magazines under the Micropscope 2

 

 

Music magazines under the microscope

Q magazine

 

   Title:   

o  Simplistic – this causes the title to stand out because it is a unique approach. The use of only one letter means that the reader can swiftly read the title and their eye line is then dragged to the image.  

 o  Hidden – the title is partially hidden behind the image on the cover. This helps to draw the reader’s eyes straight from the title and to the picture, making sure to keep their attention and force them to buy the magazine or search the band.

 o  Bold – the colours used for the title are bold and contrasting with the font used helping the letter “Q” stand out, a mix of white and red means that both the background and the word on top of the background really catch the eye of the reader

                           Readership:

o   Younger – the target audience could be a young target audience as it is promoting the “XX”, whilst alone this would not suggest a young audience the advert then goes on to say that this is the sound of the “young London”. This means that the magazine would have to expect a percentage of young people to read their magazine or it would not be worth advertising this event.

o   Older – the magazine could also have an older target audience as it is advertising “blur Month” this is considered an older persons band and so would also suggest a slightly older percentage of readers

o   Overall – I believe that the target range is probably 18 – 28 because this includes both the late teens and then the early adults, which would cover a large range of tastes but also a large range of music generations as well.

Dominant image:

o Leadership – The magazine has put the lead singer of the band at the front of the main image and then his two band mates close behind, this not only shows leadership in the band but also draws the eye as they are in an interesting set up instead of just standing in a straight line.

o   Eye line – the lead singer of the band is photographed so that it appears that he is looking at the reader or buyer of the magazine, however instead of having a friendly or placid look on his face he looks as if he is looking down on the reader, this look insinuates rebellion and will often appear to the teen or younger audience as they feel they can relate to him. The other band mates are looking into the distant in different directions, almost as if they are looking past the reader or not connecting with them.

o   Minimalist – none of the people in the picture are wearing excessive jewellery or what can be perceived as expensive clothes, this helps the reader relate to them but also gives them a sort of rough image and makes them appear modern. It also makes the reader think that maybe their image and music is less about money, as some rappers or modern day singers images are, and more about who they actually are as a band or person.

 

 

Agony Aunt Analysis

Agony Aunt Analysis

The colours i used in my article are dark and faded colour because i wanted to give my magazine a sort of rustic look and make it feel old and worn. I did this because not only does it make it feel more conforting but it also makes it a bit more unique against the usualy bright coloured, regulated agony aunts that the normal magazine publishes.

I chose this picture of my agony aunt because it looks unprofessional and casual. I decided to make it casual as i felt it would allow the reader to connect to the agony aunt and feel that they know her on a more personal level, this is turn might make more people want to write into my article and post their problems.

I have added a strapline to my article to help tie the page to the hole magazine and give the reader a basic idea of what the house deasign is like and what the magazine is called.


To help the design of the article seem basic and not to over the top i have only allowed for two questions to be asked and answered as i feel that any more would intimidate and overwhelm the reader and cause them to move away from the page. I personally find two questions enough as that is all i usually read so i decided that that was probably the best amount to put on my page.

My target audience is 16 - 20 year olds as they are of school age and are most likely to read a "sixth form" or "college" newspaper. To help appeal to this age group i made the article look easy to read and tried not to include to much text or adult questions. This would help to draw the reader in as they wouldnt feel intimidated by the person or feel patronised by the agony aunt.

Creating the Problems

sorry about the lines, I couldnt work out how to get rid of them so i had to upload it like this instead

Creating the Problems - The mock up

 

Creating the Problems - The mock up

 

Target Audience: My target audience is Men and Women aged between 16 - 20 who are experiences problems at home, or in school, that they need to seek advice for.

 

This is a mock up of my Agony Aunmt page that will be placed in a sixth form magazine called "In the Corner", The picture included with this post has the name, Mix Tape, on it because I could not think of a name for my magazine whilst drafting it so used the name of my magazine from my other project just to give the basic idea of what it would look like.

 

 

As you can see, the main colours throughout my magazine will be dark shades of reds and purples that almost fade and blend in with the yellow backround. I have chosen these colours because the magazine is mean to appear faded and old to give it a unique effect.

 

 

                                                                    Blog no. 3

Behind the Article

           Whats the meaning behind the article?

                                                                                                                                         Blog no. 2

Agony Over the Agony Aunts

  Reviews,Conventions and Style features

The main comparisons between the three agony aunt pages that I am comparing are their colour schemes, layouts and the formal way they both present and write their responces and advice to the people who have written in with their concerns. "Astro agony", an agony aunt column written by Lucy Hunter for the mind, body and spirit magazine, uses an austrilogical theme in her blog to answer peoples problems, basing her answers on their star signs and comparing how the different star allignments affect people relationships and personality.

This style of agony aunt page is very different to the style of writing and advice given in both "Ask Dr Christian" and  "family Dilemmas", advice pages, where they give their advice in a more professional and personal way, using people actual personalities and professional medical and scientific advice to answer peoples questions and queries. This format is often the more prefered format as it is more likely to be an acurate answer and is often percieved as actual advice rather than the atrological views which most people often brush off as rubbish and stupersticious childs play.

Colour and Layout are also a common factor between all of the three agony aunt pages with each article being layed out in a systematic way, with the questions and answers often being placed in colour boxes and layed out in a more formal way on the page.

Other ways the three articles are similar in layout is:

• Q&A - The three articles are all layed out in a question answer format with the writers question or query written out in a brief over view of their problem or in a detailed point. The agony aunts advice is then posted underneath often in a contrasting colour, font or laybelled with the letter "A" to show that it is an answer.

• Colour Scheme - The colour scheme across all the three articles is very regulated, and all three have used bold and bright colours like Orange, Red or pink to make their articles stand out. The  colours used also give a sort of soft feeling to the articles as well, making the reader feel calm and soothing as they reads the advice given to them, almost willing them to feel that the person is sitting there talking directly to them. However "Closer Advice", has opted for the brighter colours of red, pink and orange, which grab the readers eye and draw in their interest

• Pictures - Once again, all three articles have used picture on their agony aunt pages, this helps the reader identify with the person giving them the advice, comfoting them but also making them feel that they know the agony aunt personaly and that they can trust them with their problems.

The target audience for most agony aunt pages is women with problems, these problems often situate around their close family, like husbands, childrens or mothers in law, or their sex life. it is also most common for the agony aunt to be female but sometimes a magazine will have a male agony aunt if it allows their reader to feel more confident with the advice they are being given.

The main reason that women are often the target audience for an agony aunt page is that they are often the target audience for the main magazine as well, for example and agony aunt page in a fashion magazine would be written and layed out for a women as they are the target audience for the magazine. however if an agony aunt page was printed in a car magazine or a "lads mag" it may be layed out and written slightly differently so that it apeals more to the male audience and male reader as they would be the target audience of the main magazine. 

 
 Agony Aunt Comparisons and Similarities                               Blog No. 1