Contents Construction

I started off creating the fonts for the headings of the contents page. I am happy with the fonts but I will edit the colour scheme as I go on. I also wrote and positioned the editor's letter, the font I used was simple so it was readable. I used a handwritten looking font to sign off the editor's letter to make it look like it had actually be signed. 

When I typed out all the content I came across a problem with the space; I couldn't fit all I wanted two width ways therefore I had to juggle around the headings so they fit in. 

Next I played around with the colour scheme to see which would look best.

I found it hard to work with the layout I originally wanted therefore I switched everything around to see if it would be better. I used my second idea of what I could possibly make my contents look like for inspiration.

I added in a photo but before I could add in the rest of the photos I had to edit them so I used the same photo just to see how the layout would look. At the moment even though the colour scheme needs to be adjusted, I feel that the page looks bare.

I realised that I had the page size with the wrong sizing, once I changed it to A4 I had much more room on the page, this enabled me to be able to bring back the 'You' section.

I decided to add some background boxes, to get a house style I used the same colour pink that I used both on the cover and 'downloading content'. I decided to keep all the boxes the same colour so that it wouldn't look too much and messy. I still can't find a suitable layout especially as now I have all this extra white space.

I tried a new layout that could fill more of the white space. I decided to move the editor's letter so that it wasn't in line with the contents title so it didn't look like it should be read following on from there. With the white space in the bottom right hand corner once I have completed my double page spread I am going to put a little image of that there. Despite doing this I realise that there will still be white space in the middle/top of the page; I am hoping that it comes across as giving a sophisticated and elegant feel rather than empty and boring.

Looking back at my research I noticed that there were the star shaped design elements so I decided to see how it looked; I used the custom shape tool in order to do this. I wasn't sure which colour to use as I didn't want too much pink and the black wouldn't be visible. By also using pink it would mean I would have to change the red. I was going to change the red text to white but I couldn't do this because the background was white therefore half of the text wouldn't be visible.

    
I tried to add in a speech bubble to cover my editor's letter however I struggled with getting the whole speech mark in without it being cut off the page. The problem with the speech mark is that I don't want it to look like that the photo I have on my contents page is the editor.

I thought that this colour scheme was too simplistic therefore I decided that as I wanted to put some yellow on my cover, if I used it on the contents it would create a house style.

To avoid making the speech bubble look like it was coming from one of the people in the photos, I decided to rotate it so it was upside down. I also used my research to add in some design elements. The space left in the bottom right hand corner is going to be filled with a picture of the DPS once it's completed. 

After realising that having a small screenshot of my DPS article was not a convention of magazines I decided to add another picture of Shona which would give yet another teaser of the article with her. I feel that there is still too much white space on this page but I am happy with the use of design elements.

Double Page Spread Q&A

Draft 2

The newest and hottest pop artist chats exclusively to Download to show the world who she really is.

Since newly finding fame, how have you been coping with all the media attention?

It's demanding for sure, it's difficult adjusting to a completely new life which is completely different to what I've ever experienced before. Every time I’m swamped by the paps I feel like I have to stop for a photo and quick interview. Don't get me wrong, I love my new life and how much it has changed just sometimes I find it hard to deal with. I don't understand what to do sometimes, especially when the press are about. Like the day right after I dropped my debut single ‘fire’, which if I say so myself blew up the charts, the second I opened my front door I was blinded by the flashing lights from the paparazzi’s cameras. My first instinct was to slam shut the door, I was so scared and confused, needless to say my trip to the shops had to be postponed! Things like that are annoying and that’s not me being a diva at all, I just think I deserve privacy like I used to have. It’s things like that which make me feel like an animal in a zoo. Enough with the negatives, there are many perks of fame too. The traveling is unreal, growing up as a working class citizen I never got the opportunities to see the world as I’ve seen it these past few months.

What has been your favourite country that you’ve visited?

That's a hard question... I’m gonna say that it’s got to be Australia. The culture is the complete opposite to how it is in the UK and it’s full of creepy crawlies! I’m petrified of bugs but I didn’t let them get in the way of my trip. As a kid, Australia is always the place that I’ve always wanted to visit. It did live up to my expectations, it’s an island paradise for sure! I also thoroughly enjoyed touring North America but there are some famous monuments that are on my bucket list; like seeing the world famous Hollywood sign.

How do family and friends feel about your new found fame?

My family and friends are obviously thrilled for me as becoming a pop star has always been a dream of mine and they've been nothing but supportive throughout all the years. They were the ones who were there for me during my struggle and rise to fame and they are still as shocked as me! My family find it hard to believe that their little Shona has grown up to turned into a professional recording artist. The biggest shock has come to my mum who I caught googling my name! She always gets emotional as many of you will know who saw her appearance on Daybreak where I first preformed on live TV.

As it is relatively new to you, how do you cope with pre-concert jitters?

I have always loved preforming since I was a little girl and have taken part in choir performances where I've always been nervous for them but I was able to have my parents there cheering me on in the audience. But now every thing's changed and become a 100x bigger. Preforming the EMAs was the biggest gig I've ever done and my parents cheering me on in the audience wasn't enough to calm me down. I was constantly worried and kept thinking 'what if I mess up!?' I couldn't sleep for weeks, it was all I was thinking about. The thing that spurred me on to get on the stage was looking from the wings at the thousands of people cheering for me and screaming my name, I knew I had to deliver and that everything would be OK.

Not forgetting your mentor (Lady GaGa), what is your relationship like?

She's really cool and she's nothing like what I expected, but that is defiantly a good thing. At first I was extremely nervous and scared about meeting her, especially as she held my fate in her hands. But over the last few months we've got on really well as we've got to know each other and hopefully she'll be a life long friend who is always there to give me tips with how to handle fame. She’s also given me the perfect platform for my rise to fame by letting me be a support act on her ‘Born This Way Ball’ which is her world tour. I’m really excited for this opportunity which will be stopping off in LA so that’ll be the perfect time to see the Hollywood sign!

As well as touring with Gaga, what else can we expect from you in the future?

Since releasing my first single 'fire' I have decided to write some more of my own songs which feature on my upcoming album which will hopefully be out by late November, just in time for Christmas! I'm hoping this album will surprise everyone and be different to every other artist that they have heard, I'm aiming to do this by having my own songs and having some collaborations with artists which you might not expect from me.

Can you give us any hinters to any collaborations that feature on the album?

I don't want to give to much away, I'm being very secretive with who is on the album, not even my friends know! I want it to be a surprise but I guess I can't be too harsh and not reveal any artists so I'm willing to compromise by giving y'all a clue. One of the artists who features on a love song which was produced by Will.I.Am is also a UK born star who came on the scene a few years back and is a lyrical rap genius.

I think I have a good idea to who it could be!

Do you have any plans in the near future of trying to crack America?

It's defiantly on the cards and would be a dream come true if that happened. But right now I'm just focusing on cracking the UK before even thinking about going worldwide, there's so much fierce competition out there right now and it's gonna be a tough journey for sure. I am confident that I will be able to crack the US as I do have the perfect platform of having a phenomenal mentor constantly helping me.

What are some of the things that you're going to do to keep yourself grounded?

I'm gonna keep myself surrounded with family at all times because I know they won't let me get away with becoming obnoxious or anything like that! Every time I'm at home I know that my parents will keep me in check and will make me tidy my room and help around the house just like I do now. I’ve also got Gaga, who despite being a worldwide success for the last 6 years has stayed extremely modest and grounded, to help me. I would never want to be one of them people who are so demanding and treat other people like rubbish like some celebrities are today! I was shocked to hear about an instance where a pop star made her PA pick out all the green Skittles from the packet because they are the only ones that she likes.

Can you comment on the relationship rumours between you and A-List hottie Justin Bieber?

There's nothing going with us like that at all! The kissing rumours have been made into something that they're not, I just gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek as a congratulations for him winning his awards at the EMAs. I feel sorry for Justin because at every opportunity the media are always creating stories about him. With this story the media portrayed me in a negative light which did upset me. They were saying how I’m looking for attention and calling me a ‘fame whore’ which is not what I’m doing at all! I don’t want to be known for dating another celebrity, I want to be known for my music.

Can you clear up the rumours about you bad mouthing Cher Lloyd?

I have been wanting to clear these up for a while now, something I said was misinterpreted. By saying that I personally wasn't a fan of her music, people insinuated that I was saying that her music was poor. From this I got a lot of hate, especially from her fan base claiming that I was jealous when all I meant was to harmlessly say that her music isn't my cup of tea just like my sound is probably not to her preference. 

Draft 3

The newest and hottest pop artist chats exclusively to 'Download' to show the world who she really is.

Since newly finding fame, how have you been coping with all the media attention?

It's demanding for sure, it's difficult adjusting to a completely new life which is completely different to what I've ever experienced before. Every time I’m swamped by the paps I feel like I have to stop for a photo and quick interview. Don't get me wrong, I love my new life and how much it has changed just sometimes I find it hard to deal with. I don't understand what to do sometimes, especially when the press are about. Like the day right after I dropped my debut single ‘Fire’, which if I say so myself blew up the charts, the second I opened my front door I was blinded by the flashing lights from the paparazzi’s cameras. My first instinct was to slam shut the door, I was so scared and confused, needless to say my trip to the shops had to be postponed! Things like that are annoying and that’s not me being a diva at all, I just think I deserve privacy like I used to have. It’s things like that which make me feel like an animal in a zoo. Enough with the negatives, there are many perks of fame too. The traveling is unreal, growing up as a working class citizen I never got the opportunities to see the world as I’ve seen it these past few months.

What has been your favourite country that you’ve visited?

That's a hard question... I’m gonna say that it’s got to be Australia. The culture is the complete opposite to how it is in the UK and it’s full of creepy crawlies! I’m petrified of bugs but I didn’t let them get in the way of my trip. As a kid, Australia is always the place that I’ve always wanted to visit. It did live up to my expectations, it’s an island paradise for sure! I also thoroughly enjoyed touring North America but there are some famous monuments that are on my bucket list; like seeing the world famous Hollywood sign.

How do family and friends feel about your new found fame?

My family and friends are obviously thrilled for me as becoming a pop star has always been a dream of mine and they've been nothing but supportive throughout all the years. They were the ones who were there for me during my struggle and rise to fame and they are still as shocked as me! My family find it hard to believe that their little Shona has grown up to turned into a professional recording artist. The biggest shock has come to my mum who I caught googling my name! She always gets emotional as many of you will know who saw her appearance on Daybreak where I first preformed on live TV.

As it is relatively new to you, how do you cope with pre-concert jitters?

I have always loved preforming since I was a little girl and have taken part in choir performances where I've always been nervous for them but I was able to have my parents there cheering me on in the audience. But now every thing's changed and become a 100x bigger. Preforming the EMAs was the biggest gig I've ever done and my parents cheering me on in the audience wasn't enough to calm me down. I was constantly worried and kept thinking 'what if I mess up!?' I couldn't sleep for weeks, it was all I was thinking about. The thing that spurred me on to get on the stage was looking from the wings at the thousands of people cheering for me and screaming my name, I knew I had to deliver and that everything would be OK.

Not forgetting your mentor (Lady GaGa), what is your relationship like?

She's really cool and she's nothing like what I expected, but that is defiantly a good thing. At first I was extremely nervous and scared about meeting her, especially as she held my fate in her hands. But over the last few months we've got on really well as we've got to know each other and hopefully she'll be a life long friend who is always there to give me tips with how to handle fame. She’s also given me the perfect platform for my rise to fame by letting me be a support act on her ‘Born This Way Ball’ which is her world tour. I’m really excited for this opportunity which will be stopping off in LA so that’ll be the perfect time to see the Hollywood sign!

As well as touring with Gaga, what else can we expect from you in the future?

Since releasing my first single 'fire' I have decided to write some more of my own songs which feature on my upcoming album which will hopefully be out by late November, just in time for Christmas! I'm hoping this album will surprise everyone and be different to every other artist that they have heard, I'm aiming to do this by having my own songs and having some collaborations with artists which you might not expect from me.

Can you give us any hinters to any collaborations that feature on the album?

I don't want to give to much away, I'm being very secretive with who is on the album, not even my friends know! I want it to be a surprise but I guess I can't be too harsh and not reveal any artists so I'm willing to compromise by giving y'all a clue. One of the artists who features on a love song which was produced by Will.I.Am is also a UK born star who came on the scene a few years back and is a lyrical rap genius.

I think I have a good idea to who it could be!

Do you have any plans in the near future of trying to crack America?

It's defiantly on the cards and would be a dream come true if that happened. But right now I'm just focusing on cracking the UK before even thinking about going worldwide, there's so much fierce competition out there right now and it's gonna be a tough journey for sure. I am confident that I will be able to crack the US as I do have the perfect platform of having a phenomenal mentor constantly helping me.

What are some of the things that you're going to do to keep yourself grounded?

I'm gonna keep myself surrounded with family at all times because I know they won't let me get away with becoming obnoxious or anything like that! Every time I'm at home I know that my parents will keep me in check and will make me tidy my room and help around the house just like I do now. I’ve also got Gaga, who despite being a worldwide success for the last 6 years has stayed extremely modest and grounded, to help me. I would never want to be one of them people who are so demanding and treat other people like rubbish like some celebrities are today! I was shocked to hear about an instance where a pop star made her PA pick out all the green Skittles from the packet because they are the only ones that she likes.

Can you comment on the relationship rumours between you and A-List hottie Justin Bieber?

There's nothing going with us like that at all! The kissing rumours have been made into something that they're not, I just gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek as a congratulations for him winning his awards at the EMAs. I feel sorry for Justin because at every opportunity the media are always creating stories about him. With this story the media portrayed me in a negative light which did upset me. They were saying how I’m looking for attention and calling me a ‘fame whore’ which is not what I’m doing at all! I don’t want to be known for dating another celebrity, I want to be known for my music.

Can you clear up the rumours about you bad mouthing Cher Lloyd?

I have been wanting to clear these up for a while now, something I said was misinterpreted. By saying that I personally wasn't a fan of her music, people insinuated that I was saying that her music was poor. From this I got a lot of hate, especially from her fan base claiming that I was jealous when all I meant was to harmlessly say that her music isn't my cup of tea just like my sound is probably not to her liking. At the end of the day, if she and her fan base want to drag this out then they can, I'm not bothered all I wanna do is focus on my music.

Contents Page Content

I have decided to brainstorm some ideas of possible content I could include in my magazine. These ideas may not even be enough to fill my page so I may have to add more.
 

Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread Comparison

With the Kerrang! Magazine, house style is achieved by the colours used on the cover are also used on the DPS.

Current Magazine Titles

      

These are some current magazine titles that were or are currently on the market.

The colour of the masthead changes with each issue whereas some magazines such as 'Q' always have the letter written in white placed on a red square background. The title is written in large, bold caps lock letters making it look important and dominant. The line that goes through the letters suggests that it has been cut through with a knife, or in this case a blender. This gives it a sharp feel and an idea of edginess. The dictionary definition of a blender is 'a person or thing that mixes things together, in particular.' This gives the indication that the people featured and the content of the magazine could be mixed genre. The celebrity endorsement are people of which are powerful and daring because they are brave enough to mix things together i.e. their music and all other aspects of life. This indicates that the target audience are similar to the celebrities; confident young people.

'Smash! hits' magazine is also a television channel and radio station. For each media the brand has used the same title design instead of doing separate ones for each media otherwise it would become confusing and it would not have a house style. However the design has changed numerous times through the years. The title is situated at the very top of the page, this is common with all magazines not just music magazines. The title is written in bubble writing which is quite childish because children generally use it for when they make diagrams. In this particular issue the colours are summery and compliment each other giving a happy feel. The word 'smash' has the dictionary definition of 'an act or sound of something smashing' this makes the magazine sound to be of the rock or metal genre. The idea of a smash hit is a song that is a massive hit, signifying that there are only good songs in this magazine. 

The magazine clearly states that the genre is pop due to the word 'pops' is present.This makes the audience only have to read the title in order to see if it is a magazine that they might be interested in. In this issue the title is pink, this will attract females into buying the magazine as pink is generally stereotyped as a girly colour. The design of the masthead has changed dramatically through the years; with designs where the title stretches across the width of the magazine and to the title that is in the top hand corner (like the issue above). The words 'top and 'pops' stand out the most because they are bigger and bolder than the other words showing that they are more important.

'Just the title alone, 'NME' is hard to see what genre it is because it is an acronym for 'New Music Express' pronounced 'enemy'. This only includes people who have a good music magazine knowledge to be in the target audience. The masthead is red but outlined in white giving it the fuller effect to make it stand out and be noticed. Red is quite a masculine colour which could give off the idea that the target audience is male rather than female or mixed. The title is put in the left hand corner fairly close to the top but not at the very top, this makes it less dominant.



The definition of the word 'vibe' is 'a person's emotional state or the atmosphere of a place as communicated to and felt by others'. This title for a magazine doesn't specify an audience.The title is written in dark colours, red and black which also fade into each other; this gives a dark feel. It can be argued that rap is quite a dark genre because the lyrics are generally about the struggles of real life and more serious issues whereas pop songs are happy because they are about the good things in life. These dark colours are more associated with males rather than females, attracting males as the target audience. The title fits across the whole of the width of the magazine making it stand out as i dominates the top half of the cover.

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in Dartford in 1962.  Rolling stone magazine is  US-based which is devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture. In the 1990s, the magazine changed its format to appeal to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, movie actors, and popular music. The serif font is quite formal however this font looks quite informal and appealing to me (as a youth/teenager).

The spaces in the letters of the word ‘board’ are always filled in with red, yellow, blue, green (in that order) giving it house style and making it recognisable issue after issue. As there is a range of colours, it doesn’t just make it seem like it is supposed to attracts either just males or females. The sans serif font gives it a casual and informal vibe (which is what the magazine is aiming for), there would be no need for the excess serifs as they would give a classical formal vibe. A billboard is ‘a large outdoor board for displaying advertisements’ this implies that the magazine is large, it is also noticed and well known. The artists inside the magazine will also be huge stars who are known worldwide.

Double Page Spread Q&A

Draft 1: 

Contents Page Planning

On the contents pages for 'Top of the Pops' and 'We <3 Pop' the word 'contents' isn't placed in the largest font to make it noticeable, they say 'Inside Your Mag' and 'We Love This' making this the page title. This gave me the idea that I should use something similar to 'In This Issue' however I much preferred the idea of just having the word 'contents' as the main text as it is shorter and gets straight to the point. I decided to compromise and try 'downloading content' as the title of my page, the word 'downloading' goes with the title of the magazine being 'download'. I thought 'downloading' on its own would not be suitable because people might not understand what I meant so by adding content on the end it made it make sense. 

Second draft idea:

My favorite contents design was my first idea therefore I've decided to make a flat plan of it so that it will be neater and give me a better idea of how it will actually look.  

Contents Page Research

A magazines layout will reflect how it wants to be seen by readers.  

Top of the Pops - the layout has a balance of being informal but it is still formal enough to look tidy, with this balance it looks upmarket, stylish and expensive. This effect has been created by the symmetrical layout of the text; it's lined up horizontally which makes the page look organised with a sense of order therefore creating a sense that it is expensive. 

- There is quite a bit of white space left which stops the magazine from looking crammed however it does look slightly bare and boring. 

- The information is laid out clearly in columns under headings e.g. 'all about you' and 'wins and offers' so that the information is easy to locate. This makes it easier for the reader to quickly glance at the contents page to see if there is anything in particular that takes their fancy instead of going through the whole magazine in order to find a particular article. This also comes in handy because if there is a particular section that the reader has no interest in then it saves them reading through the whole list of articles on that section as they can just ignore it and move onto the next category. 

- The information written is fairly short and snappy, this is relevant to a contents page because it should not be long winded, it should just tell you which page which article is on. The fact that the text is minimal will attract and be appealing to the target audience as teens generally don't always enjoy reading essay looking pages and would rather bullet points. 

- The language used is quite colloquial 'Oops! Radio 1's Greg James giggles at your cringes' the use of the word 'oops' is an informal register, the word 'cringe' is a word commonly used by teenagers (the target audience) and the word 'your' gives direct address making the reader feel that the magazine is talking to them directly. 

- There is an image featured of an annotated page of the cover which labels the cover lines to which page they are on. This is extremely useful for the readers who were drawn to a particular cover line and will want to read that first. 

- In total there are 8 images used and all of them are near enough square (not slanted).
 
- There is a page number however it is covered by my thumb in this image.  

- The more appealing features of the magazine have the numbers written with a background to them making them more bold so that they are more noticeable. 

- There are design elements such as where is reads 'contents' the box that its in has a zig zag line, 'inside your mag' is written in a speech bubble and the 'we <3 boys' section and the back grounded page numbers are also design elements that give it a 'pop' feel.

We <3 Pop - a similarity between this magazine and 'Top of the Pops' is that it includes the editor's letter on the same page. 

- Design elements consist of the 'inside this month' and 'we love this' having letters coloured in (this is what 'Billboard' magazine does with their title). There is 'we <3 pop' written in a speech bubble (TOTP also uses a speech bubble). Other elements that TOTP also uses is the transparent shapes that background important page numbers, there is also the use of the star shaped circles.

- The whole page in general lacks white space which generally means that it is crazy and chaotic making it look cheap. However it doesn't look too crammed except where the page numbers are labelled it looks messy. 

- The layout used doesn't stick to a particular style, as there is one column used for the editor's letter but there are two columns where the main base of the content is written. 

- The content isn't organised into sections making it harder to find an exact article that may have been spotted on the cover, this could be time consuming. 

- The language used is arguably more explicit than 'Top of the Pops' 'we looked like condoms' 'I'd pose naked' this language could be inappropriate for the readers of TOTP as they target a younger audience. 

- There is a page number and the website of the magazine written at the bottom. 

- There are 15 images of celebrities that feature in the magazine used on this page with all but one being slanted.

As well as looking at contents pages from the genre of music I am doing, as there are very few English pop magazines available I decided to research into other genres so I could see if I was getting the right idea and not making my contents page look 'too rock'.

This contents page is from DJ Magazine 
which is a dance magazine, I can tell this 
by the 5 images used as some look like that 
they have been taken in clubs. For this 
reason, I would assume that the target 
audience consists of people who are able 
to get into clubs 18+). Also to show the dance 
genre further there is a catchy line at the 
top of the page 'living & breathing dance 
music' which shows that the target audience
is for die hard fans of dance music. The actual 
word 'contents' is placed at the top of the page 
but it is very discrete as it is in a simple font, I 
am surprised that it isn't in bold because now 
it goes unnoticed. The contents is arranged into
two columns of which are clearly labelled with 
headings. The three main features are put in their own column which is situated in its own box. There is no use of a page number being used.

The Rock Sound Magazine spreads across two pages, however this isn't a double page spread, it is set out on two different pages. This enables the photo on the first page to dominant the page by taking up most of the space, then the second page is more informative with only one small image. Both pages are laid out in neat columns which makes the information easier to read. The contents is split up into three headings 'main features', 'features' and 'regulars' these are quite brief and are quite broad; they don't split up the content into sections e.g. 'celebrities' and 'you', these would make it easier for readers. The pages both have page numbers which are very small. On the second page of the contents a design element that is used is the technical drawing which is foregrounded behind the 'regulars'. Another design element is the image of which the editors letter is on, it is on a page which has been ripped out of a note pad.

Q Magazine contents page across goes across two pages, however this one is a double page spread. It contains a mixture of images and text.The content is split up into sections: up front, features, Q review and every month. The 'every month' section insinuates that readers regularly read this magazine so they know what to expect in this section. There are neat columns which are even divided into boxes and lines to show that they are part of a different section.

Magazine Analysis 3

 

 Top of the Pops magazine is a monthly publication published by BBC Magazines costing £3.99 per issue. From Wikipedia I found that 'it was originally marketed as the missing link between Smash Hits and NME, but its format was gradually changed, with less music content and a demographic shift to young girls'.

From the ABC website I found this information about its circulation: 

From this I can see that it is a popular magazine that gets many readers, this could be because it doesn't face much competition with other magazines which are of the same genre as there aren't many (Smash Hits Magazine, for example does not publish anymore). 

The title of the magazine is called 'Top of the Pops' it is named after the popular TV show and is produced by the same company. From the title, the genre can easily be distinguished as the word 'pop' gives it away. The magazine will include information on celebrities who are music artists in the genre of pop who are very successful and have their songs at the top of the charts. This implies that only the top artists will be included as these are the only ones people will want to read about. The masthead is written in a sans serif font with the more important words in block capitals 'TOP' and 'POPS' which makes them stand out. The swirly 'S' is very informal and looks quite childish, making it appealing to young children rather than adults. The stars that surround the written masthead are also childish, they are trashy and crazy which suits the target market of teens as they don't want elegant and neat looking layouts/designs. Usually the masthead would be the largest piece of information on the page, however in this case the main cover line is larger which makes that more noticeable. 

The main image is of the band 'One Direction' who are known worldwide, they are very popular and are constantly in the charts which makes them fit in well with this magazine.  They take up most of the space and are dominating the cover making them the main subject. The image of them is almost but not quite a full length shot, this enables us to see their outfit even though most of it is covered by cover lines. From what I can see all the members are wearing casual clothes that are white, grey and black which are plain and doll colours. This gives them a sophisticated look and the colours that they are wearing goes with the season as winter is associated with dark colours, summer is associated with bright colours, spring with pastel and autumn with greens and browns. Their direction of gaze is all facing the camera giving the reader eye contact making them look interested and making it more personal than if they were looking away. Their facial expressions are calm and chilled making them look neutral but approachable and friendly at the same time. Their body language with them all being joined together makes them look like a gang however this is not to say that they are dangerous or intimidating, the friendly 'bromance' vibe is shown by their friendly shoulder touching. 

There are also other images on the cover; these consist of celebrities and clothes. The celebrities are used an endorsement to make more people buy the magazine. These images appear on the cover to try and get as wider target audience as possible because if someone is browsing and they see that there is a poster of Girls Aloud (their favourite band) then they have a higher chance of buying the magazine. Also if there is an article that someone's favourite celebrity is featured in then it will also encourage them to buy the magazine. 

Other content that is promoted by the cover lines include other celebrity gossip (their endorsement lets them offer information about themselves that the public want to know) 'embarrassing star pics revealed', 'real life' stories and 'party style special' the fashion aspect fits in well as it is Christmas time and people will be attending Christmas parties. The pictures of some of the merchandise that are featured on the cover gives possible readers a sneak peek of what's inside to see if it takes their fancy before committing to buying the magazine. 


There are a range of fonts that have been used, if there wasn't a large enough variation then the cover would look boring and similar. However there has to be a balance as there shouldn't be too many fonts used as that will make it look disordered and cheap. I will keep this is in mind when designing my cover and aim not to use over 6 different fonts. On this cover there has been a range of both simplistic (which makes the magazine look sophisticated and classy) and more messy fonts (which makes the magazine look informal and trashy). There is a mixture of both sans serif and serif fonts used which lets it have a balance between the casual and elegant effect.

The 'M' from 'Merry' is written in serif font which gives out a sense of class and expense to it giving the effect that it is an upmarket magazine. 

As well as a range of fonts despite there being no use of italics there is a use of bold. The words that are written in bold are written like that to draw attention to it as it is an important aspect of the magazine.

The text is also written in different sizes so more important information can be shown more clearly by putting it in a larger font than the rest i.e. the main cover line 'Merry KISS-MAS!' is written in the largest font on the cover and the use of capital letters makes it stand out even more to make it more eye catching. 

The magazine consists of 69 pages in total which for a monthly magazine and the price this is a fair amount of pages. As well as all the articles that people actually want to read there are also 9 pages of advertisements included. Some of these adverts enable the reader to see if the magazine is meant for them or not as there are certain adverts that are only relevant to particular people. The Tampax Pearl, Tampax Compak, Always ultra, So...? perfume and Lacoste perfume for women adverts tell us that the magazine is for women as these adverts are irrevalent to men and there are no adverts of a similar context that would be suitable for men i.e. aftershave. The model on the JD advert is female, suggesting that they are trying to pull in female readers even though JD do also sell male clothes.Other adverts that are included are unisex; Sims PC game, advertising next issue and ringtones/wallpapers. 

The features in this particular issue are all based around interviews, celebrities and shopping. As a music magazine it is surprising to see that there isn't a page dedicated to music, an example of this would be a new music page. The features are as follows: - Celebs exposed (2 separate pages)
- Gossip 2 go (5 pages worth)
- Celeb Secrets 
- OOPS!
- Austin Mahone interview
- Harry Styles interview
- Liam Payne interview
- Steal Miley's Style
- Competitions
- Love Quiz
- Zayn Malik interview
- We <3 Shopping (11 pages worth)
- Competitions
- New Stuff
- Aidan Davis interview
- All About You (2 more separate pages)
- Real Life
- Niall Horan interview
- 7 pages worth of posters


The 12 double page spread articles are as follows: 
- Harry Styles exclusive interview
- Celeb secrets: Louis Smith
- Liam Payne exclusive interview 
- Steal Miley's Style
- Louis Tomlinson exclusive interview
- Love Quiz
- Zayn Malik exclusive interview 
- Competitions
- Aidan Davis exclusive interview
- All About You
- Real Life
- Niall Horan exclusive interview

Advertorials: This particular advertorial looks very much like an article in the magazine however it is clearly labelled twice. 

- Sims 3 advertorial is also labelled at the top be an 'advertisement feature'.

- Always 'fake' advice letter is labelled at the top to be a 'advertisement feature'. 

House style: the titles of the articles; the unique box and font that is used are shown throughout the magazine making it associated with this particular magazine.

- As there are 5 interviews (one from each member of the band) the font and style used is the same making it associated with the band's interviews. 

- Stars are a decorative element.

These house style designs are fun and casual which is what the target audience want to see. The informal idea of the zig zag style cut out boxes are chaotic rather than boring solid hard lines. The use of stars (which are childish) are used regularly throughout the magazine .