Colour Schemes

Colour Scheme Ideas

I like this colour scheme because of how it links to my genre of country music. It links because the colours are quite earthy and natural. However for the age group of 16-25 it may not be exciting enough to grab their attention and keep them intrigued. The white is a contrast to the rest of the colour scheme, so I would use that for headings and possibly banners to make it contrast from the rest of the colours used.

This colour scheme has a slightly younger feel to it than the last one. The brown still gives it a marginally earthy feel and also makes it more sophisticated. The purple gives it a slightly more feminine feel which coincides with the audience gender I have chosen. The red contrasts nicely with the other colours allowing for items that stand out and could possibly be used for banners.However the range of colours might be a bit overpowering for the viewer.

     These colours are warm and still have an earthy feel. They have a sophisticated but still feminine feel and still contrast enough to allow different sections to stand out. The simple use of two colours means that the magazine is not overpowered with colour.

Mrs D

Your initial ideas are good. I like your reasoning about the guitar. Make sure you have a clear rathional regarding 'other' contents.

Front Cover Photograph Inspiration

Front Cover Photograph Inspiration

For my photograph I am really interested in using a guitar as it increases the athletics of the photograph for me and doesn't look as awkward as someone simply posing. It will also help with the natural, 'down-to-earth' feel generally associated with classic country music.

I also want the models to be looking directly at the camera because it helps create a connection with the audience and it also adds life and expression to the person/people on the magazine.

I quite like the photographs where the artists are sitting because it looks more natural and comfortable which help the audience to believe that their favorite artist isn't lying in the words of their songs when they sing about loving their hometowns and being normal people just like everybody else. This also helps expand on the 'down-to-earth' vibe generally given by country music artists. 

Casual outfits also have an appeal to me for when I put together the outfits for my models because, again country is seen a very 'down-to-earth' and comfortable. Also by playing on the stereotypical view of American Country Singers means using items such as cowboy hats/boots, checked shirts and tight, fitted jeans.  

Magazine Style Mood Board

Magazine Style

Country music is quite a down to earth genre but it had a little flair. I want to present this by using natural earthy colours and Mise en Scene, but I also want to use dashes of bright colours to show the 'flair'. 

Because my audience is quite young, 16-25, the occasional  bright colour will grab their attention and I feel I can use it to keep them intrigued rather than boring them with just the brown and green earthy colours. 

I also want to continue this earthy and natural theme through the out-fits and make-up. This will make the flow of the magazine smoother as all area's are themed in the same way.

My Magazine Idea's

My Magazine

Basic Information

• Aimed at - girls
• Age Range - 16 to 25
• Sold in shops in the UK such as WHSmiths and newsagents as there is an opening for Country Music Magazines where there are currently none.
• Also in the future it would be good to market the product in parts of America where there is a large and ever expanding market for Country Music.

Cover

• Large title spreading across the top of the page
• A photograph of two girls portraying country music duo 'Bomshel'
• 3 or 4 other smaller stories placed around the picture

Contents Page

• 2-3 columns
• pictures of 'country artists'
• Larger than the rest portrayal of the story about country duo 'Bomshel'
• Main stories
• list of the other stories within

Double Page Spread

• On the country duo 'Bomshel'
• Large picture of the two girls on the left hand side
• On the right 3 columns
• Title stretches across all 3 at the top
• Small sub-heading underneath
• 2 quotes from the text will be placed partially across two columns (one towards the top and beginning  One towards the bottom and end) 

What I Have Learnt

What I Have Learnt

Country Music Weekly (E-Book) - Double Page Spread

Double Page Spread

The large picture of Taylor Swift on the left is a quick way to establish who the article is about. Also the colour scheme has continued through. However using the same photograph featured on the Cover and Contents page has made, the originally well composed and interesting picture, a bore and might be seen as a waste of space as it's nothing the audience hasn't seen before.

The heading "Swift: We Haven't Lost Our Country Star!" is in bold red which sticks to the colour and font scheme seen throughout the magazine. This makes the magazine continue to flow naturally.

The actual article is featured on the right. It is quite a large sum of text and without pictures, stand-out quotes or even a leading letter the lump of text looks quite daunting. This may put some people off reading the article because of how large it seems.

The text font continues to match that which is used on the contents page and the black allows the reader to see that it is information as in the past.

Country Music Weekly (E-Book) - Contents Page

Contents Page

The contents page of 'Country Music Weekly' is not like the majority of music magazine contents pages. This is because it only has one column.

At the top of the page there is a large picture of Taylor Swift which matches the one used on the cover. The background is white and the writing is blue and black which flows through from the cover page carrying on the modern and simplistic feel of the magazine.

The layout of the contents page is all in 1 column, which allows it to state quickly and efficiently what the rest of the magazine contains, whilst simultaneously using the space available effectively.

Using extracts like 'Midnight special' allows for the audience to get a feel for the audience and want to see what its referring to therefore making them want to read the article associated with it.

The font used on the contents page is simple and blocky keeping with the simple and modern theme which has been portrayed throughout.

Country Music Weekly (E-Book) - Cover Page

Cover Page

'Country Music weekly’s' cover has a medium close-up of the well-known country music star Taylor swift. This attracts both girls and boys to the magazine because Taylor Swift is an icon to girls who they look up too and it attracts men using male-gaze. It is simple but modern using the colours black, white and blue. These colours are simple but associated with modern ideas of simple but attractive aesthetics. The colour scheme continues throughout Taylor’s outfit, except for a daring dash of pink in her necklace, this continuation of the colour scheme increases its aesthetics’.

The font of the magazine name is curved but bold and fills from one edge of the cover to the other helping us to identify it is the name of the magazine. Being green it stands out more against the rest of the colour scheme.

The font of the insights are bold and blue making them stand out from the white background. They are also smaller to help us distinguish between them and the magazine name. However they continue to flow with the chosen colour scheme.  

The stories chosen to represent on the front broaden the audience range as it brings country, pop and metal together with headline like 'Taylor Swift: Pop-Country or just pop?' or 'Metal and  country coexist?'. Also the story entitled‘Old school, New school’ indicates a mix of old and new country music which consequently extends the audience age range further.  

The layout is quite plain but is does have a modern feel to it. The use of an icon and the male-gaze creates a wide audience for the magazine. However the magazine doesn't have a bar code or a price. This is due to it being an online issue. It does have a date under the title which is blue to keep with the colour scheme.

Country Weekly (Hard Copy) - Double Page Spread

Double Page Spread

The double page spread continues through with the colour scheme using black, white and yellow. It has a large white title on the right hand page, it is large and white and travels over the two columns featured here. Under the title is a sub-heading in yellow that is a lot smaller than the the title but it also travels over the two columns. Under this is the story. It has two columns, one with pictures and the other with the story. The columns are two different sizes the one with images is about half the size of the column with text. The story starts with a drop caps and it continues onto the following pages, this is shown by arrows at the 'end' of the story. There is a large image of 'George' that spans across both pages, the image is a mid-shot. The other two images used in one of the columns are actually album covers.      

Country Weekly (Hard Copy) - Contents Page

Contents Page

The Country Weekly Contents page covers a couple of pages. It follows through with the Red,Yellow and white colour scheme established on the cover, however it has also added dashes of orange here and there, however this extension on the colour scheme blends perfectly with the rest.

The 'Cover Story' image takes up just over half of the left hand side of the left hand page and is clearly labeled  'Cover Story'. This layout is copied onto the right hand side page but uses multiple images. The Page numbers for the 'Cover Story' and the other stories with images are very large to make them stand out. They are also different colours, however they do stick to the colour scheme. The other page numbers are black and are on the left hand side of the stories they represent. They are also the same size as the titles given. 

Country Weekly (hard copy) - Cover Page

Cover Page

The Cover Page of Country Weekly uses the colour scheme Red, Yellow, White and Black. The Heading is Red and takes up about a fifth of the page. It is also bold with a slight curve to the corners. It is set behind their image of 'George' who features as their main artist in this addition. Under the Heading on the left hand side is the sub-heading 'The Inside Stories On Country Music's Hottest Stars' and the date it was published. These are in Black and the font used is very small especially compared to the Heading. 

At the top of the page there is a Red banner that features two more artists. They both have an image, their names in yellow and a 'title' in white underneath their names. There are other images down the left hand side which like the heading are set behind the main image of 'George'. These images are of other artists and their names are in the bottom left of the image in white. the font is quite small so that it doesn't take away from the image but isn't so small that you wouldn't see it. 

There is one more image on the right hand side that overlaps the heading slightly at an angle. Under this is the title 'On the Road Series' this title is in a font that is not featured anywhere else on the magazine's cover. Also unlike the other images on the cover the artists name is not on the image but is in fact underneath the title 'On The Road Series' in bold red like the heading, however the font size is much smaller than that of the heading. All these images are either mid-shots or close-ups and the majority of the artists are looking directly at the camera, the image of the artist who is not staring at the camera is in fact a 'live' image taken at a concert.

The Main image is almost a full body shot and takes up the  middle of the cover  and overlaps the majority of  everything else featured. The heading for this story is in Black and is bold however has sharper corners than the main heading, it is also smaller than the main heading. Under this is the description of the main story. The name of the artist 'George Strait' is in yellow and the rest of the description is in white. All the font in the description  is smaller than the story heading but the yellow text is slightly larger than the white.     

Country Weekly (Internet Copy) - Double Page Spread

Double Page Spread

This double page spread is an example of an online magazine and is therefore not set out as a hard copy magazine might be. 

At the top there is the heading 'Blake Shelton Promises Handshake to Iraq War Vet' this title is interesting because it mixes country and current affairs together. This creates an interesting story and one many will read because of how the Iraq war is affecting them and the people they know.

Under the heading is the authors name and the date of publication. These help us to be sure that the article is in fact featured in the current issue and not out of date.

On the left hand side is a photograph of Blake Shelton. It is a medium close-up and he is looking directly at the camera. The photo is simple but intriguing due to the illusion that the photograph is making eye contact with the audience. The plain, black background leaves no room to be distracted therefore adding to the illusion as your eyes are naturally drawn to his eyes.

The article itself is short and to the point. After looking at other articles from this online magazine and other online magazines, this compact way of writing is typical of of them. It allows them to get the facts across using a small amount of writing, so as not to scare the reader, and makes deciphering what you want to know about the story a whole lot easier. This will increase the amount of people reading the magazine due to its simplicity in use against the standard hard copy magazine.     

The font and colour scheme keep with the general flow of the rest of the online magazine as it continues to use the same colour schemes and font colours/sizes as before on the cover, contents page and other articles. 

Country Weekly (Internet Copy) - Contents Page

Contents Page

The contents page is simple using a lightly coloured background. The top part of the page shows the main news stories, this is clearly shown by the small banner across the top which reads 'Featured news Articles'. It uses two columns and continues with the black and red writing used on the cover.

The font is quite 'curly' making the page aesthetically pleasing to look at because it flows across the page. The titles of the articles keep the same font however they are of a larger size and are underlined in red to give it more emphasis.The small bit of information underneath the heading is smaller than the heading but still uses the same style font. This makes the flow from the title a smoother transition. Any information in the text the magazine believes to be important has been underlined in red to give it that slight bit more prominence against the rest of the writing.

The photographs at the top of the page are of medium size whereas the photographs at the bottom of the page are smaller. This re-enforces the idea that the stories at the top are the featured news articles whereas the lower ones are smaller news stories. All the photographs seem to be either medium close-ups or just standard close-ups. This theme carries on down the page in the smaller photographs. This is another way the Contents Page flows. This also helps it connect to the Cover Page as it also uses medium and standard close-ups. It also flows from the Cover because the larger photographs show the 'larger' stories and the smaller ones just give you a glimpse inside.  

Country Weekly (Internet Copy) - Cover Page

Cover - Country Weekly

Country Weekly's cover has a picture of the country music duo Dierks and Miranda who are staring right at the camera. The shot is a mid shot and the male of the duo is holding a guitar. They are wearing matching clothes. The black leather jackets give them a modern and 'cool' look. The setting is not exciting which allows the viewer to focus on the duo instead of being distracted by an over powering background.  The other large white heading is relevant to the artists as they are the main feature within the magazine. It gives you basic information about their tour in order to make people more interested in reading the article so they can find out the mystery the magazine is keeping off the cover.

The font of the magazine name is bold, solid and large to make it obvious to a viewer that this is the name of the magazine. The sub-headings keep the same style and font but are instead red, this makes the name standout even more. The black snippets allow the red sub-headings to be obvious titles without drawing from the photo and the main headings      

At the top there are smaller pictures next to yellow bands with red and black writing that tell you about the other main stories featured inside, these include a story about Carrie Underwood's new music promo and an interview with George Straight on the changes in country music. At the bottom there is another yellow band, this one tells you about an exclusive story from Tim McGraw and a couple of other smaller stories. No pictures feature on the bottom, however there is a small red box with the statement 'PLUS!' written in it. The writing matches that of the main headings indicating that it is another big story within the magazine.

Initial Reasearch

Final draft of prelim

Audience Feedback 4

• Make the cover picture fill the page

Forth draft of prelim

Audience Feedback 3

• All blue to match
• Make 'Exclusive' straight
• Add price

Third draft of prelim

Audience Feedback 2

• Try a navy blue and orange colour scheme (whites to bland)
• Spelling mistakes
• Move a few things in because they are falling off the page

Second draft of prelim

Audience Feedback 1

• We don't like the background colour
• Move a few of the stories on the contents page to make them fit better

First Draft of Prelim

Foundation Portfolio Check List