Own magzine analysis

1. Masthead
The masthead is the title of the magazine. It is big and
bold to show the importance of the magazine. The
reason it is behind the artist is because it is a well
known magazine brand and can be easily read. The
boldness and scale of the title shows that this is the
most important part of the magazine.
Rule of Thirds
The rule of thirds are the alignment of the main image and
cover lines. The middle part is called the “hot spot”
because the eye is drawn to the centre of the magazine,
whilst the dead space is filled with other interesting parts
such as the cover lines.
Cover Lines
The cover lines are the titles on the magazines that
represent the stories featured inside. The colour of
each cover line is determined by the main image to
show a consistency in the colour scheme.
Main Cover line
The main cover line is the main story on the cover.
Usually it is the most predominant and biggest title you
see. It links with the main image and that is called
‘Anchoring’
Bar code
The bar code is the scanning point.
Layout
The layout is how everything is positioned. The layout of
this magazine is neatly equal and looks professional that
way.
Mise-en-scene
Mise-en-scene is to do with the influence of the main
image. The objects and colours in the main image reflect
the overall genre of the magazine. In this magazine the
colour scheme is feminine and soft to compliment the
artist, yet has hints of masculine tones to reflect the genre.
Main Image
The main image the image on the front cover. In this
magazine, the shot used is a medium long shot, that
shows half of the artists body. Also the artist is giving the
audience direct address, which is important for attracting
the public because it singles you out. This means that you
are more likely to buy the magazine because the artist is
looking at ‘you’.
Strap line
The strap line is the line of text below or above the
magazine and it shows what the extra features are. This is
important for the reader because they can quickly skim
read the features without opening it. It adds interest
because the magazine can give gifts by saying ‘Posters
inside’ which could be really attractive for the reader.
Niche Market/Target Audience
Niche Marketing is when you advertise or sell to a specific
audience. In this magazine, you can easily tell this
magazine is aimed at a female audience who enjoy
rap/hip-hop. The artist on the front represents the
audience as being from a minority background. The class
the magazine is appealing to is middle class because of
the informality of the language.

2. Layout
The layout is the way how things are positioned. In this
magazine, the layout is very basic but it makes things look
minimalistic and interesting as it doesn’t look like an
average contents page. The way the artist is posing is
around the text and makes the reader look at what is
being featured. The features are together and not spread
out to show the full image of the artist.
Fonts
The fonts are the different styles of the text. The features
and the fashion are both in various fonts to show the
differentiation of each subject. The effect this gives is it
makes it look separate from the rest of the text and
easier to read.
Mode of Address/Language used
The mode of language is how the text is written. This means
that the text could either be formal or informal. Here it is
informal due to the relaxed language used ‘The white boy
who turned you out’. This is important as it relates to the
genre and target audience.
Article Titles/Content
The article titles show you what is inside the magazine. In
‘Vibe’ the titles are simple titles in black fancy font to
attract the reader on what Is being featured. This is
effective because it makes the reader want to look inside
the magazine.
Main Heading/Title
The main heading is the main title of the page. The title
here is scaled to be really big and not evenly centred. But
this is to show off the artist in the background. The fact that
it looks unusual makes the reader want to dwell on this
page to see what else is being promoted.
Page Numbers
The page umbers are usually in the bottom right hand
corner, they show you what page you are in. The reason
they are so small is because they aren’t so importance and
shouldn’t take as much space as something else should.
Brand Identity
The brand identity is usually a logo to show you what brand
you are seeing. In this magazine, the bottom of the
magazine includes the name of the brand ‘Vibe’ to show
the significance of the magazine itself.
Issue Number
The issue number shows you what issue of the magazine it
is. In ‘Vibe’ it is presented at the bottom as it is not the
most important part.
Main Image
The main image is the main picture in the background. Here
the main image is the artist from the front cover. This links
the magazine together. Also magazines do not usually have
the image this big because the content are the not
important part of this page but in this scenario, the artist
has a special feature.

3. By line
This shows who the article is written
by. This is also printed really small
because it doesn’t really matter to
the reader as such.
Quotations and grab quotes
These are enlarged quotes fitted inside the
text to show what is in the article. These are
effective because they give you a a taste of
what is in the article. Usually the grab quotes
are really interesting and evoke some mystery
to why the artist says the quote.
Mode of address
The mode of address is the
tone of the article. It is
usually informal. In this
article it says ‘Indulging in a
shit talking game of spades’
This is informal because it
includes a swear word that
could describe the life of the
artist and how informal his
lifestyle is
Overall Impression
To be honest, I don’t think
the style of the article suits
the artist. The artist is known
for rap and hip-hop but the
article looks too basic for his
type of music and his style. I
think the features were used
well because you can clearly
see the artist and the article
as separate. The thing I
found was that there was no
mise en scene in the
background which could of
helped the overall
impression.
Design
The design is the setting and colour of
the article. The design is basic and
straight to the point. Personally I do not
find this attractive or appealing because
it looks too minimalistic. Although, the
colour scheme does actually match which
make it look consistent
Basic Layout
The basic layout is how it is
positioned. The article is split into
two parts, the image and the article.
This looks straightforward and easy
for the reader to locate. I can not
actually see a grid when viewing this
double page spread because the
article is not centred properly
Column width and positioning
The column width is the spacing between the text. This
is important because the alignment shows the
paragraphs that are featured. For the reader this looks
really good because they can distinguish each
paragraph bit by bit.
Use of images
The use of images establishes the link between
the text and the photos. This is effective because
the text and the images are as one. It is important
for a magazine to do this correctly otherwise the
reader would be confused. In this magazine, the
artist is mentioned in the text frequently and the
image links to the text because of that.
Font and type size
Font and type size are the style and scale of the text. These
are important in presenting the article because they add
some informality and creativeness to the article overall.
They also tell the reader where the article begins and ends.