Research

Magazine Theories and Theorists

Regional and Teenage Magazine Comparison

As I chose regional magazine for my A2 coursework I wanted to make it different to typical regional magazines we see, so I decided to make my target audience's age to be teenagers. This seems a unusal choice and from what I have researched does not exsit already but I think it can work if it is done well. I have researched into both a regional magazine and a teenage focused magazine and made a comparison between them. 

This front cover automatically looks more informative. The typography is refined and subtle in a golden colour that highlights keywords from out of the white font. The background picture is beautiful to look at and captures the eyes of the audience. It is also relevant to where the magazine is set and the area it covers.

The cover of "Cheshire Life" is very organised and all words are perfectly in place. This works very well as it suits the target audience they are after.

The title is in one simple font and colour and does not have any emphasis such as bold or italics etc. The title works well with the colour of the background (blue) and also the other text on the page. This magazine looks high quality and reliable.

This teen magazine is very different to the regional one. It is, obviously, aimed at teenagers (mainly teenage girls) and is a lot brighter than the "Cheshire Life" example. 

The font is also more "in-your-face" and the title of the magazine is more like a logo than the previous magazine title with multiply colours and fonts being used. It also comes from an already successful magazine called "vogue" so it incorporates there logo in order to bring some familiarity across. 

The background photography is simpler and appeals more to the target audience (teenagers) as the girl is young and relatable too. The light blue colours around her blends and works well with pink used in the title and subheadings.

Magazine Page Analysis

Magazine Codes & Conventions

Magazine Institution

Ancillary Task - Website Research

I have researched into London magazine websites to see what they look like and how they function and to gain inspiration from them. The main website I chose to focus on was Time Out London.

The Time Out London website uses simple colours. Mainly black, white, grey and red. It think this works well as the red highlights important information against the black and greys as it is a brighter colour and the most noticable on the site.

The heading bar at the top of the site is good as it is always there and always available for you to click on. The webiste is very accessible and user friendly. The majority of the home page are pictures showing of various things to eat, see and do which is good as it draws the audiences attention and makes them want to try the experience.

The one main thing I don't like about this website is that it is not very personal to London. It is very generic as the website is the same for all the cities Time Out magazine covers. It could be more personal and make the colours of the city/countrty it is representing.

 

 

 I also looked at The London Magazine website. This websites main colours are white and black. This magazine's focus is the history of London and not a travel guide or regional magazine like Time Out's is. This website also has a heading bar that is stationary at the top but is less prominent as the colours don't stand out as well as it uses the same colour as the background and doesn't grab the viewers attention.

This website is a bit complicated to use. The various articles seem to be scattered and have no basic layout that is used throughout the site.
 

Ancillary Task - Billboard Ads

 

I have researched into different billboard ads to see how they should look and how mine would fit in with others out there.

 

All the billboards I have looked at are simple, they have a short phrase or slogan and the company's logo and an image of the product or service they are selling. They are also funny and try to gain the readers attention by being unusal.