Preliminary task: Research and planning-Textual analysis of student magazines.

Analysis of student magazines.

Impact magazine.

I have chosen to analyse the University of Nottingham’s student magazine ‘impact’. The title has connotations with strength and influence suggesting the university is powerful. The masthead sticks out as it is written in white against a black and dark blue background. ‘Impact’ is underlined, written in the biggest font on the page, in capitals and a bold font, again this makes it stick out and ties in with the idea of power.

Underneath the masthead there is an issue number, date and website address written in a very small font. There are some cover lines relating to articles in the magazine.  They contain buzzwords such as: bright, explicit. 

Overall this cover is very neat and professional looking. It suggests maturity and sophistication, this will appeal to the target audience.

The contents page is also very neat. It is set out sort of like a timeline. There are two sections: features and regulars.

Retro Magazine.

The second student magazine I have chosen to analyse is ‘Retro’. The title has connotations with technology and computing. In the masthead the o in retro is represented by the on/off symbol used on most gadgets nowadays. This links in with the technology theme.

This cover uses cover lines down the left hand side to anchor various images. For example there is a picture of a pint of beer and the anchor reads ‘Biggest UWIC pub crawl this term’.

The central image of the cover is a low angle shot of a building. This is anchored by the text in the box that reads: ‘Sport to go to the valleys’. The buzzword ‘exclusive’ is used, written in capitals in white on a red background, making it stand out.

The cover uses mainly calm colours like, blue and green. Red is used very effectively to make the phrase ‘exclusive news’ stand out.

The top of the contents page reads ‘Welcome’ this is very friendly and makes the reader feel relaxed. Like ‘Impact Magazine’ this contents page is also divided into sections. This makes it look organised and easier to navigate.

Preliminary task: Research and planning-Textual analysis of NME cover.

Textual analysis of NME cover.

I have chosen to analyse the front cover of the magazine NME from May 2009.

The masthead is in the top left hand corner of the cover. It has been put there because the brain naturally reads things from left to right, top to bottom so it will be the first thing potential buyers see. NME stands for new musical express. NME is a media code-you have to know what it stands for to know what the magazine is about. It is written in the biggest, boldest font on the page so it stands out it is also written in a bold red colour. Red has obvious connotations with danger.

The cover line next to the masthead reads ‘Libertines reunion’. Again this is a media code as only people who know who the libertines are will want to buy the magazine. Below the buzzword ‘special’ is used and is also written in red. A page reference is written next to it in smaller font.

  ‘Win! £4100 Pounds worth of music gear is written inside a gold circle. Gold has connotations with winning/prizes. The exclamation mark highlights the word ‘win’. The competition links to the target audience as they are obviously going to be into music. The price and date are written under the masthead in very small font.

The central image is a 2 shot of Tom Meighan and Sergio Pizzorno from the band ‘Kasabian’. An alternative/strange mise-en-scene has been created in the photograph, this fits in with the music and ideology of the band. The costumes and props are very eccentric. There facial expressions are very moody/stern indicating they are serious about their new album.

‘Kasabian’ is written in very large font compared to the rest of the text, making it stand out. The word inside has connotations with exclusiveness. ‘Insane is written in red, making it stand out from the white text around it, it is also written in a fitting primal, messy font.

Introduction to preliminary task.

For the preliminary task I will use desktop publishing software and an image manipulation program to produce the front page of a new college magazine featuring a medium close up of a student some text and a masthead. I will also produce a mock up of the layout of the contents page.

Plan for preliminary task.

Week number	Tasks
1	Set up blog Put action plan on blog Complete textual analysis of one magazine and post on blog
2	Complete textual analysis of school/college magazines and post on blog Post research of target audience on blog and review findings Begin to review findings for magazine
3	Post mock up blog and provide commentary
4	Post final front cover and contents page on blog
19 Dec-4 Jan (Christmas holidays)	Work on evaluation questions
5	Post evaluation on blog

Introduction to brief.

For part of my AS media coursework I am required to create the front page, contents page and a double page feature spread for a new music magazine. I have created this blog so I can record my research and planning which will help me produce the magazine.