Ancillary 1

Introduction To Magazine Front Cover

Research

Example Cover/review Page
I have completed this magazine front cover analysis to gain a greater understanding of the conventions used on magazine front covers.
I have labelled the front cover with the correct terminology, for example: 'masthead', 'buzzword' and 'cover line'.

Conclusion
From analysing this magazine front cover I now feel as though I have a clear understanding of what is coventional of a front cover. Although the product I will be creating is a TV listings magazine, the analysis of this women's magazine has still been very helpful. Completing this task has given me inspiration and has helped me think about the layout of my own front cover. My awareness of fonts and sizes has additionally increased and I will pay a lot of attention to these aspects of the front cover when it comes to producing my own.


Analysis of Similar Texts
For this task I have researched into three similar texts to the one I am going to produce. I have chosen three different TV listings magazines: 'tv choice', 'what's on tv' and 'inside soap'. I used a variety of TV listings magazines to gain a wide and varied knowledge on what mine should look like.

Publications of Soap Magazines

Conclusion
Completing this task has made me realise that I may need to include more than one image on the front cover. When it comes to planning my production this is going to be important as I will have to make sure I have the right costume, props and actors/actresses to do this for me. It additionally appears to be conventional for the front cover to contain a multitude of different characters from different soaps. This makes the magazine look more interesting and helps to appeal to a wider audience.
I found the use of buzzwords such as: 'KILLER' to be really effective and will certainly consider incorporating something like this into my own product.
Lastly and possibly the most significant thing I noticed was the use of colour. On all of the front covers I have analysed the colours are very bright and eye catching. This appears to be conventional of this type of magazine and additionally makes it stand out on the shelf attracting both regular and impulse buyers. A magazine needs to look busy and brightly coloured as this gives the audience the impression that it is worth their money and will contain a wide variety of stories within.


Style File
I have produced this style file to focus on 4 main elements of a magazine front cover. I have analysed 5 different magazines: heat, the radio times, cosmopolitan, reveal and closer.
The 4 things I have looked at within these magazines are: colour, layout, fonts and details.

Conclusion
This task has additionally been really helpful when it comes to thinking about planning my first ancillary task. It has given me a clear idea of where I want my production to go. For instance studying the layout has made me realise that although taking a variety of pictures may be hard to do... it will make the magazine look conventional and will be more likely to attract my audience's attention. This task has additionally helped me think about price. As my target audience are young people they are not all going to be working or earning their own income. As they may not have a disposable income, they would be more likely to buy my product if it is clearly advertised at a low price.

Planning-

Moodboard
I have produced this moodboard in order for all of my ideas to be in one place. I have included aspects such as: cover lines, details, colours, images and text/fonts.

Conclusion
Producing this moodboard has solidified the ideas I have for my TV listings magazine. For example thinking about colour scheme/house style has been really useful as it has helped me visualise what my cover will look like. From this I have been able to think about the costume and props what the characters will wear in the main cover image for the magazine to look professional and creative.
The task I found most helpful was testing and trying the different fonts. I found some of the fonts on a website called 'dafont' and the other fonts on 'indesign'.
From this task I feel confident when it comes to producing my front cover as I have thought in detail about what I need and who I will need to make my ideas work.


Draft Layout
I have produced 2 draft designs for my magazine front cover. I have tried to make them as conventional as possible so therefore have included aspects such as: a large masthead, a cover image, additional images and borders.

Layout 1-
My first draft follows the Z layout which is aesthetically pleasing for my audience. They will read the masthead, then the main cover image then the tagline and additional images underneath. It will make my cover look contemporary and it will flow.
I have positioned my main image in the centre of the magazine. This image is of two of the main characters (Jamie and Sophie). This will be particularly interesting for the audience as Jamie is seen to be the murderer in the trailer for my soap. Sophie will look young and vulnerable and this will therefore foreshadow that Sophie may be the victim of yet another murder. (However once watching the soap this may be a twist and therefore may not be the truth).
I have included a variety of text and have used additional images at the bottom of the page to appeal to a more varied audience. For example I have included 'celebs caught on camera'. This is likely to attract more than just my target audience. People that are not particularly interested in soaps may be interested in celebrities and therefore will purchase the magazine anyway.
This draft layout appeals to my target audience as they will be able to see the characters and an outline of the storylines that are to be featured in the magazine and those that are to come on the TV. The house style/colour theme would appeal to my target audience as these colours are popular and contemporary.
The information displayed on this draft layout is easily seen and makes the magazine front cover look professional and conventional. For instance I have included the web address next to the masthead. This was a good idea as when the audience look at the masthead they will additionally see the web address. Similarly, the inclusion of bar code, date and issue number being situated on the left hand side means it is obvious for the audience and gives them the quick and simple information that is conventional and necessary.

Draft Layout 2-
My second draft layout is similar to the first in that it is very conventional of the genre of magazine. For example large headlines, additional images and persuasive language.
Some of the additional images will be the same as the ones shown on draft 1 however on this layout there will be more images representing more soaps and TV shows.
The colour scheme will remain the same and therefore will attract a young and predominantly female audience.
The cover image will be an image of the character 'Sophie' from Memory Lane and this will be placed in the upper right hand corner above a large main cover line. This will attract the audience's attention as it would be large and bold. The word 'reveals' is additionally enticing the audience as they NEED to know what will be announced and will therefore buy my product.

Conclusion
Overall I prefer draft layout 1. I asked for other opinions on the layouts and they additionally agreed that draft layout 1 was more appropriate for the product I am to make. Layout 1 is more conventional and the Z layout means that the cover is aesthetically pleasing for my audience.
I plan to merge some of the elements of both layouts into my final product for example the 'lies, lies, lies' cover line from layout 2 and the main cover image from layout 1. Additionally I will take the phrase 'can you afford to miss it' from layout 2 and include it on my final layout.
I will keep the colour scheme and house style the same as this will appeal to my target audience and I will additionally adapt my 'free pull out TV guide' to a competition as this is more relevant and conventional.

I have since drafted my combined ideas and this is what my magazine cover will look most similar to:

Draft  Written Layout
I have produced this planning document to outline the written content I will need to include on my magazine front cover. Completing this task will make it much easier and quicker when it comes to producing the product as I will already know what I need to include, what it's going to look like and what message it is going to create for the audience.

Photoshoot and Image Manipulation
I have analysed my images and have decided on how to improve different aspects of the images in order to make them more conventional of a magazine front cover. This includes: colouring and background blur using Photoshop.

Image Manipulations

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Conclusion

Analysing my original images has been really helpful and important as it has allowed me to improve the quality and appearance of my images in order to make them aesthetically pleasing. This is important to me as I need my cover to attract the right target audience. The image manipulation has helped make my product conventional and had the images look more professional and appealing which will create a sense of verisimilitude for the audience.

Indesign Evidence

The below slideshare outlines the methods and ways in which I used Indesign to create my magazine front cover. For example it includes screenshots of how I added text boxes, how I created backgrounds and panels and also how I placed images.

Conclusion
Using Indesign has been really helpful as it has made me feel more confident within my media skills. I feel as though I know the basics of how this programme works and more. Screenshotting the evidence as I have been going along has been really helpful to me as I am now able to look back on my work and could apply the same techniques and methods to any following media productions that I may make.

Screenshots and Analysis of Finished TV Listings Magazine
Ancillary 1

I have taken screenshots of all of the drafts I have produced for my TV listings magazine and have analysed them and commented on the progress I have made throughout the whole production process.

Finished products

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Final Draft of my Ancillary 2 Task
TV Listings Magazine Front Cover