Front cover analysis 3

MOJO magazine front cover analysis

I have analysed a front cover of MOJO magazine featuring Madonna. I have outlined major magazine features such as the Masthead, the colour schemes and the context of her poses. Her pose with her mouth open and the cross accessory mimicking a religious relic plays with the belief in god and the contact with Satan. The word confessions is on the cover page which implies that she has done wrong. The licking of the cross could depict the mocking of god rather than the worshiping of him and could suggest she is working with the devil but only pretending to be good and pure. This image plays with sex appeal in a different way to nudity. It works on implications and connotations rather than what meets the eye. 

I am planning to use the monochrome colour scheme on my magazine front cover sticking to the indie genre. And I prefer the idea of implied sex appeal rather than outright sex appeal however this would be difficult to capture in my own way and may not be suitable for the images and style ideals of my models and created artists, therefore I will not be using this in my own magazine creation.

Elle  

Front cover analysis 2

INDIE magazine front cover analysis

I have analysed this front cover of INDIE style magazine to compare the fashion with other magazines primarily focused on music.

On this front cover I have identified the features of the models makeup, clothing and hair based on the genre conventions. 

The hair and accessories on this front cover do not fit with the theme I am trying to put across therefore I wont be using them in my magazine however, I plan to base some of my models makeup on this magazine. The makeup is feminine and plain so the model can still be identified and is not dehumanized. I like the idea of dressing the model in accessories and clothing to suit my genre and my theme but using makeup where the model can still be identified. 

Elle 

Front cover analysis 1

Rolling Stones magazine front cover analysis 

I have analysed a front cover of Rolling Stone magazine featuring Lana Del Rey. I have outlined major magazine features such as the Masthead, the colour schemes and the context of her poses. Her pose with her mouth open wearing a swim suit uses sex appeal. She is barely dresses showing a lot of skin in the major areas chest, arms and legs. The colour scheme is also monochrome which I am planning to use on my magazine front cover sticking to the indie genre.

Elle 

Style Inspiration

My style icon

After analysing many magazines and artists I have decided to use Lana Del Ray as my inspiration and style icon. Lana Del Rey portrays a twisted pop princess look, verging on a dark version of the American dream. She dresses in a vintage style and her hair mimics the American pin up in some images. She also poses in a way that makes her look confident in herself but not too cocky. This is something I want to try and portray in my magazine.

My model Katie is going to portray my artist ‘Juniper Grey’ a Lana Del Rey inspired singer who has recently broke from her band ‘Forget Me Not’. I will attempt to copy Lana Del Rey’s ideals but using my own personal twist. I intend to use the theme of a twisted, princess figure, in my proposal I plan to dress ‘Juniper’ in dark clothing, a leather or denim jacket and a black top, playing on the dark and twisted theme, this will also foreshadow world domination and rapid fame, however, I want to contrast this look with a lot of pink or so called ‘girly’ formalities to portray her princess feel and keep her image feminine. 

Elle

Genre decision

My decision on genre

I have decided to produce an Indie music magazine. I have collected several examples of indie genre music magazine front covers, contents pages and double page spreads from magazines such as Q and NME. I am going to analyse the existing magazines to outline the format and genre conventions for my own creation. I will analyse them based on the adherence and subversion of the genre conventions as well as features such as mastheads, colour schemes, font and style.

Elle

Muisc magazine planning

For my magazine I have to pick genre music to study and create my music on. I'm currently deciding between pop and indie. 

I initially thought a pop music magazine as pop is the current music in the top 40 and played frequently, therefore I thought this would be relevant for me to produce as I know a lot on current affairs in the pop music world. As a result of this my music magazine could be more realistic and current. However, a drawback of choosing a pop magazine is the style of photographs used. Most pop photographs that are taken are in a studio rather than on location shots, which could prove difficult finding models that are available during school hours to use or studio in the school grounds.

Producing an indie magazine means I can use more on location shots rather than studio shots, on the other hand the style ideals may present as a challenge because my friends that are available to model do not tend to dress with the indie style conventions. This means that I have to contact various people to access costumes I could use in my magazine.   

Elle

Preliminary Task

Before we were allowed to start making our actual music magazine we had to complete a preliminary task. It was a pass or fail task and no grades were given; it was to asses my ability to use the programmes, Photoshop and InDesign, before I set out to design my actual magazine.  

I had to design a school magazine. Certain criteria were set which I had to meet in order to pass the task. We had to include:

A cover page and a contents page

A medium close up of a student for the cover

At least four images in total over the entire piece of work

At least 4 school related stories on the contents page and cover

Any photographs used in our magazine had to be taken ourselves

I managed to fulfil these criteria and passed my preliminary task. Now I'm moving on to designing the music magazine I mentioned in my first post. For the music magazine we have to use similar criteria hence the setting of the guidelines in the first place however this time I have to stick to the genre conventions of the genre music I am creating my magazine for example, a pop music magazine or an indie music magazine.  

Elle