This magazine research document analyzes the front covers and spreads of 3 entertainment magazines - Entertainment Weekly, Empire Australasia, and Screen International. It examines elements like colors, fonts, images, text ratio and style to understand the target audiences and key features. The research found commonalities like bold text, images, and spoiler alerts. Elements from the research like color, graphics, fonts and balanced text/image ratio will be applied to the author's own magazine work.

1. Research
Harry

2. Existing Product
Front cover Double Page Spread
Audience Profile

3. Existing Product front page analysis
Masthead
Cover lines
Bold text which
makes the
titles stand out,
making it easy
to read
This is an entertainment magazine that’s aimed at teenage boys. This is because of the colours, fonts and images that are used.
The front cover has an Image which attracts the audiences attention. It’s an action shot which makes it relevant to the readers of the magazine.
The shot has been taken using a green screen and the background which looks like it’s been taken from an action film which is something
identifiable to the target audience.
The magazine has big bold text in yellow which stands out against the background colour. The colour jumps out at the audience. The 3D font on
the ‘defenders’ text reminds me of marvel magazines because of it’s style which will appeal directly to the audience who like superheroes.
The phrase ‘mash up’ is more likely to be something young people will say, which connects to the young audience. This makes it have an informal
feel which will appeal to this audience.
There is less text and more image although it doesn’t look like it because the text is big and bold. Young people may find large amounts of text
unattractive and more likely to be drawn in with the use of images.
Looking at the front cover, it makes me think that the magazine is about action/superhero films in general, because of the styles and the way it
looks.
This makes the audience want to read it because it says ‘Exclusive first look at marvel superheroes’ making the reader feel they have access to
spoiler alerts/inside information.
Action shot on the
front cover

4. Double page analysisThe red bar at the top of the page links back to the red magazine title on the front cover, helping
to link the magazine as one big unit.
The photos are scenes from the films the article is about. The biggest image is an interesting
close up of a female character.
The text/picture ratio is fairly balanced. The images are large and are attracting the readers
attention, whereas the text is very small because the producer wants to cover the different
films.
The colour and style of the font suggests the article is more factual. Some of the words create an
informal style. The article has sub-headings to organise the text and ’chunks’ down the
information, making it easier to read.
The ‘Buzz Feed’ graphic indicates there is a big exclusive article grabbing the readers attention to
get them to read it. This is a symbol that’s recognisable to younger people so they feel reassured
it’s a magazine for them.
Some of the words/language used in the articles may appeal to the younger audience because
of its informality. (e.g. ’fest, trippy’).

5. Existing Product
Front cover Double Page Spread
Audience Profile

6. Existing Product front page analysis
This magazine is aimed at male and female approximately age 18-30. The types of films
mentioned on the front cover will appeal to this age group and the people mentioned are
famous celebrities identifiable to this age group. Although the front cover makes it look like it’s
aimed at teenagers/adults, it has a lot of images which are suitable for children to look at. The
magazine has a wide range of films and informs the audience because it talks about what
they’re about and which actors are in it.
Types of content
From looking at the front cover, it looks like the shot has been taken using a green screen, and
the background has been merged together with two images from an action film. The orange and
blue backgrounds are contrasting and they suggest heat versus cold/earth and fire.
To me, the size of the text fills 2/3 of the page, which reaches out to the slightly older age group,
while the image of wonder woman fills 1/3 of the page. The powerful image of wonder woman
will appeal to both men and women because they might wonder how she got that look or they
might be attracted to her.
The world exclusive sub-heading tells the reader there is special information about the movie,
which intrigues the audience to read it. The constant use of exclamation marks perhaps will
appeal to the younger audience because it’s often recognisable in younger people

7. Double page analysis
• As the readers read through the article, they’ll realize the magazine is aimed at
children as well because it has children’s films in it (e.g. The Lego Movie).
• The use of yellow around the edges links the section to the same subject on the
previous pages, letting the reader know what section they are reading.
• The text/picture ratio is balanced. The images are fairly big which grabs the
readers attention, getting them to want to read what the image is telling them.
The text is fairly small because the producer wants to talk about the movies the
images represent.
• The column layout makes the articles look organised and professional, so it’s easier
for the reader to read through the text. Small heading show where films are being
talked about.
• The star rating feature is used to give a rating of the film, so the reader can decide
whether they want to watch it or not. This shows the reader that it’s a review
article.

8. Existing Product
Front cover Double Page Spread
Audience Profile

9. Existing Product front page analysis
Looking at the front of the magazine, it looks like it’s aimed at men aged between 16-30 because of the
colours, images and words it uses. The colours and the style of the font makes it look grown up and the
image makes it look more masculine.
text/picture ratio: There is a large image which fills ¾ of the page making the front cover stand out. Whereas
the text fills the other ¼ . This grabs the audience’s attention because they want to know what the image
represents.
The colour scheme looks very plain. Although the font colour is red, the background colour could have been
changed, making it stand out and look more interesting to look at.
The font choice looks very boring, but it’s easy to read. It could be better by choosing another font that’s
easy to read, but looks more interesting to look at and attracts the audience’s attention. The title of the
magazine makes it sound like it talks about films all around the world because it’s called ‘SCREEN
INTERNATIONAL’.
The photo looks like it’s been shot out in a public area because there is mirroring in the binocular’s which
has people in it. It looks like it’s been taken using a night-vision setting because it’s shining green on the
binocular’s, making it interesting to look at.
Looking at the image, it looks like it symbolizes war because the person in the shot looks like he’s wearing an
army helmet and uniform. This gives me the impression that the producer wants to raise awareness of the
wars and reach out to the audience with a sensible image.

10. Double page analysis
• The double pages are set out in columns, making it look really organized and
professional, which makes it easier to read. The producers have put text on one
side and images on the other.
• The colour scheme looks very plain – there’s a white background and black text
against it, which is traditional, but other colours could have been used to make it
look more inviting.
• The text/picture ratio is there is more text than images. Although it’s hard to see,
the text one the left side is very small, meaning there’s lots of writing. Whereas on
the right side, there is less than 10 images. There could have been more images
because that’s what the audience might want to see more of.
• The writing style the producers chosen is informal because it tells the audience
about the films on the other side of the page. Also, they’ve chosen a font which is
easy to read and stands out on the page.
• This makes the audience want to buy the magazine because as well as informing
the readers, it’s advertising the films as well, making them decide whether they
want to watch them or not.

11. Research Analysis
• What common features do the researched products have?
– The most common feature the magazines use is images and colour
because it makes the front cover stand out. Other features the
magazine has in common is bold text so it stands out and it’s easy to
read. They all include spoiler alerts so it draws the readers attention in
and makes them want to read the particular article in the magazine.
• What aspects of the research will you include within your on work?
Some of the features I will include in my magazine is colour to make it stand
out and look modern and professional. I will include design text which has a
link to the magazine theme – this will be used for the masthead. I will include
images and graphics to show the subject of what each article is talking about.
I will use different fonts and colours for each subject I talk about – this will
make the double page spread stand out and look colourful, and I will use bold
subheadings to let the audience know what subject they’re reading.

12. Bibliography

13. Bibliography
1. comics2017. (2017). Entertainment Weekly Defenders. Available:
https://issuu.com/comics2017/docs/entertainment_weekly_january_20
_201. Last accessed 20/11/2018.
2. Xang Tung Le. (2017). Empire australasia march 2017 vk com
stopthepress . Available: https://issuu.com/dong-ho-op-chinh-
hang/docs/empire_australasia_march_2017_vk_co. Last accessed
20/11/2018.
3. Media Business Insight. (2016). Screen Cannes Product Guide 2016
. Available: https://issuu.com/mb-
insight/docs/screen_cannes_product_guide_2016lr. Last accessed
20/11/2018.