Firstly I chose two very different covers - Kerrang and Top of the Pops - this was so I could get a good idea of how magazines vary from genre to genre, and how they use different features to attract their target audience. Then I found another magazine that related to the genre that I was going to base my magazine on (R&B), so I could gather thoughts for it.
Kerrang analysis:- Buzz words 'Special Edition' indicates its very special
- 'Legends' is put over title to stand out
- Title: 'Kerrang' not very clear
- Price is a lot as it is a special edition
- Central image: Direct mode of address, they all look serious, apart from one who has a sarcastic face
- House style: black, white and red colours attractive for older generations
- '25 years' indicates the magazine is for older people
- Main coverline '25 years of Metallica Inside The World's Greatest Metal Band' in capitals, going across the whole page, bold font
- Along the bottom of the cover there are a list of what is inside, like a contents
Top Of The Pops analysis:- 'Exclusive Pics', 'McFly Exclusive' - buzz words
- Top Of The Pops logo is used
- Title: Name of the magazine is at the top, in pink and white - bold and bright
- Central image: Mode of address is direct, although the middle person is in a black leather jacket he is smiling and has 'flashy' hair
- Heart images, indicate the magazine is for girls
- House style: pink, blue, yellow and white colours to attract young girls
- Graphic feature used, arrow with text in, pointing to baby
- Date on the magazine - shows the magazine has a limited date, and implies that there are other editions of the magazines
- Price is expensive, lots of contents in the magazine
- House style: text is big, bold and bright
Vixen - R&B analysis:- Brown background, with a white glow around central image
- 3 bright, colours used: pink, blue and yellow
- 'Vixen' implies that is a womens magazine
- Masthead/Title simple and is big, stretched along the whole of the top
- No buzz words
- Coverlines informing and encouraging readers to buy it
- Strapline: 'Win a $1000 shopping spree'
- Central image: the only image on the magazine cover, which suggests shes's the main star of the magazine and the attention is bought to her
- Price not shown as it may be expensive because its a special issue
- Barcode
- Mode of address is direct from the central image, as it is the only image on the cover. It is also trying to get the readers attention
- All female celebrity names featured
- 'Beauty and fashion special' implies this edition is for women again
- 'Vibe Vixen' alliteration emphasises the magazine is for women this month
Secondly I chose three double page features and analysed these too in order to get an idea on how to create the look for my feature and what language techniques to use. I compared two different interviews to see the contrast between them as well.
Double page feature analyse - Carlos Santana:
Double page feature analyse - Carlos Santana:Image:
- Image covers full A4 page with a direct mode of address
- Image covers full A4 page with a direct mode of address
- Small smile and holding his necklace and showing it to the camera, suggesting it is something which is important to him
- Image would attract audiences who are fans of Carlos Santana, or audiences who want to find out what is special about his necklace
- Image makes you feel that the story is going to be quite personal, about his life and beliefs
Headline/title/sub-heading:
- There is no headline for this article, but it is part of the subheading
- Tells us what the article is about
- Kept in the same style font, but specific words like "jazz fusion" and "spiritual" are written in bold
- This is to draw in people to read the article
- "Spiritual quest" indicates that it is an article which is going to be about Carlos Santana's "spiritual" life
Vocabularly/language techniques:
- The article opens with a direct speech from Carlos Santana, grabbing the attention of the reader
- Then it goes onto giving a summary of his life as he was growing up
- "Making friends with people, black, Hispanic and white" this is a list of three and illustrates that he had friends with different ethnic backgrounds
- The repitition of "four" is used to emphasise his success, "four years and four albums"
- "Clenching his eyes shut" gives a clear image to what he is doing and implies that he thinks about things before answering straight away
- There are lots of adjectives used to describe Carlos Santana's upbringing "rumbustious border town" these adjectives help create a vivid image
Purpose/audience:
- Inform his fans about his upbringing and tell people how he got to where he is now
- I would read this article, as I enjoy his music and do not know much about him
Comparing a double page spread from 'NME' magazine and 'Top of the Pops' magazine:Audience (Who? How do you know?)
NME: Fans of rock and Crystal Castles and people interested in rock, because of the words used "murderland". It is also for older adults because there is one image, and a lot of text with big words.
TOTP: Young girls, aged 8-13, this is because it has gossip articles and girls genuinely like to gossip more than boys. The colour and language of the text is aimed at girls.
Images (posed or unposed? What of? Size? Mood created?)
NME: The image is posed for the storyline, as the blood represents "murderland". It is a big image - and the only one - it is also quite violent. The mood created from it is quite disturbing and can be quite shocking to audiences.
TOTP: The main image is posed and is quite big, they are looking at the camera and smiling giving a pleasant mood. There are other smaller images placed around the page, some are posed but others are paparapzi images, which expose what McFly get up to.
Layout (How much of the page is image and how much writing?)
NME: The image takes up a whole page to represent the story. The headline is at the top of the page with the article on. There is a lot of writing, because audiences who are likely to read this are more interested in the interview than seeing loads of images.
Layout (How much of the page is image and how much writing?)
NME: The image takes up a whole page to represent the story. The headline is at the top of the page with the article on. There is a lot of writing, because audiences who are likely to read this are more interested in the interview than seeing loads of images.
TOTP: Alot of images and the titles/subheadings take up alot of the page. There are four sections of text, but they are quite short. The text near McFly's faces are placed next to the person who said it, and are used to let people know what the article is about.
Font (Size? Style?)
NME: The first part of the headline is big and "murderland" is in a different font in order for it to stand out. The rest of the font styles used are simple and not too 'whacky' for the type of audience.
TOTP: The title and subheadings are all bubble writing style, even the normal text is quite young and stylish. The size of the fonts used are big, the title takes up a width of the page, and is quite bold.
Language (Type of words? Language features used?)
Language (Type of words? Language features used?)
NME: At the beginning of the article there is a list of 3 this gives an overview of the article, encouraging readers to read on. Alliteration is used in the subheading too "harsh-but-human" this is used to make things stay in your mind. Swear words are also used making the article quite harsh, and suggests that it is using this language to attract its target audience.
TOTP: It is easy to read as there is very simple language. It is not controversial, it is straight to the point. All text is what the band has said, no opinion from any writers, so it shows its actually them saying it and readers just want know about what McFly say.
Content (What is it about? Why?)
NME: It is about Crystal Castles "dark past", as fans may want to be informed about it, and learn more about them.
NME: It is about Crystal Castles "dark past", as fans may want to be informed about it, and learn more about them.
TOTP: McFly's background, it aims to inform audiences about there problems and let them know that they are like any other person.
Purpose (How do you know what the purpose is? Why?
NME: The purpose is to inform fans abou their "gruesome" story, and let them know that they can have a dark past like any other normal person.
TOTP:To inform fansmore about McFly "most honest interview ever" this shows that its purpose is to show readers what they are like.
I have noticed that real magazines layouts are all quite similar, as they always have the title of the magazine in the same place and is also usually big. Most real magazines always place their images and the text to go with it, next to each other.
I have also noticed that some real magazines have a crowded layout whereas other magazines do not have a busy layout, depending on the genre of the magazine.
The use of images on real magazines are also all quite similar, for the reason that the central image usually has a direct mode of address, as in general they are the main feature of the magazine, and therefore should be the main attraction.
The central image is always bigger and genuinely centered around the middle. If there are other images on the page I have noticed that they are placed around the central image and are smaller. I have noticed that the mode of address of other images used are both indirect and direct, this is because some magazines use paparazzi shots to catch out celebrities and expose them to the reader; hoping to encourage readers to buy it. However if there are other images which have a direct mode of address then these are likely to be posed shots for an interview in the magazine, these images are also likely to have coverlines by it.
Finally I have also noticed that real magazines stick to having 3 or 4 colours on the front cover. This is for the reason that if a magazine used too many colours then it would not look very appealing. Also the types of colour used depend on the genre, as on magazines for younger people they use light and bright colours and on magazines for older people more subtle colours are used, like red and black.
I have also noticed that some real magazines have a crowded layout whereas other magazines do not have a busy layout, depending on the genre of the magazine.
The use of images on real magazines are also all quite similar, for the reason that the central image usually has a direct mode of address, as in general they are the main feature of the magazine, and therefore should be the main attraction.
The central image is always bigger and genuinely centered around the middle. If there are other images on the page I have noticed that they are placed around the central image and are smaller. I have noticed that the mode of address of other images used are both indirect and direct, this is because some magazines use paparazzi shots to catch out celebrities and expose them to the reader; hoping to encourage readers to buy it. However if there are other images which have a direct mode of address then these are likely to be posed shots for an interview in the magazine, these images are also likely to have coverlines by it.
Finally I have also noticed that real magazines stick to having 3 or 4 colours on the front cover. This is for the reason that if a magazine used too many colours then it would not look very appealing. Also the types of colour used depend on the genre, as on magazines for younger people they use light and bright colours and on magazines for older people more subtle colours are used, like red and black.
These existing media products, began to help me start thinking about my own product, because I began to start thinking about what different techniques that I could use in order to make my music magazine appealing and how I could attract my target audience.
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