Draft of new Wyke College magazine "In The Know"

Front Cover



This is the draft of the front cover I am going to produce for a new magazine designed for Wyke College. The magazine is aimed at 16-19 year old male and female students, but will also be suitable for visitors, staff and parents.

I decided to call my magazine "In The Know", as I felt this was a catchy and memorable title as well as representing the magazines aim to inform students of what is happening in and around the college. The idea behind the magazine is to keep the students and their parents regularly updated on events to do with the college, and keep them "in the know". I want the magazines title to be one of the first features the audience notices, so I am going to place it at the top of the page on a slight slant to prevent the cover from looking too polished, I want to keep it looking like it has been designed by the students rather than appearing over-formal and serious.

The image that I have decided to use on the front cover will be of a group of two to three students socialising around a table, and portrayed as being happy and enjoying their time at the college. This will appeal to my audience as they will be able to relate to the students in the photograph. I will edit the photograph in such a way that the camera focuses on the student sat in the centre of the group, with the others slightly out of focus. I feel that this will look more professional and eye-catching than if I were to focus on all the students equally at one time. Also as specified, the photo will be taken in the form of a medium close up.

The headline to accompany this photograph will be located just above the image where it will be easy to see. The headline will read "The Place To Be", as my main article in the magazine will be based upon how the new entrants of 2008 are finding life at Wyke college, including interviews with the students featured in the main photograph. A smaller sub-heading will be placed underneath the image reading "An increasing number of students are making Wyke their first choice". This will give the reader more information about what the article includes. This will persuade them to buy the magazine as they will want to read on and find out what the students had to say.

Along the right hand side of the front page I am going to place a bar of smaller photographs with short descriptions to show the audience some of the other articles that will be featured in the magazine. The photographs again represent students both working and socialising in the college. Informing the audience of other articles inside the magazine will encourage them to buy it.

The release date and price of the magazine will be positioned at the very top of the magazine in smaller black text. In my research I discovered that conventionally this is where this information is printed, so the readers should be able to locate it quickly and easily.



Contents Page



This is the draft of the contents page for my magazine. I felt that it needed to be clear and simply designed to make navigation around the magazine as easy as possible. The aim of a contents page is to inform the reader what articles will be inside the magazine, whilst keeping their interest to make them want to read on.

I have decided to repeat the name of my magazine "In The Know" in large lettering and in the same font used on the front cover in the top left corner of the contents page. I found that this technique was used in a lot of other magazines I looked at to re-enforce the magazines name and make it 'stick' with the audience.

Instead of using the traditional heading "Contents" I have come up with a unique headline of "What's Inside". I felt that this made the magazine appear more informal and friendly, whereas "Contents" sounded quite hard-going. I will use a bright colour on this text to draw in the reader to the different articles in the magazine.

Rather than displaying all of the contents of the magazine through text, I am going to use a mixture of photographs and writing to show the reader what they can expect to find inside. I thought that too much text would look busy and off-putting to my young audience, whereas a mixture of text and images creates a good balance of a classic and a modern layout. The images will be taken from the other articles in the magazine, and again will be edited to appear more professional and eye-catching.

To prevent the contents page from looking bland and colourless, I plan to create a background of coloured shapes placed behind the text in an array of pale pastel colours. I believe that this will look professional but will make the page look more appealing to the reader.

Textual analysis of "New!" magazine

"New!" is a celebrity based magazine released weekly in the UK. The title "New" is appealing as it suggests that the magazine is up-to-date with stories and gossip, and this will encourage the target audience to buy it. The magazines slogan is written above the title, reading "If it's hot, it's here." This again re-enforces the idea that the magazine is very current, and the use of alliteration makes it sound catchy and memorable.

The ideology behind this magazine is to entertain the audience through gossip and stories about the lives of celebrities. Generally females are more interested in celebrity life as women compare themselves to their favourite stars more than men do. Women are also seen as being more likely to empathise with the celebrities featured. Because of this, the target audience for this genre of magazine is mainly female.

The producers have used a mixture of bright, attractive colours on this front page to grab the readers attention. The main colours that have been selected are yellow, pink and blue, which contrast against eachother to make the magazine stand out.

The part of the cover which grabbed my attention first was the headline "Kerry Piles Weight Back On After Lipo" as it is written in bold black writing against a yellow background so that it stands out. Because the readers of this magazine are interested in the lives of celebrities, this will catch their eye and persuade them to buy the magazine.

A range of photographs of well known celebrities have been used to draw the reader into the different stories. Giving them short snippets or photos from a story will make them want to buy the magazine to find out more. The celebrities are portrayed as being very "natural" and "normal". They are dressed in everyday clothes and the photographs are not posed or appear edited. Representing them in this way rather than when they are at their most glamorous will make it easier for the audience to relate themselves to them. Also people are interested in seeing celebrity figures when they don't look at their best, as they are usually put across as being "picture perfect" by the media. This again will make people want to buy the magazine.

The magazines price is stated in the top left hand corner where it can easily be seen. The text is written in yellow and white against a blue background, so these contrasting colours makes it stand out. The magazine is priced very cheaply at 80p, which will appeal to the working class who this magazine is mainly aimed at. If the audience believe that the magazine is good value for money, they will be more likely to buy it. Underneath the price there is a small piece of text reading "40p less than Now". This again will encourage the audience to buy it, as it is cheaper than some of the other leading celebrity life magazines.

Textual analysis of "Metal Hammer" magazine

The title of this magazine is "Metal Hammer." It is a monthly music magazine, specialising in the genre heavy metal, which we can tell from the its name. It's purpose is to inform and entertain the fans of a wide range of metal bands. It is published by the company "Future Publishing."

When we first look at the magazine, the first aspect which catches the eye is the man posing on the cover, who fans will recognise as a member of the popular metal band "Children Of Bodom". He is represented as being very dominant and confident, and his facial expression signifies anger. This reflects the genre of music that he represents, as heavy metal is seen as being very powerful and strong.

The man is dressed in all black, which represents evil, death and mystery. These are themes that are often reflected in metal music. His hand is covered in blood, which again makes him appear very sinister and frightening. An image of the grim reaper has been imported behind him. It's hand is resting on his shoulder, this relates back to the themes of death and evil which often play a huge part in the genre of heavy metal.

The name of the magazine "Metal Hammer" is written at the top of the page, however most of the text is covered by the man on the front. This shows that the magazine must be successful, as they are confident that their readers will recognise it through the few letters that are on show, and by the way it has been set out. The word "Hammer" is written in red, and has been made to look like it is on fire. This is connected to the fiery background used for behind the model. Fire is destructive and over-powering, which links back to the way the man on the front is represented. The colour red also connotates anger, power, warning and Hell (links to fire). The word "Metal" however has been placed more discretely along one side of the letter "H" of "Hammer". This shows that the main phrase that the producers are interested in their audience seeing is the word "Hammer", as it is fairly obvious from the cover what genre of music the magazine is about, so the word "Metal" becomes less important.

Above the title, a banner displaying the names of some of the bands featured within the magazine has been used to persuade fans of these to buy the product. This also helps to widen the target audience, as some people will have heard of some of these bands but not of others. If these fans buy the magazine, they may discover new artists they like, and will be encouraged to buy later issues.

The name of the main featured band in the magazine "Children of Bodom" has been written directly underneath the man in a contracting pale yellow colour so that it stands out against his dark clothing. It has been written in the same official font that the band uses for their name on posters etc, so fans will automatically and easily recognise it and are likely to want to buy the magazine. Underneath this text, a sub-heading "Welcome to their nightmare!" has been written in red, Gothic style writing. This sub-heading gives the reader an idea of what the article will be about, but reveals enough to keep their audience interested and intrigued. The word "nightmare" again denotates the influences behind their music.

I believe that this magazine is aimed at genuine fans of heavy metal music, and is a collectable piece as it isn't released as often as some other music magazines, and it is quite expensive to buy. The magazines price of £3.99 is written along the right hand side of the page, next to the barcode. The price hasn't been made obvious as some people who have never bought the magazine before will feel that it is too expensive and will not want to purchase it. However fans who buy the magazine regularly will be aware of the price, but will perhaps be more willing to pay it because they are aware it is a specialist and collectable monthly magazine.

Textual analysis of "Glamour" magazine

The Institution behind "Glamour" magazine is the publisher Condé Nast, which was one of the first British publishers on the Internet and has made itself a reputation for being among the very best. It prides itself for its high-quality, beautifully designed and well targeted magazines and websites, earning it lots of press attention, a fantastic relationship with advertisers and many awards. It is also responsible for the publication of magazines such as "Vogue" and "GQ".

The magazines name "Glamour" attracts people who are aspiring to become fashionable and glamorous, like the model on the front of the magazine. This name tells the audience straight away what the magazine is about, so people who are interested in beauty (which is nearly all of the female population) will immediately be drawn to it. The title of the magazine has been placed at the top of the page in large, bold capital letters. This grabs the attention of the audience and makes the magazine stand out. The title is written in a bright, eye-catching shade of pink, which suggests to the audience that this magazine is aimed at females.

As a matter of fact, the two main colours that have been used on the front page of this magazine are pink and purple. These two colours are most commonly associated with women, so the target audience is presumably female.

The sub-heading "The Celebrity style issue" is also written in bold pink. The fact that it is the same colour as the title tells the reader that this is an important feature in this particular issue. The number "768" is also in pink, this appeals to the female audience as they will be interested in the hundreds of "hot looks" the magazine are describing, and they will want to achieve this for themselves.

The price of the magazine has been placed inside a yellow circle in the top right hand corner of the page. The yellow creates a huge contrast against the white and pink background, so it really stands out. The price "£2" is written in large black text inside the circle, which again catches the readers eye. The word "only" has also been used so that the audience feel that they are buying a magazine worth much more than £2. This will encourage them to purchase it.

The model used on the front of the magazine is Victoria Beckham. Using a celebrity on the front cover will appeal to a large audience, as Victoria Beckham is a woman who the target audience will recognise and even aspire to be like. She is represented as being very beautiful and glamorous, and if the reader thinks that by buying the magazine they will become closer to looking like her, then they will be more inclined to purchase it.

At the very top of the page a banner reading "Britain's No1 Women's Magazine" has been used to persuade women to buy it. This is much more subtlety placed compared to the title and headlines, however when the reader sees the bold title "Glamour" it is likely that they will also read this banner as it has been placed directly above it. This again is a tactic used to draw women in to the magazine, if they think that every other woman buys it, they won't want to be left out and will be persuaded to buy it as well.

Textual Analysis Of "Secondary Teachers" magazine

The Institution behind this media text is "Teachers Magazine". This front cover was taken from the magazine "Secondary Teachers", which is aimed at professional teachers. The ideology behind the magazine is to provide them with an informative and balanced view of what is currently happening in schools and education.

The first aspect of this page that captures my attention is the photograph of the two boys. The image is obviously an important feature as it has been placed in the centre, because of its location the reader is immediately drawn to it. The boys' dark uniform allows them to stand out against the pale background. This contrast tells the reader that the two boys are the central focus of the image. The children featured in the image are represented as being eager and enthusiastic students. They are smiling and are enjoying their work, which is how all teachers want their students to feel. Students are stereotypically seen as being lazy and not wanting to make the most of their education. However the children on the front of this magazine seem keen and motivated. This will greatly appeal to the target audience. Teachers will feel that if they read this magazine, their pupils will enjoy learning as well.

The photograph of the boys then draws us down to the bold yellow headline reading "Playing to learn." The colour yellow signifies happiness, so we make the connection that the boys are happy to be learning. The choice of the colour yellow also works well as it stands out against the dark clothing. The next aspect of the front cover that we notice is the smaller sub-heading underneath the main heading. This reads "How football can improve their Maths and English skills." This informs us what the article is about after our interest has been captured by the photograph and bold heading.

The two red football shirts behind the pupils allow us to make an assumption of what the article is about before we read the sub-heading. The colour red is very bold and bright, and signifies power (for example a red carpet), awareness and action. Red suggests that the pupils are about to take serious action on their education.

The name of the magazine is written at the top of the page where it can easily be seen. The word "Secondary" is written in a very large font, whereas the word "teachers" is in a much smaller size. This is because the company produces two different type of magazine, one aimed at "Primary Teachers" and one designed for "Secondary teachers". Having the word "Secondary" in very large font makes it clear who this magazine is aimed at. The title is coloured in a mixture of green and blue. These colours are very calming and relaxing. This makes the magazine seem more of a gentle read rather than being too hard-going. If it came across as being too 'heavy', people might not want to read it.



This is the contents page from the same edition of the "Secondary Teachers" magazine. The heading "what's inside?" is printed in the same colour as the title of the magazine on the front cover. The same colour scheme is also used on the navigation bar running down the left hand side of the page. This follows through the idea that the magazine will be relaxing and calming to read, as the blues and greens are very soothing colours.

Three images have been used on the contents page to break up the text and give some visual interest on this first page. If there was too much text, the audience may not want to carry on reading it. The first photograph represents another student, again portrayed as being happy and enthusiastic. Once again this will make the teachers think that if they read this magazine, their pupils will feel like the student in the photograph.

On the left hand side of the page there is an advertisement written within a bold, bright yellow circle, asking readers to subscribe to the magazine. The colour yellow is very eye-catching and really grabs the readers attention to the advert. The institution behind the magazine will want teachers to subscribe so they have made the text very bold and easy to read so that it catches people's attention. The heading "Subscribe to teachers" is also written in blue to make it more noticeable compared to the other black text.

The different topics covered in the magazine are written clearly under the "what's inside?" heading. The titles of the separate articles are written in a range of different colours so that they are easy to tell apart. This makes the navigation process much less stressful, readers are able to identify the articles that interest them quickly and with ease. A brief description of what the article is about is also written under these sub-headings, to give the audience an idea of what they will be reading about. This again allows them to find the topics that they want to learn more about without difficulty. If the audience can find their way around the magazine easily, they are much more likely to want to read on.