Case Study 2:

Vibe Magazine

The main is a medium close up shot of the rapper kanye west. His clothing is a jacket which is typical for a hip hop artist to wear. His facial expression looks rather serious and is looking directly to the camera making the reader feel involved (creating a connection). This direct address is important as it draw the attention of the reader to the magazine, and encouraging them to buy it. The background is grey rather than using a white background also it makes it easier for the texts to stand out.

The masthead is placed at the top part of the image which is the usual place for mastheads. It is also placed behind the artist. This is because the Vibe magazine is very well known among the target audience therefore they don’t need to see the whole logo to know which magazine it is. In addition to this if the masthead was covering the main image it would not look effective as it would not clearly show the artist face and would clash.

The cover line are placed on the right and left side on this cover this is because in stores magazines are usually stacked on top of each other which is why only some parts of the magazines are visible. Therefore teasers are placed at the right and left side so that the readers/audience are able to still see the magazine by reading the cover lines and it draws their attention whether to buy it or not. The colour scheme keeps the magazine look simple and neat as it is only using 3 colours blue, black and pink. These colours are contrasting the grey background making the text stand out.

In addition to this the teasers give the audience an insight of the content of what is going to be included in the magazine but it doesn't describe everything so that the reader has to buy the magazine to read on.
Moreover there is one pull quote being used in the cover which are seen to be the most important part as they create interest and include the artists’ opinions, which is very important for the fans.

Vibe Magazine Contents Page:

This is a Vibe contents page. In the background we notice a large V which is representing the magazine VIBE and the use of the large V will mean that the audience will recognize the magazine easily. On the right side of the magazine we see categories and by doing this the magazine is a lot easier to navigate and will persuade the readers to carry on. However the colour is different to the front cover and he is wearing a different clothing to what he wore on the front cover. This outfit looks more fashionable which relates to the category”fashion”.Furthermore this is relating to the new Kanye West album 808s and heartbreak which the artist is clearly trying to promote as it is the main feature of the magazine. The colour black and white image with the red heart is vibrant against the neutral colours and relates to the artists album.

The content has been written in a unique way as it has been broken up in 3 lines even though it is plain black it still has a large impact.

Also the page number is placed near the stories which will be included in the magazine; this creates some sort of order and leaves the reader with a simple overview. However I prefer the font size to be slightly bigger of the number or even highlighted as it makes it clearer to readers.

There is also fashion included in the magazine this could show that vibe magazine may not just do music but other sort of things which would interest readers.







Vibe Magazine Double Page Spread:

The artist featured in this double page spread is Solange Knowles so the target audience will probably be people with an interest in R&B and Pop as it is the sort of music she produces. The language throughout the article is very laid back and informal. For example,’ Grown-ass-woman swagger’. You can see this language is used freely as the magazine knows who their audience is therefore they know that there audience would understand this slang language. This makes the audience in buying the magazine as it creates some sense of involvement.

For most of the double page spread the colours consist of black and white. In the text the only colour is used is blue which is highlighted and stands out. This perhaps is used to show the importance of the word ‘NOW’ and the artist name ‘Solange Knowles’. The main image is the only colour in the page which shows attention from the reader to her immediately and she seems confidence in the image. Also the little pictures of her that are covering third of the double spread are in line with the column which looks neat and easy to read.





Press pack:

This shows that there are more male readers than female readers for this magazine and most  readers are between 18-34 which could suggest that the magazine should include what the younger audience want.

Case study 1:Indie and Rock music

 NME Magazine Front Cover

I have chosen NME magazine because it does genre's like indie/rock,pop,classical .

NME magazine had featured a rock pop classical artist Paul McCartney,the image is a far captured shot and his clothing is black and white which is a typical colour for a rock genre.He is wearing a suit with his held up high fixing his tie which looks professional and showing authority and power. His facial expression looks serious,even though his head is not directly looking straight but his eye are still in contacted with the audience. This is important as is draws the attention to the reader in buying the magazine.

The masthead looks eye catching as it is presented in cap locks in bold red which makes it clear to the reader what sort of magazine it is,. Also it’s positioned on the left hand side of the cover to make it visible for the audiences as it is a typical place to place it and it does not clash with the main image even thought it is the biggest font size in the page therefore it makes it clear what sort of genre it is by just looking at it.

Below the masthead theirs pull quotes being used which relates to the artist on the cover (Paul McCartney). The way the font size are changing in few letters makes it looks very effective as it catches the attention of the reader from the start. Also pull quotes is a good technique as it makes readers read them first before reading anything else on the magazine.They also do not just include the author’s words and opinions, but also the artists’ which is more important for their fans.

There is a list of celebrities which gives an insight what artist are featured inside also other genres the magazine does. This is placed on the top right hand side because the readers would be able to see even if it is stacked behind other magazines in stores.

The language is used in Standard English as it clear to understand and the 3 colour scheme is red black and white this makes it simple and professional.

NME has placed their bar code and date on the bottom right hand corner.

NME Magazine Contents Page:

Their is one page used for the content page with 7 images of different artist and it has pull quotes underneath the image with a few lines of what the image is showing which gives a better understanding to the reader of what the page is going to be about. Next to the image there is the “plus” column, it is in a list format which makes it easier for the audience to navigate themselves to these articles also by including  plus shows the reader that they are getting more then what they had paid for.
 The page numbers are in bold which would make it easier for the readers to navigate themselves to the pages and it creates some sort of house style. 

The font style on the heading is that it is bold and it is used in cap locks.The font looks as if it presented like a newspaper which makes it appear more informative. NME have included the heading “Inside this week” which shows that is the contents page without following the convention of the heading saying “Contents” underneath this, NME have also followed the convention of having the issue date to show readers how recent it is.

NME have used a central image that is slightly larger than the rest of the images it could show how different pictures sizes depends how important the story is, although the front covers main focus is on the artist “Paul McCartney” the contents page only has a small section on him, which includes the page number the article is featured on.


Another eye catching feature NME have used on their contents page is the big red box in the bottom right hand corner, this box fits in with the colour scheme used in the in the page (numbers) Inside the box it says “Subscribe to NME today and save up to 38%”, also NME used a black font on their title “NME” in the sentence to make the title stand out and the readers are able to identify it and they have used this in order to gain new subscribers and for the magazine to get more futures sales.

Everyday language is used so that the magazine is not made out to be too complex or less understood by their audience this is because their target audience is between the age of 15-34.

NME Magazine Double Page Spread:

The double page spread is divided into one page of writing and one page covered with one enlarged image. This style of layout is very effective as the large image draws the attention of the reader to this article and how there is space on top of the heading which add more emphases to the headline. It says “ Return of the Macca ” this is clearly shown as it is the biggest font used in the page and it is a page for fans of McCartney and would want to find out why he has returned and what his "new" album is all about. The article includes a brief context underneath the heading of what the article would be based on. Paul McCartney is wearing the same clothes he had wore on the front cover but a different colour suit and this time he had direct contact with the reader which creates a connection. The image looks like a recent picture and it is a medium close up shot of him.

The way it is layered out is that it consists of 3 columns the beginning the first paragraph is enlarged with a red bold letter “I” which tells the reader where to start from. Between the second and 3rd column there is a pull quote which is a in a black font which grabs the reader’s attention first before reading the whole article while flicking through the pages. I prefer this sort of layout as it looks neat and organised this could relate to the front cover of looking professional and it clearly shows were to start from and which column to move on to next. The article is written in 1st person in Standard English and it is using lots of quotes,it is descriptive and easy to understand. The style of writing is very effective for their target audience because since it is descriptive it creates an image to the readers mind.

Also there is a little red arrow shows that there is more to read hints the reader to turn to the next page and the date and issue number of the magazine is also printed at the bottom below the arrow.

NME Press pack:

Press pack is a pack of information about the audience/reader of the magazine.

Only 34 percent are female readers therefore it would not be a good idea to advertise products directed to them. NME Audience is ages between 15-34 which suggest that there would be young artist featured in the magazine for the younger age.

The magazine is posted weekly this could be because they want core readership for their magazine as they do not want readers to wait for a long amount of time for the upcoming magazine.

 

Analyse College Magazines

Masthead: 

The mast head is the most important thing in a magazine as it grabs the attention of a  audience/reader. As you can see in the magazine above the mast head says 'COLLEGE' automatically it would make the the audience realize that this is a college magazine for students.

Main Image: 

The main image gives an idea of what the magazine is going to be about it and it only shows one image which suggest that this is the main focus of the magazine. Also the image shows the student is smiling which links to the positive use of words which is being used in the magazine such as 'bright future, jump up and wave'

 In addition to this the boy is looking like a professional students since he is holding a  'law business and society' book which perhaps could persuade other students to take this subjects or even try it.

Font and Colour:

The font and the colour (yellow) makes the main image stand out more clearly as the background is a darker colour. The smaller font gives the reader a hint of whats inside the magazine which makes the reader wanting to carry on and buying the magazine.

Date and Price:
It mentions the date of the magazine 'summer 2009' this perhaps could be for students that are going to be starting college and it is an American magazine as it shows the dollar sign underneath the barcode.

Production Schedule

JOURNALISM