The document analyzes potential magazine names - "The Eye", "The Clique", and "NE Culture". For each name, strengths and weaknesses are considered from literal, visual, and audience appeal perspectives. "The Clique" is determined to be the best option, having tested positively in a social media poll of the target audience, fitting well visually on mock magazine covers, and relating well to the intended community focus of the publication. While "NE Culture" was the second choice, "The Clique" is selected as the finalized magazine name.

1. TOP 3: Strengths and weaknesses
of potential magazine names
Zoe Toase

2. THE EYE
Strengths
• Suggests the magazine looks at a wide range of topics.
• Suggests it has great insight into everything regional and a great vision for what the audience will want to see.
• It is short and snappy and will therefore resonate with the audience.
• As a verb it means to look closely at something which suggests the magazine has lots of content.
• Synonyms of the word eye include study, view and observe which implies all the content will be well detailed and
thorough.
• Eye can be used as a metaphor to suggest the magazine holds the view of the audience therefore offers
everything they would want to see.
• Straplines can successful link to the phrase The Eye such as “A vision of the North East”
• I categorised this word in my mind map as unique, exclusive and broad.
Weaknesses
• A negative to the word eye is that it has no direct regional link however if I used this masthead I would
accompany it with the strapline "A vision of the north east" as this play on words links really well and is relatable
to the region.
• There is no regional link to the word EYE therefore people might find it hard to associate to the north east.
• The Eye also sounds a bit like a name for a newspaper and therefore may be too formal for my young and modern
audience.

3. THE CLIQUE
Strengths:
• A clique is a small close-knit group of people who share common interests. This is relatable to the region and
suggests that the magazine would be personal, relatable and dedicated to locals.
• It is a name that is often used to refer to fan groups or friendship groups which would show a strong connection
between the magazine and the reader. This is specifically important for a regional magazine that thrives from
consumer recommendation.
• Each Clique will usually have a specific style or unique taste that everyone shares - in this instance it will be the
region of the north east, cultural topics and contemporary style. Clique is also a very modern word often used in
schools and universities therefore is relevant to my audience and contemporary style.
• The word sounds like "CLEEK" which is an onomatopoeia word that resonates better in peoples minds. The magazine
KERRANG uses onomatopoeia to stand out from other magazines and be more memorable therefore I can expect this
to be a successful trait
• Suggests that the magazine will be community orientated which is very important for a regional magazine.
• I categorised this word in my mind map as modern audience as the term is very youthful and definitely used
constantly by todays society especially on social media.
Weaknesses
• A negative to the word clique is that it can often be stereotyped as an exclusive group that is snobby towards new
comers. This could maybe alienate certain members of the audience who may feel unwelcome however due to my
wide range of sub-genres I feel there will definitely be something of interest for everyone therefore the community
will be very diverse.
• Another negative is that it has no direct link to the region and therefore at first instance would be hard to attach it to
a certain community. Despite this, I can overcome the issue by creating a regional strapline that will be featured with
the masthead. This could either be “A VISION OF THE NORTH EAST” “THE NORTH EAST CULTURE MAGAZINE” etc.

4. NE CULTURE
Strengths
• The phrase NE stands for North East which is a direct link to the region I am focusing my
magazine on. This automatically allows the audience to know it is a regional magazine
therefore makes it relatable and exclusive.
• The use of the word Culture in the title is a direct link to the genre which allows people to
make first assumptions of the magazine instantly. It allows people to presume what the
content will be focused on and therefore know what to expect when purchasing.
• Part of my brief is to make a REGIONAL magazine therefore this masthead would definitely
complete this approach
Weaknesses
• The name is quite long which may not sit well on a masthead. It would mean that the
typography would have to be quite small in order for the top thirds of the front cover to not
look overcrowded.
• Culture is also a pretty broad general overview of my genre and therefore they would assume
this is the only topic in my magazine. In fact, my magazine will also feature film, music, art,
fashion and tech which are branches of the culture world. This general assumption of a single
based culture genre could put people off the magazine.
• Some people might not realise what NE stands for as it is an abbreviation.
• The name doesn’t sound very unique or creative and is rather more informal and factual. This
would appeal more to an older audience in my opinion as it doesn’t really stand out as
something contemporary or different.

5. Testing out the names
• I’m now going to test out how each name would
look on a front cover to see which is the most
visually attractive. I have analysed the literal
strengths and weaknesses of my top 3 names
however the way that the look on a page is also
an important factor that needs to be considered
before finalising my magazine name decisions. I
have used my magazine recreation front cover
that I created at the beginning of my research
and planning in order to get a visual
interpretation.

6. I like how this fits across the
entire width of the top thirds
however the letter E looks very
repetitive. It makes it hard to
differentiate the two words
from one another at first
glance. I would be intrigued
however by the name but I
don’t really like how it sounds
on a magazine after creating
this front cover design.

7. I like how this sits across
the width of the entire
top thirds however I had
to make the font slightly
smaller than for the other
2 masthead names so
that it would fit across the
top. I do however like the
overall outcome of this
name a lot more than THE
EYE. I may however
would have to consider
putting a dot between the
N and the E as it may be
hard to realise it is an
abbreviation.

8. If I decided on CLIQUE as my final
masthead name I would probably
change the width of the word by
making bigger spaces between
each letter so that it fits the page
better. Although its dimensions
are not as successful due to it
being only one word, it looks a lot
more unique and would definitely
catch my attention due to the
quirkiness of the name. I also
think that because it is one word
it is easy to read and notice so
looks good on the front cover
page.

9. Opinions of my potential target audience
To decide between my final 3 name choices, I have also
created a social media poll which was up for 3 days to see
which magazine name they liked the best. The results
showed that CLIQUE was the most popular with 50% of the
votes. NE CULTURE came in second with 35% and 15% of the
votes were for THE EYE. This suggests that I will definitely
not be calling my magazine The Eye because not only is it
the least favourite from my potential audiences point of
view, but I also disliked it most on a visual perspective when
trialling it on a magazine front cover. When looking at the
magazine names from an analytical perspective and
considering both regional relations, audience appeal,
definition and synonyms, my favourite idea was The CLIQUE.
As this was also the favourite of my target audience, I have
decided that this will be the name of my magazine as it will
be the most appealing and successful.