80's music magazine covers

I've just grabbed a load of magazine covers from the eighties to pull ideas from them.

I interviewed a friend to get her opinion on my ideas.

My Chosen Music Genre

Eighties Music on Prezi


I chose to focus on Eighties style of music because its beginning to come back into fashion. Eighties songs are being covered by current artists and riffs are being used in new songs, for example, the riff from Africa by Toto is being used in Jason Derulo's new song. Eighties band are doing come back tours and greatest hits CDs.

Music Magazine Proposal

My music magazine will be aimed at teenagers/young adults aged 13-25, both men and women. I also think that people who were born in the seventies will also be interested because they would've listened to this style of music when they were teenagers.


The genre of music that i'm going to focus on is eighties/electro music. Im going to look at re-releases of eighties songs, current covers and electro vibes that keep in tune with the themes of my magazine.

The title i have decided on is 'Frankie Says'. I chose this because it keeps with the eighties theme and its a iconic phrase that everyone knows therefore everyone will remember. Other titles i thought of were; 'Feist' 'WT' and 'Radio'. I decided against these titles because i felt that they didn't really relate to the theme of the magazine. I like 'Feist' because it had a punch to it and it was really original but it did not link to the genre of the magazine enough for it to make the audience think Eighties straight away.

I want to use a boxy font for my masthead so it stands out and looks strong.

I like this font because its so very bold and eye catching. I dont want anything subtle!

I decided that i dont want to use a tagline for my magazine because i think the title embodies all that i want it to.


I think that i would publish this magazine monthly to allow the industry to develop for there to be enough to report on. The public like a big thick magazine that will last them a while so monthly will allow this. A weekly magazine wouldnt hold enough new things for the ever changing industry,


I think i'll use a midshot of an artist on the cover, something bright with contrasting patterns or colours. I think i'll only use one image to make sure it doesnt look busy or tacky. I think this will relate to the genre because of the iconic figures that came out of the eighties and lead the industry into a new age.


I think i'll use blues and yellows as a colour scheme, i quite like the idea of using post-it notes to make points through the magazine, plus the blue will stand out against the reds of the other magazines that are already being published.

For Coverlines i think i want to keep it simple, listing the artists/bands that will feature, mentioning a few special reports and free gift notification.

Music Magazine Analysis

Magazine Analysis on Prezi


Rolling Stone Magazine

• The use of a bold Masthead makes it stand out and attract the consumer's attention.
• The Font being so distinguished gives the magazine an identity and makes it easy to remember.
• The monochrome colour scheme gives the front cover an elegant and sophisticated look. The shadows this puts on Madonna's face gives that Hollywood Starlet/Marilyn Monroe style. This makes her look expensive and gives her an edge.
• The use of Direct Address draws the consumer in because it look like the image is looking at your directly at them and singling them out.
• The magazine makes a second reference to the title of the magazine under the Main cover line. This remind the consumer again which magazine they are looking at.
• The whole cover is clean, sharp and very simple. This makes it look neater and like a higher market magazine. The use of one main image and no other images really works as i think it looks more professional.
• The smaller details like the link between the cover line and image help as well. The cover line 'Madonna Looks Back' and the image showing Madonna looking over her shoulder, gives a very simple message and is not so 'in your face'.
• With the Image, the angle used make it more interesting. Madonna's face is on an angle and is looking back creates different shapes to the norm therefore making it more memorable. 

Student Magazine-Contents Page

I have kept my contents page as simple as possible and focused on its main function, page numbers and titles.
I put the page numbers in a different colour so they stand out more, and so they are different to the titles. I spread them out quite evenly and staggered them so they are simple to read.
I put the title of the magazine on the contents page too to carry on the themes, as well as keeping the same colour scheme of blue and green.

Student Magazine- Contents Page Flat Plan

This is my flat plan for my contents page. I want to keep it as simple as possible.

Student Magazine- Final Copy

This is the final design for my student magazine front cover. I changed the fonts again and some of the cover lines. added a picture so the images looked less harsh against the white background. I changed the colours of the cover lines to make it look more interesting and so it tied in with the colour scheme. 

Student Magazine- Draft 2

I made some changes to my magazine cover. I changed the font of some of the cover lines to make it look more interesting.

Student Magazine- Draft 1

This is the first copy of my student magazine. I kept to my brief as much as possible and tried to keep the design simple because i didn't want it too busy.
I think the picture is good because it uses direct address. He is looking down the camera lens which makes it look like he's singling you out. He is smiling and looks like a college student.
I dont think that the cover lines look up to a professional standard yet but by making the font smaller and adding more cover lines, it would look better.
I added a banner along the bottom because it created an extra space to advertise whats inside the magazine.

Preliminary Task- Proposal

I am aiming my magazine at South Downs College students. Between age 16-19, mixed race, gender and interests. 
I will have a theme for each magazine, so for each subject. For example; Music one month then Biology the next month and so on. I will include articles reviewing things that will help the students. And a monthly homework planner in the magazine.
I will use cover lines such as 'meet the life style' 'discover the gigs' using simple colloquial language.
My title of the magazine will be 'The SDC' I think that its simple and isn'y too 'collegey' and cheesy. I contemplated using 'The South Downs College' but it didn't have much impact.
I experimented with fonts but chose the middle one as it was simple but effective.

I am going not going to use a tagline because i don't think that the magazine needs it.
The magazine will be published monthly throughout the year.
I am going to put a portrait, mid shot image of a college student on the cover because it fits the conventions of a student magazine.
The magazine will be printed in A5 so it can be easily slotted into a bag or pocket.
I will use the image of the college student on a white background, with the masthead in the black and green, and the cover lines in blue. 

 <- Im going to use this image for my front cover.




                My contents page image ->

<- I decided against using this image for my cover because he doesn't look very happy.




      Another contents page image  ->

Task 5: Skills Audit

Task 4- IPC Media case study

"IPC Media produces over 60 iconic media brands, with print alone reaching almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men – almost 26 million UK adults – while our websites collectively reach over 20 million users every month.

IPC's diverse print and digital portfolio offers something for everyone, with a focus on three core audiences: men, mass market women and upmarket women.

Our men's portfolio (IPC Inspire) comprises a wealth of leisure brands including Country Life, Horse & Hound,Rugby World and Decanter, as well as lifestyle brands including Nuts, Mouse breaker and NME.

Our mass market women's division (IPC Connect) comprises famous women's weeklies including Look, Now, Chat and Woman; TV entertainment brands including What's on TV, TVTimes and TV & Satellite Week and, online, the good to know network.

Our upmarket women's division (IPC Southbank) comprises luxury fashion brands including Marie Claire and InStyle, lifestyle brands including woman&home and essentials and home interest brands including Ideal Home, Living etc and house to home".

Extract from http://www.ipcmedia.com/about/

IPC Connect's brands provide powerful reach, with its magazines read by 49% of all mass market women – that's eight million mass market women, while its digital brands reach 2.7 million adults

IPC Advertising offers you access to IPC Media's unparalleled range of print and online brands. Our leading magazine portfolio reaches 27million UK adults*, and online our brands collectively reach 20 million users every month**.

IPC Inspire is IPC's men's division. Its portfolio of 38 brands covers a huge spectrum of interests and includes famous names fromCountry Life and The Field to Nuts and NME.

Marketforce is the UK's leading newstrade sales and distribution company, successfully marketing 23% of the total magazine category.

IPC Southbank is the upmarket women's division, focusing on the two key markets of Fashion & Women's Lifestyle and Home Interest. Southbank is home to some of the most iconic magazine brands in publishing.

"Pinpointing exactly how far IPC's roots stretch back into the midst of publishing history is a complicated business. The International Publishing Corporation Ltd was formed in 1963 following the merger of the UK's three leading magazine publishers – George Newnes, Odhams Press and Fleetway Publications – who came together with the Mirror Group to form the International Publishing Corporation (IPC). And IPC Magazines was created five years later, in 1968. But those three original magazine businesses each had their own illustrious history, having been established in 1881, 1890 and 1880 respectively, with a number of the titles they launched in the late 19th Century still being published today under the IPC umbrella. And when The Field, launched in 1853, joined the IPC stable in 1994 following the acquisition of Harmsworth Magazines, it saw our family tree reach back even further.

Extract from http://www.ipcmedia.com/about/companyhistory/

• What types of magazine and target audiences has IPC been associated with over the years?  Mass market Women, Upmarket Women and Men.
• Why might IPC be an appropriate publisher for a new music magazine? They already publish well known, well established music magazine NME.
• What sorts of genres of music/types of magazines might they be likely to publish? Mainstream, electro-indie styles, something a bit different but wide open to the mass market of young adults.
• Why might alternative publishers like Bauer be appropriate? Because they publish Q and Kerrang, two high grossing music magazines. 

IPC Media

Task 3 - Conventions of Teen Magazines

•  Successful celebrity on the cover
• pink and purple themes
• fun masthead fonts
• busy cover, lots of little bits
• lots of cover lines
• focus on fashion
• abbreviations
• lots of colours
• coloquiel language
• plain backgrounds

• 'true stories'
• big writing
• top banner
• use of <3
• little pictures alongside the main one
• gripping words: 'Ultimate' 'Extreme' 'Better'
• handbag size magazines
• variety of stories
• centered around female celebrities
•  links to real life

• Head and shoulders image
• relatable interviews
• 
  

To What Extent Should Magazines Be Held Responsible For The Social Ramifications Of The Representations They Offer?

Magazines often promote a more mature image to younger girls because girls always want to grow up quicker. The magazines have researched into what 11-15 year olds are interested in and pushed it through the fashion and interviews in the magazine. Unfortunately, Magazines have pushed the themes to far in making girls grow up quicker and therefore creating a age group that comes across as suggestive and inappropriate.

On the front cover of Bliss, one of the cover lines is 'Why I Got A BooB Job At 16'. This article is explaining about why a young decided to change her image with plastic surgery when she has not stopped developing yet. This article is displaying the story as a positive thing rather than a hard hitting article which it should be. Because of this article, the young readers will think its ok to dislike their body image and its simple to change it. I think the magazine is responsible for this effect because of the story they chose to print and the way they printed it; if the article was about how the girl regretted it 5 years later then the article would've been acceptable in the magazine. Also, this article promotes a stereotyped body image that only big breast are attractive. This again was wrong of the magazine as the girls of 11-15 would not be fully developed yet and they would be learning about 'their age group' in a totally false way.

The Front cover of Sugar magazine has a cover line of 'Flirt Fashion'. This suggests that it is acceptable that girls aged 11-15 flirt openly with boys of a similar or older age. This article is selling girls clothing that will make them 'attractive' in the eyes of boys. The image that accompanies the cover line is three short dresses with low cut front. This encourages these young girls to dress provocatively and suggestively, showing that this is all that boys are interested in when looking for a relationship (even though relationships are an iffy subject when you're 11-15).

The front cover uses main images of celebrities that are considered role models for the younger generations. The front cover of Seventeen magazine features Katy Perry who sings about sex, lesbianism and manic partying/clubbing. She also poses nude on the album art of 'Teenage Dream'. Perry is seen as a role model for young girls but advertises her music and her person in these adult ways. I don't think that this is the magazines fault but the magazine could have chosen a main image of a tamer role model. 

Task 2 Magazine and Audience Part 2

Target Audience

Q magazine appeals to a broad range of people because it has a variety of music styles and artists. This is supported on the cover by the gender neutral colours used, blues pinks and reds. The white background gives a simple base to the magazine so the front page is not too busy. 
Choosing Cee Lo Green as the cover image also shows the target audience is quite general but mainly for teenagers, young adults; and adults between 16-30years old. Cee Lo is dressed dramatically showing his 'rockstar' side, also he's having fun with the shoot depicting the general themes of the magazine. 
   The magazine is quite laid back which is suggested in the fonts used on the cover lines, quite scribbly and relaxed. This shows the target audience would be mainstream or indie teenagers, people who like current music like Mumford & Sons, Coldplay or Plan B. 
There isn't that much writing on the front cover which echo's the themes inside. The target audience would be more comfortable with reading captions and short responses but mainly like short reviews and pictures, maybe of the artists or album art as this makes it a lot easier to digest and gives people a much better idea to what the music would be like due to the linking with words and images. Also teenagers and young adults generally don't enjoy non-fiction writing as much as other ages groups, this, of course, is just a stereotype but is apt here.
I dont think there is a particular class that would buy this magazine as young person's music is a worldwide phenomenon in all areas that appeals to style rather than social status. 
Originally, the title was 'Cue' but it was getting confused with a snooker magazine, therefore it was changed to 'Q' which works better with the style of the magazine, the bold colour appeals to the target audience in a really out there way. 
The main cover line 'The Music that changed my life' shows that the magazine interviews the artists for their musical opinions rather than their life history like other magazines such as Prima or Live. This appeals to the target audience because they buy the magazine for music information, reviews and references. 

Things you can do with blogger

• upload videos from youtube
• upload photos from files and internet
• add hyperlinks to other pages
• http://www.slideshare.net/marcus9000/how-to-use-blogger
• upload your blog via email
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs5tfoe-dCA
• http://blip.tv/leighblackall/embed-multi-media-into-blogs-253665
• http://wikieducator.org/How_to_use_Blogger
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryb4VPSmKuo
• you can upload your own videos straight though blogger

Task 2 Magazine and Audience

Example 1

• Masthead- Title/name of the magazine.
• Main Images- A full page image of a celebrity who is going to be inside the magazine.
• Cover lines- one liners, snippets of information in relation to whats in the magazine.
• Pullout- an extra magazine inside the main one, usually with a different name and theme but still running in the same way.
• Selling line or tag line- a caption/slogan that sits just under the masthead.
• Bar code- sits on a corner or side out of the way.
• Date- release date or season.
• Issue number- generally for collectors, there can be a important issue number eg. 100, 150.
• Main cover line- goes with main image, suggests what the celebrity in is the magazine for.
• Left third- huge selling point as its the only bit you really see in a magazine stand, masthead must start here.
• Quotes- small sentences from some articles to entice the reader.
• Colour scheme- consistent colours used, gives it a style and makes it recognisable.
• Price- Usually next to bar code and issue number.
• Font- keeps the same all the way through to keep it simple.
• Web page- maybe a link to the official web page of the magazine.
• High Profile People- a handful of celebrities to feature, a variety but still in keeping with the tone of the magazine.
• Direct address- use of 'you', and the main image model looking straight down the camera, optical illusion of them looking directly at you.
• Banner-Optional, along the bottom of the cover with a list of articles, people, competitions etc.

Example 3

Example 2

How i think blogger will be useful for my coursework

• easily accessible 
• i can upload all of my planning quickly
• i wont lose bits of coursework
• blogger is set out in a simple way so its easy to evaluate my lesson's work

Task 1 Research and Planning

This is a video from youtube about how to use blogger