"To create a magazine you need to have inspiration,our ideas do not simply create themselves in our heads we need to be inspired in order to create pieces of art."
Below I have researched various magazines, this enabled me to interpret strong ideas and designs for my magazine and also gain knowledge of what a magazine simply constructs of (also known as codes and conventions), this was a key part to my magazine construction and helped the creation and production of my magazine easier and more easier to produce. Below are a list of magazine inspirations, a collection of ideas that I also brought together to complete the final piece.
Kerrang!
Basics: A UK magazine focusing solely on Rock music published by Bauer Music Group.
Inspirational texts:
Front cover
- The magazine consists of a three pallet scheme of yellow, black and white. This caught my eye and I thought it created a very consistent, neat cover making it look professional.
- Posed photo, making it professional and enabling interpretation of facial expressions.
- Different,unique and eye-catching.
Contents- Variety of images that enable readers to see inside stories easily.
- Consistent colour scheme and highlighted headings.
- Stereotypical images of rock/indie artists relating to the music genre and type of magazine.
- Typical symbols that enable precise interpretation of genre and type of magzine.
Double page spread
- A stable strong image that creates enough importance to fill the right hand side of the page. Enables audience to know exactly who the article is about at first glance.
- Very little writing, double page spread is based more around the creative look than the intellectual read and story.
NME
Basics: The New Musical Express, popularly known by the initialism NME, is a music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952.
Inspirational texts:
Front cover- Strong four pallet colour scheme.
- Image with good eye-line match therefore engages with the audience.
- Clear, precise sell lines.
- No white space, every area of the front page has information or image there.
- Contents
- Clear index of bands therefore favourite bands can be found and also gives the magazine a genre just from looking at the names.
- Few images, although this allows focus on the “subscribe today” therefore this is a main sell point and attract readers more.
- Sub-headings make it easier for readers to quickly devise the article they are looking for and what interests them.
- Image taking up half a page, very dominant and exciting. Allows us to see precisely what the article is about.
- Little writing although concise, interesting and in columns - therefore organised. From looking at these various texts from two magazine company's in which I wanted to portray ideas from, I was able to gain a substantial knowledge of magazines and what they needed to consist of, while also creating my ideas for my product.
