Reflection On Analysis
- 1. Lee Johnson Reflection on Front Cover Analysis From my front cover analysis, I now have a strong understanding of the common conventions that are used to build a successful front cover. There are many methods that the magazines use to create eye catching and interesting front covers for the audience. The most common and obvious convention of a magazine front cover is to have the model/models looking directly at the camera, by doing this they are connected to the reader. I have found that the camera is using at a mid-shot, however on the front cover of ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine with Bob Marley, a close up is used. I believe this is because Bob Marley is recognisableworldwide; therefore I will not be able to do this in the production of my own music magazine. On the front covers of most magazines, the person/people on it is very famous, which as a result makes the magazine’s sales increase. Another very important feature of a magazine front cover is the colour scheme. Whether or not the colours on the page compliment each other will strongly influence the target audience’s decision to purchase the magazine. As a result of this, I am going to ensure that my colour scheme throughout my magazine is tidy, whilst also reflecting the genre of the magazine. Most magazines have their own iconic colour schemes; therefore I am intending to develop my own iconic colour scheme for my magazine. The fonts that are used on the front covers are usually simplistic and not very complex which makes the writing easily readable from a distance, which will catch the reader’s eye. Generally, magazines use simple bold fonts which make the magazine inviting for the reader. Reflection on Contents Page Analysis I have discovered that the contents page is a very important part of a magazine. From my analysis of some magazine contents pages, I have defined the key concepts that go into the making of these pages, and also the usual things that the reader will expect to see. One thing that is key in magazine contents pages is clear page numbers next to the article heading. This allows the reader the clearly find an article that takes their interest, and quickly be able to find the right page. Generally, there is also a brief summary of what the article is about near the article heading, which further allows the reader to make a decision whether or not to jump to the article. Usually in these summaries, the language used makes the reader intrigued and want to read more. Contents pages have to be easy to navigate, as I found from my research that the most successful contents pages were the simple ones. I believe that there should not be any writing or images on the page that doesn’t clearly have to be there, as this will lead to the page being cluttered and appear disorganised. I think that out of the contents pages I analysed, ‘Q’ magazine’s contents page was the most inviting. This is because it was clear, well laid-out, simple and easy to navigate. I am going to ensure that my magazine contents page has all of these traits. I have found that the colours that are used on the contents pages follow the colour scheme of the front cover; as a result, the magazine begins to have its own iconic colours. An example of this is the red, white and black of ‘NME’ magazine. I will ensure that the colour scheme of my own magazine reflects the genre and is consistent throughout all of the pages of the magazine.
- 2. Lee Johnson Reflection on Double Page Spread Analysis From my analysis into existing magazine double page spreads, I have decided on the layout and style of my magazine double page spread. A style that was present in most of the double page spreads that I analysed was the main image being on either the left or right hand side of the double page, and the main body of text being on the opposite side. In some of the double page spreads, there were also smaller images included. I believe that the simple style of the main image on one side and the main text on the other is very successful, as it does not confuse the reader and it is very straight to the point. I plan on using a similar style on my magazine double page spread. The image is the most important part of a double page spread as it will be the very first thing that the reader looks at. It needs to be eye catching and it has to make a strong impression on the reader so that they will read on. I have also found out through my research that the double page spread usually has an appealing, short and distinctive title which will be the second thing that the reader looks at after the main image. The title has to be interesting and relevant to the article. For example, on one of the existing double page spreads that I analysed, the article was on the Notorious B.I.G. And the title of the article was ‘The B.I.G Picture’. This is relevant to the article and short and catchy. I am going to use a similar technique when creating my magazine double page spread.