Aquinas Magazine front cover

 

The font is Adobe Garamond Pro Bold; I chose this because it stands out against the background and the boldness of the font suits the topics my magazine covers such as music and fashion. I chose to use black and white fonts because they are basic and simple which represent that my magazine is a serious document and has no gimmicks. Whether the text colour was black or white depended on what colour the background behind it was, for example the black text did not stand out against the black part of the main image as well as the white font does.

I think the main image is appropriate for my magazine because it is friendly and relaxed to represent the feel of my magazine. I think the positioning and facial expressions are appropriate because it is suitable for the target market. When I take my photo for my music magazine I need to use the DSLR camera instead or the small camera to prevent the photo from being slightly blurry.

The main headline is ‘I met Daniel Radcliff’, I chose this because it is a celebrity that my target market would most likely be interested in and want to read about. It also related to the main image which I the ‘Aquinas student’ who met Daniel Radcliff.

The articles I have chosen relate to the target audience because they are about relevant issues that interest teenagers such as music (top 5 rock bands of the year), fashion (where to shop) and sport (top sports to keep you fit).

My research was useful because it allowed me to find the topics that my target market were interested in. by collecting data I found out that my target market are interested in tv and film, music, fashion and sport.

If i was going to improve my front cover i would space the secondary cover stories out more because the 'where to shop' and 'new music and film releases' are quite close together which makes the cover look cluttered which could make it difficult for the reader to focus on the stories they are looking for. I would also position the main story further away from the edge of the page because it is close to being off the page.

Contents page flat plan

Double Page Spread Conventions

Detailed Textual Analysis of a Magazine Front Cover

We love pop is a music magazine aimed at teenage girls aged 12 to 15. it focus’ on pop music and the artists involved in the genre. From a magazine in the genre I would expect to see bright colours, posters, free gifts and big fonts to represent the young target audience.

The colour scheme is bright and includes a lot of pink; this is because the magazine targets teenage girls. The pink connotes fun and innocence which represents the stereotypical girl that would want to read we love pop. The main image is of the Saturdays who are a girl band that young girls would look up to and aspire to be. In the photo they all have direct address which makes the reader feel as though the band is talking directly to them, this creates a bond between the reader and their favourite celebrities which is why the girls want to read the magazine. The image shows the band facing everyday problems such as bad makeup and hair problems etc which is appropriate to the target audience because the teenage girls can relate to how the band look and feel in the image. Another colour used (mainly for the text) is bright blue, this connotes happiness and enjoyment which is what the editor wants the reader to feel when they read the magazine, the bright colours also highlight some of the most important text.

The headline (which is also the logo of the magazine) is in a speech bubble which gives us the idea that the readers like to gossip and chat with friends, possibly about the information inside the magazine. The word 'love' is replaced by a heart, this text language connotes that the readers often use social networking sites such as Facebook and twitter which means the magazine could use cross media to appeal to their target audience. By using the text language, the reader also feels as though the magazine understands them and knows what they want and like which will encourage the target audience to keep buying the magazine. The headline for the main image ‘Saturday’s soap opera’ is effective because it is comical and the reader will want to know why the bands life isn’t perfect as we would expect it to be.  The anchorage for the main image says ‘tears, tantrums and total meltdowns’, this suits the magazine because the target audience can relate to what they are talking about in the article and will want to read it to get advice on how to deal with the problems themselves as they look up to the band. The typography is bold and rounded like bubble writing, this could be linked to young girls drawing and doodling in their free time.

The magazine has a pug at the top of the magazine in a bright blue circle advertising the 12 page one direction pull out that is inside the magazine, the front cover also tells the reader about the free ‘girl power posters’ that are inside. The pugs promote the magazine and encourage the reader to buy the magazine because they think they are receiving exclusive information and free gifts. There are 5 sub images on the front cover, two of other female artists that the readers will look up to and three small images of male artists. The male artists have been included because the female readers will be attracted to the boys so will enjoy reading about them.

To conclude, the most important features to any magazine, including this one, are the main image as that is what first catches the reader’s eye and the main headline linked to the image because if this seems like a good story then the reader will not hesitate to purchase the magazine.

Aquinas magazine flat plan

Audience Research

The most popular subject amongst the people I surveyed was media; this tells me that my target market is interested in media related issues such as music, TV and film. Because of this I plan to include a music subsection and a TV and film subsection including different articles in each.

3/5 of the people i surveyed said they like sports, this tells me that a subsection about sports would appeal to my target market. Stories I intend to include are about sports celebrities and ways to keep fit as I feel a young audience would be interested in these topics.

 

The people I surveyed suggested 9 different shops as their favourite, and over 50% said they mostly spend their money on clothes, because of this I plan to include a fashion and shopping subsection aimed at both males and females. As my target market shop at such a wide range of shops I plan to include an article called ‘where to shop’ which will be a regular feature and will advertise new products from different high street stores.

The most popular music genre based on the people I surveyed was rock music, because of this I plan to include an article called ‘top 5 rock bands of the year’ which will include band ratings, information about each band and images of the bands. I will also put small images in the front cover to advertise this feature of the magazine. This article will fit under the music subsection. As my target market also suggested such a wide range of music genres I plan to include smaller articles about different types of music including a new releases page.

The people I surveyed didn’t have a specific favourite film or TV program so I plan to include articles that appeal to everyone by not specifying a particular genre. In my TV and Film subsection I plan to include the cover article which will be about a student who went to a film premiere and a new film release page.

Rule of thirds

Front Cover Conventions