Textual analysis - Music magazines

Mojo
This magazine first appears sinister, with the image of a band dominating the front cover. It has huge impact as the eye contact with the people in the image is intense, attracting the public to the magazine. The image of the band stands in front of the magazine name 'Mojo', this tells the audience that music comes first, that it is not about image, but about music content. The band also covers up half the name 'Mojo' suggesting the power of the band and that the magazine is aimed at people that are serious about music, the seriousness is also elaborated in the band's eye contact. The image is of a band called Oasis, because the band is of the genre rock. The band is represented as moody and challenging which fits in with the persona of the band Oasis. The eye contact is direct and striking blending in with the bold font and mod theme colour.
From the magazines appearance, it shows that it represents the rock/mod genre of music and the magazines contents will contain information relevant to this music.

Q

Simple blocks of primary colours are used in an eye catching way to attract the reader. The clear red, white and black font contrasts with the animated images and gives a simple direct message. The main figure is looking directly at the reader and pointing, as if it is say to the reader that they are personally involved. The bands are in the largest print to show the reader what to expect. The language is persuasive, using the selling point of FREE music and the COMPLETE U2 story.

This magazine is aimed at someone interested in a wide range of music, as inside you can get information on people as diverse as Lily Allen to Kylie. It is for someone who is quite sophisticated as there is an article by Tony Blair. This magazine is trying, successfully, to sell itself as a stylish magazine, building on already known quantities, such as GQ and James Bond.

Contents page:

Front cover for student magazine:

This was my initial design for my school magazine, however I feel that it needs adapting and changing to be made more suitable to be a student magazine. The image I chose to use of a girl smiling will relate to the students that my magazine is aimed at, but there is no eye contact with the reader, which is the convention of many magazines. The title of my magazine is called 'Whatever!' This language can be harsh on students and the word is a negative one. The images that I incorparated of a top and skirt are quite bland and do not suit the fashion trend that college students aspire to. The highlighted font is far to garish and the positioning of text and images needs to be re-thought. My final school magazine front cover...

3 flat plans

Title ideas for school magazine

These are the ideas for the title of my Sixth Form magazine. I brainstormed through a lot of different ideas to get the right mood and feel for my magazine. I decided that my title needed to be informal and chatty to appeal to my target audience and to contain some colour that was both pink and blue for both male and female students.

• S.O.S


• Teen Brief


• The Universal


• Academy


• What's new?


• The Reporter


• Showtime


• S.O.S Now
  

My final choice for the title of my magazine is 'Teen brief'

Textual analysis for target audience school magazine

Dave - South East Essex College

This magazine is aimed at my target audience, year 12 students. The magazine title is Dave, which is very masculine for a college magazine. The image that is also presented on the cover is of a male singer in Essex, the features of the magazine are aimed at teenagers and the colors, images and title suggest a male audience. The title is a male name and is presented in bold yellow letters against a black background to make it stand out. The colors chosen are also masculine even though it is more likely for this magazine to appeal to both male and female students. A colour scheme is very important in determining who will read the magazine, this student magazine however can appeal to my target audience although the images, title and colour scheme limits the readers.

Next
Next magazine is aimed at year 12 students that helps guide them through the year. It contains knowledge about life after school and gives students useful advice that will help shape the career that they wish to have when they leave school. It gives students ideas about what they want as a career and the path they should take to get there. This gives students an idea of what they will encounter in the following years as students, which I think is a useful feature for a school student magazine. The title is suited appropriately to the content of the school magazine and what information it offers students about the ‘next’ stage in life. The image featured on the magazine is friendly and inviting and I think it would be a successful magazine to appeal to both male and female. The people in the image look like they are having fun and also they look popular and happy, which appeals to my target audience.

Questionnaire graph results

What are your hobbies and interests?
The results for this show the different hobbies that students enjoy when i asked a range of people in 6 form what their interests are. The results conclude that most people enjoy shopping and seeing friends, therfore this is what is most important to them, which makes it a vital part of my magazine content.

Do you read your current school magazine?

Most people do not read their current school magazine because it does not appeal to them. This helps me learn of the design and content of current school magazines that it is not appealing to my target audience.

What subject do you enjoy most at school?

Most people I asked enjoy the subjects such as politics and english. In my magazine I can include information about subjects and information such as school trips that relate to 6 form subjects.

Are you interested in fashion?

Many people I asked were interested in fashion. I want to include a fashion part in my magazine which could relate to the sort of clothes 6 form students can wear to school.

Do you read magazines outside school?

Most of the people I asked did read magazines outside school, this includes the male audience that I asked aswell.

If so, which magazines?
This question that follows then helped me determine what magazines the students were interested in. This included many fashion and real life magazines and contents.

What attracts you to a magazine?

I feel this is a important question to ask, as this will draw students into reading my magazine. I found that images and stories were the most important feature to a successful magazine and what my magazine should contain.