Preliminary Task - Analysis of two college magazine covers and content pages:

It is important to look at existing products before i create my own to develop my understanding on the presentation and layout of magazines. It is also important to look at content pages to understand how they are usually presented. 

Target Audience: The primary target audience is young adults of both genders (aged 11-19), as this is the age range within the school. The magazine is also aimed at a secondary audience - the students parents/carers. Many people reading this magazine would be categorised into social grades C1 to E.                                                                                

Layout: The overall layout doesn't follow common genre conventions. For example, the magazine cover only features one main image, whereas most magazines have one main image as well as several other smaller images to intrigue the audience and make them gain interest in the articles they are promoting. Despite not following this convention, the magazine still looks interesting and exciting, and the focused close up of the mask will appeal to both the primary and secondary target audience.  

Images: This magazine cover goes against common genre conventions because it only includes one image as the main feature. However, the close up image of the mask follows typical conventions, although arguably the main image used for this magazine is more of an extreme close up rather than a close up.The extreme close up gains interest, but it may have been more effective to have a more zoomed out image of the mask to appeal to the audience more and give them a better view of the mask. 

Masthead: The masthead suits its purpose in appealing to the audience because it stands out against the background. The Bodmin College logo is positioned so it effectively stands out without taking any attention away from the main image. However, the white text located at the top right of the magazine is difficult to read because of its size and colour. 

Colour:  This magazine mainly uses colours that are similar to each other, so they blend together well. The bright, bold colours used for the Bodmin College logo makes the magazine grab attention and stand out against the darker colours used for the mask. The most effective colours are the ones featured in the middle of the magazine - the orange and white eye stands out against the darker colours. The colours used in this magazine don't follow the common conventions used by most magazines - many magazines use bright, bold colours like red, blue and white/black to gain interest from their audience.

Typography: The magazine uses a small range of different types of text, which follows standard conventions but it doesn't use as many different fonts as many magazines do. The magazine includes a small teaser to go alongside the main image, but there are no other cover lines to advertise any other stories featured in this magazine. This may make the audience become less interested in what the magazine has to offer, because they haven't been given any other information about what else the magazine features.

Analysis of Contents Page 

It is difficult to evaluate Bodmin Colleges magazine content page alongside the front cover because it doesn't have a contents page, so i selected an appropriate college related one from the internet. The bright bold text and images immediately attract your attention, which will make the audience interested in what the magazine has to offer. This contents page is appropriate to its primary target audience because it is relatable to them - it shows them students of a similar age who may or may not be interested in the same sort of things. This would be influenced in certain articles. This also shows that the primary target audience is students (aged 16-18) who also attend this college.  The layout follows a neat, organised structure, and the articles appeal to their audience because it is relevant to them. It also uses direct address to make the audience feel more involved. For example, 'dates for your diary' and '10 ways to help you revise' will make the audience feel like the magazine is targeting their needs and interests.

Target Audience: The primary target audience for this magazine are young adults of both genders (18-21/22), as this is the average age that almost all the students who are attending the college will be. The magazines secondary primary target audience is anyone out of this age range, but mainly parents/carers of the students or anyone else attending the college outside of the primary age range.

Layout: The layout of the magazine is significantly contrasting to the layout of the Bodmin College magazine. This magazine does not follow common conventions, as there are no images present on the front page. The layout looks very organised, which connotes professionalism and sophistication.

Images: This magazine cover uses no images, so it is difficult to analyse and interpret how effective the magazine is.

Masthead: The masthead is very bold and effective at standing out, as the large white text against the black background makes a powerful impact on both the primary and secondary audience. The cover lines are located above the masthead, which makes them effectively noticeable for the audience.
As the cover lines are the same colour and font as the masthead, they also stand out effectively.

Colour: The magazine uses common conventions to attract their audience. The bright, bold colours stand out effectively against the black background and attract attention.

Typography: The magazine uses a wide range of fonts and sizes to make certain words stand out against others. For example, the word 'student' is bigger than the word 'future'. The different sizes of specific words represents how important each of these things are. Some of these words are capitalised for dramatic effect. In comparison to the Bodmin College magazine cover, there are more types of font used, which might make the audience become more interested in the magazine because of the neater, more sophisticated presentation.

Analysis of Contents Page 

The contents page for Imperial Magazine looks very professional, and follows a similar colour scheme to the one used for the magazines front cover. The layout is very organised, which connotes professionalism and sophistication. The contents page has included teaser images to give the audience a preview of what the article will feature.  The two images featured are very different from each other, which shows that there is diversity throughout this magazine. The white text on the black background (and vice versa) stands out effectively, and the bold subheadings gives the audience more of an informative understanding on what the articles are about.