Photographs I May use for my Magazine.

Cover and Contents page Layout plan

To make sure my magazine is appealing enough for readers i have planned the layout for the cover and contents page of my magazine. Throughout the process of making the magazine I hope for my idea's to develop.

Article Feature: 1st Draft

After months of trying to get hold of her, Melz of Cliche has finally agreed to an interview with me. The teenage rocker has made it clear that her band are not here to sign autographs.


1. Your sound is said to be following in the footsteps of X-Ray Spex- do you agree?
Melz: The sound is very much inspired by artists such as Poly Styrene, Johnny Rotten and Joe Strummer but it has a wider spread of emotions more than the thorough expression of anger and rebellion. A track on the album actually refers to bands such as The Sex Pistols and the message of their music which should be remembered. The 70’s was more of a time to be angry, times have changed but there are still things that people are fed up of.

2. Being quite young do you find the music world harder to cope with?
Melz: It’s not easy but that goes for musicians of all ages I reckon. Many young artists tell you what you wanna hear: that it’s all wonderful and ‘la-di-da’, it’s not easy, it’s hard at times. I have to go days without sleep sometimes. There are audiences that don’t like what you have to say and that it’s not all ‘my girlfriend broke my heart’ bullsh*t. Then theres the audiences who are absolutely fed up of seeing identical bands with the same message over and over, they wanna hear something different, they wanna hear the truth.

3. Rumour has it that you’re collaborating with The King Blues, is this true?
Melz: People love saying what they wanna hear that’s all. The King Blues are absolutely f***ing amazing. I've always found their sound original and they tell it like it is. I spoke to Itch a few months back and he's a really down to earth guy, I respect him as a person and musician. Maybe in the near future we'll do a track together but they're touring in the USA right now so that clearly is a rumour.

4. How do you find living up to your new image?
Melz: What image? I didn't think i had one, there should be no difference between who's on the stage and the audience. The media are typically after an easily manipulative sound and image, thats the last thing I want to be. Anyone can be in this position really, but half of 'em are too f***in' lazy. I've never wanted to be the kind of artist that people go crazy over or audiences idolize, it's just not me. At my gigs I want the audience to just have a blast, forget what they're told and just be themselves.

5. Do your views on politics influence you when writing songs?
Melz: You could say that but only for some of the songs. There's a song about the unheard voice of the youth and the desperacy of young people without jobs. The working class don't even know what it means to be working class anymore, that sort of thing pisses me off. It's more about equality and being proud of who you are. The government aren't helping you so you have to help yourself. It's whats's happening to the people around me that influence me more.

6. What was the audience like on your first performance?
Melz: Majority of them were a bunch of rich kids with nothing better to spend their money on, very posed and no: not many of them could relate to the music. There were some people who were the only ones who seemed to not be wearing the 'uniform' that the others were, they were just enjoying the atmosphere and going f**king mad which was great. They all seemed quite shocked that there was a band talking about the real world and the music was not just a form of escapism. Most of them want to just escape and pretend the real world isn't happening; you can't be having that with our band. They would swear at us and we would swear back, Whilst on stage I couldn't help but take the piss out of the posed way they were standing. They hated me (*laughs*).

7. How do you think people reacted when you threw your award for Best New Comer in a recycling bin?
Melz: Why Should they care what the band does with the awards? It really didn't mean much to us so we put it to good use. Awards and speeches, thats not what we're here for and it means nothing to us which is why we hardly turn up to these things. It's all a mugs game if you ask me. If they think we're doing this for fame then we may as well not be here. We're here for the people fed up of the way some things are.

8. How do you plan to succeed in the industry?
Melz: Carry on in the same way we started, i don't want this to change any of us as people. We'll play our music and hopefully come accross an audience who understand our music and enjoy it. There will be audiences who'll prefer a track about how wonderful life is or relationships -poor them. If we don't succeed, at least we'll have done what we came here to do: get our message accross and have a good time on stage. It's the best feeling in the world when you're on stage. One thing we will definitely succeed in is not being what the industry want us to be.

9. What advice would you give to young people who want to be in a band?
Melz: Not that they would actually want it but I would advise them to be themselves 100% and forget what's in the charts. They must stick to what they think is good and not what everyone else does. Being in the industry isn't easy but that don't mean give up when the going gets tough. Just do what you want to do and stick to it.

10. And lastly, give two bands that you would recommend.
Melz: Definitely The Sex Pistols and The Clash, you can't go wrong with them. They have influenced me and others all over the world to do what they want to do which i respect them for. I've always had a huge crush on Johnny Rotten and Paul Simonon from their younger days. The music is just amazing.

Article Analysis: Q

The choice of artist is a singer called Cheryl Cole. She is well known from the pop group Girls Aloud. This suggests that the target audience may be teenagers into pop music as Girls Aloud appeals to this audience. The article may appeal to other audiences such as males from the ages 18-25. This is as Cheryl is well known for being an attractive young woman. The language used in the article is both formal. It approaches the audience as an intelligent and knowledgable fan using phrases such as, 'her individual achievements have eclipsed even those of Girls Aloud'. This shows that the article is aiming for an older audience as it has more of an academic quality. The article refers to other pop groups tht fans of Cheryl Cole may know of, 'festivals with Radiohead and Arctic Monkeys cover versions are all very well..' It also mentions singles by Cheryl Cole, 'And so 3 Words has a modern R&B flavour'. A simple black font is used matching the font on the cover. This suggests a simple style for the magazine. The majority of the article is taken up by images. The article is spread around the images on some pages and the others are based on just an image. This makes it clear that Cheryl is the main attraction of the article and also because of her new importance to the music world and good looks which are well known by people in Britain. One image has an anchorage text below it which reads, 'Everything I do is scrutinised. Everything i fucking say.' This suggests that the singer is fed up which shows readers that the article is based on her emotions as well as her music. This is highlighted in capital letters which shows that Q wants this to be noticable while reading the article. It makes the article both formal and informal with the use of swearing which brings us back to the target audience, this would not offend an older audience. Cheryl is portrayed in an attractive and serious way. She is not smiling in any of them but pouting. She is wearing alot of black and leather which presents her in a sexual way. The style of the images reflect the film 'Sin City' which readers will be able to relate to. One image has a reading which reduced the serious atmosphere, 'Wa-hey, i should of brought me brolly pet'. This shows that Q wants bring in some humour to make the article not so serious. The article demands some prior knowledge about Cheryl Coles life and career such as her husband Ashley Cole and hits by Girls Aloud. This, however, would be well known to people in Britain but is explained in detail to make sure readers understand what it the article is referring to.

Article Analysis: NME

The choice of artist featured in the article of NME magazine is Gerard Way, lead singer of Rock band My Chemical Romance. He mentions in the article his previous album (The Black Parade) which was well known by teenagers. This suggests that the article may be aimed at teenagers who will know Gerard from his work. The language used in the article is mostly formal but the artist is informal in way to express to the audience how he really feels. The artist uses swearing words which show that he doesn’t care and also matches the reckless style of the magazine ('I think people just wanna fucking rock'). This sort of language would appeal to the audience as this language is commonly used by teenagers and young adults.

The magazine addresses the reader in a tone that treats them as a member of an in crowd and an informed intelligent fan. The article gives information of the artist from his missing years which is not featured anywhere else and also talks about tracks that fans of his previous album would know of and talks of bands such as Muse ('..whose 'The Resistance' isn't exactly shabby'). As the article is very long it may not appeal to a reader who wouldn't have the patience to read so much. The article uses a plain black font which matches the previous pages of the magazine. There are a few entry points, one placed above the beginning of the article and one which spreads across two pages at the top. This has been done to draw in readers as they would have to read the whole article to know more about what the quotes are about. The article has been spread across four pages, most readers would not read an article this long. There is alot of text and only few images which makes the pages different from the previous pages of the magazine that use more images. The images show what Gerard currently looks like and a previous image taken from The Black Parade tour. This shows the audience how the artist has changed which reflects the new style of their music. The main image at the beginning of the article shows Gerard Way in a close-up shot. He has a serious expression on his face and is not looking completely into the camera. The Quote placed next to him reads 'This record is going to be the grand failure if people don't get it'. The overall image shows that he is serious about these words and as his mode of address isn't completely direct it shows that he wants a close but at the same time distant relationship with the audience.

The people who knew My Chemical Romance during the time of The Black Parade would understand the article more than new fans who may not understand why the band would want to change. 'While MCR's music is now different- they've stripped back, they've gone back to basics, they've trimmed off the fat' -new readers won't know what the band have changed from so therefore will not find the article appealing. The article also features information that only fans of the album released four years ago would be aware of 'a baroque concept fantasy about the surreal flashbacks of a cancer patient in his final minutes, shifted over three million copies'- this is reffering to track from The Black Parade album. Though the article features a lot of background information about this album and the tour, it still may appeal more to previous fans.

Experimenting with photoshop

Analysing Contents Pages

The contents page for this Q magazine uses 9 images. The images show pictures of celebrities who will feature in the magazine with the page number in bold next to it. This shows that these celebrities are the main attraction for the magazine. The celebrities shown consist of different music genres which matches the target audience who will be interested in different music genres. There are celebrities such as Cheryl Cole who is a well known singer with new album, John Lennon from a previously well known band 'The Beatles', and Muse- a well known band. This also indicates a male audience. The colours on the contents page match the theme on the cover, red, white and black. The same mixture of fonts on the cover are used on the contents page which shows that the magazine has a style of its own. The page has a mix different page numbers (not in order) which indicate different articles. As the page numbers are not in order this could connote that the magazine does not have an order. There are only certain articles listed which shows that they are the most important while reading the magazine. There are no promotional features on this contents page which could mean. The magazines logo is shown in 4 different places on the magazine. There is one at the top of the page in the left corner of the first page. The second page has an image of the cover which shows the logo, here it seems to stand out. Both pages have a small image of the logo at the bottom of the page in the right corner. This may have been done to show how important the magazine itself is. There are no other franchise promoted on the contents page which may show that the magazine has focused on the articles more.

The contents page of this NME magazine uses a central image of Blur. The image seems to be in the backround surrounded by an artcile and other text. Blur are used as the main attraction on this page as they this was their first appearance after their gigs in the summer. People will be interested in seeing them after a while. Another image postitioned at the bottom of the page in the right hand corner shows a January issue of NME. The image of Blur indicates a teenage/ young adult audience for the magazine and its aim at a male audience. A red, black and white theme is used which matches the same one on the cover. The text is the same as the one on the cover and title block which creates a style for the magazine. There is an list of all the bands which will be featured inside in alphabetical order with the page number next to each of them. This lets readers decide which page they would like to read as they can pick what band they like. It makes it easier for them as they wont have to look through the whole magazine to find something that appeals to them. As the magazine is organised page by page it tells us that the magazine wants to make it easier for its audience and is different from other magazines which would usually have a name for each article on their contents page. There is a promotional offer at the bottom of the magazine giving the audience a chance to suscribe to the magazine and save 85p per issue. This gives readers who dont have the money to buy magazines each week an oppurtunity to save money. NME will also sell more magazines this way. The logo is shown in a small image on the bottom in the right hand corner. This shows that the magazine wants to portray the band as more important than the magazine itself. The promotional offer also shows the name of the magazine in bold writing.