Definitions

Genre- The genre is the form of the literature which could vary from a magazine to a film and therefore written or audio. Within the genre of the literature there are sub genres.

Sub genre: A sub genre is the genre inside another genre. Such a the magazine may be music based and therefore the magazine would be a music magazine. Other genres of magazines could be; fashion, sport, TV, film, gossip.

Hybrid: A hybrid is where the magazine has more than sub genre, e.g a fashion/gossip magazine. These magazines are good because they can wider the target audience as more information is included in them.

Proposal for my music magazine

Proposal for my magazine

 

The sub genre of my music magazine is indie music. With this in mind, I have decided to call my magazine Rush because I think that it goes with the genre quite well as the music could be seen to be quite up beat and fast.

 

My target audience will be predominantly men, in the age range of 15-25, who are middle class. These males will be very passionate about music and may even play an instrument themselves. They enjoy going to lots of concerts and festivals to see their favourite bands such as The Vaccines and The Stone Roses.

 

My magazines publishing house will be IPC, who publish other popular and successful magazines such as Q and Kerrang! They are a multinational media company, based in Hamburg, Germany. I think IPC would be good to publish my magazine as they are a well known publishing house and are familiar with the sub genre of my magazine.

 

Various features will be included in my magazine such as interviews, reviews (album/tours), festival and tour information, and adverts. All of these things were popular in my survey that was completed by possible readers for my magazine. Things like interviews with popular bands will interest a lot of people and if lots of different artists/bands are used then this will gain a wider audience. Adverts are important in magazines as they can relate a lot to the audience, such as in my magazine adverts for phones and energy drinks would be included.

 

My magazine will be published both online and in print. This is for many reasons such as, it appeals to the audience more as it is free of cost online. Webzines are becoming increasingly popular because they are very easy to access on your smart phone from anywhere in the world which saves time compared to having to go to the shop. Also real time media can be used online, such as videos which give the audience a better experience. Weblinks to other websites are also used. The internet can be used to promote my magazine as well, the use of social networking sites such as twitter and facebook were deemed popular in my questionnaire. Also, my webzine can be updated whenever there is some news, but my print version will only be published every 2 weeks.

 

I have decided to print my magazine as well because lots of magazines still remain printed, which shows that they are still popular. Some people prefer to have the magazine in there hand so that they can keep it, or on the other hand they could pass it on to a friend to keep the readership numbers up. Also, some of the special offers such as free gifts which my audience would like can only be retrieved on the print version of my magazine.

 

My online magazine cost will be free. This is because my target audience could consist of a lot of students, who do not have a huge disposable income that can be spent on buying a magazine. The cost of my magazine will be covered by adverts, which will be of interest to my target audience. Where as my print magazine will be the cost of £2.50 which was the most popular amount on my magazine survey. This copy will include free gifts and extras such as posters.

 

The unique selling point of my magazine will be that my magazine works with up and coming bands and helps promote them. This will interest the reader as they will be able to learn about new artists/bands before anyone else and widen their music choice. It is a good feature as it will encourage a lot of audience interaction, as fans will talk to each other to discuss the new artist/band or even send in questions for them.

Aquinas magazine analysis

Front cover

My front cover for my Aquinas magazine includes all of the usual conventions that a magazine requires, such as a main image which fills the full page. This image is a medium close up, of the person who is included in the main cover story. This is advertised on the front cover with a brief description of what the article is about. The headline is at the top of the magazine, along with the cover date and issue number as it is one of the first things that the reader will see and one of the main conventions of a magazine. The rest of my front cover includes the cover stories at the side, competitions in a badge and finally additional details such as the barcode and email address. The price for my magazine is free because I believe that students do not have much disposable income to spend on a college magazine.I think that my magazine front cover is successful because the image is very strong and clear and is the right size for the cover.It also includes a pull quote which is a very effective thing to have on your magazine as it gives the reader an in site to what is in the article. I think that the colour scheme is effective and it fits in with the Aquinas colours.

To improve my magazine, I would include more cover stories to make the page look more filled as the more there is the more interesting and eye catching it looks. Also, another badge may be included with another competition that would encourage the reader to get involved. The banner at the top of the page could be put in a different colour such as red to allow it to stand out a lot more.

Contents page

My contents page is successful because it includes everything that a reader would expect in a contents page such as a headline, images, page numbers, and an editorial.The colour scheme has been continued from the front cover and therefore it makes it look professional and neat. All of the images included on my contents page have the page number in which article the image is related to allowing it to be easy for the reader to know where to look.I think including a banner at the bottom of my page looks good because they are included in most magazines because it draws attention to the competition details and it stands out.

If I was doing my contents page again I would try to include one more image to my page, just to show a greater variety of the stories. Although, I found it very difficult to fit in any more details because I had to ensure that the writing was big enough to see and therefore it took up quite a lot of space. Finally, I could have included a picture of myself on my editorial as usually the editor does put one in theirs.

Contents page analysis

Contents page analysis

 

 

This is a Kerrang! Contents page, which is very packed with information and images. This is what readers expect from a contents page as it contains a brief outline of the whole magazine. The masthead that reads ‘Contents’ is placed in the top left hand corner, in a yellow/ orange colour with a big, bold, cut out font which reflects the genre of the magazine ‘Rock music’. Under the title is the issue number and cover date, which are a convention of a magazine and is for the knowledge of the reader. This information is in a smaller white font which is still hugely visible to the reader.

 

The main image is placed in the top third of the page, amongst the masthead. The images is of a man, who is in a band called ‘Slash’ as shown below with the page number.  The picture is a medium/ close-up shot and he is placed in the right third of the image so that he is fully shown. The image is very dark which is associated with rock music as the connotations of black are danger, fear and mischief. The man is dressed fully in black with sunglasses, you can hardly see his eyes but it is obvious that he is making eye contact. This could be to intimidate the audience as he also has a little smirk on his face. On the other side of the image is two images of two of the pages from the magazine, these are marked with the page number and band that is presented on that page. This is a very effective thing on a magazine contents page as it makes it so much easier for the reader to find where the main articles are. These are the articles that the reader will want to read most as they are promoted on the front cover and contents as being the best in that issue.

 

In the rest of the page, the rest of the contents page is placed. This consists of the editorial which is a short message from the editor, telling the reader about what they have done this week in order to produce the issue. The editorial is a good way of the editor getting involved and having the chance to directly talk to the people who read and buy their magazine. Also, it is a convention of a magazine and it used in every contents page. It is completed with an image of themselves and a signature.

 

“Kerrang! This week” is a further title placed under the main image, to introduce what the contents of the magazine is. Kerrangs contents page has unique layout which is different to other magazines contents page, as all of the pages are under several headings. “Win!“ is one of the headings which is a buzz word and will definitely get the readers attention. Usually, magazines may just have the two, but this has a bigger variety which would make it much easier for the reader to find what they are looking for. The sub headings are bold and clear to notice, the under there is the page number and name of the page, some also include a brief description. They are set out in 4 columns in a neat order which makes the page look very professional. The pages are also split up by images of the bands in some cases which give the page a variety and makes it look more interesting.

 

The colour scheme for this contents page is black, white, red and yellow/orange which is the usual house style for Kerrang! These colours compliment each other very well and allow everything to be bold and easily seen. They also fit in with the genre and target audience as this magazine would not look right with bright colours such as green and pink. The target audience of predominantly men ages 16-25 would not appeal to a different house style.

 

Finally in the bottom right hand corner, is information about how to get a magazine prescription. A price, number and images are included which will persuade the reader to look into it. “Delivered to your door” makes it sound a really good deal and may sound appealing to the reader.

Aquinas contents page

Aquinas magazine front cover