Analysing E xisting M agazines

1. Analysing Existing Magazines By SevilayAksu

2. What I can see? & what does it mean? : on this magazine I can clearly see that the title is linked with the name it-self as the letter ‘u’ is put in a shape of the arrow going up, this shows that the feeling of R&B gives people a high/up feeling and it links to the actual name. I can also see that the image is personalised as T.I. salutes the audience, this would involve the reader and make it personal, and the customer will like this as they would like to be involved in the magazine. • Writing style – even though the title of the magazine is bold and eye-catching in front of the white and purple background, a part of it is hidden behind the image of T.I. The quotes and the writings (apart from the heading) are put in bright colours of boxes for them to be able to stand out. “I said I was going to be the greatest” is the one that stands out the most as it is in a white writing and has a pink background. • Colour – the colours that has mainly being used are white, bold pink and light purple. These colours are not usually used to represent R&B • Font – the font of the title is unique and it has an arrow showing the way “up” as this links to the name of the magazine “Rap-Up”. The font of all the writings on the cover are the same but have different colours which is too complicated for the reader. • Link – this links to my magazine as the way T.I. poses and salutes the audience. The difference is that the picture of my artist will not pose like this on the front page of the magazine. • The quote on the magazine creates a mystery and dreamy passion of men. This represents the magazine’s audience as the male figure is shown the ‘greatest and powerful. • Overall – this magazine is suitable for its purpose as it represents which type of genre its selling. Even though it has few errors (for example the title should be the writing that should stand out the most and be effective but it is not successful at that as it is behind the picture of T.I.) it is still a good quality magazine. • Photograph – the image of T.I. saluting gives a natural look and involves the reader. The way T.I. is staring at the camera and posing shows his emotions towards the music he does and the emotion of being proud of the music he does. T.I. looks comfortable with the way he is relaxed.

3. Photograph – the image of Drake can show different kinds of emotions as he does not only show the feeling R&B gives. The writing on Drake’s shirt “unstoppable” shows that he is successful at what he does and he is unstoppable, he will not give up. The cap Drake has shows his own identity and him being personal, the eagle on the cap shows an emotion of the music genre as it stands for fighting and anger. • Colour – the colours used on the cover magazine are yellow, black and white. Even though the colours black and white are used to make the magazine classy and simple, the colour yellow is used for the magazine to stand out as it is an eye-catching colour. • Writing style – the writing style of the title is bold and hidden behind the photograph. This is a common technique used by the magazines. Even though the style of the title is simple, it still manages to sustain attractive as it stands out in the black background. There are many writings on the sides of the magazines which are quite confusing. The sub-headings also include what will be inside the magazine, this makes the reader interested in the magazine as they would want to read further on the subject. • Overall – the overall of the magazine is that it is successful at its purpose as it will grab a lot of attention as it is simple but still eye-catching. One of the disadvantages is that he does not show a clear emotion to represent the type of music he does. the title directs the reader’s eyes to the names of the celebrities are placed on top of the title in a smaller size. • Link – this links to my magazine as I will be using the technique and the boldness of the title.

4. Photograph – the image of Chris Brown is quite casual and it is simple. That cap on Chris Brown again personalises him. The look Chris Brown gives the audience the bad boy look as the way he is positioned and the way his cap is placed. But the way he shows his face shows that his trying to be sweet and wants the audience's sympathy as he tries to show pain. • Colour – the colours used on this magazine cover are mainly red, white and light green. The colour red is used to show power and its bold it stands out. The colour green highlights certain words that people want to look at and it will attract them and the white stands out and contrasts with the red. • Writing – the writings are put in different colours and placed in different positions to a normal writing line. The question in the magazine makes the reader to read more about the topic therefore this is a good technique for the customer to buy the magazine and read more about it. • Overall – this is a successful magazine as it will be able to attract a lot of customers. • Link – the link between my magazine and this magazine is that I will take a picture of my artist similar to this position.

5. The way that the artist is positioned and her face expression is trying to give a sympathy and cuteness to the artist, the music that the artist makes does not reflect on the way she has posed. There are also different fonts which are used in this cover page which is again not very professional and it makes the cover look complicated. The writing at the bottom of the magazine ‘ways to look & feel 10 years younger!’ is used to grab the reader’s attention as it is written in capitals and the artist on the front cover page looks younger than her actually age which means that she has revealed the secret of what she does to look younger. This will grab a lot of attention as the cover is aimed at women to read therefore by having this quote, the magazine focuses on their audience. Unlike the other magazines, in this magazine the artist has been showed natural with the amount of make-up she has and her hair is simple but gives a nice looking therefore this shows how the magazine is using this technique to aim their target audience as the magazine personalises and reflects a stereotypical woman. The link between this cover page and my magazine cover page will be that the scene of the artist being natural and reflected exactly how the audience wants them to be. There are many colours that have been used in this front cover page which can confuse the reader as it has a lot of writing in a big variety of colours. But the main colour that catches the reader’s attention first is the colour white which is used in some text, on the artist’s dress and for the title of the magazine. The title stands out as it is bright and in a big font. However the writing ‘she’ is not very clear for the readers to understand that the writing is the title of the magazine. The colour greyish/silver and white is mainly used in the background, the title, texts and on the artist’s make-up and outfit where these colours fit in well together. However again, there are too many colours used which is not professional. The barcode in this magazine is positioned in an unusual position which is one of the reasons why this cover page is different from the other magazine covers.

6. The fonts that are used in this magazine cover page are quite simple but very clear. However, unlike the texts on the over page, the title of this cover page is not clear and hidden behind the artist. Even though it is hidden behind the artist, the title should be readable for the readers. It takes time for the readers to figure out what the title actually is therefore this is a disadvantage and should be improved. Also on the cover, by having the word ‘you’ and having a list for the audience shows how directly the magazine is trying to put a message across and personalises them with the magazine so that the people who link to the magazine’s texts can buy the magazine. The words ‘Big Love!’ implicates to the celebrity’s body (baby in the womb is big) and shows that the mother has a big love for the baby. The way the artist is posing and protecting the baby with her hands also show the love she has for the baby. Also the way she is posing makes the reader’s eye contact directly look at her belly. Different colours and sizes are used for each sub-heading as it is easier to read them clearly as they are separated out therefore it does not look over loaded. In this cover page, the first thing that catches the reader’s attention is the image of the artist as it is positioned in the middle of the magazine, the dress is bright and white which is very eye-catching and how the artist is reflected as a mum. The image is very powerful as it has the image of the artist as a pregnant woman which expresses care, love and it creates sympathy in the reader’s mind. By having the artist’s hands on her belly, this represent the protecting and safe feeling the artist is giving to the baby. The happiness and the joy on the artist’s face is clearly shows her emotions and again give the feeling of sympathy on the readers. The writing on the side of the image ‘Big Love’ is shown the love the artist has for her child and it is described in clear and simple words as there are no emotions to explain the mum’s feelings.

7. The image of the artist on the second sheet is directly looking at the camera while giving a weak smile to create a ‘cute’ image for the audience. This is done because it shows a different side of her to the picture on the other page. One of the disadvantages of the double sheet of this magazine is that the writings confuse the audience as the writings are all over the double sheet. The reason for the use of small ‘j’ instead of being in a capital letter as it is a name is because the double spread shows the audience the style of the artist. Also because the audience for this magazine is focused on teenagers so by not correcting the ‘j’ in capitals they have made a purpose mistake to show that teenagers and young people make mistakes however are successful in the music industry. This is a very creative spread sheet as it has the image of the artist at the background in the colours of black and white and the artist’s name. The name of the artist is written on the image and the image of the artist is see through, also the title shows the true colours of the image as it is see through. On the second page there is another image of the artist but in a bigger version and this time, instead of the title it has the text. The texts are also written in two different colours which are white and orange, these causes a lot of scene in the spread sheet and can be a disadvantage as it can confuse the reader. In both images the artist is focused on the camera and makes a direct communication with the reader which makes the reader think they are important and special as the contact is done directly. The two pictures are very different from each other as in the first page Jamelia has a casual image with a normal outfit and the cap but on the second page she is dressed up more like a sexy woman then a casual image. This shows that she has two personalities and that in the first picture she is more like natural but on the second page the image shows that she is showing her audience her celebrity side of her.

8. Even though there are two images which are well fit in with the pages, are clear to see and big, there are too much writing all put in tight together which makes it look like there is more reading to do then it actually is. When an audience see’s this page they will believe that there are a lot of reading to do which they do not prefer much on a magazine as they are more interested in the images and the interview’s or the main stories therefore having too much text on this magazine is an disadvantage. The colours that are used is different from other magazines as it is black & white and the long title is red which makes a different scene from the other magazines therefore this is an advantage. The title being quite long and being a different colour shows that the readers are suppose to start reading from the title first to be bale to understand the whole magazine. This spread sheet is not very interesting as it has a lot of writing and can make the audience get bored. There are a lot of texts which are put next & under the photographs. Unlike this spread sheet, I will be placing more pictures to make the reader more interested in the magazine. The image on the second page will be similar to the photograph I will have for my cover page as the artist is not focused on the camera and working in the music studio. I will not make the image as big as the images on the magazine above as I will have more pictures in smaller shapes. There should be more colour added to the spread sheet as it is not very attractive or eye-catching. The two images show different emotions of the celebrity to show different sides of the celebrity.

9. The image used in this double spread is used to attract mainly man as the artist has posed a sexy photo with the outfit she is wearing and her face expression. Her hair colour and the colours used on the table she is using match and link to USA flag colour which again links to the title at the back of the magazine ‘USA’. The title ‘got he love’ confuses the reader about whether if it is the writing carrying on from the title ‘USA’ or it is just a new writing. They have also used the same colour writing as the same colour as the title ‘USA’ to make it equally eye-catching because when too many colours are used, this confuses the reader.

10. This is a very good example of a double spread page of a magazine as it doe not have a lot of texts because the readers enjoy to see images of an artist then to read a lot of texts. Even though the writing, fonts and the colours that have been used in this double spread page are very simple, it still has a good effect on the reader as it is not difficult to read, difficult to see or unprofessional. The texts are all in one page and one picture of the artist is positioned on the whole page which is commonly done by other magazines. However unlike the other magazines, this magazine only involves a single image of the artist and therefore is not very interesting. The writings on the second page are positioned in an accurate lines and the colour of it is the colour used in the image. The way that the artist is posing shows that she has power as she has her head up as if looking directly at the audience. Artist’s outfit is quite unique as the scarf around her neck symbolises a snake and it is hard for the reader to figure out if she actually has a snake around her neck or if it is just a scarf and this creates the scene of danger. The artist’s name is covering nearly the half of the image and is written in big capitals which is fitted accurately with the page’s size.

11. This is a different double spread page as the texts, images and the title is placed in unusual positions. For example there is not title which starts off the story as this is not usual. There is also a quote from the interview that is putting in a pink writing and it is written in capitals which show that it is something important that the artist said as it is also bright and different colour therefore it stands out. The font that has been used for the writing is bold and quite big which makes it clear for the readers to be able to see what they are reading. There are two images that are used for these two pages where the first image that catches the reader’s eye is the big image on the second page which covers the whole page. The picture on the second page is the same as the image on the first page but the artist has just posed in a different way. In the first image, the artist has the image of not listening, looking up, covering her ears and whipping her hair, this shows that she is either singing and focused or she is shouting and not listening to the things around her. In the second picture she has a calm image and does not have the image of being ‘crazy’. She has the same outfit, make-up and the jewellery in both of the images and the way she whips and plays with her hair in both images reflect her personality. The image on the second page has more of a sexy pose.

12. This contents page is similar to the other contents pages as it has a very big images of the artist that covers the whole page and the writings on the side. There are not much texts which is better for the reader as they would not like to read a lot of information and texts. There are different symbols used on top of every single topic which are used for different meanings and give a different affect on this magazine as other magazines do not have these type of symbols. Her outfit is unique and eye-catching which is good for the magazine readers. The way the artist is positioned and her face expression shows that she is not directly connecting with the readers as she is not looking at the camera and avoiding eye contact. The writing style is very simple and the writing goes over the picture which is not a very good look as it seems like it is put in tightly.

13. The title of ‘contents’ is put in a different shape which makes it different from the other magazines. The style of the writings are also a different font as it stands out. The images of the two artists are different from each other as the artist on the left hand side poses a more powerful image while the artist on the right hand side is posing a cuter image. The outfit they are wearing is quite creative and interesting. Magazine Rap Up - front cover of T.I. – this magazine cover has been published and edited by Devin Lazerine. He produced this front magazine as the magazine is focused on the Hip Hop and R&B aspect of the music industry, and predominantly features interviews with artists, actors and other entertainers. Also the reason he has published this magazine cover is to be able to get more customers to buy the magazine and read it so that the company can gain money. Magazine Vibe – front cover of Drake & front cover of Chris Brown – the producer of this magazine company is Quincy Jones who produces magazines for the publication predominantly features R&B and hip-hop music artists, actors and other entertainers.

14. The writing of ‘contents’ is different to other magazine’s contents pages as the word is separated in three lines which is done to show the ‘v; writing at the other side of the magazine. The writings are at the side of the page in a small font; this technique is very common by many different magazines as they mainly have an image of the artist at the background of the contents page. The contents page also has two different parts which are put in two different titles; this is a good way of helping readers about what different things the magazine includes. This contents page is mainly aimed at males as the artist is positioned in a sexy position to attract men’s attention. The colours that are used in this contents page are grey and black. The artist is wearing a grey dress to be able to match the background of the contents page; these colours aren’t very used by magazines as it is not very eye-catching colours. This magazine has chosen these colours because of the ay they want the artist’s skin colour to stand out to make the artist look attractive.

15. This contents page for a music magazine is quite unique as it has a whole picture in the background instead of the writing (contents) to make an introduction to the magazine and what the magazine contains. The writing is put on the side of the page in a small writing and the picture stand outs more than the writing. This shows that the artist the magazine is interviewing is used to attract the readers. There is also a small quote at the bottom of the page which was said by Katy Perry. It is written in capital letters to but in a small font to drag attention to the quote. As other magazines use the technique of the ‘big image’ of the artist and the small writing, this magazine has done the same but and extra object is used which is the image of the balloon mushroom in the artist’s hand. This is different to other magazines because many other magazines only represent the artist not the different objects. This object is well fit in with the artist as it has the same colours of the artist’s outfit and the background of the page. There is an odd colour used in the page for the writing of ‘features’ and it is purple which does not relate to any of the other colours. This is done for the title to stand out from all the colours and drag the reader to read that side of the magazine.

16. This is a unique contents page from all the other magazines as it does not include one image of an artist; it includes many pictures and has the number of the pages on the images. The images make the look magazine very interesting and make the audience curios therefore it helps to persuade the audience to buy the magazine. In my magazine I will not be able to use this technique as my magazine will only include one artist and his interview therefore I cannot place different images of other topics and images in my contents page. But I could possibly put more than one image in my contents page of my artist. The images are put all in together in the middle of the page and the writings on the side which gives a good view on the reader. The title is also unique from the other magazines as it is not in the middle and top of the magazine but it is on the left hand side. The colours that are used in this contents page are white, red and black which are look quite simple when put all together but these colours are suitable to use in this contents page as the images are colourful therefore it fits in well and works well with the page itself.

17. The publishes of the magazines Magazine Rap Up - front cover of T.I. – this magazine cover has been published and edited by Devin Lazerine. He produced this front magazine as the magazine is focused on the Hip Hop and R&B aspect of the music industry, and predominantly features interviews with artists, actors and other entertainers. Also the reason he has published this magazine cover is to be able to get more customers to buy the magazine and read it so that the company can gain money. Magazine Vibe – front cover of Drake & front cover of Chris Brown – the producer of this magazine company is Quincy Jones who produces magazines for the publication predominantly features R&B and hip-hop music artists, actors and other entertainers.

18. Different ideas for magazine title • Solo • Rise • Stomp • Base • Dynamite Overall, I have chosen the title ‘Solo’ for my music magazine because I believe e that it is a suitable name as it links to the music genre. There is a link between the meaning of the title and the music genre and the link is that the artists and the audiences listen to R&B by themselves and relate themselves with the lyrics in the music where ‘Solo’ stands fro being by yourself and represents loneliness. I believe that this is a unique name for a music magazine therefore it will be successful at attracting my target audience.

19. Different types of Styles Paint Peel Font : 256 Bytes Font Broken Toys Font Lesser Concern Font Chintzy CPU Font A Cut Above The Rest Font Candy Stripe Font Angelic War Font Baroque Script Font Seven Swordsman Font Chain Font

20. Final style of the Title http://www.1001freefonts.com/afonts5.php