Coursework - Magazine Presentation

In order to gain marks on my overall course it was important to focus on the presentation side of things. Therefore I made a short two slide powerpoint comparing and contrasting the likes of music magazines such as 'Billboard' and features of their double page spreads. Within the presentation I spoke to my peers about the evaluation of the cover pieces and inside stories, in other words what I liked and didnt like about the pieces alongside what was successful and what could have been improved. Then, thinking ahead I focused on how this would help me with producing my overall music magazine.

Below is the overall conclusion to my whole presentation using the notes I made when presenting;

 What I Like About The Representation

I have chosen to analyse the magazine of ‘Billboard’. I specifically like this music magazine for many reasons;

Advertises popular and well known successful artists, such as Adele, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Katy Perry and many more.
It aims itself to meet the needs of a more feminine and sophisticated older audience.
It comes across as oversimplified but this gives the magazine a ‘fresh’ look. I am also drawn to the different uses of text font and text size. The important bits of information are noticably bigger while less important text tends to be of smaller size, some of which may even be in capital letters. I will bare this in mind when it comes to producing my magazine front cover.

What I Don’t Like About The Representation

The typography seems to be kept simple, the same font has been used on almost each piece of information portrayed on the front cover.

All the information seems to kept towards the top of the page instead of being evenly spread out throughout, this makes it seem like there is little information or news updates to be given in the magazine.

I also picked out the feature that 'Adele' is looking directly into the camera, as if she is looking directly at the audience, through research I know that this is important to have on your magazine front cover as it engages the reader. Therefore overall I like the outlook of this magazine and will try to emulate some of this within my own music magazine although altering some parts and adding additional information.

I particularly like these two examples of music magazines double page spreads.
I like the layout and overall presentation of the first one because the title of the piece really stands out and attracts the reader, as does the main image, which is kept modern and simple. However I think the text is kept in one main block which doesn’t engage the reader, it needs to be broken down to make it reader friendly.
I like the presentation of the second image because its colourful which attracts the reader, the title stands out and there is more than one image included. The smaller 'factual' boxes towards the right hand side of the page allow for the text to be broken down which makes it less daunting for the reader.

In conclusion I like both layouts of the double page spreads although I am aiming for a more feminie look within my final piece.