Student Magazine Research
Task 1: Getting To Know Blogger
Things You Can Do With Blogger
- Let people know more information about a certain issue/ theme.
- You can earn money!-By posting high quality posts on different topics. If you use a Monetise tab then you can easily put ads on your blog. Also, if you put on your blog links to products on amazon, that fit in with the theme of your blog then you will get commission for every item your readers buy (through the Amazon Associates programme)
- You can let people follow your blog, creating a larger community for yourself.
- Get other people's opinions on your blog, or the thoughts on the theme of your blog by getting feedback from readers.
- You can get subscribers, meaning they are notified when you create a new post etc.
- Look at other blog examples and comment on posts that have been made.
- It is available in 41 different languages.
How I Think Blogger Will Be Useful For My Coursework
I think Blogger will be useful to use for my coursework as it is a quick and efficient way to keep myself up to date with my work. It will also help me know what my next step would be as I can look at previous posts and know what I have done, and what needs to be done. Blogger will also be effective to use for my coursework as it allows others to see my work as and when they want to as well as quickly. It also gives me the chance to broaden my technical skills which is good for the media as we would be using computers a lot on other subjects and later in life.
Task 2-Part 2: Magazines and Audiences
The target audience for this magazine would be female and aged in between 16 and 25. We know this because the main image is of Jessie J, who is aged 23, and is someone this age range look up to. The cover has got an even balance between words and image, which is effective in making an attractive front cover. We know that the magazine is aimed at females, as the dominant colours of the cover are pink and white, which are the known colors to show femininity. The magazine is also aimed at the working class females, as the price of the magazine is £2, which isn’t too expensive, but it costs more in contrast with magazines such as “Take a Break” and “Pick Me up”. We also know that our brains respond to the colour red quicker than any other colour, so Pink is a close color to red and therefore is registered quicker than some other colours. Some of the words of the front cover have been made bold in the middle of the sentence, like “350 calories”, as women want to read about how to make themselves better looking, so this will stand out and appeal to them. The use of alliteration in “summer steals” is bold and stands out and as a topic that most women would want to read about, therefore making it more successful.
Task 3-Part 1: Find 5 examples of magazine covers for magazines aimed at teenage girls. Identify what seem to be the conventions of this genre of magazine.
Magazine 1: ‘Sugar’
Straight away by looking at the magazine cover, we know that this is aimed at teenage girls, as the masthead is a feminine and girly colour. The main image is of Leona Lewis, which also makes us know that the target audience is likely to be teenage girls aged between 13 and 18, because the main image is of someone they idolize. The cover lines are all based around ‘teenage talking topics’ e.g. Boys. One of the cover lines also states ‘the truth about teens’ so we know that teens are more likely to pick this up, if they know it’ll be talking about someone like them. The title, or ‘masthead’ of the magazine is a word that will appeal to teenage girls as well.
Magazine 2: ‘Bliss’
The vibrant yellow colour that dominates the page will appeal to teenage girls as it is ‘mellow’ and evokes a calm feeling that will appeal to teens as they are at an age where they are calm and don’t generally have much to worry about. We know that it is more likely for teenage girls to read this magazine as it mentions ‘Twilight’ which is a teenage craze at the time this magazine was published. The magazine’s cover lines mention bikini’s which are an item of clothing aimed specifically at girls, therefore making it more appealing to girls, especially teens wanting to keep up to date with the latest fashions.Magazine 3: ‘Cosmo Girl’
We know that looking at the name of the magazine, the masthead, that this magazine is for girls as it is entitled ‘Cosmo Girl’. We know it is specifically for teens as the main image is of someone teenage girls would be attracted to. The colours of the cover lines and the background colour are very pale and therefore make the image stand out more, making the magazine appeal to teenage girls more. We also know that this would be aimed at teenagers because of the cover line ‘hot clothes under $20’. We know that this means it’s aimed at teenagers because teens are the working class, and would have little money to spend therefore would want to read about good deals on clothes etc.Magazine 4: ‘More’
The left third of this magazine cover is the main focus, and is easily shown to appeal to teenage girls. We know this because the thing we are drawn to is the cover line ’30 outfits all men love’. We know teenagers would be interested in this as they want to appeal to and have males attracted to them. Also, we know that statistically the colour red is picked up quicker than any other colour, so therefore having the price in the left third, in red will appeal to teens as it is a good price for the working class, as it is not expensive, yet you know it will be a decent quality.
Magazine 5: ‘Seventeen’
The title of the magazine instantly makes us think that this magazine is intended for teenagers, as ‘seventeen’ is classed as a teenager. The main image is, again, of someone a teenager girl would aspire to be like, and therefore will appeal to teenage girls. It also has a flash stating ‘ultimate party issue’ which teenage girls would appeal to as they are at an age where they have no worries, majorly, and so they just want to party and have fun. This is also placed in the left third, and so therefore will show up in all displays, making it an attractive magazine to look at, as well as a popular magazine. Task 3-Part 2: Essay
Essay question: To what extent should magazines be held responsible for the social ramifications of the representations they offer?
In my opinion, magazine covers are under-rated when it comes to how appropriate they are for the age groups they are aiming their magazines at. Most magazines, such as ‘Bliss’, ‘Sugar’ or ‘Cosmo Girl’ have readers aged between 11 and 16, on average. These magazine’s cover topics in them are deemed not appropriate for the age of their readers. For example, in April 2001, ‘Sugar’ magazine decided to do an article entitled "Is it a crush or are you gay?”. Many parents whose children read these magazines found this spread to be vastly inappropriate due to the fact that the age group of these children is where they are just learning about sex, and so to educate children with vocabulary like ‘gay’ is going to influence bullying and interrogation at an earlier stage in life. However, critics say that these parents were unaware of the Teenage Magazine Arbitration Panel (TMAP). This is where, for magazines that have more than 25 per cent of their readership under the age of 16, they have the guidelines that "readers will always be encouraged to take a responsible attitude to sex". In my opinion, some of the articles are inappropriate, as the magazines are supposed to support teenagers, and guide them to what their generation should be doing, but if all the articles contain sexual ethos, then they are influencing the teenagers to see this as a good thing. These magazines can be seen as taking away the teenagers childhood, and innocence in today society. The magazines of today’s society are expressing that all there is to life these days is beauty. This doesn’t give out a very positive attitude, and can influence girls to be self conscious, possibly, in extreme cases, leading to diseases such as bulimia and anorexia as these teenage girls strive to be what society wants them to be; or what society is appearing to want on the cover of these magazines. Teenagers are helplessly forced into believing that what is on the cover of a magazine must be the definition of ‘beauty’ in today’s society. Rather than the truth, that beauty can be defined in many ways, it is something that is pleasing to the eye, and the images shown on the cover of magazines are not the only elements that will be pleasing to the eye. ‘Cosmo Girl’ magazine were particularly inappropriate by writing an article entitled ‘I posed for Playboy’. They wrote the article in a way that made posing for Playboy seem like a positive thing to be doing. This article could have influenced teenagers to aspire to become someone like this, which has crossed the boundaries for an appropriate article for teens. Teenagers shouldn’t be held responsible to take a mature attitude towards issues such as sex; they are young and should be guided into these types of topics.
In conclusion, I believe that these teenage magazines are guilty, and should be held responsible for the social ramifications of the representations they offer. I think that magazines take that responsibility when they publish their magazines, as they choose what they are saying and they decide what topics to talk about, knowing that their audience is 25 per cent, possibly more, teenagers aged between 11 and 16. From the magazines I’ve looked at I’d like to see some of the “real life stories” removed as I feel the stories are inappropriate. If the magazine believes that the article will help with the sale of the magazine, then I think the article should at least be ‘toned down’ a bit, less details perhaps, to make it more fitting for the readers, as well as reader’s parents. Even though the parents tend not to be the actual readers, their opinions still affect the sale of the magazine, as, if they feel the content is inappropriate then they can stop their children buying the magazine, meaning less sales.
These are the resources I used to help with my research into the essay topic:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/30544/popular_teen_magazines_and_their_possible.html?cat=25
http://china.org.cn/english/culture/195457.htm
Task 4: IPC Case Study
IPC Media is a company that produces over 60 media brands. With print alone, they reach almost two thirds of the UK women and 42% of the men, this is almost 26 million UK adults. IPC’s websites reach over 20 million users, and that’s just every month. IPC Magazines was the company’s original name and was created in 1968, just 5 years after the International Publishing Corporation Ltd was formed. The company changed its name in 2000, from IPC Magazines to IPC Media. IPC media tend to focus on three core target audiences; men, mass market women and upmarket women. For men they produce lots of leisure brands such as Country Life, Horse & Hound and Rugby World. They also produce lifestyle brands for men, such as Nuts, Mousebreaker and NME. Their mass market women’s magazines comprise of Look, Now, Chat and Woman. They also produce TV entertainment brands like What’s on TV, TV Times and Satellite Week. For upmarket women, they produce magazines such as Marie Claire and InStyle. They also produce lifestyle brands like Woman & Home, Essentials and also produce home interest brands like Ideal Hone, Livingetc and Housetohome.
Time Inc. acquires IPC Media for £1.15bn in October 2001. This was the biggest magazine deal ever seen in the UK and the biggest transatlantic media deal of our time. In February 2007 IPC Connect (mass market women target audience) launches Look. Look magazine was the UK’s first glossy high street fashion and celebrity style weekly magazine. Look magazine became IPC’s biggest ever launch, being backed by an £18m investment.
IPC Media has commissioned “MAGs” which is a new research study which is exploring the behaviours, attitudes and aspirations of young men (aged 19-29 with no kids). The project is bringing to light surprising and unexpected aspects of the modern day male psychological thinking, showing generalizations of 'lads' with not many distractions on the brain.
Overall, the types of magazines that IPC publish, are real life “gossip” magazines, fashion, leisure and lifestyle magazines, for audiences of Male, Female mass market and female upmarket women. IPC could be seen as an appropriate publisher for a new music magazine as they have had lots of experience with publishing lots of different types of magazines. Also, they are already well known publishers, and will therefore already have an audience that this will appeal to. If they were to produce a new music magazine, it is most likely to be a genre of mainstream music, “chart” music. This is because their target audiences that they have from their previous magazines would be into this type of music, and will therefore appeal to it.
Task 5: Skills Audit
Preliminary Task: Brief
Initial Ideas
- Front cover containing a close up photo of college students holding books etc.
- Use a natural background in the image i.e. grass etc.
- Use a bright colour for the masthead e.g. Red
- Have cover lines that will appeal to the target audience.
- Colour scheme to be bright, yet matching south downs college theme.
- Photo to be original i.e. not cropped or edited to give a natural feel to the magazine.
- Photo to be positioned in the centre.
- Just the one main image with cover lines/plugs at the sides.
Proposal
I am aiming my magazine at a target audience of teenagers to young adults; people aged 16-24 year olds. I have decided this to be my target audience as this is the average age group of people who attend college. My magazine will be focused more on the activities featured on the college campus, possibly the student union side of college life. For cover lines, I have decided to focus on maybe exam results for example, something that will show the college in a positive light. I have also decided to make cover lines implying quizzes such as ‘which stereotype are you?’ to attract the attention of female readers, as females are more popular readers when it comes to magazines. I have decided to give my magazine the title ‘College’ as it is one worded, so easy to remember and make a statement for my magazine. I also like this title because it is the same title of a popular professional college magazine, so people may appeal to it because of its similarities. I was going to call my magazine ‘South Downs College’ but I felt it sounded more like an information leaflet rather than a student magazine, it seemed much more formal than I’d like for my magazine. I like the idea of using the font ‘Krungthep’ because it is bold, and stands out, which is what I want for my masthead. For my masthead colour scheme, I will probably use a bright or dark blue with either a bright or dark red. I like the idea of using red as statistically red is registered quicker by the brain, so it will mean my magazine will stand out. I have decided that I would want my magazine to be released in the summer term so I would want my photo to represent a nice sunny environment. I decided to publish it in summer because it seems to be the time where most people are happier as the weather is nice and warm etc. I want my main cover image to be a student stood holding some books for example, and stood in front of a tree or green grass i.e. a natural background. I will be taking these photos’ either around college while the sun is out, or at home and around my village using my friends, as they are students. My magazine would be published every month. I decided not to do it more regular than this, as I felt because of the content; there wouldn’t be enough to talk about every week etc. On the contents page I would use the same sort of colour scheme as the front cover i.e. reds and blues.
Music Magazine Research
Research into music genres and magazine styles that appeal to different audiences:
Music Magazine Covers; Analysis.
Contents Of A Music Magazine
A lot of music magazines contain the same style of content. They mostly contain things that relate to the genre of the magazine, for example, specific gig/tour dates. These are good to have, as it is a big attraction to their target audience, as it is seen as information that the audience may not have been able to reach before hand. The main thing featured in magazines is interviews with particular musicians or bands. This is one of the main features, as it tends to draw in a wider range of target audience, and it also means that they can have a main image that will draws reader in easily on the front cover.
- Competitions
- Quizzes
- Subscriptions page
- Reviews of new music
- Reviews of gigs
- Real-life stories
- New music releases
- Promotional gifts
- "100 greatest.."
- Festival dates
- Album reviews
- What's in the next issue of the magazine
Conventions Of A Music Magazine
Conventions of music magazines means how the product uses and develops forms and conventions of real magazines.
They have to have a front cover that will attract their audience quickly and successfully. To do this, they use short memorable magazine titles using usually either just 1 word or several letters as short hand for something. Some examples of this are 'NME' and 'Kerrang'. They also use bright color schemes, or at least color schemes that will stand out. They also have bylines which are used to tease the audience as to what the contents consists of. A 'jam-packed' contents page also helps to make the magazine successful for their audience. If the contents has an ongoing color scheme from the front cover then it is more likely to be successful as it will be recognized by the audience, and will make them believe the magazine will be better because it will remind them of the front cover, which is what attracted them to the magazine in the first place. Images of artists who are going to be featured in the magazine, as well as artists that link to the genre of the magazine help to boost the interest of the audience on the magazine.
I am aiming my magazine at a target audience of teenagers to young adults; people aged 14-19 year olds. I have decided this to be my target audience as this is the average age group of people who are interested in the genre of music that I will base my magazine on. For my contents page I will include images that will show what is to be expected from the rest of the magazine. I have decided to give my magazine the title 'B' as it is one worded, so easy to remember and make a statement for my magazine. I like the idea of using the font ‘Krungthep’ because it is bold, and stands out, which is what I want for my masthead. For my masthead colour scheme, I will probably use a bright or dark blue with either a bright or dark red. I like the idea of using red as statistically red is registered quicker by the brain, so it will mean my magazine will stand out. My magazine would be published every week. I decided not to do it more regular than this, as I felt because of the content; there wouldn’t be enough to talk about every week etc. On the contents page I would use the same sort of colour scheme as the front cover i.e. reds and blues. I have decided that my magazine will be released monthly, rather than weekly, as it is not a usual music genre type, and therefore would benefit from being more in depth monthly. I have also decided that the price will be around £4, as it is targeted at someone that will want to treat themselves.
Flatplans For Front Cover
Target Audience Research
Proposal
I am aiming my magazine at a target audience of teenagers to young adults; people aged 14-19 year olds. I have decided this to be my target audience as this is the average age group of people who are interested in the genre of music that I will base my magazine on. For my contents page I will include images that will show what is to be expected from the rest of the magazine. I have decided to give my magazine the title 'B' as it is one worded, so easy to remember and make a statement for my magazine. I like the idea of using the font ‘Krungthep’ because it is bold, and stands out, which is what I want for my masthead. For my masthead colour scheme, I will probably use a bright or dark blue with either a bright or dark red. I like the idea of using red as statistically red is registered quicker by the brain, so it will mean my magazine will stand out. My magazine would be published every week. I decided not to do it more regular than this, as I felt because of the content; there wouldn’t be enough to talk about every week etc. On the contents page I would use the same sort of colour scheme as the front cover i.e. reds and blues. I have decided that my magazine will be released monthly, rather than weekly, as it is not a usual music genre type, and therefore would benefit from being more in depth monthly. I have also decided that the price will be around £4, as it is targeted at someone that will want to treat themselves.
Flatplans For Front Cover
I started designing my front cover ideas, to see which one I think would be the best layout to attract my audience's attention. This is my first design:
I like this design as I think it makes you notice the cover lines more from the way they are spread out. I don't like this design, however, because I think it will distract from the cover image too much, and it will be hard to work the cover lines in these positions around the main image.
This is my second design for my front cover. I like this design as I like the way the cover lines are all on the same side as I think it looks more professionally laid out. I don't like the positioning of the inside stories or images bar, as I think it is covering up too much of the main image, which could mean it wouldn't grab the readers' attention so much.
This is my third design for my front cover. This one is my preferred one as I think it shows the main image enough, and the cover lines are positioned well. The way the cover lines are positioned means that I have more room to put more cover lines in, meaning I can have more "sneak peeks" of what's inside the magazine and more to entice the reader to buy the magazine.
