Analysis of College Magazines

I am going to be analysing the cover of Bodmin College magazine, which has a primary target audience of students of the school who are aged 11-18. It has a secondary target audience of parent and teachers who are older than the students. It is for both male and females. The purpose for the magazine is to inform the readers of events that are going on around the school. It is also partly for entertainment.

The masthead does not work for this magazine as it uses unappealing fonts and colouring. This masthead would be the first thing you see when you look at the magazine and having unappealing typography would not represent the target audience of 11-18 year olds. These people would be more attracted to bold typography. The masthead does not make good use of content or colours, as it does not jump out to potential readers. If this had a competing magazine this masthead would not be effective to pull in readers as it does not use bright or bold colours and typography such as Empire would use.

This magazine cover does not have a clear main image; this does not go along with the common conventions of magazine covers. This cover uses three photos rather than one main central image. It also does not follow common conventions by using long shots rather than the use of close ups of the subjects. The photos are also three of the same type, dancing, which would not be appealing to the target audience of the magazine. The magazine uses mostly females in the photos, which would not draw in a large male audience as they are not featured and may not be pulled in by the dancing. However, the male readers may be attracted through Mulvey’s theory of male gaze with the use of the female dancers. The images used are also blurry and are not of high quality that again does not attract the readers. The photos also has poor lighting making the cover unappealing and would not pull in many readers. This cover does not feature any smaller, minor images such as the common conventions of a magazine. It has the three larger images and so does not help to show other content or features inside. This means it would not appeal to the target audience, as it will not be able to drag in people who don’t like dancing.

The cover does not feature a colour palette of three of four colours. This cover uses many colours that don’t mix and go well with each other. This use of colours does not keep and clear brand or pallet throughout. This can make the look of the cover confusing and does not appeal to a potential reader of it. The masthead also has a very different colour palette than the rest of the cover and so the two do not mix or blend together, again making it unappealing.

This cover does not feature much text or teasers, which show the content or the magazine. It does feature a textbox in the centre of the cover. This text box is hard to read because of the chosen colours and it’s chosen font, this does not pull people into it, as it is unattractive to them. It is a plain and not very exciting text box and so it would not attract the target audience. This cover does not have any other teasers on it and so it doesn’t show any other content. It doesn’t have a headline or any other teasers, which appeal and attract the target audience. This would not draw any other readers in and so would have to rely on the images to do so. This would mean people who don’t like dancing wouldn’t be attracted. The text used in the masthead is hard to read because of the colours being used on the text and the image being used. This would not draw in the target audience as it isn’t readable and the text is of a font, which would not appeal to the target audience of the magazine.

The cover doesn’t use an effective layout and it does not follow the common conventions for a magazine. It does use a masthead at the top however it is a very busy masthead and so it is unappealing and ineffective. The cover does not use much text and has three large images on it. The does not follow common conventions with one main image and a few smaller ones, and text which tells the reader what is featured inside. This makes the cover unappealing and ineffective at drawing in the target audience.

This cover would have the same primary target audience of students who are aged 11-18. It would also have the secondary target audience of teachers and parents. It would also be for both males and females. The purpose for this magazine would be to inform people of events as well as provide entertainment.

The masthead on this cover is effective as it stands out with the brighter orange and grey on a black background. The masthead uses a more modern typography that would appeal to the target audience and pull them into it. The use of smoke and fire would also be appealing to the target audience as it suggests and more rebellious and younger themes, which would help it to be attractive to the target audience. The masthead and its style also help it to create a recognisable brand through the word ‘Skive’. This, again, appeals to the target audience. The use of the word skive connotes that you could relax and be entertained through reading it rather then going to school.

The layout of the cover follows the common conventions. The cover has a lot of the main information down the left hand side, which helps the reader see, quickly and easily, the content inside. The cover also has the large masthead at the top that will drag people in and so makes it effective. The cover also follows the common conventions by having the large central, main image with a few smaller images to the side.

This cover uses a clear three or four colour palette of black, orange and white with some grey. This has a more appealing palette to its target audience and would be more effective to pulling people in. All of the colours blend in well together and so makes an appealing colour palette. On the left hand side minor image a bright pink is used which does not follow the main colour palette. This however, is carefully used to work well on the cover. It also would help attract females of the target audience who may not necessarily have been pulled in to read it.  The use of darker colours connote different emotions such as the black being depressed and dark, and it represents stereotypical behaviour of the target audience committing crimes.

This cover has a clear main image. It is a large image located in the centre of the cover. The colours of the image mix and blend in with the colour palette of the cover. The image uses an extreme close up of a teenager of the target audience and so it represents the target audience of the magazine. The image is also heavily photoshopped, which creates a more appealing image used to pull in the audience. The image has a cracked and broken look to it so the target audience would be attracted to this style. The image stands out on the cover

The cover also has a few minor images that are placed along the sides of the cover. The images on the right hand side have fire on the corners which would draw people in so the will be encouraged to look at the images. The use of flames would appeal to the target audience and represent them as it shows some rebellion and so the target audience would be attracted to it. The image on the left shows a more female subject of make-up and fashion. This would help appeal to the females of the target audience, possibly more than the cover’s colour palette and the main image. The images use long shots and mid shots of both people and objects, such as a boat.

The cover uses both basic typography for the smaller text as well as bold text for the main headlines.  The colour of the text follows the colour palette. The bold text draws the audience into the headlines of the cover.  The cover features the main headline of ‘Stress’ this is in a bold font with a cracked look, much like the main image. This word is the only text, apart from the masthead, that is not either black or white. The grey would draw in the readers and it stands out so it can be easily seen.

The cover also features many teasers to show the audience what would be found within the magazine. These uses more basic typography which makes them easy to read but it relies on the target audience are attracted to one of the larger, headlines as well. The teasers on this cover are aimed mainly at a female audience, which would not be appealing to the entire target audience of the males. The use of lexis like ‘monogamy’ would mean the cover is using more complex language and so may not be appealing to the whole of the target audience as not every one would know what all the words on the cover means.

This cover is both appealing and attractive to the primary target audience with the use of its colour palette as well as the layout. The cover follows the common conventions of a magazine cover and so it could be used effectively. However, the topics chosen for the cover may be a bit to feminine for the male part of the target audience. Its use of more complex words may also put a few people off, as they wouldn’t understand. Overall, this would be effective at pulling in the target audience.