Cover page 1

My questionnaire analysis

Q1.This was a tough question to agree on because I was unsure whether or not to use specific age range or year groups. I decided on this one because I would share my questionnaire through social media sites to widen my audience. This meant using year groups for age would not be relevant for those that are a little older. 13/20 of those that took this questionnaire were aged between 16 and 17, this makes it easier for me to decide on what to put in my magazine and what age range to target.

Q2.This question was to determine which gender I would target specifically. I also wanted to see exactly what males wanted and what females would like to be included in the magazine. Although the ratio was 7:3 female to male, I would like a magazine that tailors to both men and women. Of course I would mainly be targeting the bigger audience (female) but my magazine will appeal to both genders.

 

Q3.I included the answer ‘maybe’ to gather a rough idea of those that may be interested but aren’t so sure. It’s clear that more people are interested in reading a magazine than those that aren’t. 65% said yes. I am glad I got these results because I know I have an audience that is interested in reading my magazine.

Q4. I wanted to see if those that said they were interested in reading a school magazine had read a magazine before but there was not a big margin between those that said yes and those that said no. It’s hard to tell whether those that answered yes or no in the previous question were basing that on previous experiences of reading a school magazine they had enjoyed. I thought those that had read a magazine would know what to put in a magazine based on past magazines.

 

Q5.With the front cover basically being one of the biggest elements of this magazine I wanted to ensure the readers had a range of options to choose from to be the front cover. Considering the magazine is tailored for their needs and interests it is vital they get what they want. It is clear they would enjoy seeing students on the front cover but even more would rather the school crest to be showcased. Not a lot of those surveyed were interested in school facilities or ‘other’ seeing as they received only two votes between them.

Q6. This was to see what exactly my audience was interested in reading. Again included ‘other’ in case I didn’t cover a wide enough range of topics. It is evident that most students would like the magazine to include career guidance. This is understandable considering the bulk of my audience is Sixth Form. The content is what the readers are looking to read so it is important I can keep them interested, therefore I think it would be wise to cover both career guidance and exam and study tips. This would give a bigger audience more topics to read. Its obvious homework tips were highly unpopular.

Q7. Giving free things with a magazine can encourage sales. Looking at the chart its obvious free vouchers are what everyone wants receiving a majority vote over all other freebies. Pens and pencils both received 25% which means they were also popular. Stationery altogether still didn’t receive as much as vouchers, given this was a multiple choice vouchers were clearly more popular than all other options.

Q8. This question was to determine how often people would like the magazine to be published. Considering the pie chart, those questioned clearly want to see the magazine published each term. 55% selected each term whereas only 15% choose monthly and annually and the rest received even less. I added ‘never’ for those that didn’t want to read a magazine and but luckily none choose this option.

Q9. For this question I wanted to let the audience decide the colours, this would help me know what colours are popular. There wasn’t a wide range of different colours selected which made it is to determines the colours everyone wanted to see. To make sure this magazine appeals to everyone I think it is safe to use green red and yellow and my clours.

 

My questionnaire for school magazine

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Second content Page Analysis

For my second content page analysis I have chosen another academy magazine because I am familiar with their work now. I have viewed enough of their content and magazine to understand their typeface and their layout. This makes it easier for me to know what audience they are targeting and the reasons for their layout and design choices. To start off it is clear that academy magazine do have a very consistent design, colour and layout. At first glance this content page is almost identical to any other published by academy magazine. This magazine also helps publish other magazines such as ‘prep school’ but as I said they help they aren’t responsible for the design etc. After further research on this magazine I now know that it is published every season. The magazine does not have a website that I know of but its seller certainly does, the magazine is sold online and is also available to download as a Pdf. This magazine only appeals to a very niche audience considering it is not published worldwide and is not advertised anywhere. This leaves a huge gap for a wide variety of audience because the only way people can view this is through www.johncattbookshop.com and even that is hard to find. Also considering the content the magazine contains its target audience would be younger and educated teenagers. I know this is their target audience because if you look the left the top photo is of children wearing uniform and because all the content is in the category or based upon that subject.

 

The images on the cover also suggest the target audience as being teens at school considering that’s exactly what’s on the cover. Two boys in a science lab. This relates to the contents the magazine contains which sets a link between the cover and what’s inside. The magazine uses all the same colours and designs as there other magazines. The green and blue are consistent throughout all of their magazines. The content page has a very unique and sophisticated layout, not a lot magazines put as much detail into their content page. It is clear that the content page has a lot of work put in to it.

 

Not a lot can be said regarding this content page as it is very similar to the one I analysed above and I have already included about the colours and layout etc. the one difference in this is that women and men are represented in this magazine. This can widen the audience and readership. This magazine is also a lot cheaper than the other I analysed. The difference in readership for this magazine would be bigger due to price of course.

 

Finally I think the magazine should change their layout every season for their magazines because their magazines are boring and don’t change, its not a bad magazine in comparison to theirs I have read but it could be improved especially the features the add nothing extra for the readers. Improving these would increase readers.

 

First content page analysis

A content page is used as a direction method for the readers of a magazine; it makes it easier for them to know where to go. It gives us an insight to the articles featured in this issue and an idea of what they are about. The title of the magazine I am analysing is ‘academy magazine’. The word academy is significant because it says to all readers that this is a sophisticated magazine, if you look up academy on the internet it says ‘a place of study or training in a special field’. This gives the magazine a reputation as smart and educated.

The magazines publisher is academy magazine; it’s all in the name. Although the magazine is published by academy magazine the articles featured have a range of different authors. There is a couple of volumes published by academy and I think it is free due to there being no price tag accept for online it has a hefty price tag of 25 pound. I will not go into detail about the front cover as I have already previously analysed that and due to the lack of content on the cover page I cannot reference it and the content page. In this analysis I will refer to content page only and I will not use the cover or the contents inside because they are no longer relevant.

The content page in comparison to others is very detailed and scripted. Unlike most of the content pages I have viewed this content page includes images of what’s to come an each image lists the page number that the image is relevant to. For example the first image is of a children and a money sign written on a scrap of paper. The number 24 is listed and if you look at page 24 on the content list the title of that page is ‘seeking value for money’.  Showing this page as a ‘highlighted’ page relates to a wider audience because everyone knows what its like to get value for money, and can relate to an article such as the one on page 24. I have not read page 24 I am basing this on the title and imagery used.

This magazine covers a wide range of topics in detail (7 to be precise).This magazine is very formal and only contains academy related subjects but does so with great style. The fonts colours and layout of this magazine are all greatly focused on looking simple, elegant but simple. Why might this be? Because the magazines audience is younger audience, teens especially and no teens like to be tested on knowledge when reading a magazine. This magazine shows great understanding of their readers by doing this.

Upon further analysis of this magazine I came across a small snippet of words stating that the image used on the front cover was related to the story on page 7. The first story. This shows the importance of that story considering it is featured on the front and is the preliminary story. This magazine does not have any advertisements or any added enticements to encourage sales. This is a plus and a negative. The plus being that the magazine looks better and clean cut but the negative being that they could encourage sales and readership. As far as representation in the magazine goes they do a good job of including male and female, this was not the case when looking at the front cover but after viewing the content page it is clear both are included throughout this magazine.

This magazine is not a highly discussed or recognised magazine compared to others such as Kerrang and Q magazine and its clear why, academy magazine appeals to a niche audience and costs £25 and does not offer much to the reader whereas Kerrangs weekly issue is £2.20 and has a much wider range audience. This is a huge thing when it comes to popularity of a magazine, although it appeals to them teenagers don’t want to pay £25 for a magazine that discuss school and government issues.

School Magazine front cover analysis(2)

 

The masthead of the magazine is 'academy magazine'. The title automatically makes the magazine sound sophisticated and smart. The cover shows no by-line or name of publisher and at first glance the cover shows no signs of a clue to where the magazine is distributed. The magazine does not have a price either but judging by the date on the skyline of the magazine I think it is safe to say this is not their only magazine because it says 'volume 1'. Secondly the magazine was published in Autumn; this either means it is published monthly or seasonally. I got the magazine cover from their website but in terms of other media platforms the magazine and its website doesn’t go very far. I think this magazine has a niche audience because it isn’t very popular.

 

Considering the name of the magazine I think its target audience is for a more experienced reader. Also the magazine states at the bottom centre ' What’s going on in academies and free schools' so this means its target audience is more teens at school or maybe even young adults at university. The main image has no cover lines etc. but that maybe due to the fact that the image used tells it all. Two older intelligent men seemly having a debate, probably academic related issues. I can tell they are debating or resolving conflict due to their hand gestures and facial expressions. Based on other covers from the same magazine I have looked at its clear there is a consistent design and colour, blue and white. There is a tear down the middle of the image; to me this suggests what’s inside the cover with the two men is what’s inside, content page. 

 

This magazine looks simply but quite expensive looking, their isn’t too much effort put in to the style or representation it is lacking in a lot of aspects but does still come on as expensive. I choose this one out of the bunch because it looked the best. It wasn’t too full on but at the same time had no puff and especially no slogan to sell the idea. The magazine addresses its reader with the line ' What’s going on in academies and free schools'. This is their mode of address and they do it straight forwardly no connotations. The cover shows only men, no women. This may be because the contents are men related but other magazines of this type had only men or boys on the cover which means there is a chance they only represent men. There are no girls or baby’s shown either which means it is ranged from teen boys to men only no adolescents, although that doesn’t mean they don’t read it.

 

I think this is an average magazine because it lacks in a lot of stuff; no banner, no advertorials, and not even brand identity. These to me are vital parts of selling your magazine and making it your own. Not to put the magazine down in negative way but they don’t offer much to their readers either, they so lack of connection with audiences. One thing I have not included is the mid centre directly on the main image a short piece saying ‘is autonomy safe in their hands’ that tells us that this magazine is Government Issue related.

 

 

School Magazine Front cover analysis (1)

                

Analysing magazine front cover

The masthead of the magazine is 'The Hertfordshire and Essex High School and Science College'. This is also the name of the school. The title is straight forward ad formal. The title does not contain any connotatios.The magazine does not list the publisher nor the writer but I think it is safe to assume that it is publisbhed and written by the school itself. The magazine cover does not contain a lot of information, there is no price, no date and not a lot of information about the contents of the magazine at all. Considering there is no date or year there is a good chance that the magazine is a one time thing and is not produced widely in circulation. The magazines target audience could range from parents to teachers and especially students. I know this because it is published by the school and at first glance you know its content is school related which appeals more to students.

 

They have used images of students communicating and doing practical work it gives the school a united feel and makes the school seem like a safe and friendly environment. The slogan of the magazine is situated directly below the title and reads ' A specialist Science college and leadership partner school' The slogan and title together isnt very eye catching but the font used along with the layout gives the magazine and school a uniqe and sophisticated reputation. They have also used a positioning statement 'Excellence for All' it promotes the school to be high achieveing and a well respected. There isnt much to say about the font colour themes etc because it is all consistent. The colours and images used are well co ordinated and are similar in aim. They both aim to represent the school. This cover stands out for me because the rest of magazine covers I have looked at use a mixture of cover lines and covermounts to grab the readers attention but this cover does not use any fancy features but does the same job as any typical magazine. The magazine looks quite expensive but it is probably a free hand out throughout the school.

 

The graphics used only shows women which means it Is an all girls school. The cover shows mixed race which promotes the school as accepting and welcoming to international teens. The main images used are carefully cropped to ehance the sophisticated and educational look of the school. The font also adds to this feel. The layout is very simple yet elegent because it still entices the reader. In conclusion, it is safe to assume this is a one time magazine but the great effort and focus were put in to making this a great read for the students but does not contain vital information like content or even a strapline which could make this magazie a lot more interesting.

Mr. Probz - Waves (Robin Schulz Remix Radio Edit)