2. Elements of the Cover
• The Masthead
– I made the masthead bold, a
unique font (2 lines from dafont)
and made it stand out from the
page.
– I wanted the masthead to look
‘cool’ in order to attract my
audience. I used the dots between
the letters as eyes to give it a
unique feature
– The ‘unique feature’ helps make
the masthead ‘a logo’, and
instantly recognisable. This will
attract the established readership
to future issues as a result, as they
will notice the logo and make the
association.
– I used the ‘emboss’ feature within
the photoshop layer to make the
masthead stick out from the ‘off-
white’ background. This is effective
in making it more prominent in
order to attract its audience.
3. • The Tagline
– the tagline is actually the same font as the
masthead, but I’ve squashed the height of
each character, and increased the
character spacing. This, combined with the
masthead, gives the combination a very
definite, futuristic look.
– This attracts readers in that futuristic
elements are considered with technology
and the advances of such -> a major
interest of the cyber-generation.
• The Cover Lines
• I have used the font ‘circuit’ to attract the audience as it has
an appearance similar to that of electronic circuits, consistent
with theme of Electronica.
• The slightly dull shades of usually-vibrant colours are
consistent with those associated with rock.
• I have used the coverlines as an opportunity to subtly add
more colour (whilst maintaining the professional, clean look)
to the coverpage, making the page more pleasing to the eye,
therefore attracting the audience.
• I have used similar techniques to the masthead here, with
the intention of making the text stand out from the backdrop.
4. • The Headline The barcode and pricing aid in
– It was challenging to make the chosen typeface
(Hyperspace) bold and visible, though as I was determined attracting the audience purely
to use it, as the thin text and lack of tales looks very
futuristic and looks similar to ‘Neon Bars’. because they are small and put
– I used a combination of bevel and emboss on the font to out of the way. Unless the
give it a 3D look and stand out on the page. I also mixed
inner and outer shadows and glows to make the text look
almost ‘wet’, and stand out visually in this case. I made the
magazine was ludicrously cheaper
lower faces of the text darker than the upper faces, than every other magazine (which
contributing to the 3D look.
– Using Photoshop’s ‘stroke’ feature, I managed to make the would be completely
text a lot more visible and prominent on the page. I turned uneconomical and inconvenient),
up the opacity to add a thick, gloss-free part to the text
– This all adds to the mise en scene of the cover, making it the price is never going to be
overall, much more attractive to look; opposed to the text
without any effects. attractive.
It also looks more professional, and people want to be able
to look at a magazine and think it’ll be worth the money,
which wouldn’t be the case if it looked cheap and rubbish.
5. • The promotional-menu strip along the bottom attracts the audience as it highlights big acts and/or
stories that will be of interest to them inside the magazine. The colours are brighter than the cover
lines, and a translucent box acts as the backdrop to separate the line from the rest of the page.
• The blues and pinks used will attract the audience as they are similar to those you would see in LED
light-bars; it’ll subconsciously remind readers of memories from clubs and just look pleasing overall.
The splash image attracts the audience as it is an image that
takes advantage of the male gaze. It’s the clean shaven, young,
smooth skinned look many women (and men) find sexually
attractive. His clothes adhere to modern fashion trends.
I raised the exposure and lowered the saturation, whilst
adding a slight ‘cooling’ filter to give a colder, cleaner look.
This was inspired by photos of the likes of Robert Pattinson in
Twilight.
I used the original background from the photo, but separated
the artist into a different layer using the magnetic selection
tool. This was so I could place him over the top of the
masthead, attracting the audience to him in that it gives him
an element of authority as well as status.
6. Elements of the Contents Page
• Word from the Editor
– I have addressed the audience here,
referring them to ‘guys and girls’,
which is incredibly colloquial.
– “Now Then” is an informal greeting,
most associated with Yorkshire, though
used elsewhere.
– I have used the second person
pronoun “you”, addressing the
audience directly, and automatically
allowing them to feel involved with the
magazine – the idea of being in a
community o ‘club’ is attractive, so
saying ‘welcome to club T.I.M’ can
cause some readers to feel elitist
compared to others and compete with
eachother, contributing frequently and
buying every magazine.
7. The idea of ‘fun’ is attractive to even the most boring of people. ‘Stupid stuff people do’ will
most likely attract the audience more in that they know in this section they will find people who
are far worse or less intellectual than them, and everybody loves a confidence boost.
My audience are part of the ‘cyber-generation’,
as a result, I have included a good range of social
networks that the magazine is linked with,
attracting the audience further. There are also
competitions, the opportunity to win things; and
the social networks allow people to get involved.
A lot of pages in the magazine for only
£3.99; the audience will be attracted to
the value for money
The page is subtly colourful, having thin ‘led-like’ strips of
colour boxing in various sections of the page. The bright,
but not overwhelming colours attract the audience as
they’re aesthetically pleasing.
8. The Double-Page Spread
Main Image (what I did to
attract the audience)
-impressive
hardware in the mise en scene
(appropriate to music
production)
-typically attractive
male
-Picture is large
enough to be used as a poster –
it is also not cluttered by too
many quotes etc.
I used a low angle shot to make
the artist look more
powerful/have more status,
this will be attractive to women
due to the male gaze.
9. • Humour
incorporated into
article
– My target audience is
intelligent people
with a sense of
humour, this article is
perfect for them due
to the humorous
quotes, whilst still
being well written
and appropriate.
