Preliminary Task: Brief

Proposal

I propose to create a college magazine, they will be released at the begining of every term. The Magazines will consist of helpful informsation for all students around the college relating to college issues and activities outside of college. For example it will have special offers and tips to help the students, it will also have information to help the students with any advice they may need. The students themselves will have the opportunity to get involved with each issue of the magazine by having their say about what should be included in the magazine. So my magazines main focuse would be the students attending South Dowsn college.

 

After spending a lot of time trying to decide which name to use i chose SD Central, SD Central is the abriviation of South Downs Central. I chose this because the magzine at the center of the college in the sense that it has all the information the students need about the college. The issue i have decided to do will be released in January therefore i have decided to use a pastle colour scheme, because the colours will link to the winter season. I've used pale blue, pale pink, lilac and white. My magazine size will be A4 So that there is plenty of room on the front cover to display an image of a student and also have plenty of room to fit all the information that's needed for the term. 

  

Below there are two images, one of which is my flatplan of my front cover and the other is a flatplan of my contents page. I would like them to look similar to these.

 

  

Task 5: Skills Audit

AS Media Coursework: Skills Audit

Using a computer

	YES	NO
Are you confident on a PC?	/
Can you insert text and image into a Word document?	/
Can you find relevant documents and articles on the internet?	/
Can you find images of different sizes on the internet?	/
Have you ever used a Mac?	/
On a Mac, do you know how to open an application?	/
On a Mac, do you know how to cut & paste text?	/
On a Mac, do you know how to copy images from the internet?	/
Do you know how to scan images into a Mac?	/
Do you know how to upload photographs to a Mac?	/
Do you know how to Bluetooth files?	/
Are you confident using Powerpoint?	/
Do you currently have a Blog?	/
Do you know how to burn data to a disc?	/
Do you know how to upload files to email or a Blog?	/

Taking Photographs

	YES	NO
Do you have your own digital camera?	/
Does your mobile phone have a camera?	/
Do you know how to take photographs in B&W?	/

Using Applications

	YES	NO
Have you ever used Photoshop?	/
Have you ever used InDesign?		/
Are you able to crop an image?	/
Are you able to apply any special effects to an image?	/

Task 4: IPC Case Study

IPC have more than 60 iconic media brands, with which IPC creates content for multiple platforms, for example print, mobile, online, events and tablets. As they are the UK's leading consumer magazine publisher they interact with 26m UK adults. Which includes almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men. Their award winning online portfolio of websites has managed to reach over 25 million users globally each month.

The history of IPC Media

The International Publishing Corporation Ltd was created in 1963 following the merger of the UK's three leading magazine publishers which are George Newnes, Odhams Press and Fleetway Publications. who came together with the Mirror Group to form the International Publishing Corporation (IPC). Which meant IPC Magazines was then created five years later, in 1968.

‘The Field’ newspaper was launched during 1853, within a year of being launched it became the largest newspaper in Europe, containing 24 pages.

There were then another eight IPC titles that were also launched in the1800’s all of which are still recognized today: Country Life, Horse & Hound, Shooting Times, Yachting World, Amateur Gardening, Cycling Weekly, Amateur Photographer and The Railway Magazine. Competitions played an important role in the sales promotions for all the early IPC titles, for example the prize offered by the fledgling magazine.

The arrival of three titles that were going to become part of IPC Media many years later, where first seen at the very began of the 1900’s. These are the three titles: Yachting Monthly, Cage Birds* and Motor Boat. 

The first of IPC's four traditional women's weeklies, Woman's Weekly was launched in November 1911. That same year Golf Monthly was also launched, and many golfers enjoyed reading it. 

Ideal Home was launched by Odhams specifically to compete with 'Homes and Gardens. It was very similar to the types of stories that were written for 'Homes and Gardens'. 

The launch of Woman's Own in 1932, with the appearance of Woman following just five years later they became IPC's 'Big Two'. Newnes launched its first issue of Woman's Own with a free gift that was mounted on the front cover. They were giving away three skeins of wool with every copy. In 1937 the first issue of Woman cost 2d and was the first full-colour magazine to be that price.

During 1952 a new music magazine was launched this was called New Musical Express (NME). It was launched during this time because it's when music became more popular and more people were interested in music at this time.

Looking at these two images you can see a dramatic change between the first issue of the magazine and the magazine that was issued on their 60th anniversary.

The magazine on the left is the first NME magazine to be released, the picture on the right is the NMe magazine issue from it's 60th anniversary. The first issue looks more like a newspaper than a magazine. whereas the picture on the right actually looks like a modern magazine. Features such as the celebrity on the cover, the main story lines shown on the front cover and the pure white background with added colour makes it look like a magazine. Rather than the black and white images and cover of the first issue that was made. On the more recent version of the magazine the title is abbreviated to NME this shows that they are confident enough to know that their audience will recognise the magazine and know what it is so they have no worries of losing readers and it will also make the magazine have a more modern look.

IPC has been associated with many different types of magazines and audiences. This is their current portfolio:

- 25 Beautiful Homes

- Amateur Gardening

- Amateur Photographer

- Angler's Mail

- Beautiful Kitchens

- Chat

- Chat - It's Fate

- Chat Passion

- Country Homes & Interiors

- Country Life

- Cycle Sport

- Cycling Active

- Cycling Weekly

- Decanter

- Essentials

- European Boat Builder

- Eventing

- Golf Monthly

- Goodtoknow

- Goodtoknow Recipes

- Homes & Gardens

- Horse

- Horse & Hound

- Housetohome

- IBI

- Ideal Home

- InStyle

- Livingetc

- Look

- Marie Claire

- Motor Boat & Yachting

- Motor Boats Monthly

- MBR (Motor Bike Rider)

- Mousebreaker

- NME

- Now

- Nuts

- Pick Me Up

- Practical Boat Owner

- Rugby World

- Shooting Gazette

- Shooting Times & Country Magazine

- Shootinguk

- Soaplife

- Sporting Gun

- Style at Home

- SuperYacht Business

- SuperYacht World

- The Field

- TrustedReviews

- TV & Satellite Week

- TV Easy

- TVTimes

- Uncut

- VolksWorld

- Wallpaper*

- What Digital Camera

- What's on TV

- Woman

- Woman&Home

- Woman's Own

- Woman's Weekly

- World Soccer

- Yachting Monthly

- Yachting World

- YBW.com

 

Task 3: Essay

To what extent should magazines be held responsible for the social ramifications of the representations they offer?

I’ve looked on the Internet and have managed to find five magazine covers that are clearly aimed at females, specifically teenage girls. There are many conventions that show they are directed at teenage girls.

The five examples I have chosen are:

                   1. Cosmo Girl featuring Amanda Bynes
             2. Teen Vogue featuring Victoria Justice

             3. Seventeen featuring Demi Lovato
             4. Shout featuring Jessie J
             5. Bliss featuring Taylor Swift

After analysing the magazine covers I have realised there are several conventions shown in all of them, that suggests they are aimed at teenage girls. For example the models that they have used, the colour schemes they have used and the types of stories in which they have included in the magazine.

Several conventions have been used such as puffs and plugs, the colour scheme used, the masthead and tag lines each of these things are used in every front cover of a magazine.

The colour schemes used in each of these magazines are very similar. Pink is one of the main colours used in each of these magazines. Stereotypically pink is generally applied to the female population. Four out of five of the magazines i have chosen have all used pink somewhere on the magazines front cover. This suggests that it is aimed at females and they have used pink to catch the eyes of their target audience. Seventeen magazine hasn’t used pink however they have still used a soften colour, orange is still often associated with females. in contrast to the type of colour scheme that is usually associated with men which is often red, black and blue.

A main component of a magazine would be the celebrities used. All the models/celebrities are well known so they are often recognised by the teenage girls. All the celebrities used are often young females between the ages of 19-27, which makes the magazine more appealing to the younger generation of girls. Victoria Justice is the youngest out of the five celebrities featured in the magazines I have chosen. She stars in a children/teenage show called Victorious which means she would be well recognised by teenage girls. The magazines have carefully selected the celebrities that they are featuring to appeal to teenagers. They will use celebrities that have little or no bad publicity, for example Victoria Justice starts in teen shows and films, and she’s never seen doing bad things that would be a bad influence on teens because they need to select stars that are seen as role models for young girls.

The types of stories in which they are using in the magazines also show that they are directed at young teenage girls. Most teenage girls are interested in the hottest gossip, the newest fashion trends, how to get perfect hair, how to apply make-up perfectly and how to have the perfect body. Each of these magazines demonstrates stories about each of these topics. For example the stories on the front cover of Seventeen magazines are, "Hair that makes you happy" "Look pretty now! Real-girl tricks for easy makeup..." "100+ Amazing new outfits" "Your 2012 hot-body plan" All these stories are associated with the same type of things that teenage girls worry about and are constantly talking about.

 

In conclusion after analysing the magazine covers it shows that the magazines could be responsible for a lot when it comes to the representations that are presented to teenage girls and the way in which teenager girls think they should look and how they feel about themselves. The stories that are used and the models/celebrities that are used could be affecting the way in which teenage girls view themselves and how they think others view them.

 

 

 

Task 2: Magazines & Audiences - Magazine Terminology

Masthead - This is the title of the magazine, its purpose is to catch the attention of the audience making them want to buy the magazine.
Colour Scheme - The colour scheme can be used to determine whether the magazine is focused on a male or female audience. The colour scheme helps to improve the features of the magazine. The colour changes may depend on the season in which it’s released.
Numbers - Numbers are often put on the front cover of the magazine to make it seem more interesting and catch the attention of the readers. Numbers catch the attention of the audience because it could be an offer or an amount of tips the magazine could have for you.
Pull Quote - This is a quote that the magazine has taken from the main story in the magazine, giving the audience a preview.
Main Cover Line - This is ordinarily the story that has at least a two page spread; it’s usually based around the centre of the cover and could also have a different font style and size.
Main Image - The main image is usually the main celebrity featured in the magazine. Their image covers a lot of the front cover which also catches the attention of the audience.
Puff - This could be anything that’s on the magazine front cover, that isn’t text. For example some sort of pattern, maybe flowers or butterflies. They are used to enhance the look of the magazine.
Plug - This is something that is used to give a quick glance at what the magazine has to offer the audience.
Date Line - This informs the audience about which edition they are buying, telling them whether it’s an up to date issue of the magazine or not.
Bar-code - The bar-code is usually on the front cover, it is used when the magazine is being purchased in the shops.
Price - The price of the magazine is normally found near the bar-code. However in some cases it could be found in the left third especially if the price has been reduced, this is because the left third is the first thing seen when the magazines are on the shelves.
Tag Line - This is the magazines main selling point, which is used to draw attention to the magazine.
Left Third - This is the main area of the magazine, as it is the part that is seen most by the audience when in shops. You will often find that the more interesting parts of the magazine will be placed in the left third. It will also have more information placed on this part than any other.
Serif Font - This is the main text that the magazine uses to increase their chances of having a bigger audience.
Sans Serif Font – This type of front is usually used for captions on the magazine.

Task 2: Magazines & Audiences - Magazine Analysis

I've decided to analyze the February 2012 Cosmopolitan magazine. This specific edition features Kim Kardashian, the story they are covering about her is "I wont be spending Valentines alone" Cosmopolitan releases a magazine every month.

Every magazine has a specific audience in mind this is known as a niche, they are easily differentiated. Cosmopolitans main target audience ranges from young too middle-agged women. There are multiple ways in which the magazine is directed specifically at female audiences.

The masthead in this edition is purple which is usually associated with women. This implies the magazine is targeted at women. The font used is big and bold which will stand out more when set alongside other magazines on shelves in shops. The font is also all in capitals meaning it's going to catch the attention of their audience a lot easier.

 

In this edition the celebrity that have chosen to feature is Kim Kardashion which is why she is the main image on the front cover, her head also covers over the masthead. This suggests that the magazine is confident enough to know that their audience can still recognise their magazine and not decide to buy another magazine that's in competition with them. By putting her head over the masthead it will catch the attention of more people especially those who are interested in the Celebrity being shown.

Cosmopolitan seem to have done this many times with their magazine.

 

Cosmopolitan is clearly aimed at women, this is shown through many features on the front cover. For example one of the highlighted stories are ‘The 90 minute rule – Make him hot for you’. This implies that the magazine has advice for women when it comes to men, therefor it is aimed at women.

         

                                               
In addition to this there are even more tips to help women when it comes to impressing men. There is another highlighted story but this time its tips to help women look good for a date night, guaranteeing that there will be results. This again shows that it’s aimed at women because it’s giving more tips to help them with relationships and dating.

 

When reading a magazine we trust that the information given is true and if it’s tips we believe that they will work. Whereas if we were to read something on the internet we are less likely to believe what is written, this is why so many women buy these types of magazines because they believe the tips they are given will work and it’s worth trying them. When offers are given on magazines that can help women save money with beauty treatments ect they are also more likely to buy the magazine which is why a lot of magazines aimed at women will often have some sort of offer.

In conclusion it is very clear that Cosmopolitan is aimed at women as being the main target audience for the magazine. Magazines all have a specific purpose and this magazine in particular is created for help and advice for women with many different aspects of the female life and beauty racemes.