Main task: Contents page FINAL

Main task: Double page spread FINAL

Main task: Post production feedback

Main task: FC, CP, DPS mock ups

This is my mock up for my music magazine front cover. This was my very first idea, although i will change a few things for my final front page. In this i discuss the masthead, barcode, cover lines, date, main image and how my text should be a certain colour so it does not interfere with the background colour. I also talk about how i included a QR scanner seeing as it is getting quite popular these days and i thought it was a unique touch for my magazine.

This is my first mock up for my double page spread. I had the idea from the start to take a picture of the person looking to their left. This would give the effect that they are looking towards the text on the next page. I also mention the colour scheme which i say i want to keep to a minimum, although i didn't want it to look boring, so i will add only a small amount of colour, which will be yellow and blue which keeps in with the rest of the magazine.

This is my mock up for my contents page. I made my main image quite large because i thought if there was too much text, people would not want to read it. I also talked about how i added a "Dubstyle special" which is where readers might find some additional info and recieve some posters. In the editors note, i scaled my front cover page down and the text will say a quick thank you to all the readers.

Main task: Unmanipulated photos

This was my unmanipulated photo for my Double page spread.

This was my main image for my contents page.

This was my secondary image for my contents page.

This was my image for my font cover.

Main task: Case study of a publishing house

The publishing house that i think would be most likely to publish my magazine would be MusicMags.net. There are a few reasons for this, which are, when i searched on their websight, i started to scroll through the different types of magazines that they publish. It ranged from indie's to rock, to acoustic. However, i only saw 1 dj magaine that they publish which is dj times. This got me thinking that if they are so popular with all the rock and roll mags that they publish, thats all well and good, but if they had a few more magazines with different genres, they would attract more people and get even more business. They said on their websight that they publish music magazines because not only does it inform people about artists and equipment. But it also educates the social group that the magazine was intended for. Because of these facts, i think that if they agreed to publish my music magazine "Dubstyle" then they would attract a lot more readers from the drum and bass/ dubstep genre of music. Therefore, they will widen their audience and keep expanding their business to not only publish a handfull of music magazine, but consider to publish as many magazines as possible! At first it might be slow seeing as people do not know this websight to be about drum and bass, but after a bit of time, word of mouth will spread and people will get to hear about it.

Main task Mood board

Main task: Profiling your audience

Tommy is a 17 year old and is very passionate and drum and bass/ Dub step music. Whatever he is doing, he will always be listening to drum and bass and even searching for new artists. He even has his own d.j deck and is a beginner in creating his own music. Because of this he tries to get into small gigs to perform and wants to become as big as some of the mainstream artists such and d.j fresh and magnetic man. He has all the latest gear such as the kaoss korg pad 3, and he is surrounded by friends that like the same genre of music as him. He also buys the latest drum and bass magazine to keep up to date with whats going on in the world of Drum and bass.

He also creates some music on a programme called "fruity loops studio". From this he then uploads his music on to youtube. He has many subscribers and positive feedback from anyone that has commented. He lives in Croydon, and worked in a record store as his first job.

Main task: Audience research

Do you listen to drum and bass or dubstep? State which one or both.


Would you rather see only one genre in the magazine or both?


What clothes do you associate when you think of drum and bass?


What would be a good title for the magazine?
· Liquicity
· Bass stop
· Dub style
· Dub and bass
· Vibrationz


What’s the maximum amount would you pay for the magazine?
· £1.00 - £1.50
· £2.00 - £2.50
· £3.00 - £3.50


What would be good colours for the magazine?
· Blue and white
· Black and red
· Black and white


Would you rather see more text or more pictures in the magazine?
· Pictures
· Text
· Equal


This was my audience research. I printed off about 20 - 30 pages and handed them around to people. It took a little bit of time and i suppose it would have been easier if i had just asked people over the internet and print screened the page. Almost everyone said they listen to either one or both, and they chose to see both in the magazine probably so there is more diversity in the magazine. The main reason that i chose my model to wear a baggy jumper and headphones was because the majority of people said that they are the ssort of clothes/ items that they associate with drum and bass. The majority of people chose "Dubstyle" as the title for the magazine. Most people chose the price range to be between £2.00 and £2.50 So i simply made it £1.99. Most of the people chose my magazine to be blue and white, however when i started to create my magazine, i decided to add a bit more colour so i added yellow. Everyone said that they would like to see and equal amount of pictures and text in the magazine.

Main task: Double page spread conventions diagram

The colour scheme of most Double page spreads are usually kept to a minimun to try and keep and modern look about them. The image of this DPS is bleeding onto the second page joining them together. There can be alternatives however, such as the image on just one page or even the image over both pages and the text placed on top. The subjects name is placed at the top right hand side of the right page.

There is a quote that has been used in the interview which reads "we are a pop band and we want to be a pop band". The quote is placed in the middle of the text in the second column. A stand first is always used at the start of the article. It is an introductory paragraph printed in bold font.

All double page spreads will have a drop capital. This is a capital letter, which stands out to show the reader where to start reading. The headline may be on one page or even spread across both. It may be the band/singers name, quote, or a pun. It may not tell the reader anything about the article and is always in a stylised font. It is to simply lure the reader in.

The By line is basically to credit the photographer. In this case it is just after the stand first. All double page spreads are laid out in columns. Usually 2-4. The strap line is often placed at either the top or bottom of a page. This tells you the subject matter.

Main task: Double page spread textual analysis

There is no real colour scheme to this double page spread (DPS) seeing as it is simply a photo, which gives off a feeling of an up-beat loud “gig”. The photo is spread over both pages with the text printed over it. However, you often get a DPS when the picture is on one page and is bleeding on to the other page to link the two together.
The band, which is displayed in the photo, is discussed in the small print on the right page, but it is “disguised” in the larger bold print which bleeds over both pages. You would usually find a quote from the interview with the band on a DPS, however there is not one on this one as it is a simple double page spread.

As you can see the stand font is the text which says “Gentlemen of the road”. The stand font is basically always used at the start of a written of an article. This article doesn’t have a Drop capital which is on most articles which is to show where the reader is to start reading.
The headline for this article is quite large with a standard font. This is mainly to draw the reader in and as you can see it is “Gentlemen of the road” in this case. The “by-line” is where the journalists name is written and the photographer is credited. On this DPS it Is in the bottom left hand corner.

Usually, a DPS is laid out in columns; however this one is just one small paragraph on the right hand side of the page. Again, there is no “Strap-line” in this DPS. Strap lines are used to tell you the subject matter.

Main task: Contents page conventions diagram

Main task: Introduction

Hello! My name is Ashley Hatch and i am currently doing AS media in Christ the king sixth form college. I have been given my main coursework task which is to create a music magazine along with a contents page and a double page spread. This will count as 50% towards my final media grade.

I have had to do a lot of planning and research before i got started with creating my final music magaizine. One of the things that helped me decide on what i'm going to do for my final music magazine was the drawing mock ups i created. This is because when i was doing them, i could see what looked good and what didn't. From this i can make improvements or change anything if i want to. I also had to create a mood board that would resemble my genre of music that i am trying to portray in my music magazine. One of the vital pieces of work i had to do was the audience research. This is because, it told me what i should do to my magazine so that the majority of people would like it. I asked questions and gave multiple answers for people to choose from. For example "What should the title of my magazine be?" Then i would give a choice of about 4 -5 possibilities and whatever one came up the most, i would choose that title to be in my final work.

After my music magazine is finished i will then have to do an evaluation of 7 questions. The questions will be asking different things such as improvements i made and does it resemble any well known magazines currently on the market? I will need to add many pictures to each of the questions to show that i have proof of what i have done.

Main task: Front cover conventions diagram

The mast Head (Logo) is the magazine name which is usually displayed at the top of the page. This is the visual branding of the title and is often done in a specially designed typespace to be recognisable and unique. The title for this music magazine is "RockSound".

The dateline on this magazine is with the price of the magazine. It simply shows the date of release for the magazine. However, note that a monthly magazine hits the news-stands the month before the cover date. The main picture is of corey taylor (Lead singer for the band slipknot) and it is done in the classic way. The face is big and making direct eye contact with the camera lens.

This magazine has many cover lines around the main image. A major problem with many magazines is that the cover lines often run over the picture thus making them invisible. However this depends on what colour the text is. There is no serious problem with this magazine. The left third is very important for sales in shops for the magazine to sell, especially when it has dozens of competitors. The start of the masthead is very important here for the magazine to be recognisable.

Of course there is a barcode on every magazine used by retailers. The selling line is basically a short sharp description of the title's main marketing point. In this case it is "New music first!".
Every magazine will state the companies websight.

Main task: Front cover textual analysis

As you can see here, the denotation of this front cover is a man standing with his arms crossed with many tattoos. He is looking directly into the camera lens with a medium shot, which is showing his waist, arms, shoulders and head. The title of the magazine is “Vibe” is big bold letters which fade from black to red. Down each side of the page, there are a few quotes and shows other rappers which are presented in the magazine.


His body language or non verbal communication (NVC) shows that he is very “serious” with his arms crossed and the tattoos back this idea up. His clothing is a black tank top with a chain with a cross on it. This rapper is very famous and the magazine is trying to appeal to young or old people who like rap music.


The lighting shows that it is meant to be daytime. Also, the background is very basic as it is just a white wall. The main cover line say “Eminem comes clean” which might reference to him talking about things he has done in the past that were not good for his career. It also says “Literally almost died” which might suggest a story inside the magazine which reveals something that might have potentially killed him. . He is also wearing a cross, which might suggest that he is very religious or it might just be for the sake of the photo.
Taking all things into consideration about the front cover, it is likely that the audience for this front cover would be mainly males from around 16 – 30.


As you can see here, there is a man standing holding open his jumper. He is looking directly into the camera with a medium shot, which shows his arms, shoulders, and head. The title of the magazine is called “complex” with a weird pink texture. Again the singers name is on his jumper in the same weird texture but in green. At the top of the page there are a few other rappers/singers which may be presented in the magazine.

His NVC (non verbal communication) shows that he might be quite laid back or “chilled”. This is because he is giving thumbs up and his facial expression seems to show that his mood is not serious but relaxed. The target audience for this magazine might be young men and women who are into the kin of music this singer produces.

The background for this magazine is very bright and colourful. I’ve said how the title has a weird texture and the background has a “cartoony” look to it. There are also some creatures that are on his shoulders which might show how he thinks and even link back to how relaxed he is. The main cover line is “Kid Cudi – Where the wild things are” which is making a reference to his open mind about life. Again the small creatures that sit on his shoulders represent this statement. On the other side of his jumper it reads “5th anvil style and Design issue”. This suggests that this magazine is for the 5th anniversary and because it says “Design issue” it suggests that this cover was made especially for the 5th anniversary and it might even be a limited edition.
Considering everything that is on the front cover of this magazine, the likely target audience would be people (male and female) from around 14 – 25. They would have to be interested in that genre of music.

Preliminary task: Contents page final

Preliminary task: Front cover and contents page mock ups

This is my very first front page mock up for my college magazine. As you can see i have added the mast head to help "give off" my magazine. This is because all major magazine do this and make it bold to make it stand out to the viewer. This is my very first mock up therefore you will see many improvements for my final music magazine.

This is my first mock up for my college magazine contents page. Again i have made a bold title of "Contents" so people will understand what the page is about. Yet again you will see many improvements to my contents page for my final music magazine.

Preliminary task: Front cover final

Preliminary task: Front cover conventions diagram

Preliminary Task: Front cover textual analysis

Induction: Movie poster textual analysis

Induction: Re-creation of a Movie Magazine Cover