea of having an informal and personal writers note- most likely on the contents page.

This contents page is very similar to the previous one. The purple house style has been brought through.  Like in the other contents pages there are a lot of photos of people/things that are to be featured within the magazine. This makes the magazine very visual which I find will appeal to the target audience a lot. Since the target audience ages range is 12-18 they are going to be in school, so that means that they will be having to do a lot of reading within school (which will probably not seem very enjoyable to them) so they won’t be very interested in reading much outside of school. Having lots of pictures means that not too much reading will be involved and will be able to drawn into the magazine through the pictures, rather than having to read lots and zoning out mid-way through. This is something I’m going to take into consideration when creating my magazine, making sure that the focus isn’t writing it is images. Also, all of the images are fairly bright, and contain either a mid shot/close up to see the faces of the people (usually to see how attractive they are), or a longshot to see their clothing. I think this is a good idea for my magazine as the target audience are at the age where they are bothered about their appearance and clothing, and will be easily influenced/inspired by a magazine.





Top of the pops front cover analysis's

The house style colours of pink, purple and red  and the sparkly font informs you that the magazine is mainly aimed at young girls, which is also emphasised through the fact that the majority of photo’s on the cover are girls, and under the photo of the boys is the caption “who’s the fittest?”, a question a young girl would answer about the two pop stars. The front cover reaches it’s target audience as there are several very well known celebrities on it, which means the stories within the magazine will be about these people. There is a story called “GAGA at school” which will interest the target audience as the target audience will mainly be girls ages 12-18, who are typically still in school. Something else that will appeal to this age range and gender is the story “your most embarrassing body worries solved” as girls in between the age of 12 and 18 are starting to worry about their body image and become self-conscious, and the name of the story suggests that this magazine can help with these issues. The main image is a very famous celebrity, and her face his focused in the top middle third of the page which makes her the first thing you look at one the page, as she is also the largest photo on the page. She has a lot of makeup on, and has clearly been airbrushed which many young girls in this target audience would find admirable, and find her very beautiful; this means they would most likely want to be like her, influencing their decision on buying the magazine. Also having the story headline “I’ve beaten my haters” under her gets the audience and insight into what topics are going to be covered in the magazine, leaving them curious to know more. A very feminine and glamorous brand is constructed through the sparkly bright fonts and colour scheme to the attractive main image, I also think these are the main aspects that make this a successful front cover. In my magazine I will be using a similar pink and purple colour scheme, and I will have the name of my brand written in bright sparkly writing. I will also have a large main image of a glamorous/attractive girl and a very chaotic layout with a lot of images, information  and colours.

All the top of the pops magazines are aimed at girls aged around 12-18 which is shown through the pink house style, as pink has connotations of girls. The main image being Justin Bieber is also very appealing to girls because he is young, attractive, stylish and a very well-known pop-singer. There are many pictures of other well-known celebrities around the sides  of the page , both male and female, as young girls either admire or have a crush on these people. This magazine cover is set out very chaotic which is something I am going to feature on my front cover, as well as the square boxes of other celebrities down the side showing stories I will feature to portray my magazine as something that contains a lot of information, containing a mix of boys and girls, but mainly pretty girls and attractive boys which seems to be a running matter throughout all of the top of the pops magazines.

The layout of this magazine cover is very similar to the previous one for the pictures down the side, and the person featured in the main story focused at the front. The house style colours of blue pink and yellow are again brought through and the cover contains a mix of pretty girls and attractive boys, showing that it is mainly aimed at girls. Pink is stereotypically a girly colour, and yellow is very bright and happy which will appeal more to teenage girls than boys. And the light blue colour has connotations if the sky, which automatically makes me think of girls reading this magazine with there head in the clouds in a daydream, admiring the boys in the magazine and aspiring to be like the girls. On the main image of Ariana Grande, you can tell that her face has been airbrushed, which was also the case with the feature of top of the pops containing Jessie J, which is something I will be doing in my magazine to my cover girl, to create the flawless effect which teenage girls will strongly admire.

Premilinary Task -School Magazine

From my premilinary task I discovered the problem caused from stretching images. It lead to my models bodies and faces looking out of preportion which makes my magazine a lot less believeable. In my music magazine I'm going to make sure that all my photos are kept to preportion to so it is kept looking professional. A few things I really liked from my premilinary task though was my house style colour theme and my font choice, which ran throughout my front cover and contents page. The blue and white house style linked to the school's house style colours, which would be very familiar to readers from the school, and does not seem too over the top in the slightest. And the old school font I used worked very well as it is traditonally used in school magazines, and stands out a lot among the blue background.

From my research I found that it most school magazines the stories are spread out over a double page spread, therefore on the contents page the page numbers for the stories go up in twos, allowing an appropriate amount of pages and stories, enough to fill the space in my contents page. I took pictures that link to the stories which is what I intend to do in my music magazine, but my layout here is very simple and for my music magazine I am going to make it more interesting.

Blog introduction

Hello, I'm Sophie and this is my blog to inform you about my pop music magazine. I will be showing the process of my colour scheme, fonts, photographs and everything linking to my magazine. Throughout this process I will be analysing real media products from the pop music industry as inspiration and a guide for my magazine.