Research

I have chosen to do the print brief where i will create a front cover, contents page and a double page spread for a new music magazine. The first thing i did was to research for my preliminary task which was looking at examples of sixth form magazines.

I analysed similar texts. I looked for examples of 6thform magazines and music magazines on the internet to see how they are layed out and to give me some ideas for my 6thform magazine. I analysed the magazines by writing information about what I need to include on my magazine for my task.

Below are print screens and descriptions of my research of 6thform and music magazines front covers:
The first thing that the reader sees on the front cover of the magazine is the title. The title is in a large, bold and a professional font. this represents the magazine as being classy and gives the school a good look. The next thing that the reader sees is the line of photos just below the title. These photos catch the readers eye as they are displayed very well and are in good quality. Below these photos there are some more text which gradually get smaller the lower you go down. This represents the importance of each bit of text. The most important text is at the top and in a large font, and the not as important text is near the bottom. At the bottom of the magazine there is another photo of the front of the school. This is faded into the background which also catches the readers eye and again makes it look professional. Finally, the background of the front cover is a cross between grey and light blue which makes it easy on the eye and makes it easy for the reader to read off.
Firstly, the title is in a very large font which covers nearly one half of the front cover. It is sideways down the page and is transparent so the reader can see the photo behind the title. All these things catch the readers attention so they want to read on. The next thing on the front cover of the magazine is the smaller informative text. This text is much smaller than the title but it is big enough to read. There isn't that much text on the page but this is good as too much would make the front cover look messy. The two photos on the front cover are both faded into the background to give a good affect which makes the page look more interesting. The background is basically the one big photo of the sixth form centre. it fills the whole page and acts as a background for the front cover.
The title on the front cover of this music magazine is very large, bold and stands out on the page. The sub headings are in a smaller and different font to the title so they stand out. The text below the title gradually gets smaller as it goes down the page. The background is a photo of a celebrity which covers the whole page. There are two other photos on the front cover. They are good quality photos which stand out to the reader.

Firstly, the title is in a very large, bold font with a very distinctive colour which makes it stand out and makes it clear for the reader to see. The colour of the title is the same throughout the front cover with the other text on the page. The next bit of text on the page is smaller than the title and some of it is the same colour as the title which makes it look good. The background is just plain white. Although its a plain colour, it works well for the magazine as it goes well with the other colours on the page. The photo on the front cover, covers nearly the whole page. It catches the readers eye because of its size and that its a celebrity.

These are the print screens and descriptions of my research of music magazine contents:

This music magazine contents has two tittles on it. It has the name of the actual magazine and the title of this certain page. They both are in a large, bold font and stand out more than the rest of the text on the page. It has lots of text on the right hand side to show what is in the rest of the magazine. This text is smaller than the title but it is still big and is easy to read. There is a photo of a celebrity which is part of the main article. It fills nearly the whole page to show the significance of its importance. Below the photo, there is part of the main article in the magazine to make the reader want to read on. Finally, the background is white but it compliments the other colours of the text and the photo and makes them stand out more.
Here is a similar magazine contents. It has nearly the exact same layout as the last contents. This shows that most magazine contents are based on the same layout. The title is in a very large and bold font which has a strip of black behind it to make it stand out more. Below the title, there is a photo of a celebrity who is a part of the main article. On the right hand side of the page there is some smaller font text which shows what is in the rest of the magazine and at the bottom of the page, there is part of the main article in the magazine to give the reader a taste of what is in the magazine.The text gradually gets smaller which relates the importance of each part of text. The background is white but all the other colours from the text and photo make up for the lack of colour on the background.

These are the print screens and descriptions of my research for the music magazine double page spreads:

Firstly the title of the double page spread is in a large and bold font which covers most of the top part of the first page. It has a splattered paint effect on the title to make it look more exiting. There is a photo below the the title on the first page which relate to the article that is underneath. It is a big photo so the reader can see it and is drawn to it. The photo has a caption underneath it to tell the reader what it is about. It has lots of text underneath the photo which are full articles about a certain subject. The text is in a very small font so all of it can fit onto the page because some of them are long articles. On the next page there is a huge advert covering the whole page. This will definitely catch the readers eye just because of the size of it.

There isn't a proper title on this double page spread which is unusual as there is normally always a title. However, there are many sub headings which are all in a large and bold font which represents each different article. There is an advert on the first page like the previous magazine. It covers the whole page. This is a good spot to put the advert on as this is the first thing the reader will see. It has clear, bold text with a professional looking image. On the next page there is a large photo at the top which relates to one of the articles. Underneath the photo there are many articles which have very small text just like the other double page spread. The background is bright and colourful which will catch the readers eye and bits of text is highlighted to tell the reader that its important.