Preliminary Task- Student Magazine Cover Research and Analysis

Preliminary Task- Sudent Magazine Analysis and Research

Magazine Cover Analysis 

The colours used on the magazine cover are kept to a minimum, this helps to keep the audience focused because if there were too many colours then it would come across as confusing and may seem to over powering. This would draw the audience’s attention away from it. The girl on the front cover of the magazine is wearing a red coloured top, and they have made the masthead of the magazine the exact same colour. This looks good as they link together and draw them closer together. The red on her top and on the masthead look good against the green blurred field in the background as it stands out because it is a bold colour. The blue writing also matches the colour of her blue shorts and these also link together. The important information is in the blue and this yet again stands out from the blurred green fields in the background. The black text is the descriptive text. This stands out but not as much as the blue and red text this is because most pieces of text are printed in a black colour. The predominant colour on the magazine cover is red; her top, her lips and the masthead that runs across the top of the page. The colour red symbolises love and excitement, this is shown in the magazine cover as the girl modelling for the shoot looks happy and as if she loves her time at college and that she may find the things and subjects that she is doing at college exciting and enjoyable. The barcode that is in the bottom right corner is in black but with a white background, this helps the audience as it has the price next to it and is therefore recognisable.  The ‘I <3 smu’ on her t-shirt is a good way of showing that she enjoys the college that she attends because by her wearing it is shows that she wants to inform people about her opinion on it. The model has been posed for the shot and is therefore not an action shot. This works really well because it still makes it look realistic and natural and she has not been positioned in an uncomfortable position. By the models head overlapping the masthead it makes the main image the main thing on the front cover of the magazine, but they have made it so that the audience are still able to read the title. All of the features on the magazine cover are clear and consistent. It is easy to tell that the target market for this magazine aimed at people aged 16+. You can tell this because the magazine title is called college and 16+ is the age that people attend college. Another reason for knowing that it is aimed at 16+ is by looking at the girl modelling on the front as she looks around 17.

Different types of colours have been used on the front cover of the student magazine ‘college’. The main colour that has been used is black. Different shades of black have been used which allows the audience be able to see the difference in the background and the male in the foreground. The main information stands out because it is in a bright colour; this shows the importance of it. The mast head is in a bright colour because that is the main thing on the front cover of the magazine that gives it its own identity; it also enables the audience to tell it apart from other student magazines. The colour yellow symbolises warmth, cheerfulness, brightness and intelligence, it is therefore appropriate to use the colour yellow on a student magazine cover as in portrays the right impression. One of the main stories in the student magazine is ‘Dancehall’s Bright Feature’ and by having the word bright and the bright colour yellow being used on that word it makes it sound and look better, this may also interest the target market more. The bright colours indicate that they will achieve a lot at college and that they will have a bright feature because of the intelligence that they have and they would have got that intelligence from going to that specific college. The male that is on the magazine cover has been posed in that position although it does look natural because he is in a comfortable. A mid shot has been used so that he looked he looks relaxed; this also enables them to show off that he has text books in his hand. The textbooks show that the college offers a wider choice of subjects to study in comparison to other colleges. It also shows that that college can offer subjects that will get you a high paid job that would benefit lots of people, the books may have been used because people may want to go and study them at subjects at university. The ‘Make Money on Campus’ could link to the ‘Law and Society’ books that he is holding. This shows that the college has more to offer than other colleges. This would attract the audience’s attention as the majority of people are interested in earning money and it shows that it would be a good opportunity for people to be in education and earn money at the same tome so that they run along nicely together. The pink splat would catch the eye of the public because it is an unusual shape and it is pink and that is the only colour that has been used on that page so therefore catches the eye of the public. The magazine contains the barcode, price, issue number and the date that it was issued. These are key elements on a magazine cover as they are useful and some of the elements are needed to purchase the magazine.  The target market for the student magazine ‘College’ is 16+. This is made clear because the male on the front cover looks around the age of 18. This would draw 16+ year olds to the magazine for that reason.

Contents Page Analysis

The colours used on the student magazine contents page have been kept to a minimum. They are to bright and some of the colours clash with each other, this doesn’t work well because it makes it look to cluttered. The page has a small amount of detail on it which works well for some people because it is clear and easy to understand. Even though there is a small amount of detail that works well for some people, the contents page doesn’t include all of the page numbers so by looking at it the target market is not able to know what page that they should be going to to find the relevant article that they want to read. From looking at the contents page I think the magazine is meant to be aimed at people aged sixteen and upwards, I think this because a picture of a PlayStation remote has been added to the page, this would draw the attention in of teenagers and as it is a student/ college magazine contents page and that is the age that they will start college. The images relate to the articles that are in the magazine but they would link to the text on that page more if they were next to the page numbers and the information that is on that specific page. The magazine doesn’t have any credits on it to show who took the photographs that has been used on the magazine. The main information on the page such as the title has been made larger so that it stands out to the public and so that it is easy to see what that page is about.

The contents page for this student magazine has used colours that are similar to each other, they have kept the colours to a minimum so taht it doesnt look to overloaded. If they were to put to many colours on one page it would loose peoples attention, but it works well because only four colours have been used. From the title you are able to tell that it is a contents paga as it clearly states that in the name 'Contents'. From the contents page you can tell that the target market for this magazine is people that are still in full time education. The audience can tell this because the males on the page look around the age of 17. The fonts that have been used are clear and consistent. The fonts work well because apart from the title they have all been kept the same, this makes it look good because you should only use a small amount of different fonts on a magazine cover or page because if not it looks to busy and draws peoples attnetion away from it. 

Colour Analysis

To find out what colours the target market would like to see on the front of a student magazine I produced a survey and asked people aged between 16 and 25 answering the questions so that I could refer back to it for research.

The questions that I asked my target market were:

1. From the different coloured swatches, which set of colours would you like to see on the front of a student magazine?

2. Why would you like to see them specific colours on the front of a student magazine?

The results show that swatch number one that is the red swatch is the most popular swatch. This means that I will be using the colour red a lot on my student magazine preliminary task and may make it the predominant colour

Font Analysis

To find out what font my target market would like to see on the front cover of a student magazine I asked them by showing them five different styles of fonts and then recorded my findings in a table and a pie chart so that I could see what font was the most popular.

Font style for the masthead on a student magazine	Tally chart
Font 1	IIIII
Font 2	II
Font 3	IIII
Font 4	III
Font 5	IIII

Magazine Front Cover and Contents Page Layout Plan

I decided to try out different layout plans for the front cover of my student magazine.I like the one to the left as it is original and is similar to the other student masgazines that are out there on the market for the target market to buy. The Masthead is in the same place as what it is on a standard magazine cover, it is therefore obvious to the public and the target audience what magazine it is. The slogan is undernaeath the masthead as it is therefore noticeable as the target audience would read the title/ masthead and then see the slogan straight undernaeath it and if it is catchy it will stick in their head for a long time.The main image is position to the right of the front cover of the magazine so taht it is not covering or behind anyof the artists coverlines. The face of the model would be to the right so that it is not been covered  by any important information. The artist title coverlines are on the lefthand side so that they are not covering the main image. This is appropriate and works well because it shows what is inside the magazine clearly so that it interests people as they will then know whether they want to purchase the magazine or not. I have tried putting the main coverline overlapping the main image to show that it relatesto the image and it also shows that they are part of the same article. I have possitioned the second coverline underneath the main cover line to show that it is important and that it is one of the main stories or pieces of information that are included in the magazine. I have tried to possition the barcode in the righthand bottom corner where it is easy to see and on mostmagazines it is in the corner and if I was to position is somewhere else on the magazine then it would be harder to find for the cashier. The date, issue number and the price have been put together next to the barcode as that is also tradiionally found next to it so it therefore makes sence to place it there without breaking any rules.

Magazine Frontcover Key:
1= Masthead
2= Slogan
3= Main Image
4= Artist Title Coverlines
5= Artist TitleCoverlines
6= Artist Title Coverlines
7= Main Cover Line
8= Second Cover Line
9= Barcode
10= Information

I have made the contents page so that it would be simple and easy to understand in a studdent magazine. At the top of the page I would have the title called contents so that it is clear to the audience what it is on the page. Underneath that to the left I would have the page numbers of the magazine pages with the artcle name to the right of the page number with a short description of the aricles underneath the article title. In the box to the left of the page I would a section called 'On The Front Cover' where all the main stories that would sell the magazine would be because they are the ones that would be most popular as they would be the most important. The two small boxes underneath would be pictures that are in the magazing with the age number next to it so that it shows what that pae would look like. I like this layout for a contents page because it is simple, easy to follow and user friendly.

Front Cover Main Image Analysis

 I like this picture because the model that I have choseen to be on the front cover of the student magazine for the main image is making eye contact with the audience and that would make the target audience more interested as an interset is being payed to them. It also would look better on the front cover because it is in colour rather than in just black and white. The colour looks better becasue it is colourful and attracts peoples attention. Also being colourful makes it a happy and interesting magazine to read. I also like this photo because only a few colours have been used in it, for examle the purple and the green on the books stand out and could then be repeated in the text on the magazine front cover.

Final Magazine Cover

I made my Student magzine front cover and followed the layout plan that I made because I thought that it worked well and it was similar to other student magazine layouts. On my front cover I have only used a few colours and kept them to a minimum so that it does not look to busy. I have also done the same with the fonts, I have only used three different fonts. these fonts are simple, bold and easy to read close up and from a distance. I asked Heather who I chose to pose for the front cover to look directly at the camera, I asked her to do this because she is giving direct eye contact to the audience which makes it feel to the audience like the magazine is based towards them.
The feedback from the student magazine cover that I made was good. The first persons opinion was that 'It is eye catchy which makes it more interesting and it is simple and does not have to much going on on it which makes it easy to read' the second person that I asked said that 'It is very informative which is good as you then know what the magazine has inside it which helps you to decide whether or not you want to purchase the magazine. The third person that I asked said that 'Eventhough only a few colours have been used it is bright and eyecatchy which is good'  This feedback is possitive as it shows that people would be interested in buying it is it was to be for sale.