Background (snow)

My magazine is a Christmas edition due to the fact that it is being released in December, therefore I was going to add snow to the background. So here I was trying out different snow effects however due to my in depth research I found pop music magazines usually have white backgrounds which meant if my magazine was going to be conventional and attract my target audience then I would have to have a white background too. Meaning that I could no longer use the snow effect on the background of my front cover, however by adding a snowflake on both my front cover and my contents page I kept the Christmas theme I wished for my magazine to have.

Models

Information on magazine publishers

Analysis of Billboard magazine

Overview of the magazine industry

Double-page spread analysis two

Denotation: This double-page spread is about Adele who is a 21 year old pop music singer, these article was realised in 2012. The colour theme is black, grey and white. There is a close up of Adele which fills up the space on the right and runs over onto the left half of the article. The title fills up the top half of the left page and is in a bold black font, underneath is a short introduction to the article and under the introduction is a line which is underlined with a black line which separates that to the actual article. Connotation: The article says 'Women who rock 2012' which suggests that this is a regular article because Adele is only one woman where as women means there should be more than one, which may make the reader buy the following weeks magazine to find out the next woman who rocks 2012. This magazines targeted audience is twenty to thirty year old women which can be seen with the use of colour scheme which is white, grey and black as it makes it more professional which can also give it a feeling that it's an old newspaper looking even though it is a pop music article which is normally in bright colour when it is aimed at under twenty year olds. The use of the drop cap draws the reader's attention towards the body text, to make them want to read it. The use of Serif Sans font makes this article look professional and elegant which matches the rest of this double page spread. The photo of Adele is a close up which is of her face, which fills up over half of the double page which makes her stand out, but due to the black and white colours used it does not make her seem as flashy and bold in the readers face. The white light shining on half of Adele's face makes her stand out from the rest of the page it also makes her eye makeup and eyebrows stand out which gives her the elegant look, her lips are closed and she is looking away from the reader so the image doesn't seem like she isn't bright and bold, and in their face reinforcing the elegant look, it also makes her look like she is thinking and maybe even caught off guard but she still looks nice. Although her hair contrasts against her non-bright and non-bold face because it shows that she does have power and a powerful voice and is not plain and boring. The use of the kicker continues to capture the reader's attention to encourage them to read the article from reading the title, then to the kicker and finally to reading the main body text, each one using a smaller font and more information leading up to the main body.

Double-page spread analysis

Denotation: This is an article on Lily Allen which was realised in January 2009, she is posing with her hands on her hips, she has short black hair and is wearing a red, black and white shirt with a chain around her neck. The titles font is sans serif and it is a statement that Lily Allen has actually said herself, it looks as if letters have been cut out of different articles and then stuck on to this page. underneath the title is a kicker just briefly talking about the article. Under the article is the body text which has is in four columns. The colour theme of this article is red, black and white. Connotation: Lily Allen looks like she is trying to make a strong statement, because of her short black hair which looks slightly scruffy, her dark eye makeup, her chain and her dark red, black and white shirt, she is trying to make people realise what she is saying and she is not going to change her opinion for anyone. The colours she is wearing has been used across the rest of the article, the background is all white, the title and the body text is white and her name is in the same dark red colour as her shirt which makes it stand out so everyone can see who she is. The body text has been separated into four short sections by using gutters this makes it look like there isn't as much text there as there actually is, which makes it easier to read for teenagers, which is most likely their target audience. The title is using the bold sans serif font so it stands out to capture the reader's attention, The title is a statement that Lily said herself which may make the audience want to read on to see what else she has said and what it's all about, the letters look as if they have all been cut out separately and stuck on, which looks interesting and may make the reader wonder whether she has said that and then regretted it, because when this technique is normally used they don't want the reader to find out who wrote it.

Contents page analysis two

Denotation: This is a teenVOGUE magazine, the masthead is positioned at the top in the middle of the page, underneath is the dateline which is magazine was released which was September 2011, these are separated with a red line. The theme colours for this magazine are black, grey, red and pink. This pages title 'fashion & features' is positioned length ways down the left hand side of this page. There is an image of Taylor swift on the top right hand side of the page positioned below the dateline, the image is labelled with a box which says 'Get to know the real Taylor Swift' it is also labelled with the page number of this feature article. The articles are presented in three sections; page numbers are red, below are the page titles which are bold black and underneath them is a brief introduction to each page. The articles which are featured on the front cover has a pink heart surrounding the page number. Connotation: This magazine is aimed at a female teenage audience which can be seen by the masthead teenVOGUE which is positioned in the middle of the top of the page, this masthead is smaller compared to the Vogue magazine this is because The Vogue magazine is aimed at fully grown women whereas this teen vogue magazine is aimed at teens when they are not quite fully grown therefore the title size matches the audiences size. The teenage theme is carried on throughout this contents page because you see Taylor Swift sitting on desks in front of the board while holding a book in her hand, this makes her look like she is in school, she looks sweet because she has her head resting on her hand, her hair has curls in, she is wearing a pink feminine dress and she has bare feet which makes her look young and natural but there is a contrast in this picture because she is sitting on the desks with her feet on pieces of paper which makes her look like she is going against all of the rules, this image connects with the audience and shows they understand them because this is what most teenage girls want to be like. Teenage girls typically like to draw and doodle hearts which is why pink hearts have been placed round some of the page numbers, to make it look like a teenage girl has drawn them on and to show what articles have been featured on the front cover. The articles are presented in three stages; firstly the page numbers which are red is placed at the top, below the numbers are the page titles which are bold black and underneath them is a brief introduction to each of the pages, this is to make the layout look simple and easy to understand and read because typically teenagers don't like to read too much, so they are attracted to less writing. Rule of thirds have also been used, by splitting this contents page into three sections both horizontally and vertically which makes it look eye-catching and simple which helps encourage the targeted audience which is teenage girls to read it due to typically teenagers do not enjoy reading. The main image is in the middle third to make the page look more interesting to encourage to audience to read, the whole of the left third has most of the page numbers, due to them being positioned right from the top of the third and then continued in a list encourages the audience to start reading and then get keen to keep reading.

Contents page analysis

Denotation: The masthead is positioned at the top of the page, with the date 'May 2012' positioned above it. The colour theme is black and red with a white background. There is a picture of a model placed behind the bottom left of the masthead, which has been labelled with a page name and number. There are four red subheadings which are 'IN VOGUE', 'SPY', 'BEAUTY' and 'REGULARS' under these subheadings are page numbers and next to these numbers are the page titles with a brief introduction. The page consists of three different font types which include, the masthead, the page number and title and the subheadings and page introduction. Connotation: The masthead is positioned at the top of the page in a black bold font which stands out against the white background and grabs the audience's attention. The whole page uses a theme of black, white and red these colours stands out against each other to grab the attention, which makes it look elegant and professional which will appeal to their targeted audience of twenty to forty year old females. The long shot image of the model allows her to be seen as 'elegant' in her tight fitted red dress which then opens up at the bottom to see her red heals, with her wavy hair over one shoulder makes her look elegant which is the pages name the picture has been labelled with. This elegance them is continued throughout the page, the font used looks like it has been written by a typically posh person and looks as if it may have taken quite a while to do. There pages have been split into four sections using bold red subheadings which are 'IN VOGUE', 'SPY', 'BEAUTY' and 'REGULARS' under these subheadings are lists of page numbers which are in a bold elegant font, next to the number are the page titles and underneath is a brief introduction to the pages which uses smaller but still elegant font. This contents page has also made use of the rule of thirds by being split into three sections both horizontally and vertically with the main picture in the top left third to capture the reader's attention straight away and the main subheading have been placed in the middle third to also capture the reader's attention to make them want to read them. The use of rule of thirds makes the layout look simple and uncomplicated to encourage the audience to read it.

Magazine analysis two

Denotation: This is a Glamour magazine which was released in November 2012, the dateline can be seen at the bottom right of the page. The masthead is red and the theme colours are red, white, blue, and black. The font style is kept the same throughout but it varies with different sizes and colours. Taylor Swift is positioned in the middle of the page with her hands stretched out in front of her on top of the bottom of her dressed, which has been pulled up slightly while she is sitting down. Her dress is gold and red and her makeup looks natural except her bright red lipstick. Connotation: The theme colours which are red, white, blue, black and gold makes Taylor and this front cover glamorous which links into the magazines name 'Glamour' which will attract the targeted audience which if for eighteen to twenty-five year old females. The cover has made Taylor look glamorous and all about her by expanding her white skin, red and black makeup and blue eyes across the rest of the page. The masthead is in a bold and bright red font which stands out and the colour red attracts and draws in attention, to make people want to buy it. The main cover line is all about new hair styles and what to do, which has been placed next to Taylor Swifts hair which has had a lot of work put into styling it. This is to encourage the audience to believe that they can have great hair like Taylor Swifts if they buy this magazine, because females aged between eighteen and twenty-five are typically conscious of what they look like and want to make themselves look as nice as possible. Most of the cover lines have the same layout, they start off with a bold light blue font and then underneath they have slightly smaller white font which is just information which is expanding from the first line, but all of the cover lines have a slightly different layout which makes the cover look more interesting which will attract the targeted audience. Taylor is wearing a sparkly golden dress to match her golden hair colour, this makes her look glamorous and ready to party which is what most eighteen to twenty-five year old females want to do, and they will want to look like Taylor and they believe if they buy this magazine they will look like her.

Magazine analysis

Denotation: This is a Billboard magazine which is based on charts music. The masthead is bold in black with added red, blue and yellow, it is positioned at the top of the page and starts on the left hand side. The background is pink with black, yellow and white font. There are five cover lines down the left hand side of this cover page and there is a puff positioned toward the bottom right corner and is slightly overlapping Katy Perry's dress. Katy Perry is in the middle of the magazine but her body is curved round slightly to the right. She is wearing a flowery black and pink dress and she is draped in large yellow, red and pink flowers. Her makeup blends in with the rest of the front page; her lipstick is bright vibrant pink. Connotation: The photo of Katy Perry is a medium long shot, direct mode of address as well as high key lighting. The masthead is black along with its standard colours red, blue and yellow which looks professional and it also stands out and contrasts against the pale pink background. This makes it clear to see that this is a charts magazine which mainly consists of pop music which appeals to the female target audience. The main cover line is in a serif font type which makes it stand out along with the relevant image. The subheadings have all got the same layout, they consist of two sections the top line uses yellow font so even though it is smaller the colour makes it stand out against the pink background, whereas the last three lines are slightly large and black. The flowers on Katy Perry’s dress and the larger flowers draped over her head and wrapped around her gives the magazine a feminine pop theme, although the main target audience is not normally just females a large majority of readers are males, so the use of Katy Perry being featured on the front page may encourage not only females but also males because they may find her attractive. Katy’s dress consists of black, pink and white; this is repeated in the whole of the front covers theme. Her makeup also blends in with the theme; she is wearing a bright pink colour lipstick and a light pink blusher making her look young and vibrant, the eye makeup makes her eyes look kind and soft but they also stand out as well which suggests that she is pretty and fresh like the flowers surrounding her. The puff which consists of a pale red circle and in the centre yellow and white font stand out, which adds an extra effect to this front cover and makes it stand out.

Original ideas statement

My original ideas is that I am going to base my magazine mainly around pop music. I am also going to base my magazine around two to three other features, I will choose these features based on the results of my pop music questionnaire to see what the targeted audience wants from this pop music magazine. My intended target audience is females in their teenage years which is from the age of fourteen up until eighteen. I have chosen the pop music because this is my favourite genre of music to listen to and I also know that pop music is particular popular within the females teenage years.

Front cover

Cover page

College magazine analysis

This magazine has a dark background with a male model in the middle and yellow and white font colour. The model is smartly dressed with a shirt, a blazer, a watch and combed hair. He looks like he is laughing and is very happy which makes it look like the magazine could be fun which entices the students to want to buy this magazine. The yellow and white font stands out against the smart black background. The Masthead also looks smart and stands out due to how bright it is. There is also a contrast between the yellow against the black. This college magazine is most likely to be a Cambridge or oxford magazine due to the overall smart layout. The cover lines stand out using a range of fonts but mainly bold this attracts attention to them and underneath there is smaller writing this is because they are not as important. There is a pink splat which represents paintballing which is what it is advertising, inside the splat it says 'splat!' which is effective because it doesn't only look like a paintball has hit the front cover of this magazine, but it also makes the reader feel like they can hear it which makes it more realistic. The main cover line is in a large bold font and is the same colour of the masthead which is bright yellow and is taking up about a quarter of the cover area, placed under the masthead and next to the models face. This is where the reader's attention will be allowing them to see most of the important parts of the magazine, which will hopefully attract them to buy this magazine. At the bottom left corner there is the barcode and the price of the magazine and at the top right is the dateline, this is the standard format which makes it easy to find.

I asked the target audience for the college magazine to take part in a questionnaire, this aloud me to find in the summary that the majority of readers are females; however there is still a large amount of males to market to as well. The majority of people answered ‘yes’ they would purchase a college magazine at the price of fifty pence, every month. The majority of people said that they wanted to see food, music and gaming as the main topics featured in the magazine. The main colours that will attract my target audience include blue, red and black. The majority of my target audience stated that food freebies would encourage them to purchase this magazine. Many people who answered my questionnaire said that they would be interested in an e-mag but would not wish to receive notifications. The majority of my target audience who answered my questionnaire said that they did not wish to contribute to the college magazine, however there is still a large group who stated that they would be willing to contribute therefore I am going to feature on my contents page, that they could get an article published if they wished. To successfully attract my target audience I am going to focus on and include all of the main aspects that they have voted for. I will also make sure that I do not include anything on the college magazine that they haven't voted for.

The questionnaire summary

There is a higher amount of females who have answered this questionnaire compared to male's. Two thirds of people answered yes they would buy this magazine compared to only one third who said no. Roughly two thirds of people said they would be willing to pay fifty pence for the college magazine compared to one third who said they wouldn't be prepared to pay anything. Almost fifty percent of people said they would buy a magazine monthly, where as the least popular choice was weekly. The three top topics are music, gaming and food compared to least favourite which as local events and sport. The three top colours are black, red and blue compared to the least favourite which was khaki. More than three quarters of people said that freebies would encourage them to buy the magazine. The most popular choice of freebie is food compared to the least favourite which is books. More than half of the people who answered the questionnaire said they would like notifications for the magazine. Just over one quarter said that they would be interested in contributing to the magazine.