Graphs

Competitor Magazine Anaysis

The two magazines that I have decided to analyse are Country Magazine and Maverick Magazine. Both magazines are country music magazines that use a variety of conventions which show many connotations and denotations to reach out to its target audience. In the latest issue of Country Magazine the main article photo is a medium close up image of Garth Brooks, who is a well known country artist. Garth Brooks music is a slow kind of country music which could be presented to the target audience as the magazine is very simple and does not have too much on the page. It also has a soft blue background which could connote what kind of music he plays, however it could suggest that the magazine in general is about a soft kind of music or a smooth kind of music which country music can be known for sometimes or could jut suggest that this is what is based in this months issue. Also the photo is based near the centre of the page where the background is lighter, as the background starts to get darker towards the edges of the magazine. This shows the importance of the man in the main article photo and connotes to the reader that Garth Brooks would be an interesting to person to read about. In contrast the people who do know who Garth Brooks would be interested to read about him as he is highlighted in this magazine. Also the red writing for the main plug stands out to the reader because Garth Brook's fans would know that he had stopped playing music for a while, but the bright red writing for the plug saying 'Back to stay?' interests the reader as they have an idea on what the main article is about. It connotes some importance as it is emphasised with bold colours. Also the colour of Garth Brooks shirt and the colour of the bold writing could connote that the writing is connected to him. It also helps make Garth Brook stand out to the readers. The denotation of the masthead is that it is a white coloured font that is clear and easy to read and is also emphasised with help from the light blue background which makes the masthead stand out. Also bright colours are used to show the importance because of the puff at the top of the page that says 'exclusive!' which could connote that they have a chance to read about the return of Garth Brooks and his music. By using the advertisement for the magazine may also enhance the possibility of people buying the magazine. Also because the main article feature is about the come back of Garth Brooks the 'free music' being advertised may suggest to the reader that it could be giving away music by this artist and other similar artist. On the magazine the main article photo appears to be covering a part of the heading which could connote that the magazine is well known by people as they would be able to recognise the magazine by its conventions. However the country music magazine doesn't actually use many conventions. This makes the magazine look too simple which could make the target audience not want to purchase it as the magazines are over 3 pounds which could be considered as expensive for a magazine. Country music magazine's contents page is as simple as the cover. It denotes a picture of Garth Brooks which is similar to the one on the front of the magazine. By doing this connotes that the main article in this magazine shows some importance as the person they are writing about in the magazine is on both the front cover and contents page and they both take up the whole page. It is made clear that it is the contents page as it says 'Contents' in bold red writing which is also similar to the front cover. The dark background emphasises the bold colours. Although there are many good points about Country magazine, I think that a lot more could have been done to make the page seem much more interesting then it already comes across as. For example the magazine does not use many conventions which could be a good thing but the background on the page is too clear to see as good conventions would make it seem like there is no background but at the same time giving some effect to the magazine. Another reason I think the magazine could be improved is by using a larger variety of colours as the only main colours in this magazine is light blue for the background and red and white writing. It could have made it more interesting even if the writing was bolder and maybe brighter to stand out on the cover as the main focus seems to be on the main article feature photo. Also for the bar code it could look much more effective if it was blended into the red background it is on as the white makes it stand out to much and it shouldn't be such an obvious convention compared to the other conventions. Another country music magazine called Maverick uses similar conventions as Country magazine. However this magazine uses the same weaknesses as Country as they do not use many coventions. Maverick uses a similar amount of conventions if not a less amount. However Maverick dosent use them as well as Country magazine, as Maverick focus mainly on the main article photo rather then the contents of the magazine. In this magazine it does not show the main feature of the article but does say who the main article is about. Also in the bottom right hand corner it shows some other contents of the magazine. The background they have used for the other articles is a blur of the background already, however is contrasted with the colour of the barcode which is white and stands out more then the main article feature. Also the puff is at the bottom of the masthead and is similar to the background colour which makes it hard to see. The contents page for Maverick magazine is much better then the front cover. Although it is not as colourful as the frount cover it is still interesting how the pictures have been presented along with the text. It is clear that it is the contents page as it says in black writing 'Contents' with spaces and in a clear font. Also the main feature of the article is in a bold font. The magazines are clearly presented, however the front covers come across as plain and do not stand out as much as other magazines. When I do my magazine I want to add more conventions then these magazines and also make the main article feature clear and look interesting to read. However I like the idea for the contents page on Maverick and want to do something similar but use bold colours and try using different styles of pictures.

Questionnaire Evaluation

Looking at the questionnaire results of my magazine I have decided to call my magazine 'Rodeo'. My colour scheme will be silver black and blue along with some new and original ideas, however I will still use general conventions like a masthead, feature article photo, puff and plugs. The results show that my target audience would prefer bold font colours and background colours, so I was thinking of doing some of the colours that stand out to the audience in this case, silver, blue and black but try and use the colours to try and make them come across as bold and interesting to read. My main competitor is Maverick as looking at the results Maverick seems to be the most common magazine for country music, knowing this I am considering trying out some conventions that Maverick use and make them into something different and original to read. I have already tried to find a masthead that would go well with the contents of the magazine I am planning. I have found a few that look suitable for the magazine which is posted in another blog. I am thinking that the one that is written in rope would be good to use but I also like another one of the other options that I have presented in my blog which is the 3rd one down which looks like an old western style of writing and would be interesting to use as it would be well known as old western and country style so my target audience would notice the style of writing. By doing this the denotation would show old western writing where as the connotation will again show the target audience what the intention of the magazine is and that it is a country magazine and by looking at the plugs and puff they will notice that it is actually a music magazine. Results from questionnaire

Questionnaire results

Questionnaire Results

1. What colours would catch your attention the most?
Red and Black 4
Silver, Blue and Black 11
Black and White 5

2. What makes magazines stand out most to you?
Feature article photo 6
Font/Colours 8
Plugs- Whats in the magazine 6

3. How much would you be willing to pay for a decent music magazine?
50p – 1.50 5
1.50 – 2.50 8
2.50 – 3.50 6
3.50 + 3

4. Which mode of address would you prefer?
Comedic 6
Informative 5
Serious 3
Lighthearted 6

5. Would you prefer the magazine to be?
Similar to competitor magazines – Similar conventions 5
Something new and original 10
Both 5

6. Would a free gift enhance the chance of purchasing the magazine?
Yes 16
No 4

7. What would you want more in a country music magazine?
Images 5
Writing 5
Both 10

8. Would you like to see the latest chart hits/new releaces in the magazine?
Yes 20
No 0

9. What would you be interested in reading about?
Well known bands 2
New bands 2
Recent chart artists 2
All of the options 14

10. Which name sounds the best for a magazine?
Rodeo 5
Lassooo 15

11. Which competitor magazine are you most likley to read?
Linedancer 4
Mavrick 14
Other 2

Masthead Ideas

Magzine Evaluation

Magazine Evaluation For my pulmonary task I had to use photo shop and Microsoft publisher to develop a new school magazine. For the feature article photo I used a medium close up of a student and edited the background so there would be no background in the magazine. I thought it would be easier to do this as I could add in some new ideas along the way, for example, try out new backgrounds, try new colours for the background and emphasise the colour of the masthead using the background colour altogether. I considered this but decided that the magazine would look better with the background the image had to begin with and thought it would help make the main conventions on the page stand out. For my photo I had a picture of the student facing forward and looking at the camera, which gave the effect of the student looking at the person who is considering reading the magazine. This would be a vital convention for the magazine because if the person was to be looking away from the reader, the reader may not be interested in the magazine because it doesn't stand out to them. Whilst doing my magazine I realised that photo shop uses layers to help create new ideas and to make it easier to set things out in a certain way. I thought this was really useful as I wanted to make my feature article image go over the masthead and I found it easier doing this using the different layers. For my masthead I used white font to stand out and contrast the background. I thought this would be useful as it will catch my audiences attention and make the magazine stand out. I also used a 'curvy' font to make the magazine come across less informal and more gossipy so it would show the students that it will be informative but in a fun way. Another convention I used was a puff. The puff says 'the coolest school mag around'. I thought by using the colloquial language it would be more appealing to the target audience as it doesn't make it sound formal. I also used other conventions, one example is the plugs. One plug that stands out in particular is the advertisement of how much the magazine costs. In this case it says the magazine is 'free' to everyone and is in a bright coloured fonts and background to emphasise the price of the magazine. Whilst doing my magazine I was considering the connotations and denotations of the magazine by looking at the conventions. The reason I chose to use bright font is because it makes the magazine look much more interesting to read, also using the bright colours would stand out to younger students as it would stand out to them. The feature article photo is the same as I used the background to show bright colours to stand out to the students. For my masthead I decided to slant the writing as I thought this could show that the magazine is formal but almost gossipy at the same time. By using this technique connotes that the magazine will be fun and interesting to read. I also felt that it gave the magazine a new and exciting look that would interest the students. For my contents page I tried to make it simple rather then flooding the page with a lot of coneventions. I thought that it would be a good idea to dennotate by using the William De Ferrers School logo as the bullet points to show what is in the contents page. Although I tried to make it look simple I acctually used more conventions then I thought. For example, I took a screen shot of the magazine cover and put it in the bottom left to make it easier to show where things are in the magazine. I used arrows to point to the part I was talking about and decided that by using the school logo it could be too boring to students. Also I used the connotation of using bright colours on the contents page, along with the title 'Contents' which I used a similar font to the front cover. I thought my first attempt of a magazine cover and contents page wasnt bad. I thought that it would interest the students and inform them about new activities and new things that have come to the school recently and upcoming events. Before doing my pliminary task I had not used photo shop before which meant that I had no experience using the software. Although since using the software I have learnt new ways of creating things and editing. I have learnt how to cut out backgrounds from images or change the colour of the backgrounds, layer different conventions in an effective way, find new fonts and experement with colours and shapes, and also learnt how to make my work to a decent standard. If I was to do my task again I think I would have used a different background, although I said that it would look more effective leaving the background in I felt that it was too dark and when I put the other conventions on it made the work come across as a bit messy and hard to read. Also I think I would have tried to show more connitations in my work, I would have tried to do this by using a wider variety of conventions rather then just the common masthead, feature article photo, plugs and puff. I think I would have kept my target audience the same, which is around 14-18 year old students.

Country Music Magazine

Questionnaire What colours would catch your attention the most? Red and Black ( ) Silver, Blue and Black ( ) Black and White ( ) What makes magazines stand out to you? Feature article photo ( ) Fonts/Colours ( ) Plugs – What is in the article ( ) How much would you be willing to pay for a decent music magazine? 50p – 1.50 ( ) 1.50 – 2.50 ( ) 2.50 – 3.50 ( ) 3.50 + ( ) Which mode of address would you prefer? Comedic ( ) Informative ( ) Serious ( ) Lighthearted ( ) Would you prefer the magazine to be? Similar to competitor magazines – Similar conventions ( ) Something new and original ( ) Both ( ) Would a free gift enhance the chance of purchasing the magazine? Yes ( ) No ( ) Would you take notice of any advertisements or competitions being promoted in the magazine? Yes ( ) No ( ) What would you want more in a country music magazine? Images ( ) Writing ( ) Both ( ) Would you like to see the latest chart hits/new releaces in the magazine? Yes ( ) No ( ) What would you be interested in reading about? Well known bands ( ) New bands ( ) Recent chart artists ( ) All of the options ( ) Which name sounds the best for a magazine? Rodeo ( ) Lassooo ( ) Which competitor magazine are you most likley to read? Linedancer ( ) Mavrick ( ) Other ( )

Details on magazine

Target Audience:

16-30 year old

Gender:

Males and Females

For my magazine I want to do a country music magazine. Although country music is not as popular as other genres of music, such as rock or pop I think it would be something new and interesting to consider, it will also help promote new bands that may not be shown in rock or pop magazines. Whilst looking for competitor magazines, I found a country music magazine named 'maverick' which is a UK based magazine and has been running for over seven years now. This makes me think that country music is liked in the UK but does not have many well known singers or bands. By creating an interesting and appealing magazine may promote country music to become as well known as rock or pop music. I thought it would be a good idea to make my target audience 16-30 year old as it is a wide age range and it could make more people interested in different genres of music and to try out listening to new songs. I decided also to make the magazine genre for both male and female. The reason I did this is because country music, like rock and pop, can be liked by both male and female and would give a wider target audience. I like the idea of doing a country magazine as it is different and it would be interesting to try out some different convention styles and try out ways to show different connotations and denotations, which could be fun to try out and show some interesting ideas. Although we have to stick to most conventions I want to try and make my country music magazine a bit different by still using the different conventions but trying them out in new ways, for example, im considering naming the magazine 'Rodeo' and I was thinking it would be fun and interesting to make the font in rope to look almost like a lasso. I think it will be fun trying out new fonts, colours and images for the magazine.