500 words

Textual analysis

Researching textual analysis of current magazines helped with my pre-production as it showed different features that are included on a magazine cover. I researched textual analysis of VOGUE and LOOK magazine which showed me the main features on their magazine covers and what I should include on mine to make it look of a similar style.

The masthead is the visual branding of the title and is often done on a specially designed type face. Knowing this made me think about how I wanted the magazine to be perceived and similar magazines that I wanted it to look like.

The central image can be what draws people into buying a magazine so it has to stand out and be relevant to the target audience. By looking at current fashion magazines with a similar target audience it helped with my pre-production by showing me what type of images they have used and what type of clothing and facial expressions were used on their chosen model. To take my photography for my covers knowing what type of images were already on magazines and how the person on the cover had been positioned and clothed helped by showing me what is relevant and attracts their target audience.

The purpose of cover lines is to entice the reader into picking up and/or buying the magazine. Generally there's one main larger cover line and then a few (or lots of) smaller ones. By researching magazine cover lines it showed how they link to the magazines target audience because some topics mentioned would not apply to certain ages or genders.

Surveys

The survey I did helped me with my pre-production as it showed me what people were looking for and what they liked when buying a magazine. All of my magazine survey responses were from women which helped me because they are the target audience of my magazine covers. The survey showed me that the articles people want to see in a magazine is celebrity interviews, fashion tips and celebrity gossip this helps me to decide on the type of covers story’s to place on my magazine front covers. It also showed me that the responders though that the main image on a covers is the most important. This showed me that the images I am taking for my own front covers need to stand out as they would on a normal magazine. Pink was also chosen as the colour that most draws people in to reading and buying a magazine showing me that it should be included. It also helped me to choose a reasonable price that readers would not find too expensive. The questionnaire results showed that people were willing to spend anything between £1- £4 for a magazine.

Target audience

The target audience for my magazine is women aged 25-45 because that is the target audience for the magazines I am basing mine on which are LOOK and VOGUE. The cover stories will be based around women’s fashion and beauty which is why it will be targeted at women. I am also aiming my magazine at the socio economic groups A (Higher managerial, administrative, professional), B (Intermediate managerial, administrative, professional) and C1 (Supervisory, clerical, junior managerial).