Front cover
After completing the production of my own music magazine I felt that it would be useful to complete a textual analysis on my own product.
The name of my magazine is Burst and it is a fortnightly published magazine. The genre of the magazine is music which can be observed through the codes and conventions we used. It is aimed at young teenage females and the ideologies we portray represent this.
The median of my media product is print, in the structure of a magazine. The ideology of the magazine is to produce a product which gives the audience the latest news on celebrity’s and music. We also put forward latest styles and trends. The magazine is supposed to give the image of joy and fun. The magazine also conveys a very girly image and looks entertaining. The representations of our magazine is to show the latest news but in a fun and friendly manner. The audience is a young female audience of roughly 11-14 years which can be instantly recognised through the front cover because of the codes and conventions utilised.
We have used explicit feature to make this magazine appealing to our tareget audience. After researching other magazines especially the ones with genres like ourselves we felt that the best institution to distribute our magazine would be a a business like EMAP. This is because from our research we discovered that EMAP used to distribute the magazine such as ‘Smash Hits’ which used to be sold. ‘Smash Hits’ was a magazine of a music genre and aimed at young teenagers.
The narrative of our magazine is informal and chatty. This style of language was chosen because our target market would be able to relate to relate to this. We used simple language and terms to reach a mass. Slang words were also included to involve our readers.
When looking at the ‘Burst’ magazine the first feature that draws the readers attention is the mast head. This is in a bright and bold font. It is a bright pink which portrays the ‘girly’ image. The mast head is at the top part of the magazine going across. It is in a large font and if this magazine was placed on a shelf it would be easily identified.
The mast head is part of the house style of our magazines and therefore in the same font and colour for each and every issue. The masthead represents a fun and intriguing magazine. The colours seem happy and interesting.
Above the mast head is a strip which reveals what is inside the magazine, it reads ‘the ultimate love quiz page 25’. This attracts the reader to buy the magazine as the topic is of interest of the target audience. Below the mast head to the right is a tagline ‘keep in tune with burst!’ This tagline is placed in the same place for every issue but in different colours. The tagline is supposed to give the reader an idea of what the magazine is like and the word ‘tune’ gives away the fact that it is a music magazine. It is also used as a hook for the reader.
On the left bottom is the price, issue number and date of the magazine and this is also part of the house style. It is written in a small print so it does not distract the reader. The magazine conforms of a colour scheme; this scheme includes pink, orange and white. These colours are usually associated with girls and gives the image that it is a girls magazine. The colour scheme also helps differentiate this issue from other Burst issues as each one has its own colour themes.
The cover stories are relevant to young teen females eg: music, shopping hair and boys. These were deliberately used to catch the attention of our target audience.
The image of the model is a medium close-up and this allows the consumers to see what the model is wearing. The model is dressed in a blue t-shirt which is part of the trends of today. This enables the audience to relate to the model. The model is posing in a sweet and innocent way to appeal to the audience and to be appropriate for the target audience. The models hair and make-up is simple but up-to-date with recent a style which conveys the up-to-date stories of the magazine. The model is of a slightly older age to the target market as young girls aspire and look up to older people. Nevertheless the model looks relatable yet glamorous. The shot is eye-level and directly looking in the camera which straight away grabs the attention of the reader. The eye-level again helps the reader to feel close to the model.
The model is not in the centre of the page but slightly to the right. The cover stories are written on the left side where the model is not. This helps the model stand out as not much text is covering her.
On the right are 3 images of boys placed in a vertical line which is bordered. This holds the attention of the reader and helps make the magazine seem more interesting as there is more to the magazine. It also increases the detail of the magazine.
Promotional features are also used to help sell the magazine such as ‘win! Prizes worth £2000’ this is an attractive characteristic of the magazine as young teenagers enjoy competitions. The main story is written at the bottom of the cover in a bright pink. The story is about the model on the cover. Across the main story it reads ‘exclusive’ to make the reader feel as this is the only place to read about this interview.
The barcode is situated in the bottom left corner similar to every Burst issue as part of the house style. The cover is very effective because the model draws the attention of the reader as her costume is a bright colour and different from the colour scheme. The colour schemes are of soft and subtle colours which help the text appear larger than they are and give the magazine a calm and laid-back image.
Contents page
The contents page has the same layout for all the issues. Burst is written on the left top corner and it is slanted. The font is the same as for the cover and this helps the magazine have codes which are similar for all magazines. Instead of the typical contents page the title read ‘look inside’ in a large and bold arrow. The ‘o’s’ in the ‘look’ are cartoon eyes to present the fun and informal image of the magazine. This would be attractive to the young audience.
On the left of the magazine is an editor’s letter similar to all real magazines. The editor’s letter begins with ‘Hey Sweetie’ and this is part of the informal narrative. This makes the reader feel they are being directly spoken to and involved. The font of the text of the editor’s letter is in a handwritten looking font to make it seem more friendly and personal. An image of the editor’s letter is also included at the bottom of the letter. The props and setting of this image are on a computer to show the editor working on the magazine. The editor’s letter is bordered to stand out and separate it from the rest of the text.
On the right of the editors letter is a box with the cover stories reading ‘on the cover’. This has a small image of the magazine cover with arrows pointing out to page numbers. This makes it easier to navigate around the magazine. This is a common convention used by real magazines. This section is also boxed for emphasis. In the bottom half of the contents page are more page directions. They are segregated into 4 section-‘celeb central’, ‘music meltdown’, ‘style secrets’ and ‘the regulars’. Alliteration has been used for these sections to take hold of the reader’s attention. It makes the magazine seem more interesting and easy to read. The last section which is bordered is ‘The pop factor’ and this is an addition to the stories but specific to the music magazine genre.
The page numbers go up to about 80; this suggests that the magazine is a national product because it has a lot of pages.
The font of all the text is in ‘Bauhaus 93’ and this text was used on the cover also. The text is fun and more appealing to younger people.
There is an image of i-phones below the pop factor box and this contributes to the music magazine genre.
There is an image of the model on the cover also on the contents page which overlaps into ‘the pop factor’ box. The image makes the contents page appealing without being distracting.
At the very bottom of the page there is a light green coloured banner which runs across the bottom and shows how readers can subscribe to the magazine. This makes the magazine look more specialized and professional. Other images of different issues of Burst are also on the subscription banner to interest the viewer and show what other magazines can be bought.
The colours used are bright and similar to the colours used on the front cover to classify this magazine issue. The layout of the contents page is quite simple and easy to follow to reduce confusion for the reader.
The contents page is attractive and eye-catching, it puts across the ideology as well the codes and convention that the magazine carries.
Double Page Spread
The double page spread is of an interview of the model on the cover, ‘Lil Roo’.
The Layout for the double spreads varies from issue to issue and this is to differentiate and keep the magazine entertaining rather than tedious with the exact same layout each time. The pages are very eye-catching as contrasting colours have been used. The background is black with white and pink text. This helps the writing stand out and the pink portrays the girly image.
A pull quote has been used to break the flow of the text and to make the layout more interesting. The pull quote is in a different colour to the rest of the text to make is stand out even more. A large quote has also been used as part of the title. It is placed in the middle of the page with large speech marks around it. It has a attractive look and different from average interviews.
A landscape, long shot image has been used. It is at eye-level and very eye-catching as the image is very large. The image is of the model on the cover with her head on the right and this was deliberately taken in that way. When a person is reading you read form left to right and the photo is also flowing in the same way.
The feet start off and lead to the face which creates suspense and interest for the reader to read on. It would not have been as effective the opposite way round.
The model is wearing clothes of a similar colour scheme to the double page spread. This helps the model blend in with the page. There is a box around the model which helps her stand out. The clothes of the model and hip and trendy similar to the audience whom are reading. The model is smiling and gives off an approachable image.
Before the interview begins there is also a short introduction to what the interview is about and a drop cap has been used to pull the reader in. the language of the interview is chatty and informal which portrays a similar lifestyle to the readers. At the end of the interview is a box with facts about the model. This also creates interest for the reader.
Another image is used at the end of the interview which slightly rotated. This image attracts more readers as young teenage girls prefer images to writing.
At the bottom of each page the page number is written. Beside the page number is the burst website and this promotes the website throughout the issue.
Overall, from analysing my own music magazine I have been able to recognise the codes and conventions we have used and developed from other real media products to make our own product look more realistic.
I believe my group and I haven effectively portrayed the ideologies we were trying to present. After asking our target market of what they thought about our final magazine prints I think we have made a product which is appropriate and appealing for our target audience of 11-14 year olds. The colours, layout and codes and conventions all appealed to our audience.
No comments:
Post a Comment