The front covers of three nature and outdoor magazines were analyzed to understand common features and aspects that could inform future magazine work. Each magazine cover prominently featured nature photography with green and blue colors. While the featured articles inside did not directly relate to the covers, double-page spreads within carried similarities like mixing text and photos on topics covered. Elements like prominent photography, color themes, and double-page article formatting will be considered for a magazine being developed about a chosen subject like a sculpture park.

1. Research
David Lee

2. Existing Product
Front cover Double Page Spread
Audience Profile

3. Existing Product - Annotations
The front cover of this countryside-based magazine, The Spirit of Ireland, prominently features a picture (this is commonly known as the feature article
picture) that has presumably been taken on location of a thatched cottage with a clear blue sky looming overhead in the background as a group of sheep and
lambs in a field of green grass look out into the distance beyond. In this observer’s opinion, this is a particularly appropriate visual choice as well as an
aesthetic one as it depicts the countryside as being peaceful, harmonious and tranquil, free from the disturbances and troubles of the city. The masthead of
the magazine, namely the title itself, is compromised of two completely different fonts as evidenced by the disparate colours used to create it, with one
specifically created to appear handwritten, a technique that is also prominent in the plug and is repeated at different points in the magazine, particularly in
an article about birds of prey. This could potentially be seen as a symbolic metaphor for the countryside itself, with the green text acting as the grass and
trees that often accompany the countryside’s scenery and the white text (due to its position) as the clouds floating across the otherwise clear blue sky. As
many of the people who read this magazine will most likely be farmers or holidaymakers (to name but two examples), they will be keen to know more about
the “delights” in Cork and Kerry contained with its pages or, if they have an interest in birds, they will no doubt be intrigued by the article contained on pages
58-59 about the largest birds of prey centre in Ireland.
While the article titled ”Flying High” is not the featured one that was advertised on the magazine’s front cover, it does, however, carry a multitude of features
inherent in such articles, such as the article’s text being spread over two pages. In magazine vernacular, this is commonly known as a double-page spread and
is typically but not always found halfway through a magazine or newspaper. In the process, this results in the two-page spread becoming a centre spread. In
this example of a double-page spread, the article studies in detail what is known to be the largest birds of prey centre in the whole of Ireland with pictures
spread throughout the article to show how popular the birds are with visitors with an annotation on the right page being used to emphasise this point.
Notably, the pictures have been taken during a particularly sunny day in Ireland, with colours such as blue and green taking particular prominence, as with the
magazine’s front cover. This is particularly noticeable in both the first and second, respectively, in which two visiting children can be seen marveling at a snake
as it makes its way through the crowd and an eagle lands on to the gauntleted hand of one of the centre’s staff members.

4. Existing Product
Front cover Double Page Spread
Audience Profile

5. Existing Product - Annotations
The front cover of this nature-based magazine, BBC Wildlife, prominently displays a lynx, a breed of cat previously believed to have become extinct thousands
of years ago, sitting comfortably amongst an overgrowth of greenery such as grass, leaves and plants. While it is impossible to determine the exact location in
which the picture was taken, due to the greenery in the picture being partially blurred out, it is likely to have been bred in captivity and, as a result, is enjoying
a few moments of peace in the undergrowth before returning to the conservationists looking after it. To the left-hand side of the magazine, positioned
directly underneath the masthead, reads the headline ”Return of the Lynx”, the final word of which has been created using yellow lettering, not just to
differentiate itself from the rest of the headline (which is predominantly white lettering, albeit using the same font) but also to stress its importance to the
magazine itself. In doing this, the publishers have effectively made the picture of this fascinating creature the feature article photo of this issue. Further
adding to the emphasis placed upon the creature in both the picture and the headline, anchorage has been placed directly underneath the headline which, as
follows, reads, ”What can Britain learn from Europe’s rewilding success?” As many of the magazine’s readers will be conservationists, nature reserve
volunteers and/or environmental activists, this open-ended question will undoubtedly entice them into reading more about the magnificent creature, how
efforts are being made across the world to reintroduce the lynx into the wild and, based on the evidence that has been provided, draw their own conclusion.
In this particular double-page spread, owing to the magazine’s main focus on nature, the content of this spread focuses completely on the practice of
composting and how it can be adapted to benefit wildlife. Throughout the entirety of the spread, the article explores the importance of composting to plants
and (as mentioned above) wildlife and is even mentioned, although not explicitly, as an environmental alternative/version of recycling with the first
paragraph of the answer section, in response to the question “How can compost work for wildlife?”, stating, “By putting your peelings and cuttings on the
kerbside, you are doing yourself out of a valuable resource.” To add to this, a tips section on how to create your own compost heap suggests adding various
suitable items that could help insects to thrive including but not limited to teabags, manure, coffee grounds and eggshells. The picture that is displayed at the
centre of the spread seems to have been taken, as with the previous double page spread, on a sunny day, albeit in a different location. This is reinforced by
the presence of a wooden box designed to contain compost (possibly referencing several mentions of this practice earlier in the article), greenery
accompanying the surrounding environment, such as leaves, cabbages and grass and a fence over which large strands of ivy seem to growing. Finally, there
are two sections in the bottom corner of the magazine, the first of which provides a suggestion of which species to look out for in your compost heap while
the second provides a step-by-step guide on how to set said compost heap up.

6. Existing Product
Front cover Double Page Spread
Audience Profile

7. Existing Product – Annotations
The front cover of this outdoor-based magazine, The Great Outdoors, prominently displays a view of a mountainous landscape while an unidentified man,
most likely on a camping holiday based on the gear that he is wearing, finishes scaling the rocky path he is walking on before looking out-of-picture to gaze
upon what may possibly be a beautiful view. Unlike the first two magazine cover pictures, however, which were taken in broad daylight, this picture appears
to have been taken during the early stages of sunset, thereby allowing for a much more wider and, by extension, diverse range of colours, such as orange and
red, which are typically known to show up during the initial stages of a real-life sunset. At the top of a magazine, a selling line is used, comprised of only
singular words, to both advertise what is contained within the magazine’s pages and entice the viewer into buying it. The headline, located directly
underneath the masthead (the title of the magazine itself) is comprised of a singular word, similar to the approach taken in the creation of the selling line:
”Majestic.” However, the headline takes a considerably bolder approach through the utilization of capital letters, a most likely aesthetic decision made by the
creators to stress its importance to the magazine as an article, as solidified by the following anchorage, ”Where to see Scotland’s best mountain views.” As
this magazine would most likely appeal to walkers, holidaymakers and mountain bike riders (to name a good few examples), this will certainly draw them into
finding out which mountain views the magazine has recommended specifically.
As this magazine focuses on a multitude of different aspects, mainly due to its nature as an outdoors magazine, the writer of this double-page spread has ultimately
decided to focus his attention on mountain walks, specifically one he himself he embarked on around Cnicht, a mountain located in the northwest region of Wales in
Snowdonia. Within the article, the writer describes in full detail the length of the grueling walk, clocking in at a whopping 689m, with an option to do an even longer
circuit which encompasses Creosor itself, where the walk originates and also incorporates the hills of Moelwyns Mawr and Bach, thereby allowing the explorer to see
some of the spectacular views the mountainside has to offer, before heading back to the main village for something to eat. Additionally, the writer also reveals that
when the walk itself took place, the elements were not particularly forgiving with wind and rain dominating the surrounding environment, forcing him to adapt to the
extremities. This, in itself, cautions not just the reader but anyone seeking to go on a walking holiday that the biggest and most ambitious mountain walks are not
necessarily the best and that, in the event, they wish to embark on such a walk they must be prepared for whatever the weather will throw at them.

8. Research Analysis
• What common features do the researched products have?
– Each of the chosen magazines, while focusing on three completely different aspects of life, are united by the collective
themes of adventure and environmental conservation. Green and blue colours are feature prominently in both the
double-page spreads and the magazine covers, although the blue is slightly subdued in one of them, most likely as a result
of the picture being taken during sunset. However, while green is omitted from one cover, it is prominent in the other
although it is used only as a backdrop, with the lynx being the centre of attention. Both colours are combined and
featured prominently on the front cover of The Spirit of Ireland, in the form of grass situated in a grazing field for sheep
and an almost clear blue sky.
– While the double-page spreads in each of the magazines are not linked to the main feature article, which is often the
centrepiece of a magazine itself and can take up two pages or more if needed, they do carry a number of similarities with
said feature, with text regularly being interspersed with pictures pertinent to the subject the spread is focusing on. In the
countryside magazine The Spirit of Ireland, it is Eagles Flying, a birds of prey centre first founded in 1999 and is described
in the article as being “the largest centre for birds of prey and owls in the country.” In the BBC Wildlife issue focusing on
the conservational efforts to bring the lynx back into the world, the double-page spread focuses on how to put together a
self-made compost heap along with tips on what to incorporate and what not to incorporate into it. Finally, in the
outdoor-based magazine The Great Outdoors, which, true to its name, focuses on several aspects of outdoor living, the
double-page spread focuses on mountain walks, namely one that the author himself undertook on a rainy December
morning which, in turn inspired him to write the article.
• What aspects of the research will you include within your on work?
– While the main feature article is not advertised on most of the magazine’s front covers, save for BBC Wildlife which
prominently displays the lynx as the subject of the magazine, I plan to take a picture of the chosen subject for my
magazine which I will then attach to the front cover. As I continue to develop my magazine, I will also include the same
picture (or similar ones thereof) to guide me with the creation of my double-page spread.
– Once I have decided upon the subject that I will cover in my finished magazine, I will set about developing the magazine’s
title (or masthead) in bold, clear lettering with appropriate text colour to accompany the picture of my chosen subject i.e.
a picture of a sculpture park would most likely feature a rusted brown colour scheme and possibly be given the title, “The
Art of Sculpting”, accompanied by a double-page piece of how influential sculptists such as Barbara Hepworth have
inspired others in following a similar profession.

9. Bibliography

10. Bibliography
1. StStilinski . (2015). BBC Wildlife - How Can Compost
Work for Wildlife?. Available:
https://issuu.com/ststilinski/docs/bbc_wildlife_magaz
ine_-_spring_2015. Last accessed 8th January 2020.
2. Perrin, Jim. (2017). The Great Outdoors - Mountain
Portrait: Cincht. Available:
https://issuu.com/rtrtbrbrbrre/docs/17dfvdvf. Last
accessed 13th January 2020.
3. Quinn, Vannesa. (2018). The Spirit of Ireland - Flying
High. Available:
https://issuu.com/vquinn/docs/soisum18_web. Last
accessed 6th January 2020.