3) Analysing a magazine

The music genre of this magazine is R&B/Hip Hop.

The target audience is mainly teenagers and young adults in their early 20s. You can tell this from the main image and the colours used, e.g. black which is edgy and cool.

The main image is of two famous singers, Nicki Minaj and Drake.

This image relates to the music genre because they are R&B/Hip Hop stars, which is the genre of the magazine itself.

The image is framed in the centre, and has been taken mid-shot eye level, however Drake is standing straight towards the camera, whereas Nicki Minaj is standing at an angle, giving the image more depth and making it look edgy.

We can only see the top half, the bottom half has been cut off so we focus more on the main image itself instead of including unnecessary parts of the image.

In the main image, Nicki Minaj is wearing a corset top, blonde wig, a lot of jewellery and a leopard print coat, off the shoulder to show her tattoo on her arm. Drake is wearing a camouflage jacket with a white top, jeans and a necklace. Nicki Minaj is portraying a rather provocative look, whereas Drake is more casual. However, the two outfits being worn contrast together making the image effective.

The colours that have been used are dark colours for the image such as black, camouflage green, etc. however for the kicker, it is in big bold red font and the strap-lines are in white. The red and white colours contrast with the dark black background, making them stand out. They contribute to the mood of the image because from the title ‘DOMINATION’, we see that this could be a serious, informative story so the colours may need to be mature and standard.

The image relates to the target audience because they are both fairly new singers, and they have become popular with teenagers and young adults in their 20s very quickly. However, people in their thirties may not have heard of them as yet or their music may not appeal to all ages apart from the target audience, which are mainly teenagers.

The magazine is called ‘XXL’. This reflects the content and target audience for the magazine because ‘XXL’ means extra, extra large, suggesting that their may be a lot of interesting information in the magazine and a lot more popular artists in there such as Lil Wayne, etc.

The typeface that has been used is simply red for the kicker and the background of the masthead, and white for the strap-lines and the sub-heading. This is effective because we have all the dark colours from the main image and background, so the red and white brighten it up a little bit and lets us focus more on the writing and what else the magazine contains.

The masthead has been placed in the top left hand corner in big white font with a red background, and a minority of it is being covered by Nicki Minaj’s hair, suggesting that it is a very popular, well known magazine. The kicker is at the bottom, in the middle and is written in white font; however the big bold red ‘DOMINATION’ gives us a sense of control and what the magazine is mainly about. The strap-lines are coming down vertically from the top right hand corner in white writing, and are important because they tell us the other contents of the magazine, rather than just Nicki Minaj and Drake. The texts have been placed in corners and at the bottom, to make us focus on the main image and attract us to what the main subject is.

2) Analysing a magazine

The music genre of the magazine is R&B/Hip Hop.

The target audience is mainly teenagers and people in their early 20s. You can tell this by the image of famous rapper, Nas, being the main image because he is mostly familiar to people of a younger age. However, the mature gold font may apply to an older audience such as late 20s, early 30s.

The main image is of famous hip hop rapper, Nas.

It relates to the music genre because it is an R&B/Hip Hop magazine, and Nas is a Hip Hop rapper, which links to the magazine in general.

The image is frame in the centre, which has an effect because he is centered onto a white background, making him stand out more. It has been taken at a mid-shot angle and this is effective because it gives us chance to focus, not only on the image, but on the text surrounding it as well.

The clothes being worn in the main image are a red jacket, white shirt and jeans, accessorized with a cross necklace and sunglasses. This has a good effect on the readers because the bright red gives off a good vibe and it may be strange to some people that Hip Hop stars wear cross necklaces and may be religious, so this could contribute to cultural codes.

The colours that have been used are mainly red, white and gold. The red and gold contribute to the mood of the image because it is very mature and bright, also the red jacket stands out on the white background. The white t-shirt which is being worn also contrasts with the background, so not all of the colours are too overwhelming.

The image relates to the target audience of teenagers and adults in their early 20s because Nas is more known to people of this age range and the clothes that he is wearing are normal, fashionable clothes. However, the cross necklace that is being worn may suggest that he follows religion so adults of an older age may apply to this magazine also.

The magazine is called ‘The Source’. This reflects the content and target audience for the magazine because a ‘source’ is something that we get information from so it could suggest that the magazine is full of relevant, exciting information that the target audience would be interested in, in this case R&B and Hip Hop stars and music.

The typeface that has been used is big bold gold font for the masthead and kicker, and small bold gold and white font for the strap-lines. The effect that this has on the readers is that it stands out and it is different because you do not see many music magazines with a gold coloured font, this also suggests individuality, the magazine is different to others.

 The masthead has been placed right across at the top of the page in big bold writing. A minority of it has been covered by Nas, suggesting that it is a well known magazine. The strap-lines have been placed in columns either side of the magazine in small bold gold and white writing and they are important because it informs the readers of what else the magazine contains.

The kicker ‘Nas, the beginning of the N’ has been placed to the left, in big bold writing and is important because it is the main content of the magazine.

1) Analysing a magazine

The genre of ‘Vibe’ magazine is Hip-Hop/RnB.

The target audience for this magazine is teenagers and adults in their twenties. I can tell this because of the main subject which is about the rapper T.I.

The main image is the famous rapper, T.I. and it relates to the music genre because he specialises in hip-hop and rnb music.

The image is framed normally as an eye-level mid-shot. The image is right in the centre and has an effect on the audience because it has been taken very closely, which gives the image more depth especially because of the plain light background. It gives the audience chance to focus on the main image straight away and then focusing on everything else surrounding it.

The clothes being worn are a smart suit and a bow tie. This has a strange effect on the audience because you wouldn’t expect to see a famous rapper wearing a smart suit; however it does add a nice element to the front cover, making it smart-casual instead. The cultural codes that these bring to mind are that people who like hip-hop can dress smart and not be stereotyped and that the light colour shows that the magazine focuses on one main topic only instead of loads of others.

The colour that has been used for the masthead is dark red, which is effective because it stands out on the light pink background. Various different colours have being used for the strap-lines such as dark red, black, dark blue and a gold colour. The dark red, dark blue and gold colours have all been used with the black as they contrast well with it. This is because if they were all together without using a black font as well, it would be too colourful especially on the light pink background, therefore readers would not really want to pay attention to it because it would look too child-like.

The magazine is called ‘Vibe’. This reflects the content and the target audience for the magazine because ‘vibe’ is more like a feeling that you get sometimes so the magazine is saying that the magazine itself gives a good vibe and everything it in is good and cool, etc. It is suitable for its target audience because it is a hip-hop magazine more directed at young teenagers and people in their 20s and it is appropriate for them because it has starred famous singers such as T.I, Ciara, Chris Brown, The Game, etc.

The typeface that has been used for the masthead is big and bold. We can also see a minority of it, as some of it has been covered by the main image. The main title ‘T.I. has the last laugh’ is also quite big and bold. This has an effect on the reader because if the text is big and bold it shows them what the main topic of the magazine is, in this case T.I. It is also effective because it is the first bit of text that attracts the reader’s attention making them more likely to show an interest. The strap-lines and the pug are also in bold text, however they are different colours such as blue, gold etc and they are a lot smaller. This has an effect on the readers because after they know that the main subject of the magazine is, they also now the other stories that it features such as J-Lo, etc.

The masthead has been placed straight across the top and, like Kerrang!, we know that it is a well-known popular magazine because a majority of it has been covered by the main image. It is in a big bold understandable font and is important because it is the name of the magazine itself. The title is unusual because it is not a kicker, instead it has been placed in a small paragraph underneath the masthead. It is a medium sized font and it important because it is the subject of the magazine. The strap-lines have been placed on the right side of the page and in a little box on the left. They are in a small bold font and are important because it informs the readers of what else the magazine is about and the other topics that are featured. The pug is in the bottom right corner and is important to try and get the reader to purchase the magazine. The bar code and issue date and price have also been placed in the bottom left hand corner. This is just to show the readers it is on sale and when the magazine has expired and how much it costs. It also has the website on their so readers can subscribe and are up to date, etc.

Contents page

For the contents page of my preliminary task, I decided to use a maximum of 3 colours again, as to not overdo the design. I used a bright green for the title because it stood out and it is quite unusual for a contents title and also it contrasts with what the woman, in my image, is wearing. For the pages I used yellow because it is a colour that no-one can miss and it will make it clearer for the readers the content of each page. To explain what each page was about, I used red because I think that it contrasts with the green and yellow colour and also the image.

I designed the title for my contents in a simple way as I thought it would be more effective because I thought that it was unnecessary to overdo a minor subject.

I decided to arrange the page and the contents of the pages very simply in a vertical line and a brief sentence underneath each page, as I think that this would grab the reader’s attention more, because it does not look childish and too colourful and also there is not a lot of writing, making them wanting to read it and see what is in the magazine itself.

For my background, I decided to choose an image of a teacher helping another pupil. I did this because it represents one of the main things that the school is about- helping others. I did not use any other images on my contents page, because I thought that it would be too much and the page would be crowded. I thought that if I used one main image that was colourful and effective then it would be clear enough for the reader’s and it would not be too overwhelming.

To improve my contents page, I could have improved the presentation and I could have been more creative. For example, instead of arranging all the text in a straight line and neatly I could have used more techniques in order to make it look more exciting. I could have also used more realistic colours because you would not usually see bright green as a contents title.

To change these, I would use more techniques such as an arch for the title, etc to make it more appealing. I would have also used more mature fonts such as black, brown, red for the title to make it look more like a contents page instead of poster-like.

Preliminary Task

For my preliminary task, I designed the front cover of a magazine about Lordswood Girls Sixth Form.

I decided to use a maximum of 3 colours only, ensuring that they contrast together. I used red for the title, as it is very bold and stands out. For the kicker I used a dark blue and for the strap-lines I used light blue, so that the colours would contrast together appropriately and so that it suited my background and wasn’t too bright.

For the title, I wanted to design a unique masthead that has not been seen on ny other magazine. I placed the ‘LG’ on top of the ‘SF’ and made sure that it was a bold red on a plain background so readers would know what it was called.

To make the magazine look more realistic, I put an issue date and barcode underneth the masthead because I think that the audience and readers would take the magazine more seriously.

For the background, I decided to choose my main image as a student of the Sixth Form. I did this because I thought it would be simple yet effective, so that not a lot of images would be crammed onto the front cover, overwhelming the readers. Because there is just one student as the main image, it gives the readers chance to focus on that and the remainder of the front cover.

For the kicker, i decided to place it right in the middle of the page and made it bold and dark blue. I did this because it would be the first thing that the readers saw when they looked at the magazine and it would be useful, because it is the main subject and content of what the magazine is actually about.

For the straplines, i decided not to make them too small, as it would put the reader off. I made the font light blue, medium sized so that it would be clear to read and give the readers more of an insight of what else the magazine contains. I think this comes in useful, as it would be helpful to the readers who need more information on the Sixth Form which is what the magazine provides.

I placed two small images in the two bottom corners of the magazine, so that the magazine didn’t just have one image then loads of writing, because it wouldn’t appeal to the readers. I put a picture of a sixth form student at a computer, to show that it is a hard-working sixth form and another picture of students playing in the new basketball court. I chose these two images because I think it promotes what my magazine is about- the sixth form and the new change that have been made to it.

For my pug, I wanted to choose something that would attract readers, but still had something associated with the Sixth Form. I decided to advertise a free folder inside for every student that bought the magazine, as it is useable and would come in very helpful to working students.

To improve my magazine front cover I think I could have made it looks more 3D. For example, I could have put more images on there and texts behind and in front of it and I could have made it look more appealing by changing the background and colour scheme to make it look more eye-catching.

To change these, I could use more layers and I could take a range of images and see which ones fit in with the texts and colours I have used.