Magazine Analysis - The Monthly

Lesson Seven - 14/02/11

 In this lesson, we were given different types of monthly magazines so that we could look at how it differs from the weekly magazine. This is an example of the first magazine cover that I analysed. The name of this is CLASH which I found really striking. The reason being is that it is such an onomatopoeic word yet it goes against the design cover as it uses a much more calmer and colder tone. This is shown by the pale blue which is surrounding the female model. Whilst continuing to analyse this front cover, I noticed that the female model's facial expressions were effective towards the reader especially the use of blood that it smeared on her face. It makes the target audience become eager as to what will be in the magazine. The white colour font of writing helps the tone of the front cover to calm down as white is a colour that can be symbolised as purity or peace. I found that this front cover magazine was interesting to look at as it included a diversity of different skills and techniques that was able to draw me in to want to read more of the magazine. The use of white font colour writing was good as it was consistent and it caused less of a confusion to the audience.  

Analysing Music Magazines

Lesson Six -7/02/2011

In today's lesson, we were shown a slide show of different types of music magazines and how they were similar to each other. This gave us the opportunity to give us a sort of an idea of the types of genre we could do when it comes to creating in our magazines. When looking at the different genres of these magazines, I began to realise that they all had specific techniques that were used to keep the target audience interested and informed about what they are trying to sell. One magazine cover that we looked at was called KERRANG.

This magazine is mostly aimed at young people between the ages of 15- 24. The reason being is for the use of colour that is being used. It suggested to me that it was wild, chaotic and very eye catching. This is due to the way in which the font is not consistent - they are all different sizes which is an indication of disorganisation in a positive way. The use of capital letters for the matshead shows emphasis of what the publisher is trying to sell to their audience. The punctuation also helps to contribute to the genre of music ( which in this case in rock, heavy metal etc ) as it helps it to become more aggressive and it gives off an angry tone. I noticed that this magazine had a very affordable price which is £2.20. This shows that the magazine will be easily accessible to its readers causing the percentage of its readership to rise drastically. There are a good use of primary and secondary colours used on the front cover of the magazine which are pink, black, white and blue. The use of the colours plays a huge part in the magazine as it automatically draws the audience in which keeps them interested in the product being sold. This is due to the way it includes different types of techniques such as flashbacks to help the reader be aware of what else they can gain from the magazine, there are also various types photos to help represent the different types of issues that are to be raised in the magazine. Personally, I feel that the main image of this magazine's front cover helps to show good representations of the type of audience the publisher intends to target. It also helps to tell us ( the readers ) which type of age group that it is aimed at. This can be suggested by the body piercings that is being worn by one of the men in the image. The secondary images that are shown help to symbolise the wildness of the music genre as there is a lot if different things that are taking place, This can be shown by the shape of the flash back which is shown to have rigid edges. It helps to let the audience know what they are able to expect from the magazine so that they do not feel left out. Again, by using punctuation such as an exclamation mark, it helps to reinforce the whole idea of the aggressive genre being presented.

The second magazine that I looked at was the NME magazine. When looking at this front cover, I automatically noticed that there were two main colours that it used- this was red and black. I found that this was helpful as they are both really striking colours that grab your attention instantly. The main image of this magazine can represent a lot of things. The first thing that I noticed was the fact that the colours that he wore helped to represent the genre of music ( which in this case was rock ) . Another way in which the use of colour was able to contribute to the genre of music is the way in which it looks to be intense which I felt was appropriate for the target audience as it helps to draw them in and to keep them engaged in what the publisher is trying to sell. I also began to notice that different sizes of font that varied. When it was an important issue the font was normally big, but then when it was something that was of a less concern the font size was normally smaller. By doing this it is able to appeal to the audience in different ways in order to gain their attention. There are various assumptions that can be made by the front cover as there seems to be quite a lot of things that go on. It offers you a wide range of things to do. This involves things like, applying for tickets at a music festival, the latest gossip that includes some of the biggest bands etc. This is helpful to the target audience as they will not get bored of reading the magazine. The language type used is mostly informal, but I feel that it is acceptable to use as it will be easily accessible to the target audience. From the look of the front cover, it shows me that the target audience ranges between the ages of 16-23. This can be suggested by use of the colloquialism that is used on the front cover of the magazine. By doing this it enables the target audience to be able to read the writing easier in order to grab their attention and keep them alert of what they are to expect from the magazine. I personally feel that the KERRANG magazine front cover is a lot better than the NME front cover as there seems to be more going on and I also noticed that the publisher of this magazine made sure that the target audience were given various things to look forward to. The cost of this magazine is £2.30 which is also an affordable price for the target audience. When continuing to analyse the front cover of this magazine, I noticed that there was a glimpse of light in the background which could symbolise so many things. One of these things being that it could be an indication to the reader that the genre type of music is not just hard and loud , it can also be soft and mellow at times. This is a good use of interpretation as it offers a list of different things that the audience can be exposed to.

My Raw Desgin Of The School Prospectus

Lesson Five 28/01/11

This is an example of my prospectus. The reason that I chose this colour background was so that it became more attractive to the audience so that they will not get bored with what they are reading. I also found it as a more striking colour which is able to grab the audiences' attention. The colour of the font is a mix between a red and maroon colour. I chose this as a representation of the school colours.

This is my completed cover of the school prospectus that I have made on photoshop. In order to create a successful prospectus, I had to make sure that I took photographs of relevant images that linked with the school so that I did not mislead the target audience.  I was important that i made sure not to add in a lot of details so that I could keep the audience attracted to what I am tyring to sell. It was important to include the school's logo so that there was an awareness of what the school was called and it also helped to represent it positively.  

This is my contents page. I have done this in a much simpler way so that the audience do not get bored of reading a lot of writing which could put them off. I did this my making sure that I went straight to the point and showing them what the prospectus had to offer so that they knew what they had to expect.

My Thoughts On A Prospectus Design

Lesson Four - 28/01/11

In this lesson we had to create a raw design of how we wanted our design prospectus to look. This lesson was really helpful to me as I was able to think about the different ways that I could attract my target audience which will be the sitxth formers. I wanted to make sure that my design stood out but I also wanted to make sure that I did not add in too much or too little information as either way the reader would get fed up or bored. Here are some examples to show some ideas of what I came up with.

This image was used to represent a flashback on the front cover. This is so that it draws in the attention of the audience. I also hoped that it would keep them eager and make the prospectus have more potential in showing a diversity of different things so that I avoid focusing on only one aspect of the school.

 I chose to put the name of the school down the side so that  I could be different from the other students who would probably have the name of the school written across the top. In doing this it also gave me more space which means that I am now able to add in more ideas without hesitation of the space not being enough.
When creating my prospectus, I will ensure that I keep the audience engaged into what I am trying to sell and I will also be sure to include a variety of things being shown but I will make sure that I do not include too much information just in case the audience get bored.   

Annotating The Magazine Covers

20/01/11 - Lesson Three
In this lesson we were given three different cover designs of front cover magazines. This was so that we could see how they vary from each other and the different elements each magazine had to offer. When we continued to do this, we began annotating the cover designs to explain and show the types of things they may have had in common etc. Personally, it helped to widen my knowledge more of how differently each magazine cover displayed elements of  a newspaper. Here are some examples of the magazines I annotated.

This was a magazine cover concerning university applicants. Even though there was not a lot going on, it still showed potential of giving a lot of information in order to keep the audience aware of what is going on. This was done by the use language that was used which in this case included slight colloquialism in order to keep the attention of the audience. Another positive thing that this magazine cover had was the way in which we were exposed to the different things that we could do. The only negative thing about this magazine cover was that it lacked a lot of colour which would have led the audience to be bored as it would be as exciting for them to want to pick up and read.

I personally found this second magazine really hard to annotate as it lacked a lot of text. At times it was difficult to tell what the aim of their magazine was and what the purpose of it was. The photographs did contribute in one way as it enabled me to know about their successes and it also showed photos of some of the adults who influenced the students. I also noticed a photograph of Queen Mary which indicated to me that the university was in remembrance of her. The layout of the magazine cover was simple and formal. This could suggest that the rest of the magazine would not be as exciting or challenging like the other magazines I annotated.

Of all the magazines I annotated, this was my favourite one. This may be for the fact that i was able to relate to it more because it was aimed more at women. I loved how the different sizes of text presented  grab my attention in some sort of way. It made me want to know what was going on and I was also aware of the things that I were to expect in the magazine. I feel that the use of colour made the magazine seem more welcoming and it also had the effect of having a lighter tone to the whole idea of what is was trying to sell which was how to stay in shape and how to keep healthy. There a lot of news values which are included on the front cover. An example of this can be the selling line which was used to make the audience aware of what they are able to achieve after reading the magazine, a flashback was also used to show what is happening and the offers that are being presented and so many others . When I come to design my prospectus I will make sure that I include similar ideas to this magazine in order to keep the attention of the audience which will also avoid them of getting bored so easily. I will also maintain that I use a wide range of colour and catchy text in order to make it more exciting for the readers.

Creating The Nature Magazine

17/01/11 - Lesson Two

In this lesson, we were given the opportunity to go outside and take pictures of nature in order to choose one particular image for our nature magazines. In order to do this task successfully, my partner and I decided to take a range of pictures in order to choose one that we thought was good enough and so that we were able to keep our options open. Here are some examples of the few pictures we took.

In this photo that I took I decided to take a close up of any type of nature that appealed to me. I did this so that I was able to draw the audience in and to also get them engaged into what I was trying to sell. By doing this it enabled me to edit the photo on photoshop in order to get a more nature effect to it.

It was important that we took photographs in a different variety of places so that we were able view nature from different views and perspectives.

When taking these photographs we had to make sure that we showed consistency in  taking pictures of nature. Another thing that we had to consider were the camera angles.The reason being is that it would become much more interesting and it would also help grab the attention of the audience that I would have been trying to target which in this case would be older people between the ages of 30-40.After completing this task successfully we were then asked to choose one image in particular in order to start creating our nature magazine. Once we chose our picture, we then had to begin design our magazines in photoshop which in return gave us the opportunity to get used to photoshop and it also allowed us to be more creative with our designs.

This is an example to show my finished front cover of a nature magazine. From the example of my nature magazine, I decided to choose the photograph which showed the close-up of a twig followed by a raindrop dripping down. I felt that this particualr photograph would be effective as I thought as though it would help draw the audience in and they would hopefully be eager to know what will happen next. Moving on, whilst on the internet I thought it would be helpful to look at other nature magazines in order to get an idea of how to design the front cover of my magazine. I decided to add in a bar code and some text in order for the audience to be aware of what they can expect inside the magazine. The ''econnect'' logo in the corner was to show representations of nature. I also tried to make sure that I used the same consistency of colour so that I did not mislead the audience to cause confusion. A positive thing about this magazine cover was the way in which it was simplisitic and straight to the point. This would have been helpful to the audience as it will be easier for them to understand what the magazine is about and it would also cause less hassle and chaos for the reader. On the other hand however, there is one negative issue about this designl. This would be the way the text is appearing too close to the logo. This could distort the information from the reader which means that it would be difficult to understand what is trying to be sold.