Mock up of the Front Cover and Contents Page

Questionnaire Results

1. What is the most you would pay for a Magazine?

• £0.50    12
• £1.00      4
• £2.00      0
• £2.50      0

Research and Planning: Textual Analysis of a Student Magazine and Contents Page

   This is a magazine, which is targeted at students at university. The masthead is simple but a good title for a magazine ‘24/7’ means constantly all day which means that the information is up to date and gives you all the details for every day. It’s all connected together which shows that the information inside the magazine will also be linked. ‘Your essential guide for the month ahead’ this shows that the magazine will cover everything for the students, so they do not need to find out everything from different sites, they only need one magazine. You can also see from this that the magazine is produced every month, this links in with the title as you can find out everything that happens at the university with this magazine.

   The cover lines are mainly about music, which shows that there may be a particular audience that this magazine is aimed at. It also mentions street art, which shows that the art students may be interested as they can use some of the art for references. This may tell us what students go here, therefore it would be easier to know what the students want in their magazine as they chose this type of university. There are also listings of nightclubs and gigs, which is a typical thing for students to want to do, as drinking and going out to meet new people is the thing to do.

   The central image is of two men that may be from the university sitting on steps, this covers the whole of the page, which may show the importance of them. The background of where they are is rustic, and has an urban feel to it.

   The magazine is free, which for students is a good thing, as they do not have a lot of money as it is mostly spent to go out and to live somewhere. They do not have time to have jobs, which may seem to be an ideal magazine for them, as they know what is going on in the university with no charge.

   The colors used on this magazine are quite bland using white, blacks and greys. This isn’t very eye catching for the audience to view. So if there was a price to this magazine, it wouldn’t sell very well as people wouldn’t notice it and walk straight past. However, it does seem clearer to understand what the content of the magazine is about.

   Overall the front cover of this magazine is a bit bland, as there is not much color within this page. When I create my magazine I will need to experiment with colors to see what I like best that wont be too bland or too much going on, but I would like it to be understandable.

   The contents page is very unique. The use of color is bright and inviting to the contents page. They use a bright green, which stands out with the white writing. It’s a big contrast between the contents page and the front cover, as you would think that the front cover would have the most color and excitement to draw the attention to the students. the colors also connotes with youthfulness and vibrancy. This would more appeal to the students as it is vibrant and looks exciting. This however may be the whole idea, as some students look in the contents to see what the magazine is about and this style will convince them to choose this magazine. 

   The central image is of street art, this could be art of one of the students at the university. This may persuade the students to get this as its more of a fun picture as they have taken a picture of a person but added exciting elements to it. However, using a central image in the contents page will draw the audience to this image instead of the writing, which may be more important.

   The information down the sides of the page makes the image stand out and make it the main focus. It also already gives you listings of the nightclubs, which shows that the magazine is helpful and precise to where these gigs and nightclubs are. There are also headings within this page, which makes it clearer to find the page you are interested in.

  On the left side of the contents page they give you information about the people who create this magazine, they have websites where you can also have your input into the magazine. This would be a good idea, as people in the university like to know that they can have a their say in the magazine. They give you their address where you can also write into them about the magazine.

   Overall, the contents page is clear, bright and vibrant. It also adds some of the university students input into it, which may be a good idea to have in the magazine that I create. However, the central image may over power the contents page and people may not take notice of the information.

   This student magazine connotes that it doesn’t concentrate on just one subject, but it covers all topics on the campus and basically student life. The title stands out in a deep sea blue against a black background. The title is bold but simple, which might not be what the students want, as they could want to see something unique and colorful. The color is also a neutral color, which may tell us that the magazine is for both male and female. However, the title is not just a random color as the color scheme is throughout the magazine front cover. It is also in capitals so you know that this is the title and what the magazine contains.

   The central image is of a woman ‘miss universe Canada’ which makes it seems that this may be like the celebrity of their university. They may be introducing her to the university so other students can get to know her. She is also wearing blue, which flows in with the color scheme of blue, white and black.  There’s also eye contact between the person in the magazine and the audience, which tells us that the woman is engaging with the audience.

   Apart from the title, the text and font that is used is quite basic. They write in capitals in every cover line to make the writing stand out more. Their color scheme is Black, white and blue mainly. The black background makes the images and text stand out more. The yellow for the cover lines highlight what may be in the magazine, which is what the students want to know about more before they buy it.

   The words used such as ‘exclusive’ makes the readers think that they cant get this anywhere else so they need to buy it. It also tells us that this may be with someone important to the magazine. They also have an article which mentions ‘on a student budget’ this would also appeal to the audience as students are known to be on a basic budget, and they are always trying to save money and buy things which are necessary. ‘Club ratings’ this is a typical thing for students to do n nights out they want to know where all the good clubs are, as they are especially known for drinking.

   Overall, I like this front cover, especially the black background, which makes everything stand out more, but instead of all dark colors such as blue, and dark orange, I would use bright and vibrant colors to make the information and pictures stand out even more.

   The contents page is very basic, which may be on the safe side as it seems to lack color and excitement. However, the use of the red and black is very festive, also with the use of the snowflakes in the background, which connotes with Christmas and winter. You can see the clear theme running through the contents page.

  The articles such as ‘entertainment’ will appeal to the audience, as every student at university will want to go out and meet new people. The pictures of the student with the camera also relates to a lesson in the university, which may explain what is happening in such lessons as photography, which some students may want to know about.

   ‘Student Life’ is also a headline, which the students will want to read about, this may include such things as what’s happening in the university. Also, ‘Health’ which mostly would relate to the female gender as they would talk about beauty and cosmetics, which may tell us that the magazine particularly relates to women more than men.

   They show images of the students that had graduated from this university and seeing what they have achieved through it. A lot of people would want to read these short articles, as they will want to know what they can do when they graduate. One person, who had graduated, had become an author of a book. This would inspire people more, as this is a big achievement. Also another person had been on a breakfast show as a news reporter, and another about a photographer, this shows a variety of lessons that the university may do for the students for them to come out with a variety of careers.

   Overall, the magazine may seem quite plain, with the white as the background, but it does go with the winter theme that they are trying to create, with the warm red and snowflakes. They also have some good topics that the students will be interested in. For when I create my magazine, I think that I would make my magazine more vibrant without the white.

Research and Planning: Textual Analysis of a Magazine Front Cover

This is a music magazine, which mainly concentrates on a particular genre that is rock and heavy metal music. They use the maximum colors of three that are white, red and black. These are masculine colors, which looks as if it only appeals to males.  The masthead is behind the music rock band, which seems to mean that they are more important, and they are also more confident enough and they are a well-known magazine for the viewers to not show their entire music magazine name. The masthead also has scratches into it, which adds to the rock theme of the magazine.

   They have puffs such as ‘The UK’s Biggest gig guide’ this is saying that you cant get this anywhere else, which means you have to buy this in order to know where all of the gigs are. There are a lot of cover lines which tells the audience that the music magazine have a lot to say, which will also convince the audience to buy this. One quote from ‘korn’- a very popular band says ‘I wanted to kill myself’ this is a shocking thing to say and will also shock the audience when they read this. However, it will also make them want to buy this as everyone wants to know why, when and how.

 Within this magazine you can also get free posters, which means that this will also be another reason t buy the magazine, as teenagers are likely to want posters to put on their wall, and because most teenagers do not have much money, this would be a good option of magazine to choose.

   The central image is of a band that is most popular in the rock culture, they are presented in a way, which you can tell who is the main member of the band with the positioning of the members. The band members are looking towards the camera seeing the eye contact, which would attract the audience as they are engaging with you.

   Overall, the magazine clearly illustrates what type of magazine this is, and who it is aimed at. This is what I would need to do if I was to aim my magazine at a particular audience. I would need to think about the color, layout and typography of the whole magazine.