1) A city magazine:
I feel like this is the most significant out of the three because my regional magazine will be based on the city of Birmingham. I feel that this is a great choice for me as it's the city I live in and I can be really creative as I know it so well. I like the way the photographer has used an early evening setting, it presents the city as relaxed and laid back, which is a contrast to the reality; despite this, the mid to low angle suggests that Birmingham is quite superior. Also, the use of white font is effective as it's bold and contradicts the lighter background; making the cover lines dominate the front page. The cover lines are relevant to the events in the city and this creates a strong link between the magazine and real life - I would like to create this effect too. Despite the level of relevance that the cover lines show, they leave room for the photograph to capture the attention of the reader. The size of the anchorage text is effective because it's not too "in your face" yet you can tell that this is the main story. There is a miniature date line and this is great because it doesn't take up too much space within the front page but shows that all of the key conventions have been included. The masthead also sticks to the conventions of a magazine because the editor has stuck to the left third rule which makes the magazine seem much more professional. I will use this magazine to influence my decisions such as photography and choice of fonts, colour and layout.
2) A northern magazine:
This magazine can also influence the magazine I will be creating. Even though this is based more so on a rural, more traditional area; I can take advantage of looking at the layout to provide a more creative edge on my own magazine. I like the way that an old farm house has been used as the main image: I think this is a good representation of the North of England that readers can relate to. The masthead is interesting because usually the font is all the same style and colour, yet the difference within the style of font is effective because the red is common colour used in all genres of magazine and this shows that Northern Life is professional. Also, the choice in different types of fonts is great as it shows that people up north are easy going and creative, structure and consistency doesn't matter because the multi-coloured fonts make the magazine look interesting. Despite the northern attitude being laidback and "going with the flow" the numerous coverlines contradict this; this is inverses the northern stereotype. Similarly to the first magazine I have analysed, this one sticks to the generic conventions of a magazine. The masthead, selling line, main image, dateline, cover lines, pugs/puffs and anchorage text have all been included and this makes Northern Life a good magazine that can help me in the process of making my own magazine.
3) A country magazine:
Finally, Cumbria Life appears to be a magazine based on the country side, of course I can immediately see this due to the main image of a mountainous region with numerous fields. I would like to create a magazine like this which can immediately tell the reader what it's all about without them having to see the masthead or cover lines. I like the way the cover lines have been positioned, they do not take away the emphasis left by the main image. In the same way, the use of three house colours promote that this magazine is professional and formal. Whereas, the magazine above seems a lot more informal with a much younger target audience because of the use of colours. I think that the content within the cover lines is relevant to the region e.g. the food and drink aspect and the mentioning of the lakes. As this front page has a basic image and cover stories, I think that the secondary images have been used effectively. This is something I need to think about within my own magazine, "are secondary images necessary?" Also, I like the fact that the services that are advertised are in red, this makes them seem like an alert and full of importance. Similarly to the other two magazines, Cumbria Life sticks to the generic conventions: masthead, anchorage text, cover lines, pugs/puffs, main image, bar code, selling line and dateline. Therefore I think I can refer back to Cumbria Life when constructing my own regional magazine.
No comments:
Post a Comment