Inspiring Existing Bands

This video created on Animoto shows the images I am taking inspiration from to come up with the perfect front cover image, I want to include all three members of the band but I haven't found the right layout yet.

Bands included:
Dum Dum Girls
YeahYeahYeahs - Karen O
Sleigh Bells
Warpaint

Dazed & Confused Cover:

I really like this front cover as the layered text and images work really well; I may use a similar layout to this with the text over the middle of the image in a neutral colour as it attracts enough attention for people to read it but not too much that it overrides the image. I also like the colour palette of greys and creams as they compliment each other well; the title works really well in a darker grey over the pale grey/off white background as it's layered behind the picture. The font all ties in well with the curved, natural image with minimal editing or effects on it. The bar code is slightly oversized in my opinion but other than that I think this magazine cover works really well from studying all its factors; I am particularly fond of Dazed & Confused covers as they are always individual and different.

Kerrang! Double Page Spread Analysis

I have looked at many double page spreads but I have picked this out as one that I like the most; I think the colour palette of reds and blacks works really well together and it reflects the genre of the band. I like that the main image stretches over both pages and the title is beneath it. Two thirds of the double page is taken up by image and title which leaves just the right amount for the article; when I produce my article on my double page spread I will have to rearrange it so it fits in around the image as that will be the key focal point on the pages. The image is very controversial but this works as it's in Kerrang!'s magazine, which is aimed at an audience of around the age of 16+, similar to mine so I could use factors like this to take advantage of the age range and make it specifically targeted for my age range.

Rankin - Colours:

I am interested in making the eyes stand out on my front cover, these pictures are also part of Rankin's work and I think the different eye colours are really bright and bold. The picture cut out in the shape of a lightning bolt would be an amazingly eye-catching magazine cover and the colours used makeup-wise make the eye colour stand out against the white base colours of the image. When I come to making my final magazine cover I will try out different effects on Photoshop to create interesting and bright eye colours; this shows in Rankin's eye photos as they must be enhanced seeing as the brightness is
unbelievable on some of the iris'.

Rankin - Inspiration:

The make-up on these models looks so effective and different, if I saw a magazine in a shop among hundreds of others with a photo as individual as these I would certainly pick it up. These images are part of Rankin's 'Special Projects' photography; these in particular show the beauty of faces. There is nothing particularly unusual about the faces in the images above, the make-up just makes them look striking and interesting. I will have a go at creating a characterisation as well as Rankin has through make-up on my model(s), this will help to make my magazine cover stand out from the others. The colours used in the first image blend well with the grey-scale and blue to stand out against it, I like this colour palette a lot and would create something similar if I chose to do a photo like this.

Jessie J

I have included this video on my blog firstly because this is the style of music people should expect to see appearing in my magazine, it's live, acoustic, tuneful and bold. The lyrics of this song and her braveness are inspiring and everyone should be able to experience listening to videos like this without having to search for them on YouTube, these types of performances will be mentioned in my magazine. I also like her visual style, her 1900's black hair cut stands out amongst a crowd, the same way my magazine should in a shop.

Dazed and Confused Cover:

I really like this magazine cover, if I saw this in a shop I would pick it up and read the cover without a doubt, the colours are so vibrant and the title is slightly transparent which focuses all the attention on the models. I like the make-up used in this image and I am inspired by how the editor has managed to achieve such an eye-catching cover. The tagline at the bottom being 'Smile!' really ties in with the huge smile that has been painted onto the models' faces, I like this idea a lot; as Dazed and Confused has a number of different features to the magazine they haven't singled just one of them out on the cover, it is very neutral. The black writing in the four corners are barely noticeable which I like, the colours in the middle of the page are so bold that they are insignificant at first.

Example of an article:

"Jessie J has been announced as the winner of the Critics' Choice Award at next year's Brit Awards. Previous winners include Ellie Goulding, Florence And The Machine and Adele
Jessie J adjusts her grey beanie, pokes a lock of hair behind her massive hooped gold earrings. “You know,” she grins, “it’s like Popjustice said: ‘Jessie J – 500 years in the making…’”
The name on the tip of too many tongues for too long, Jessie’s been waiting in the wings for so many years that she’s watched whole pop civilisations rise and fall in the time it’s taken her to get to the launch platform. ‘Do It Like A Dude’ will change all that. Real bump’n’grind R&B pop in the Rihanna/Pink/Gaga mould, in it she’s managed to synthesise all three of these totems into a writhing slab of raunch that sounds very big indeed. “I think people miss the wit in that song.
It’s meant to be funny too!” she laughs.

continued...

It’s easy to see why record execs kept getting the wrong idea about Jessie J over the last five years, because The Voice is what hits you first. “Who is the best singer?” Justin Timberlake pondered. “Jessie J.” So vocal was his vocals enthusiasm that he took her into the studio for a week (“A sweetie. Gave me lots of great advice”). And in its power, the voice has an air of jazz hands to it. She was barred from the choir at the age of 11 for “singing too loud”. Really, she makes Florence seem like Jack Steadman singing through a straw.
Now, after battles with those trying to tar her with the ‘diva’ brush, she’s managed to find a way of transmitting her self-written real-me thing. There’s a vulnerability, a proper confessional quality to a lot of her stuff that could appeal to a nation of self-examining teenage girls, in a soul Kate Nash way. “My song ‘Who You Are’,” she admits, “is like therapy for me. I can’t sing it half the time because I start crying.”
Jessie J knows what she’s got is special – that’s why she’s invested so much energy in incubating it for so long. She’s certainly not your manufactured toy.
Are there any big surprises on the record? “Well. Uh, there are some bits where I rap.”
Oh, kinda like that Cher Lloyd girl off of The X Factor? “No,” she frosts over, “not like that…” The conversation peters out."
- NME MAGAZINE WEBSITE



I have chosen to copy and paste this article onto my blog as this is the style of article I wish to include in my magazine, I like the slightly informal aspect to it and the other topics included other than music. My favourite sentence of the article 'Jessie J adjusts her grey beanie, pokes a lock of hair behind her massive hooped gold earrings.' stands out to me because of the fashion interest to the article. I hope to include short sentences like this to enhance the fashion side of my magazine.

Cover Inspiration:

I have recently looked at some Dazed and Confused magazine covers, I like the style of magazine a lot and the colours used. This is one particular cover that I am interested in the layout of, I like the pink and blue contrasting colours with the white text surrounding the main images. Equally I am fascinated by the cloning affect the editor has created on this cover, I know for a fact it is possible to recreate this on Photoshop so I will have a go at it myself to compare it to this one. I also like the fact that the picture is just of a plain face, nothing fancy about it, but by using the cloning effect it brings another level of creativity to the image. The colour they have edited her eyes to be ties in with the blue used in the background; they have tried to make the background look as though there and pink and white clouds behind her however they have enhanced the colours so it is an unrealistic sky, which workds well against the bland colours of her hair and face. I am choosing to use white writing if I use a busy colourful background as well, I think it works really well with the brightness of the pink title.

Two Door Cinema Club - I Can Talk

This is a video showing the style of music that will be analysed and reviewed in my magazine, I like this band a lot and their genre of Indie is the type of music I listen to. The "band" that I feature in my magazine on the double page spread will use this band and many others as their inspiration. This is a very upbeat Indie song compared to others, such as Foals - Spanish Sahara or Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone.