Time Plan

Research into existing magazines x2 : 2nd December

Research into Target Audience : 8th December
Questions to ask to audience

Models and Props/ Organisation of locations : 12th December
Models Names - reliability
props used - hard or easy to get hold of ?

Work in progress/ rough work and flat plan : 15th/16th December
drawings of magazine front cover/contents/double page spread
positioning of props
backgrounds ?
                            

AS Media Coursework - Research and Planning

Jazz Times


Jazz times, is primarily aimed at jazz fans, who have knowledge of the specific genre, and are looking to either advance their own knowledge, or have a brief overview of the genre, and wish to expand. The magazine provides interviews, information and news on the artists, and promo's of new work.


The front cover's primary attraction is the CVI of a man playing to, stereotypical jazz related instruments. Presumably he is a recognizable figure within the jazz genre that would attract the specific audience.


With numerous call outs, this constitutes a relatively busy front cover, which is strange, as often with other Jazz Magazines, there are a limited number of signs.  The cover lines themselves, are an orange colour, that stand out against the black background to firstly attract the reader, the the strap lines, in contrast are in white, and provide further information about the text. This works well in an attempt to first draw in the reader with one contrasting colour, and then using another to provide more information. The orange and white, as as the blue are the 3 main colours used in this colour theme.






 When used together, in the running head create a very attractive, and stand out in order to attract the audience. The soft blue colour, works well in conjunction with the soft connotations that you associate with the Jazz genre. The text is sans serif, which also suggests that the magazine is pure music, and serif writing, which has up market connotations is not necessary to the audience it is aimed at.

 There is also a mix in the size of the writing, dependent on the importance and attraction of the story, and a mix of bold and italics - i.e  the masthead.  With a limited amount of images on the page, with the main CVI bleeding off the page, and one singular in the running head, the front cover is not photo based, but is dominated by the text, which has both upmarket, and downmarket connotaions.

The masthead is spaced out, in bold and in capitals, which connotes a sense superiority over other magazines in the Jazz genre.

 This, in conjunction with the CVI ( of a recognisable figure within the jazz genre ) gives the magazine an upmarket feel. The CVI bleeds off the page, and is a close up of only the figures face. His eyes and brows, are furrowed seriously which helps the superior feel to the magazine. The front cover is a simple layout, with no running head, and very few call outs and strap lines, and only one photo, which is the primary attraction point. The strap line  is in simple bold and sans serif font, that connotes a lack of fanciness, and more towards the simplistic feeling. This could be a representation of how the editors/artists feel about this specific genre of music. This is a recurring theme in lots of jazz magazines, with a simplistic design, and limited number of cover lines and images.




Similarly to the front covers of many jazz magazines, the contents page is of a similar design, with a minimalist approach to the design. With one image, being the primary CVI that again bleeds off the page, although there is a lack of visual content, it suggests that no more is needed than what has been given.








 Also, the text is again bold and clear, with straplines attracting the consumer in, and then then the subheads in a smaller, less conspicuous font. The font is in sans serif, connoting a more naturalistic and simple nature to the magazine. The semantic themes of simple, serious and natural appear to occur in many magazines, and i will definitely take this into account when producing my own piece.

 The same Logo, used in the masthead of the front cover is again repeated, with some other information i.e - date, and also includes a small tag line at the bottom, giving credit to the illustrator.



There is a minimal amount of colours used again in the contents page, with the CVI being in black and white, and the same two colours used on the font throughout. this adds to the semantic feel of simplicity, and naturalistic and also gives us an insight of the audience this magazine appears to be projected at. it would lead to suggestion that unlike fans of pop magazines, or rock, readers of this genre of magazine care less about the specific detailing of the magazine, and more about the content itself, rather than the look of the magazine. However the connotations of the word jazz would usually be simplistic and natural, therefore the magazine is suited to its theme. when considering the layout and production of my piece, as well as conducting my own research into the audience, this will provide useful information on how to design my piece.



Looking at WIRE magazine, and the numerous double page spreads throughout, it is easy to see a common theme occurring. When observing an article double page spread, there is a distinct lack of variation between the two pages, with similar features within both. When spread across both pages, it is dominated by text, with a minimal amount of images, and breaks between the text and the image are often unfilled, or have a a small anchorage caption, that does not fill the space - this is evident across both pages.

When an article is mixed with an image, the CVI usually takes up one whole side of the page and the other being only text, with no images being used.

There is also a distinct lack of colour, with a white background seen throughout the magazine, and a sans serif font used throughout the piece.The lack of variation in text size/font/colour adds to the connotations previously mentioned. Similarly to the rest of front cover, and contents of other magazines, this 'simplistic' theme is a common feature, and I will consider this when I produce my own piece.


 I also noticed that within WIRE magazine itself, when images are used, they are often in black and white. This amplifies the retro/simplistic/naturalistic semantic fields that the genre, and the word jazz connote.