The document discusses magazine design elements for an indie music magazine. It analyzes cover images, mastheads, layouts, logos, double page spreads, and contents pages from existing magazines. The key points are: 1) Engaging cover images should feature bold colors, artistic makeup, enigmatic poses, and a sense of intimacy. 2) The masthead font should reference rock magazines but be more artistic. Colors should be bold but not stereotypical. 3) The layout should have some clutter of text but a strong central image for visual appeal and engagement. 4) Double page spreads should use limited colors, direct eye contact, understated sexuality, and focus on people over backgrounds

1. Magazine Montage

2. Front Cover Images
These are a selection of front cover images that I find
particularly engaging for a number of reasons.
•I like the overall aesthetic of Empire as it seems to
create an entire new world.
•Like the I-D cover because of the artistic make up and
costume and enigma created.
•Like the NME My Chemical Romance cover because
of the bold contrasting colours and confiding/revealing
pose.
• Like the NME Last Shadow Puppets because of the
interesting proxemics and retro feels indicative of the
60’s.
•Like the Vogue image because of the enigma and
unusual styling,

3. •This is one of my favourite
cover images because of how
unusual it is. It’s engaging
because of it’s oddness and
enigma yet there’s also a
confidential look which grabs
the readers attention subtly.
•I want my cover image to
include my favourite aspects
of all the images I’ve chosen
such as bright contrasting
colours, stylised
images/backgrounds/makeup,
enigma, oddness/quirkiness
and a sense of confiding in
the reader.

4. Mastheads & Colour Codes
• I’ve gathered images of indie and
rock magazine masthead. These
clearly connote rock and indie
music especially through the colour
codes which seem to all use the
same colours of black, red and
white. These are strong contrasting
colours and engage the target
audience and connote a
uniqueness and aggression.
•The font type changes drastically
from the shattered font of Kerrang
to the uniform font of NME. They
have been used to connote the
differences of music genres within
the magazines.

5. •I like the font used for the NME
masthead as it connotes
professionalism and a togetherness;
a community feel of indie lovers.
•However I want my font to be
slightly more artistic and free to
connote the uniqueness of indie and
the freedom of expression.
•I want to use unusual colour codes
as well so not the stereotypical red,
black and white, but reference them
as well as using bold bright colours
to connote again the uniqueness of
indie music.
•I also want it to connote the
rebellious attitude of my magazine
so maybe slightly reference metal
magazine mastheads such as
Kerrang.

6. Layout
•These covers show the three main types of layout for music
magazines which range from the cluttered and chaotic
Kerrang to the minimalistic and ordered Q cover with NME
being between the two extremes with some clutter and a lot of
text but a strong simple image.

7. •I like these visual styles and layouts most as they still contain the
chaos and clutter through the text which connotes the confusion and
disillusionment that the target audience feel but also provide a strong
image which isn’t detracted by lot’s of other images on the page. This
means that it is more eye catching and appealing to the target
audience. This is the type of layout I want to use.

8. Logos •This is a selection of
magazine logos.
•They are all part of or in
most cases the entire
masthead.
•This creates a brand
identity and makes the
magazine seem more
professional.
•The logo is created
through different fonts
and colour schemes. I
want to create a logo
thorugh my use of font
and colours for my
magazine.

9. Double Page Spreads
•I’ve gathered images of DPS’S which contain women as
I’m going to use a woman on my front cover and in my
DPS.
•From these images I want to include direct eye contact with
the reader in the image as it engages them. Also include
enigma and make it seem like the person in confiding in the
reader.
•Include some sex appeal to engage both male audiences
as well as female with the image inspirational to women so
not too overtly sexual. Also maybe an understated and
individual sexuality to mimic the uniqueness of Indie.
•A limited colour code with few colours but bright
contrasting colours.
•I also want the image to take up the majority of the page as
this is more aesthetically pleasing and engaging.
•I want to use visually interesting fonts as well for the titles
just as they have been used in these DPS’S.

10. •I’ve also gathered two images of DPS’s from Kerrang which portray two
different aesthetic styles I could use. The one on the right shows the DPS
to be of a real situation or an image from a location or set with numerous
smaller images whereas the one on the right shows one large image taken
in a studio of just the people and no setting.
•I prefer the one on the right as I feel it’s simpler and therefore more
engaging. It also focuses on the actual band members and people so
focuses the readers attention. In my DPS I want to recreate this style with
minimalist images taken with no background and only a few images.

11. Contents Page
•I like the artistic style of the one in the top left hand corner
and would like to mimic that however I think it’s quite difficult
to read and prefer the organised and categorised style of Q’s
contents page in the bottom left as it’s much easier to read
and understand.
•I also like the images used in both Q content’s pages as it
makes the contents page much more engaging as it reiterates
what the articles are about and I would like to use images in
my contents page too.
•I also like the simplistic style of the top right contents page
and unusual image.