Front Cover:
The front cover of this magazine is of a "rock" genre with no particular sub-genre. It starts off with a basic and yet eye catching top half as this where the reader starts when looking at a magazine. The top half has a very rebellious and cowboy western feel to it which is connoted in the name of the magazine "Outlaw". However, once the magazine has caught the eye of the reader, I felt that it was a good idea to include more in depth things on it and include more detail about the magazine. I think that the photos are positioned well and stick out as being the main part of the magazine as the picture should. However the whole photography part of the pictures including the lighting that they were taken in is of a very low standard. At the top of the magazine, any writing is on a "block" like background to look like it is stamped onto the magazine. However, in the middle of the magazine it has a rebellious "ripped strip" look across which is probably more fitting for the style of the magazine and it may have looked better if I had stuck with that as a unique selling point. It returns to the block stamp look along the bottom which probably matches the magazine better as it separates the extra information from the main bulk in the middle. I think that the main problem in this magazine which would have made it appear closer to the standard of a real magazine is if it had a better standard of photo's used which includes everything from the positioning or "stance" of the band members. I also think that the 3 extra photos on the bottom of the front cover make the page look 3D which aids the attempt to make it "stand out" from other magazines. The title "Outlaw" connotes a western cowboy theme as well as being linked to rock through its rebellious feel to music. As the photos are of the same person, I needed to include different costumes and it was important to get this right as it was the difference between creating a band and planned schizophrenia. This means that it was important that I used photoshop correctly in order to make it believable and beyond into a higher status like those of professional bands have. The title font is called "Outlaw" and I liked the look of this font because of the style but I also liked the name which is where I got the name for the magazine from. I tried to keep any writing content to a minimum because the reader is attracted to a magazine by the main picture on the front cover followed by a a short sub title. I have separated the front cover into 3 different sections; top, middle and bottom. This is so that the reader can notices the separation from the masthead and its surroundings followed by the main chunk of the front cover which is also the main story and its surroundings and lastly the added extras to magazine
Contents:
This I tried less on making it look overly professional and tried more on making it fit with the front cover. In that sense I achieved what I set out to do because I carried on with using that sandy mustard colour as a base colour to work with as well as keeping darker colours around it. I also continued using the stripped ripped look to write "Contents". I think that my use of space was quite affective because I put in all that was required without making anything look cramped and you can still clearly see what the background colour was and it follows on from that on the front cover as well as my text being written in that colour with a black colour text box. However, once again my photography has let down the rest of the page as well as my use photoshop on the photos used. Other than the background for "Contents" the rest of the page is quite organised which in my opinion helps the look of the contents so that the reader can focus more on what is in the magazine as opposed to looking at the pretty decorations. The phrase "not to be missed" looks as though it is stamped on and sticks out more than anything on that page, also, because of this imperative mode the reader feels more in the mood for reading a rock magazine. I think that how "Contents" is written as well as its background colour fits in with the rebellious look that the front cover showed connotations of. I have tried to put as little writing as possible on the contents so that it is eye pleasing as well as being as informative as necessary so that they pay more attention to the main pages like the double page spread I also completed. On this page, I didn't use a style model of any sorts in the creation of my contents because that would have taken the effect away from it belonging to the front cover and putting moore emphasis on making it look professional. In my opinion it is more important that the reader
notices that the contents belongs to the front cover judging it on style, rather than making it look very professional but foriegn to the front cover. This means that the audience would look at the contents and make a direct link to the front cover because of this house style that I have employed.
Double Page spread:
For this I used a style model that I found out of a magazine and adapted it so it fitted in with what ever I had. I looked thoroughly through a review of "Slayer" and picked out the areas that I felt would look well in my magazine and adapt it so that it matched the magazine style. The main picture on this page I highlighted things individually so that it would look different, colourful and I think that it adds motion to the picture, as though they are all in a bubble with limited space. The fact that the main photo has been edited to make it look more animated supports the theory that Rock is more about the music and the presentation part is only to back up the music without being integral. This gives me more freedom to play with what goes on without breaking to many rules, this means that because of my selected genre I can make it unique to others of that genre as long as the connotations still paint the right kind of picture. The photo is the biggest photo out of all of them signifying its importance and concentration on the double page spread through dedicating one page to the photo and one to the review. This means that I have tried to attract the reader to the review via the photo and the pull quotes and then interest and inform them with the review once I have their full attention.
Conclusion
The front cover, contents and double page spread connote a rock magazine through the colours it uses, how it is organised as well as the style and use of photos. It also strongly goes against all mainstream ideas and goes with the idea of individualism and liberation in choice which is the core of what the genre of rock stands for. This rock magazine also covers a broad range of sub genres within rock which mean it attracts a wider audience.
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