1. MAGAZINES: PRINT & DIGITAL
• For my genre of magazine I chose music and fashion. I chose these genre as I believe I am part of the demographic
buying into both print and digital music magazines.
• Although the demographic does have a wide spectrum in age, it is split depending on the magazine at hand.
• A magazine like rolling stone may bring in a older audience as it is a magazine that has been issued for a very long
time spanning over decades of artists and genres, both print and digital.
• Then there are magazines like NME which is more driven by teenage culture and music, and what music is about to
be big amongst teenagers.
• Print magazines are more likely to catch the eyes of their audiences as they are likely in a shop looking at the
magazines they have, so having aimed a magazine to catch a readers eye immediately as they look at it, this can be
done by going outside the codes and conventions of a magazine in said genre, or also by having a huge star on the
cover that everyone knows.
• Also a headline that would turn heads is also going to get a reader engaged immediately as they will want to read
more.
2. PROS AND CONS
Print Digital
Cons Pros
-Can be seen as
outdated/isn’t as big of a
audience as there once was
-Expensive to produce
-Printed media cannot
capture the sound and
movement required by an
audience raised on the audio
and video of television and
the Internet.
--In print media, your ad may
be squashed among other
advertisements, a very
common practice in print
media.
-Gives a authentic feel to
buyers who may collect every
issue of magazines
-If you are targeting a
particular geographical area,
you can do so with ease.
-Having a physical copy of a
magazine can mean more to
someone than just on a
screen.
Pros Cons
.
-Digital magazines are
available anywhere and
anytime with the internet.
- huge potential for
monetization. The companies
producing them can sell a
variety of advertisement
spaces to a number of
different advertisers,
switching the ads and
negotiating differently for
every new issue to see what is
responded to well and makes
both sides some money.
- They don’t quite have the same appeal, a
physical copy can be literally flicked
through and can also hold some
sentimental value to the reader.
- Digital magazines can be harder for
people to read than printed magazines as
it demands that readers have the ability
to zoom in and out and
overcome technological hurdles such as
outdated software, poor internet
connection and download speeds.
- Some websites can only be viewed in
certain countries, so despite the digital
reach, the number of viewers could be
restricted.
3. TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS
• Planning your content - The process often begins with the editor and the publisher deciding a date that the magazine will
reach the reader, they must make sure the printers and distributers will be able to also meet these dates that are decided.
• Page size – a page size must be determined to make sure the lengths, width and text size are compatible for the pages, or a
lot of time the size is first determines and the magazine is structured around the initial page size.
• Project budget – a budget must be determined so the editor and publisher can work what they want into the magazine
under the budget at hand.
• The right graphic files/size – The correct resolution, size, format and more must all be determined to make sure the
magazine has no errors or problems after printing because a file may be incorrect but looks okay on the computer but once
printed may come out wrong.
• How green can you go? - Thinking eco-wise is important nowadays as it effects a lot of people who care and may read the
magazine.
• Digital magazines must consider how there magazine will look/translate to every single device there is, for example, what
looks good on a tablet may not translate the same way on phone or a computer.
• Print magazines must make cost effective decisions that will help them strive for quality but also help them marginalise
profits to the best they possibly can.
• The magazine must either look for a publisher and distributor to hold their magazine in stores like WH Smith or Asda, or
release it independtly via subscriptions in the post.
• Alternatively they can go straight to releasing on the internet and have readers pay to download the magazine and or make
money from ads on the webpage and in the magazine itself.
4. Print - Front
Here I have a issue of GQ Australia covered by Kendrick Lamar, GQ is a very established publication and
has been around since the 1930s, and its Logo/font is iconic and instantly recognizable, this is why they
don’t have too much going on in the masthead. There tag lines ‘Gentlemen's quarterly’ and ‘sharper.
Smarter. Better.’ tells the reader this is a quarterly released magazine and has modernized and kept with
the times of its newer magazine rivals. The cover is very straight to the point it is downplayed and
features a grey/white colour scheme with Kendrick Lamar's face being the main focus point, even though
this is a ideally fashion magazine Kendrick is dressed down, in a grey t shirt and grey hoodie. Kendrick is
perceived as a very humble person and tends to stay away from most the flashy lifestyle other rappers
base their image off. The lighter colour scheme could also have been put in place to contrast with
Kendrick being black, he takes much pride in this and a lot of the themes in his music are black
orientated and he loves to lift up the black community in anyway he can often diving into deep politic
issues in his music. Underneath His name we have ‘Poet, Pulitzer-winner, genius’ this keeps up with GQs
classy sophisticated themes and also holds Kendrick to a high regard setting him aside from other artists
by receiving such an award like the pultizer. The sell lines of this cover appeal to the typical readers of
this magazine like ‘The big style issue’ ‘Killer trends, watches, shoes and more’ the typical readers of this
magazine would be considered ‘aspirers’ and ‘suceceders’, aspirers are young and hungry for success so
reading a magazine like GQ which covers successful and wealthy people as well as business and style is
perfect for them and a succeeder may already be established in his field but wants to stay up to the
times with style and business so buys into GQ to do so. There is also a sell line reading ‘losing streak,
AFLs hidden gambling crisis’ which covers a sporty demographic who may also be buying into this
magazine as they cover sporting issues and controversies as well as general health, well being and diet.
The bar code here is not visible as its displayed on the back of the magazine, I think this is to keep the
cover from getting too messy as the whole aesthetic of GQ is its clean and sleek look. The social grade of
those buying into GQ would be lower-middle class to upper-middle class men as these are men who are
established in their career and fields but want to keep up with the current times and trends to improve
their selves anyway they can. GQ Is available in most big stores that sell magazines and also for delivery
upon subscription, so it is no task to find a issue for the reader, and they may even stumble across it
without looking.
This cover is conventional cover for GQ magazine and follows conventions of a typical shot of the cover
star (mid shot) with a descriptive headline describing the great year and career he had.
5. Drop capital, this is used to
mark the start point of the
body of the article. The drop
capital really brings emphasis
to the beginning of the
interview, like something
important is about to take
place and you must pay
attention.
Main/
Dominant
image – this is the main image as it is the
artist being interviewed in then picture, he has
his arms crossed and is looking at the camera,
the lighting is very subtle and played down,
this shows the image is straight to the point
and is just a introduction to the artist.
Quotation/summary Gives insight into what the interview will cover.
This particular quote will draw the reader into the main article as it
shows a nervous side of Cudi which some people may not even think
he has seen as how big of a celebrity he is. It also mentions Jay-Z,
another huge celebrity who also makes rap music, so is interesting to
the reader and demographic who has bought this magazine as it fits
their interests.
Body – the body of text
containing all of the
interviews information.
The way this double
spread is done is half and
half with image and text,
the first page is the photo
and second is the
interview, the way I
interpret this is that they
are giving us the artist (in
this case Cudi) and then
the interview, almost like
here is the person and
here is what he has to say.
There is both contrast in
the title and picture, there
is a dark and white
contrast between the two
sides of the page and
clashing contrasts with the
titles and pictures also, this
could be a interpretation
of his music as he mixes
dark and happy themes
simultaneously. There are
also two fonts used which
are contrasting to also
again reciprocate the
themes of light and dark,
one is bold and black, the
other is almost like
informal handwriting in
white.
Print - Double spread
There is no folio, the magazine is challenging the norms of where there
would normally be a page number.
This double page spread strays from codes and conventions in a double
page spread. We can see rather than one cohesive theme and aesthetic
it is split up inyo dark and light themes, also the fonts are polar
opposites to ach other, reinforcing the divided themes in this double
page spread
6. DIGITAL - FRONTHere I have a digital version of a Rolling Stone cover covered by Thom Yorke of Radiohead. We
can see in the masthead along side the iconic Rolling stone logo there is a ‘50th anniversary
sticker’ in the top right indicating to the reader this is a special year for rolling stone so they
might have more content to read in the magazine, going off the cover and headlines we can
see this is true and that this issue will contain some throwback material in it, they are revisiting
Radiohead’s ‘ok computer’ which is considered a classic album. This immediately gives a
nostalgic vibe to the reader, also it matches with the cold themes of the album contrasting
between harsh black and white, and the contrasting red in the mast head and the album title.
The image of Thom Yorke is very hash, irrupt and quite chaotic, he is pictured in the dominant
image doing what looks like a scream at the top of his lungs. The other sell lines on this cover
also seem to point to nostalgic themes, like the Chris Cornell sell line which is boxed off to its
own section as it is a memorial, Chris Cornell was part of some big bands in the 90s including
soundgarden and audioslave. So this provokes emotion in the reader as they may have
memories attached to his work and seeing he has died such tragic death will provoke
emotions. The majority of Text used is bold to catch the readers eyes to specific sell lines, like
‘10 best tv shows to watch this summer’ as this is something the reader is likely to want to
delve more into. Then there are sell lines that are the same font but not bold as are less
important, because they aren't really a selling point/line but more so just a artist covered in the
magazine e.g. ‘halsey’. I would say the target audience for this magazine would be both male
and female, middle age who are looking to delve into the favorite music of their youth with
iconic bands from the 90s like radiohead, audioslave and U2.
The class would be middle to lower-middle class as the people who are so into these type of
music may be looking for some sort of escapism by getting lost in the ethereal music of their
favorite bands and also the mystery that hang over the head of people like Thom Yorker who
doesn't put that much of himself put there. The white background keeps the cover minimal and
focused on Thom and his brassness on the cover. The psychographics of this magazine would
be strugglers as they are looking for ways to escape and relax in a world other than their own.
The purpose of this magazine is to follow cult followed music and give perspective on some
classic music years beyond release.
7. DIGITAL - DOUBLEPAGE
The drop capital is used for effect here, to let the reader
know a important part of the article may be beginning,
they may do this with certain parts of the article to get
the reader immersed in a important part of the article
as soon as they glance over it.
The quote picked
here was intentional I
think, because it is so
random and would
make me double
take if I didn’t know
the context of what
was being said in the
quote, so this is used
to grab readers
attention if they have
just
Decided to flick
through the issue of
this digital magazine.
Caption for the
image
The purpose of the folio
is to show the page
number, day and date of
the issue at hand and tell
the reader how far into
their read they are.
The body of
text here
contains a
interview and
introspective
look at
Radiohead
themselves,
the members,
how modern
life touring is
and more.
Dominant
image
The dominant image and caption go
hand in hand. The reader first sees
the energetic image of Thom Yorke
performing, looking very in the
moment, so they may wonder what
is the context behind this image,
this is what the caption is for, some
contextual information that will add
the appeal of the image and give it
even more meaning/effectiveness to
the reader. We can see the caption
reads that Thom is performing at a
festival and enjoying himself, adding
to the raw passion we can already
see in the image.
Rolling Stone can be found on any major online publishing store for subscription or single purchase, it can
also be found physically in major stores, I believe Rolling Stone can be found pretty easily and readers may
even stumble across it due to its wide availability.
