Analysis of front cover:

Stage one:

This is the image I have decided to use for my front cover with the help of opnions from my target audience and my teachers. I found it gave a pop feel and it has enough space for coverlines and the title of the magazine around the artist. I will need to brighten and enlarge the image so it stands out and attracts the target audience. As i previously stated this image is unique and this is a big part of why i selected it, the smile on the models face indicates a friendly artist attracting the audience to the new artist and making them want to read about the new pop sensation. The girlie high fashion outfit is want i intended my target audience's clothing style to be like.







Stage two:

To enlarge the image i made sure i used the chain tool so it did not blur or stretch the photo. This made the artist appear larger and brought her head higher up the page making her eyes the main focus. I then made the image brighter my usinng the enhance button on the toolbar, i selected adjust lighting and then brightness/contrast which allowed me to slide a arrow to how bright or dull i wanted the image to be, as you can see from the previous image i increased the brightness and it has made the artist stand out alot more. Also i have removed the skirting boards, i have done this by using the clone stamp tool as well as the eydropper tool to select the colour above the skirting boards to blend the wall colour right down to the floor. This makes the cover look alot more professional as most magazines wouldn't have a skirting board in their images. I also started to add in the title of the magazine, the main headline and the strapline. I do not like the colour of the main headline as it is very dull and doesnt appeal to my target audience, this will be changed to attract my targer audience's eye.

Stage three:

I wasn't entirely happy with the colour scheme in stage two so i decided to change it to the brighter colour of pink. I prefered this as I think it looked a lot more like pop teen mag, I also moved the strapline to the top of the page above the title which made the appearance of the magazine fit in well with all the elements. I also resized the image for a second time so the artist head could partially cover the title and make it look like a typical music magazine. To put the model's head over the title i had to cut her head out using the lasso tool to create another layer in photoshop. This took alot of time and effort but created the effected I wanted. As the artist hair was not flat i had to work around the strands of hair, therefore i had to use the eraser tool to remove part of the wording of the title which overlaped the artist's head. I used to different shades of pink for the title and coverlines so the audience wouldn't get tierd of seeing the same colour over and over again.

Fourth and final stage:


This is my final front cover, i added in the rest of my coverlines as well as a pug featuring festivals that my target audience would enjoy and could find out if their favourite artists were playing at them. I created my pug using the rectangle tool but changed the shape to a circle like a typical pug. I made the other coverlines smaller so that the main headline about the artist on the cover stood out. I included the magazines website at the bottom of Starstruck so readers can clearly see it and visit the site to find out much more interesting information. I have not included advertisements due to my anserws recieved in my poll. They disliked these and therefore i did not include them and this will attract my audience to the magazine.

Possible photos for the front cover:
Photo One:

Out of the possible photos i have chosen to use as my front cover my favourite was this one. Although the picture has dark lighting this can be changed in photoshop to brighten the image and make it the main selling point to the magazine. The artist has great eye contact with the audience which is vital for the front cover of any music magazine, by having lots of space around and above the artist there is room for a strapline, coverlines and pugs therefore the front cover will not be overcrowded. I could also resize the image to make the artist appear larger and stand out in the middle of the front cover. The pose of the artist in this image was very unique and would be a great selling point in the shops as the audience will be attracted to how she is portrayed. At the bottom of the white wall is a certing board which looks unprofessional, I can remove this in photoshop giving the image a cleaner and a professional look about the cover.


Photo two:

Although i liked the pose of the model in this picture the background was very busy and this would make it harder to adapt in photoshop. There is eye contact with the reader, however the right eye is covered my the artist fringe and makes the image appeal to a rock genre rather than pop. The image overall does not give off the pop vibe i intended to create and therefore this wouldnt be a good picture to use for the front cover. The image is also slightly out of focus and doesn't draw immediate attention to the artist which should be the main aim when creating a front cover of any magazine. The dark clothing of the model blends into the background and this would be hard for the lasso tool to cut out the person and again this doesn't make the artist stand out.





Photo Three:

I began to use this image as my front cover but then i found it to be aimed towards a fashion magazine rather than a music magazine. Although my target audience would be interested in this, it is not the purpose of my magazine and I therefore decided to use photo one. Another problem i would have had if i used this image was not enough white space around and above the artist, there would be no room for a strapline and the title for the magazine at the top of the cover, this is due to the shot being a close up and leaving hardly any background for any coverlines. The lighting is poor in this image, however when using photoshop it can brighten the image and the shadow around the models head could also be removed.

Ideas for photo shoot:

I will be using various background images for my front cover, contents and double page spread, my main idea for the front cover is to have a simplistic background i.e. a white background, so the artist stands out and grabs the target audiences attention. I am going to use numerous outfits and poses for the images, i will then analyse particular photos i like and this will help me to decide which photos will be used for the magazine.

Front cover ideas:

On my cover i will be using simple backgrounds such as a plain wall or a brick wall, the artist will be dressed fashionably to stand out on the page with dramatic make up giving the feel of a pop magazine. As pop music doesnt tend to me associated with instruments on magazine covers props such as guitars wont be used, however a microphone could be used to show the artist performing.

Contents page ideas:

On my contents page I will be using various pictures of the main artist and smaller images of a second artist to show the reader what else the magazine includes. I will have a girl band dressed as my target audience would be for a night out at a club, i will be using plain backgrounds for this as well as a dark location with a busy background.

Double page spread ideas:

The double page spread will relate to the image on the front cover, the artist will be the feature of a interview with different images of the artists in different locations and outfits. One of my ideas was for the artist to be at a park and i liked the idea of chains on the swings to take it away slighly from the girly girl image, also a metal fence behind the artist would give a good affect on the double page spread to make it more dramatic and will be the focus of the double page spread.

Analysis of questionnaire results

More female's took my poll than males, this is helpful as my target audience is aimed at girls and i can use the results to help design and create my magazine. Mainly 17 year olds took my poll than any other age bracket this is similar to my target audiences age of 18 and also shows me how what they think about magazines. Their favourite genre of music was a close call between indie and pop music, this shows me how my targer audience also enjoys this genre of music and i can incorporate this into my magazine by adding stories about festivals that would appeal to the whole of my target audience. My target audience seem to be very active and enjoy going out with their friends this can help me in adding information to my magazine about events in the pop industry such as concerts by their favourite pop artists. The question how do you listen to your music told me that the majority listen to their music by their ipods this tells me that if i included songs to download on to your ipod right now it would be appreciated and the target audience would use them for their ipod. Most of the poll voters liked artist who are big in the charts right now and are well known celebritys, so by including a story line about a well known artist the magazine is more than likely to be sold, when my target audience by their magazines they are willing to pay around £3 and therefore this is what i will price my magazine at and will be displayed on the front cover. On the front cover i will be including one main image and an exclusive story as this is what interest my audience and this will make my magazine sell. I have found out from my poll that my audience does not like to see adverts and offers in the magzine, I therefore will keep these to a minimum.

Analysis of contents page




















My first intial design came from the idea of Q magazine with a few images to make the page look interesting. The features are listed in the top left hand corner below the title of the contents page, by placing the features here is is quick and simple to find. The page number is at the bottom of the page and will be in this particular place throught out the magazine to give it a house style. There will be big page numbers on the images so if the image appeals to the reader they can instantly find the article realting to this image.




















Initial idea two: My second design has a editors letter on the left hand side of the page, this is common in most magazines and therefore can be viewed as a typical music magazine. A large image of the artist will be placed in the top right hand corner of the page drawing the readers eye. The features will be under different sections according to what that feature relates to. Again this is typical of magazines i have viewed and analysed and so it will look professional.




















Inital idea three: My final initial idea has the one main image on the right hand side of the page. This contents page looks good with the one image as it is so large and therefore will not need smaller images surrounding it to make it look interesting. The name of the magazine will be across the top of the page rather than the word contents which can sound slightly childish at times. The date of the issue will be under this heading as well as the magazines website, this is helpful for the reader. Similar to initial design two the features of the magazines will be under headings, i used this idea again as i think it works well and looks neat.