Analysing College Magazines

Analysing College Magazine Front Cover:

The first magazine I will analyse is the Bodmin College one. The target audience for the magazine is both males and females and is Students, Parents and Teachers. The magazine is most likely aimed at ages 11-19, but is for parents and students alike. The magazine’s aim is to inform the audience of the College's current affairs and achievements.

Masthead: 

The magazine has not got a very clear masthead unlike most magazines. In a normal magazine you would expect to see a conventional typography which involves a contrasting background and the use of an eye-catching, bold font to attract the audience, but on this magazine there isn not a significant title, it is the Bodmin College logo which does not stand out against the header image that has been chosen. A good example of the type of typography that is usually used is the magazine "Kerrang" which has a very eye-catching and iconic title with a black or white font which contrasts with the background and fits in well with the images. Also the font is a shattered or cracked style which fits the style of the magazine. The fact that there is no main title does not relate to the target audience of 11-19 year olds because younger people are usually drawn to colourful and bold titles.

Main image: On the front of the magazine there are three images and a header style image. The three images are of what seems to be a the annual dance show we have in Bodmin College, this may attract the readers that are interested in dance. The images on the front also give you an idea of what it is that might be inside the magazine. The fact that there is only one text box (which is difficult to read due to the colours) used on the front gives the reader a very little information to go by as to what will be inside the magazine. Most magazines have one (very high quality) image on the front page, usually a medium close up of a model or maybe an image that goes with the theme/style/subject inside the magazine, this is to catch the reader's eye and create a focal point for the audience. The college magazine has no focal point for the eye to look to, because is has three low quality images. This can confuse the audience and make the magazine less appealing to look at. I think the magazine's front cover does not appeal to the target audience, but more to the student's parents and teachers. This is because of the dull colours and small titles, the images may appeal to a small portion of the students that like to dance, but it leaves a large quantity of students that are not drawn to dark, low quality dance images. The parent's and teachers may be drawn to the magazine as it shows extra curricular activities that are encouraged by the college.

Layout: 
This magazine's layout is not the layout that is traditionally used on most other magazines. The traditional layout is a large title at the top of the page, with a main image below the title and text surrounding it. For example the magazine "surfer" has a main image of someone surfing, with some text surrounding it and a big eye-catching title at the top. The Bodmin college magazine does not follow the traditional layout which makes it displeasing to most people's eye. The college magazine follows it slightly, if you are looking at the positioning of the title area and the image are, but it is not as simplistic or effective as the traditional layout.

Colour Palette:
There is not really a set colour palette on the cover of the college magazine which is also displeasing to the eye. The magazine uses mostly dark colours with hints of red, yellow, green and pink which are all very noticeable colours. The colours are not contrasting and don't compose/balance on the page well, for example in the image at the bottom the pink light patch is very bright in comparison to the rest of the page having no pinky colours. The fact that the palette has not got a trend and uses dull colours might result in the magazine not doing well to attract the target audience's eye.

Typography:
The typography is very unappealing to the eye, it does not stand out well and the colours of the text is not very readable. I think the use of basic fonts is boring, it makes the magazine less eye-catching and unattractive. It makes the magazine less appealing to it's target audience as it looks boring.

Analysing Skive Magazine Front Cover:

The second magazine I will analyse is a magazine called  "Skive" which was designed by a Year 12 AS student from 2013. I presume that the audience is mainly 16-18 year olds due to the cover saying "Sixth form magazine".

Masthead: 

The magazine has got a very clear masthead, the word "Skive" is very large and stands out above the image. The fact that it is made from a denim and that it says "Skive" makes the magazine seem cool and trendy. The title is very bold, but the colour is not very contrasting to the background or the picture used which is not very conventional but because of the boldness and the smoke effect, the title is still eye-catching. The title they used might attract an audience because the word is very rebellious and subversive, this may attract the audience as it makes the magazine seem interesting.

Main image: On the front of the magazine there is a main image as a focal point, and they have also used two small images which are related to the little bits of text around the main image. The main image is of a girl with very heavy eye makeup. The picture might make the reader interested as it goes along with the rebellious theme that is seen with the title. The image is of a good quality and has been photoshopped very well to look frozen, this may make the reader inquisitive and will make them want to read the magazine to find out about the girl on the front. The two small images to the left of the main images are of good quality also and are laid out well, but may not be necessary as they don't really represent anything that you cant work out from the text that is already there.

Layout: 
The magazine is laid out similar to the traditional layout, where the title is above a main picture which is usually surrounded by bits of text. I feel like the layout of this cover is abit crowded and cluttered. I think the cover should not have had text on all edges of the page, this over fills the cover and makes it seem unprofessional. The many text sections make the magazine seem to be trying too hard to get an audience and makes it seem like they're trying to attract as many people as possible.

Colour Palette:
The colour palette is very good in my opinion, they used black, grey and blue as their main colours and I think they succeeded in making the cover look appealing. The use of colder darker colours gives the cover a very trendy, cool look which reflects the title and the main image. The smaller images to the left of the main image are slightly distracting as they don't fit in with the palette which makes the cover slightly less professional looking.

Typography:

The typography on this magazine is a lot more appealing compared to the Bodmin College magazine. I like the font on the title as it is very bold and different from what you usually see. I think the writing "Frozen out" is also very good as it looks like it is very cold and has a frozen effect which makes the magazine cover a lot more interesting. The other writing is in plain fonts but this draws your eyes to the titles with the more interesting fonts and makes the other writing simpler and easy to read.