This is a double page spread from the magazine 'Q'. It uses dark, simple colours of black, white and red. I think these colours are made to represent sadness more then the possible love and purity because Madonna herself looks fairly upset or unhappy. This is effective as they use colours to represent feelings and emotions rather then words.

The main image is of Madonna who is wearing black and silver clothing. The image takes up one side of the double page and effectively looks like Madonna is resting on the first page.
In the bottom corner of the page it also gives a quotation from the story; this is enlarged and usually placed there so the audience will read this and then want to read more.

At the top of the first page it uses the heading of ' Cash For Questions (Special Edition)'. This is due to the magazine being a special edition and featuring a new technique for interviews. Although this is the headline, the first thing to catch the readers eye is the large, bold, white writing saying 'Madonna', this is due to the fact that it is white and stands off the black background.

The writing is fairly short and takes up only half a page. This is usual for a double page spread as they normally feature short interviews or reviews of the star.

I think my magazine double page spread is going to be similar to this in the way that the main image uses a whole page and the writing is short and simple. This is a typical double page spread.

'NME is a British weekly magazine featuring agenda-setting news, the UK's most comprehensive gig guide, definitive reviews of the weeks hottest gigs, tracks and albums. It bills itself as the essential guide to the week in music.'

This particular issue was their first issue in 2009 and is devoted to the new bands of the new year.
The magazine is published by IPC media, the UK's leading publisher.

Male: 69%
Female: 31%
Average Age: 24
Working Full Time: 52%
Working Part Time: 7%
Still Studying: 29%
Circulation: 56,284
Readership: 369,000

The magazine is aimed at an audience of both male and female however 69% of males read the magazine as apposed to 31% of females. This could be because more males are interested in music etc. then females. The magazine is aimed at people of the age of 24 and these readers are mostly full time workers as apposed to part time and people who are still studying. The circulation of the magazine is 56,284 and the readership is 369,00 which is a very high number showing that the magazine is very popular and attracts a large number of readers.

This magazine cover is fairly different from my previous two in the way that it features many more colours and uses more then one picture on it. The colours used are made to stand out as they are bright colours like, yellow, red, white and black.

The cover uses a main image of Florence and The Machine, a new band of 2009. However it also features smaller images of other new bands of the year including The Big Pink and White Lies. By featuring more then one image on the cover it could attract more readers because everyone has a different genre of music they like.

The masthead is also different from my previous magazines as it is an abbreviation for New Musical Express and it is also fully shown unlike the others being slightly covered up. This is effective because the magazine is very popular like the others however it doesn't cover up the masthead to emphasise this.

The magazine itself features music of many genres including: rock, dance, hip-hop, metal and indie. This therefore relates to many people as it it includes many different genres. and therefore attracts a larger audience.

The magazine also includes news about celebrities and bands etc.
(http://www.ipcmedia.com/mediainfo/nme.pdf)

' Q' is a monthly music magazine and is published with Bauer media. It has a circulation of around 130,179.

'Since launch in 1986, Q has been the UK’s best selling music monthly magazine. With its unrivalled access it has delivered the world’s biggest music stars every month.'

'Every other month, Q - and its sister magazine, Mojo (also owned by Bauer) - have a special edition. These have been about musical times, genres, or a very important/influential musician.'

'Open minded experience seekers, the Q audience don’t define themselves by the music they listen to. Music is an important passion, but their love of music will never be to the detriment of their other passions, such as film, sport and comedy.'

Similar to my other magazines Q also features news about sport, comedy, film and politics. This creates a wider range of interest and would therefore attract a larger audience.

The cover of the magazine is noticed straightaway to be the 20th anniversary special from the banner type writing at the top.
The main image is of the well known singer Madonna. I think they use Madonna as she is known by people from many different times due to how long she has had a career. She is made to stand out as her clothing is a bright eye catching colour of red; this matches the background colour of the logo.

An unusual feature on the cover is the other article's featured down the left hand side as they usually contain several short stories which continue inside the magazine. However, this cover just says '20 Exclusive New Interviews', and names 20 artists which is effective as it informs the reader of whats inside without giving away too much.

To celebrate the fact that the magazine is a special edition for their 20th anniversary the magazine also features '20 greatest albums and tracks of Q's life.' This is most likely going to feature the best music throughout the year in the magazines choice.
(http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/Brands/Q/)

Rolling Stone magazine is issued every two weeks and is published by Jann. S Wenner a well known publisher of many American magazines. It focuses on music, politics and culture.

'Rolling Stone reinvented itself, hiring former FHM editor Ed Needham. The magazine started targeting younger readers and offering more sex-oriented content, which often focused on sexy young television or film actors as well as pop music.'

'The magazine has resumed its traditional mix of content, including in-depth political stories, and has seen circulation (currently at 1.4 million) and revenue rise. In 2007, the magazine's revenue was up 23.3 percent. Also in 2007, the magazine won a National Magazine Award.'

'Today, four decades since its founding by Jann Wenner, the Rolling Stone record reviews section is regarded by many sources as still one of the most influential around.'

In this issue they use a white layout for the background making everything on the magazine stand out.
Rolling Stone is a very popular magazine and they emphasise this by covering up some of the masthead. The masthead is silver and bold; its usual font which stands out on the white layout.

The main image is a medium close-up of the upcoming star, Zac Efron. He is wearing a white t-shirt which matches the background, and he is taking it off to attract the readers eye. I think this particular issue would attract a larger female audience then usual due to the image and main story of Zac Efron.

Down the left hand side is the inside contents of the magazine. The first thing to be noticed from this is the large red writing saying: 'The new American heart throb'. This indicates Zac Efron however it doesn't give any information on the story inside, keeping the audience guessing. I think they used the colour red to represent love rather then the possible hate as the headline indicates the star as a heart throb.

Underneath this, inside stories are also reveled and all of these are related to music and bands. They use the repetitive colours of silver and orange for these stories which still stand out on the white background.
However the magazine also features politics as one of the stories is about 'mosh-pit' killings which relates to real events that have happened in the news.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stone#Today)

Foundation Portfolio- Main Task

For my main foundation portfolio task I am going to look at how I can apply the key concepts in media to create a music magazine with a two page spread. I am going to use the acronym LIIAR- Language, Institution, Ideology and Representation.

Language- I will use fun and not so informal language to relate to the audience and keep them interested. I will also make it stand out with a good imagery, bright colours and interesting headline's to keep the readers guessing. I will use plugs to attract the readers and give hints on whats inside. I will use a large, readable font with a colour that stands out in order for it to be seen.

Institution: There are many different music magazines with different publishers. I looked at publishers including: ALPHA, BAUER, JANN.S WENNER, DENNIS and IPC. After looking at the different publishers i think i would like Jann. S Wenner to publish my magazine as these also publish Rolling Stone which is going to be similar to my magazine.

Ideology: For this i will be looking at things like my target audience and i will therefore have to think about what type of music my magazine will publish. I think I am going to include a few different genres of music so that my magazine will appeal to a wider audience.
This will therefore increase the amount of buyers and then the money.

Audience: The type of audience I am going to aim my magazine at includes any one who is interested in the following genres:
Rock
Metal
R&B
Hip Hop
My magazine is going to include a range of these genres and therefore will appeal to readers who are interested in these.

Representation: Genres for my magazine are going to include:
Rock
Metal
R&B
Hip Hop
The magazine will therefore represent people who are interested in these. It will be aimed at an age group between 16-20 year olds.

For my contents page this is what the layout would look similar to .

I would usea large masthead indicating what page it is with a brightm bold colour to give it some interest.

I would also use images to reprsent some of the stories inside the magazine.

College Magazine Evaluation

My magazine doesn't challenge other magazine industries as is a free college magazine and uses the traditional publications of magazines.

My magazine represents the college as a whole and is aimed at many different social groups. Firstly I have added an article about theatre studies which is aimed at students interested in any type of theatre or plays etc.
I also added a section about sports which represents all students who have an interest in sports which is fairly popular at Wyke college.
I finally decided to add sections about all lessons in general at Wyke which applies to all students attending the college and therefore ranges in many if not all social groups and students.I also added teaching tips in the magazine so that it has something to interest teachers as well as students.

However I decided to change the headline of my magazine from Grease Lightning to Chlamydia: Put A Stop To It !I decided to change this as i changed my main story from the new production being put on by Wyke college students to preventing chlamydia. I made this choice due to the fact of me not being able to produce a picture representing my main story so i therefore changed my story where i could take a suitable image to represent it.

The media institution that would most likely publish my college magazine would be the publishers of magazines like Secondary teachers and Primary teachers as these focus on supporting the education profession. I therefore think my magazine would be best published with them as my magazine focuses on students and teachers and education overall. Also my magazine is free like Secondary and Primary teachers magazines.

By constructing this product I learnt many new things within technology. I learnt thing about photography like how to capture a picture in the correct light and how to set the scene for a picture to be taken in. I also learnt how to then edit the images in many different ways by using photo shop which is very effective. I also learnt how to construct a magazine cover and contents page using photo shop which is an interesting process.

Overall I learnt many things from the beginning of my preliminary task to the end. All these new skills are very helpful as i can now analyse magazines and consider why things have been done in certain ways. I can also take ideas from this and create my own magazine using ideas from the analysing I previously did.I can also use the concept of LIIAR to help create ideas like who my magazine will be aimed at, who it is going to represent, the audience I am going to aim it at etc.

Finally by completing my preliminary task it gives me more confidence in my next task as I can now use my new skills and ideas and adapt them into creating another magazine.