Textual analysis of my college magazine front cover

Textual analysis of my college magazine cover

I decided to call my college magazine ‘College Talks’ as I felt it had quite a youthful ring to it. Also, following up my research survey the name ‘College Talks’ seemed to be the most popular. The masthead is of course the biggest and catchiest piece of text on the cover as it has to be noticeable.

The font I used was constant throughout as I was going for something simple. I chose the colour scheme of purple and black as I wanted to use a colour that is not particularly associated with one particular gender. As I used a female model, it was important that I did not make my magazine cover too girly as my target audience is 16-19 year old male and female college students. My model looks very happy and friendly, she sends a positive vibe especially with her (well known) hand gesture of ‘thumbs up’. I wanted to convey a relaxed impression so I edited the background behind my model to match the cool colours of her clothing.

Beside the model, on the right there is a big star shape which is very eye-catching. Inside it in black it says ‘ONLY 50P!!’ this strategic device was used so that the consumer is tempted or even better still, persuaded to buy the product. Under the star shape there is a ‘CHANCE TO WIN AN iPHONE 4!!’ which is also something that will be very appealing to most people (especially college students) as this is a new sophisticated, technological device.

On the left hand side, there are a few points on things to look forward to ‘INSIDE’. I purposely used capital letters simply so my front cover stands out and so the students want to pick it up and buy it.

Across the bottom in another shade of purple, I included the online version of the magazine as a lot of notable magazines have websites where you can read some articles online. Also, these days’ most young people use the Internet mostly in comparison to actually reading hard copies.  

In the bottom right hand corner of the magazine there is a barcode present. Immediately under the masthead in black is the date the magazine was published ‘Winter 2010’ and below that (also in black) is the issue no. which in this case is ‘121’.

My college magazine front cover and contents page

A homework task set early on in the year

Media

Why don’t we see/why are we not shown the reality of a crime scene? E.g. after a killing the media show the flowers, police etc.

The media are cautious of what they show when it is in relation to the killing of an individual. As people of all ages, races and backgrounds watch the news it could scar someone mentally if shown the incident and how it happened. Although there are programs like Crimewatch that show reconstructions of crime scenes, these can be based on real incidents. Watching these reconstructions can be frightening but watching the real incident would be scarier.

Also, when we see police patrolling the crime scene we can infer that the media want us to feel at ease because police officers are at the scene. It is frustrating that the police are present at the aftermath of the incident instead of being around before it.  

Textual analysis of a college magazine cover

Textual Analysis of a college magazine front cover

The college magazine is called ‘Insight’ and there are obviously reasons for this. An insight into something means getting a deeper understanding and idea of something. It is in a bold font and it is yellow. The use of yellow makes it come across as a lighthearted magazine and the particular shade is quite subtle.

There is a main image and it’s actually very large. The image is of a photograph of some students and some adults too.  Under the photograph there is a two line caption, the line up top is in Chinese corresponding with what is behind the people. There is also a translation underneath in brackets. The subscript under the translation summarizes what is going on in the photograph and we are told what page to go to to find out more.

The one and only cover line is towards the bottom left hand side of the page in the same yellow as the mast head. Beside it there is a summary on what the article that you can see on ‘page 2’ is going to be about.

Under the cover line the college’s logo is in an oval with 25 years beside the college name ‘SFX’ underneath ‘1985-2010’ is written, so we know instantly the college is celebrating its 25^th birthday.

Along the bottom of the magazine, in white on a bright green strip we are informed about what to expect inside the magazine. The use of green is very clever as green and yellow tend to go well together.              

My college magazine questionnaire results

My results 1. Age
16	7
17	6
18	5
19	2
2. Gender
Male	9
Female	11
3. Do you read any magazines?
Yes	8
No	6
Sometimes	6
4. How often do you read magazines?
Daily	5
Weekly	8
Few days in a month	5
Rarely	2
5. What do you think of a college magazine?
Sounds good	8
Not a bad idea	9
Not interested	3
6. Would you read a college magazine if there was one?
Yes	7
No	2
Maybe	11
7. How much would you be willing to pay for a college magazine?
50p- £1	4
£1- £1.50	2
Other (Free)	14
8. What kind of college magazine would you like?
Soc.& Entertainment	5
Educational	3
Both	12
9. How often do you think the college magazine should be released?
Weekly	3
Fortnightly	10
Monthly	5
Every term	2
10. What would you like as a giveaway with the college magazine?
Educational posters	3
Social posters i.e. celebrities	2
Discount on food vouchers	9
Your name entered into a college draw	2
Stationary	4
Other	0

Image analysis

24/9/2010

Media: Image analysis of the film ‘Made in Dagenham’. 

This film advertisement is very striking, mostly because of the bright colour red used. The centre of attention is a woman who seems to be smiling cheekily and maybe even seductively. These traits could be connotations of the colour red, as red is known to be associated with: love, passion, lust, intimacy and sexiness to name a few. ‘Calender Girls’ and ‘Made in Dagenham’ are both in the same colour- burgundy red. Calender Girls was the film made before Made in Dagenham hence it’s in a smaller size font but ‘Made in Dagenham’ is not only bigger in size but the font is also different. This suggests that the film is bigger and perhaps even better. The simplicity of this ad really makes it work and stand out. The cover lines and the credits are all in the same font as ‘Calender Girls’ and the same colour grey/pale grey are constantly used. ‘Coming Soon’ which is below some of the extra information is also in the burgundy red colour. This makes it stand out, as the time the film is being released is important to the consumer.

In the bottom left hand corner, behind the main model, there are five women, a man and a car. The women are posing boldly and two seem to be holding up a banner that says, ‘WE WANT SE’. The way some of the women are posing provocatively, the mischievous smile on the main models face, the fact that she seems to be rolling up her sleeves and the recurring use of the theme relating to red leaves me with no doubt that the banner must read, ‘WE WANT SEX’.