MAGAZINE ANALYSISUnit 51:

Page Layout & Design

Masthead

BarcodeLead Article

Date

Cover Lines

Badge / Flash

Model Credit

Pull Quote

White Space

Body text

Gutters

There are quite a lot of advertisement on the pages throughout the magazine. A Lot of them are of cars, alcohol, gadgets, clothes, perfume and cosmetics. This suggest that the target audience for Vibe Magazine is 18 – 30 year olds, mostly male but a small majority of females. It is also aimed at C1 – A (Lower middle class – Upper middle class) on the social demographic status. This is because people this age and from this demographic will be able to afford most of the advertisements. Looking at the front cover, Eminem is positioned in the centre but there is also a cover line for Ke$ha which shows that this magazine is targeted at both genders. This is because Eminem is classed as a male role model and females will take interest into female artist such as Ke$ha.

On the title page of this magazine the font is very bold and clear. The title for lead article that is inside the magazine will always be on the title page. For example one of the main stories in this magazine is Eminem’s 10th anniversary for 8 mile, we can see that in the bottom left corner the headline of the story is in large font clear font in bold letters. The letters are also in red which makes them stand out from the dull grey background. The colours and size of the font anchor the readers to look at the magazine. The language used throughout this magazine is a mixture of informal and formal but mostly formal. The target audience also reflects on the language as the age range for this magazine is 18 – 30, the vocabulary will be quite relaxed yet sophisticated.

The colours on front page are grey, white and red. The grey could symbolise the neutral hue between black and white or it could symbolise gloomy, moody and quite formal. They used this colour as the age range for this magazine is quite high and the main style is formal. The other colours also stand out very well from the gloomy background colour. The white symbolises pure, it is a very positive colour that contrasts well with dark colours (black / grey) the editors used the white colour to balance the colours. Red is associated with danger, love and determination, it is a very emotional colour. This colour also stand out from all the other colours on the page and is eye-catching, so the main story has been coloured red, along with the name of the magazine.

The masthead of the magazine is stretched across the top of the page from the Primary Optical Area to the Strong Fallow Area, this is so it is visible for the reader to see as soon as they pick up the magazine. Eminem is the focus of this front cover, an image of him has been placed directly in the centre of the page which will grab the reader's attention because it is placed along the Axis of Orientation. The barcode has been placed in the Terminal Area while the lead article has been placed in the Weak Fallow Area, this is unconventional as most magazines will put the barcode in the Weak Fallow Area because this is the last place the reader will look. All the other cover lines have been placed around the main areas.

This magazine has followed a lot of codes and conventions in different ways. They have used one of the biggest hip hop artists (Eminem) to put on the front cover. This is very conventional to this genre, this magazine focuses hip hop / urban culture. The style is very simple and easy to read but the way they have positioned things around the front page is slightly unconventional as I have stated in my previous slide. Using the popular artist, contrasting colours and large text are all conventional ways to anchor the reader.

Masthead

Date

Barcode

Lead Article

Badge / Flash

Model Credit

Drop Cap

Gutters

Kicker

White SpaceHeadline

Sub Head

This magazine is aimed at an audience from the age of 18 - 40 males, from lower middle class to upper class which is C1 to A on the demographic social class table. The magazine is aimed at this specific audience because of how much the magazine costs and what kind of products are being advertised throughout. Most of these advertisements are of cars and alcohol which automatically shows that the age range is 18+.

The cover page is very bare, the only text is the date, price, title of the magazine and the lead article, this keeps the page simple and easy to read. The text throughout the magazine is very formal and the language is sophisticated which also suggests that the target audience is for a more mature reader that will understand and enjoy reading the stories and interviews included.

There are only 3 colours used on the cover page, black, white and gold. The colour black is associated with mystery, power and elegance. As we can see, the character James Bond has been positioned directly in the centre of the page, he is wearing all black. The background of this page is white which symbolises innocence, goodness, purity and safety. The magazine title is colours gold, this symbolises luxury, quality, sophistication and value. This could suggests that the audience is going to get a sophisticated and luxurious read from this magazine. As we can see, the character James Bond has been positioned directly in the centre of the page, he is wearing all black. All of these colour connotations are associated with james bond and his films.

The masthead of the magazine is stretched across the top of the page from the Primary Optical Area to the Strong Fallow Area, this is so it is visible for the reader to see as soon as they pick up the magazine. The character James Bond is the focus of this front cover, an image of him has been placed directly in the centre of the page which will grab the reader's attention because it is placed along the Axis of Orientation. The gun has been placed in the Primary Optical Area also, this is because it is very iconic in James Bond films and will attract the readers attention. The barcode has been placed in the Weak Fallow Area this is because the barcode is the least important thing on the page.

This magazine a few codes and conventions in different ways. They have chosen to use a popular actor (Daniel Craig) to put on the front cover. Another way they have followed the conventions is with the iconography as I have stated in the previous slide. James bond is holding a in which is very iconic within the genre of his films (action / thriller). The style is very simple, sophisticated and easy to read. Using the popular actor, contrasting colours and large text are all conventional ways to anchor the reader.