My name is Adebimpe Adenusi and this blog is being used to record all of my work throughout my AS Level Media Studies course. During this course I will learn to have an understanding of a magazines' codes and conventions to be able to create my own realistic magazine including a front cover, contents and a double page spread.
One of the induction tasks that we had to do was make a magazine aimed at students and parents that was about school. In my real magazine I will make sure that it looks professional and that it is of high quality unlike this one which could be a lot better.
Preliminary Task
For the front cover I decided to have a grey masthead to represent professionalism which connotes to a workplace in this case school. I also used the picture where the model was looking straight into the camera with her arms crossed to show she meant business and is into hard working. This could be a lot better because it is quite dull and some of the featured stories are hard to read because it blends in with the hair of the model. Also you can see around her head where she has been cut out of the background making it look really unprofessional and not of high quality. The barcode is really big on the front cover and the contents page is very boring and doesn't contain a lot of information or pugs.
Annotation of Existing Magazines
Front Cover: Cosmopolitan, Men's Journal, Billboard
The first magazine has a medium long shot of Ariana Grande on a pink background. We are able to see the magazine is aimed at girls because of the pink background which is a stereotypical girl's colour. On the other hand we can see it is aimed at young adults because the male gaze theory is being put into practice which is when the camera puts the audience into the perspective of a male viewer. We know this because she is wearing a revealing outfit and is looking into the camera in an inviting manner. She is wearing black clothing and is posing seductively showing that it is for a mature audience. The layout of the magazine is quite flamboyant as there is a lot of different colours being used for each of the feature stories. There is use of items like emoji's and heart shaped bullet points to show the youthful audience. The cover model's feature story is not the biggest one on the page but instead it has 'We're Obsessed' in chalk style handwriting showing the youthful nature of the audience who may be in school or may just have left while also making the reader intrigued as it is an ambiguous phrase. The magazine uses buzzwords like 'Crazy,' 'Funny' and Ridiculously Hot' which draw in the reader and make them want to see what the article is about. The masthead for Cosmopolitan has been changed to white to match with the pink and white theme of the magazine. Cosmopolitan changes their masthead constantly to match the colour scheme which may have been done to represent their young target audience and how they are still changing their personality and image like the masthead. The second magazine has a medium shot of Jake Gyllenhaal sitting down in front of a white background. The plain background doesn't really give us an idea of who the magazine is aimed towards but the simple layout unlike Cosmopolitan magazine which is more colourful and loud, let us know it is for men as they are stereotypically quite simple and have single based topic magazines which don't have to be eccentric looking to appeal to the audience. The feature stories are all written in white which is the same colour as the background again representing the simplicity of men. Men's Journal has the name 'Jake Gyllenhaal' in big letters across the front of the magazine which will invite a lot of people to want to buy it if they see a recognizable name. They have decided to maintain their brand image by having the masthead in the usual bright red which doesn't really go with the green and white theme but is used every issue. This will help readers be able to recognize their logo more often than usual. Buzzwords are still a used technique as there are words like 'Killer,' 'Extreme' and 'Quick Violent.' The model is still representing the male gaze because he is looking into the camera and tugging on his shirt suggestively which could attract a female audience. However having a male on the cover invites men to read the magazine because of the patriarchal society that we live in where men want to be on top and have the most power and success. The men will buy the magazines as they are inspired to be like the man on the cover so they too can reach self actualization and achieve all of their needs and dreams like described in Maslow's hierarchy of needs. The green and mud stained shirt has connotations to manliness as it is earthy and makes us think of men doing work and getting their hands dirty. The final magazine has a close-up of Bruno Mars looking into the camera. This magazine has a black background which tells us it could be for any gender and also the male on the cover doesn't really help us know who it is aimed towards. We are able to tell that the magazine is aimed for both men and woman because of the model on the cover is using the male gaze theory by looking into the camera with a calm and attractive look inviting the females to buy the magazine and inviting the men with the use of Maslow's hierarchy. Billboard is maintaining their brand image by keeping their masthead the same and against their gold and white theme we are able to see the colours which will help people to recognize them more often than usual. The feature stories on the page are very organized and not spread all over the page showing it is for an older audience. This issue is celebrating 50 years of Billboard magazine and this helps us understand why they used gold as it connotes to the golden anniversary.
Contents Page: Marie Claire, Men's Fitness, Rolling Stones
The first magazine has the words 'Contents November' in red which make it really obvious to the reader what the page is and also shows it's importance. The front cover had a picture of Kate Winslet on it and that is one the biggest pictures on the page which refreshes the readers memory of what the magazine is about this issue. At the top of the contents page it says Marie Claire the name of the magazine which will maintain the brand image so people remember it. The contents page has been split up into sections and has the different articles in chronological order which make it easy to navigate around the page and see what part of the magazine would interest you the most. They are appealing to their target of young and old woman by having some pictures in black and white while some are in colour which would attract a lot of different age groups. Marie Claire has the cover stories in a red box which helps people who might have bought the magazine for what they saw on the cover find the pages easily. Marie Claire has not used a lot of different colours on their magazine as their target audience is more mature and do not need bright colours to catch their attention. Their convention is they have three pages for their contents and this shows that their magazine has so much things to show they need to pages to display it on their contents. Due to the fragmented audiences Marie Claire has included a link to their website which will help other people reach their magazine and be able to find out about it and share it with other people. Marie Claire has made the readers feel more connected to the magazine by having a section called 'Just For You' which makes the magazine seem more personal. Another section on the magazine tells readers that they are able to subscribe to the magazine by text or by visiting the website which will make people want to do it as it is a really easy process and it uses technology which is really popular now. Men's Fitness has contents in big and bold black writing which shows it's importance and also represents their target audience of big and strong men. Men's Fitness has used the convention of having contents numbers on their images that show which page to go to instead of the usual list which will make it more interesting for their young and healthy target audience. They also appeal to their young and energetic target audience by having a multitude of different bright colors used for headings and different sections and this makes it more eye-catching and helps to differentiate the areas. They have a section called 'Regulars' which may attract a lot of people to keep buying it as they know what will be in the magazine every issue and also with the 'Features' section they can expect something new. The contents page has a picture of their front cover on the bottom which helps the people who bought the magazine for the content they saw on the cover to navigate and find what they want easily. To show that they have a lot of information in their magazines they have spread their contents pages over two pages like Marie Claire has. Similarly to Marie Claire they have included their website link which will make people want to visit it and also for the people that do visit it they'll be able to share it with their peers and spread the word. The Rolling Stones contents page uses the convention of having 'All The News That Fits' instead of writing contents page which makes it more interesting and different as well as making it seem like their is so much information in the magazine that they can only include the news that fits. They have stuck to the colour theme by having their header colour be red like their logo while this also makes it stand out and seem important. The articles are written in chronological order making it easy to navigate around. The contents page has a majority of images that show it is for all age ranges as some are black and white while others are in colour and also the different artists are suitable for different age groups. They have written the page number and a description on the picture which make it easy for people to know what the article is about and how to get to it. Rolling Stones has included their website so people are able to go there and find more information and it also opens up the opportunity to get news spread about their brand name.
Double Page Spread: Seventeen, Men's Health, Rolling Stones
The first magazine has a really bright and youthful colour scheme which represents the teenage and young adult target audience. We are able to tell where the article starts because it is larger and differently coloured from all of the other letters. The layout of the magazine is simple and only has one page of writing and then a whole page is dedicated to a picture of the person the article is about. This is suitable to the target audience because the young teenagers may not want to read a lot of information as it may intimidate and bore them. They have also put a big quote on the page which is multi-coloured and the reasons may be to give the illusion there is less writing and also to make the reader be drawn in to what the rest of the article has to say. Bethany Mota, the girl in the picture is dressed very girly and is appealing to the male gaze by wearing a short dress covered in hearts which metaphorically could be saying that she is there to be loved but also she is wearing glasses and that is a stereotype of an intelligent person so it could be to appeal to the young audience and have a feminist message that they too can be smart and work. This also works because of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as a lot of young girls would aspire to be like her and reach self actualization. The language in the magazine is very colloquial and says things like 'It's the kind of room you can imagine yourself hanging out in' and 'It is so cozy and cute' makes it really easy to read and makes the magazine feel personal and as if they are talking right to the reader. The magazine has some text on the picture which let's the readers know where they are able to purchase the clothes that Bethany is wearing and this could attract a lot of people to the magazine so they would be able to find out what clothes their favourite celebrities are wearing. The second magazine has a title giving more information about what the article is about. Unlike Seventeen they have a block which gives notion to where the magazine article starts. They have used a simple grey and black colour scheme but also have a bright yellow strip which draws attention to the page. Inside of the yellow box it suggests what sports the readers should do which makes the magazine feel personal and it may attract them to read it more to find more exercises. The colour scheme let's us know that is for men as it doesn't need a lot of colour to get you interested in it. There are headings over some of the paragraphs which give information of what that section is about which means that the readers do not have to read everything but can skip to the part that may interest them instead. Similarly to Seventeen Magazine they have one page of writing and one page which has a picture of Russell Wilson on it and this may be to please their young adult target who may not enjoy a lot of reading. The picture of Russell has him posed like he is in the middle of running and this would attract the males as it would aspire them to look athletic and masculine like him. The fact that his face isn't straight and intimidating makes the readers feel less like they are being challenged and instead makes them want to replicate him. They also have the list of places where Wilson's clothes are from which may interest their readers. On each page of the magazine they have the magazine title which would help popularize their brand name and make people remember it. The language they have in the magazine is very formal and they use phrases like 'He was giving up months of crucial development time in one sport.' The third magazine is Rolling Stones and this is aimed at older people which could explain why it has the layout of a magazine. They let the reader know where the magazine starts by having the first letter be bigger than all of the others. They have a simple colour scheme but are sticking to the brand image by having their name on every page and also they some splashes of red on the page which is the same colour as their masthead. Instead of having one main image and article they have multiple articles and images which could be showing they have so much content that they have to have numerous articles on page. They also have used articles suited to different ages on the page so everyone reading will be engaged. In addition this they have included on each page the name of the magazine and the date of the issue release which allows them to make their brand name popular. The language of the magazine is very unpretentious with phrases like 'He's best known as the chubby childlike Andy Dwyer on Parks and Recreation' and this makes it suitable for different types of people. The layout of the magazine makes it appear that there is a lot of writing which could appeal to the older audience. They also have really bold headings with buzz phrases which will make the reader want to find out what it is about.
Quantitative Audience Survey
To be able to create my magazine I had to do research to find out who my market would be with qualitative research. The way I did this was carrying out a survey to find out what people liked and who my magazine should be targeted towards. I have decided to do a magazine for young female adolescents aged 14-19. I have also decided for the genre to be on pop music. I used my research to come to this choice as the research I got was mostly from this area. In order to gather the research I went on an online chat room so that the results I received were not all biased and from people I knew. By going on the teen chat rooms I was also able to get results from all over the world which would help me get an idea of what different types of people would enjoy reading. There were 71 people who took the survey altogether and this should be enough to be able to see what people like.
that I have to make my magazine exceptional so that people will want to buy it. It also means that a lot of people don’t usually read magazines so I have to make sure that my magazine isn't difficult to read or boring so that people will not want to read it. It was an excellent idea to put this question on the survey as I was able to discover whether or not the magazine would be a smart idea.
Finally I asked the question ‘What genre of music do you like?’ This would help me as it would let me know what my audience would appreciate and what they would enjoy reading about. For me to be able to make my magazine I would need to know what content to have inside it and what the magazine should be about. 19 people which was the majority said pop so I decided to do a magazine with the theme being pop as it would please a lot of the readers of the magazine. This question also helps me to understand my audience is quite youthful and fun as this is what pop music is.
To conclude I feel that my choice on what to do my magazine about was good because these were the majority choices and the majority of voters were the age that I decided to do the magazine on.
Audience Profile
Audience Research: Magazine Contents
After I found out who the target was and what my magazine would be about, I had to find out what content I would put inside of it. I found this out by doing another survey. I used teenage chat rooms to get a more random sample from all around the world rather than only the people I knew because this would help me know what different types of people like. I asked questions that would help me understand what type of things that I would put in the magazine that had to do with pop and that would be suitable for young girls 14-19 years old.
The first question I asked was 'Are you male or female?' I did this so I would know what information I should take in and what information wouldn't help due to the target I was going for. 83 people took the survey altogether and 59 of these were female so my research would be very helpful. I followed up this question with 'What is your age,' so that I could see which information would be useful to me and out of the 83 people 73 were 14-19 which would go on to help my research as that is the age range I chose to do.
Preceding this question I asked 'What genre of music do you like? The majority which was 34 said Pop which solidified my choice to do a pop magazine. However I also had high votes of Hip Hop which had 21 votes and R'n'B which had 22 votes so I think I am going to have small segments of both Hip Hop and R'n'B to attract a wider audience. I asked this question so I could know if the genre of music was suitable to my target audience or if I had to change it and in this case I did not have to. This lets me know I need to have a lot about Pop in my magazine.
Subsequently I asked 'What content in magazines do you like best?' I asked this question so that I was able to see what my target would be interested in reading and how to get them interested in my magazine. This would also help me to be able to realise what I should be putting in my magazine and what kind of information would be suited to my young target audience. I have decided to choose main pieces of content. This goes accordingly with the amount of votes they each got. The ones I decided to do are Gossip with 29 votes, Celebrity Interview with 29 votes, Real Life Stories with 29 votes and Fashion and Beauty Tips with 25 votes. I think this would attract a large amount of readers and would go well with the youthful theme.
Following this I asked 'Which female artist/band is your favourite?' This is so I was able to know what kind of music my target audience liked and what artists I should include I should include and mention in my magazine. The top three artists are the ones that I will include in my magazine and these Ariana Grande with 17 votes, Nicki Minaj with 19 votes and with 25 votes Beyonce. I did the same thing asking 'Which male artist/band is your favourite?' Again I am going to choose the top three celebrities to attempt to include in my magazine these being Ed Sheeran with 25 votes, Sam Smith with 17 votes and with 13 votes Justin Timberlake. These will help my magazine gain popularity and please my target audience. It will also keep my magazine current and relevant.
Next I asked 'In the past 12 months, which of the following magazines have you purchased?' The majority was actually None of the above with 34 votes. This means my magazine has to stand out so people will want to buy magazines. The magazines on the market now are obviously not appealing to people so my magazine needs to change people's opinions of magazines. I asked this question so I could see what my target audience reads now and see how I could make that better. The highest voted magazine OK! This had 14 votes and tells me I should include a lot of gossip in my magazine as OK! has a lot of this and appeals to most people.
After that I asked the question 'How much would you pay for a music magazine?' I asked this question so I was able to know the price I should put the magazine up for. This would help as a lot of young people may not want to pay a lot of money for a magazine. The majority answer was £1.00-£1.50 so I will now place my magazine between that pricing range. The next question I asked 'Do you buy any magazines with more picture content or text?' I asked this question so that I was able to know whether or not I should have more text or more pictures. The majority vote was 30 for the answer 'It wouldn't affect my decision' so I have decided to have an equal amount of pictures as well as text. This will help the magazine be informative but not overbearing.
Finally I asked the question 'Would you spend more money on a magazine that came with a gift?' I asked this question so I was able to know whether or not I could include a gift in magazine. The majority answer Yes with 25 votes. This helps me understand that I should include a gift in my magazine as it would appeal to a lot of people and would increase. This is important so that I am able to see if adding a gift in the magazine will be appreciated.
In conclusion I am going to include in my magazine celebrity gossip, interviews, fashion and beauty and real life stories. I will also include information and articles about the favored musicians and make sure that my magazine is different and aesthetically pleasing.
Templates and Focus Group
I made these templates after my rough design so that I was able to make them look more realistic to what my actual magazine would end up looking like. I used Microsoft Publisher to make them.
Front Cover: For my front cover I focused a lot on my brand and made sure to use 'girly' colors like purples, pinks and plums. Also because my audience is quite young I used these colors as it would make it more visible and will stand out. I put a lot of articles on the cover and had a main image which made it easy to see it was a magazine but also will draw the reader's attention to the magazine if they see that it is somebody they recognize. I made sure that the layout was quite simple and easy to navigate around which would help the young audience.
Templates and Focus Group
I made these templates after my rough design so that I was able to make them look more realistic to what my actual magazine would end up looking like. I used Microsoft Publisher to make them.
Front Cover: For my front cover I focused a lot on my brand and made sure to use 'girly' colors like purples, pinks and plums. Also because my audience is quite young I used these colors as it would make it more visible and will stand out. I put a lot of articles on the cover and had a main image which made it easy to see it was a magazine but also will draw the reader's attention to the magazine if they see that it is somebody they recognize. I made sure that the layout was quite simple and easy to navigate around which would help the young audience.
Contents Page: Here I focused again on colors and making sure that everything was 'girly' and to the target audience's taste. I also used pictures instead of having a lot of text which would be helpful as the young target audience might not like to read a lot or have too much information in front of them. I made sure everything was in chronological order showing easy navigation.
Double Page Spread: For the double page spread I wanted to make it have a lot of pictures as well as having a lot of text so there was a good balance. This would give the readers that are young a lot of information but still not bore them from having so much writing.
When I asked the Focus group for Number One's Front Cover they said the layout was good and they liked the colors that were used. On the other hand they complained it was rather plain and it could be more interesting with pugs or the stories placed differently. For the contents page they liked how it was in chronological order and there were more pictures which made it less work to read. Regarding the double page spread they mentioned there was too much text and people would not want to read that much.
For Number Two's Front Cover the focus group said that the colors were too similar and there was a lot of clashing making it hard to read. For the contents page they said the same mentioning the clashing. When it came to the double page spread they like the change of color making it easy to read.
For Number Three's front cover the focus group said the idea was good as were the colors but I needed to make sure that the colors were not too bubblegum pop making the age range it was targeted at confused. The contents page was liked because of the use of multiple images and less writing as well as the Double Page Spread which had less writing.
Taking this all into account I need to make sure that the colors I use don't blend to much and that they are easy for the customer to read. Also I need to make the layout interesting and not so simple and safe that it is boring. The contents page should have a lot of images rather than having more text and the same should go for the double page spread. All this information will be used to better my work and make it look like a real magazine.
Contact Sheets
Before I shot my images I made sure that I looked at other magazines and got an idea of how people posed. I looked at teen gossip magazines and looked at ways I could make my models pose. I also decided what stories I was doing so that my magazine's images made sense.
For Number Two's Front Cover the focus group said that the colors were too similar and there was a lot of clashing making it hard to read. For the contents page they said the same mentioning the clashing. When it came to the double page spread they like the change of color making it easy to read.
For Number Three's front cover the focus group said the idea was good as were the colors but I needed to make sure that the colors were not too bubblegum pop making the age range it was targeted at confused. The contents page was liked because of the use of multiple images and less writing as well as the Double Page Spread which had less writing.
Taking this all into account I need to make sure that the colors I use don't blend to much and that they are easy for the customer to read. Also I need to make the layout interesting and not so simple and safe that it is boring. The contents page should have a lot of images rather than having more text and the same should go for the double page spread. All this information will be used to better my work and make it look like a real magazine.
Contact Sheets
Before I shot my images I made sure that I looked at other magazines and got an idea of how people posed. I looked at teen gossip magazines and looked at ways I could make my models pose. I also decided what stories I was doing so that my magazine's images made sense.
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