Salford City College Ryan DennerEccles CentreAS Media StudiesFoundation Portfolio

----------------------------------------------------MastheadThe masthead is bold and, in front of the main image so, it stands out suggesting it is one of the key features to the magazines success. It follows the house style and, is plain colours suggesting the magazine is serious while also suggesting, the simplicity of the music produced by the artist featured on the cover. It demonstrates to the audience that the magazine is serious and, not a fun comical magazine. The black outline round the masthead makes it stand out from the background and, gives it a 3D effect adding to the overall effectiveness of the masthead. The font used for it looks formal suggesting the type of article that will be inside. It covers the whole width of the page so; it is easily visible from all angles and, is easy to see the name of the magazine.

Main imageThe main image shows a close up of the artists face and, is easily recognisable from it showing that they are a big star who will help sell the magazine. It uses direct address as she is looking directly at the audience almost pleading with the audience to buy the magazine to find out about her. It is in the background to the rest of the text so; it’s easy to see the other details on the magazine cover. The colours used fit in with the house style adding to the overall professional look of the magazine. It appeals to the audience as they, can easily see what the main article is about and, see that it is presented in a professional way.

ColourThe main colours used are quite dull and, plain. This suggests that the articles inside may feature a lot of text and, be factual therefore appealing to the older target audience. Yellow is used to help brighten up the front cover allowing it to stand out easier on the shelf encouraging the audience to pick it up. White is used to suggest the simplicity and, purity of the singer featured while black is used to suggest the interview may be about a bad time in her life.

TypefacesThe font used looks very formal and, serious suggesting the type of articles featured inside. The font is bold and easy to read so; people are able to easily see the information about the magazine. It is in contrasting colours to the main image so, it stands out. It appeals to the audience as it looks professional and, fits into the house style.

Photography LightingHigh key lighting is used to make her face stand out so, she’s easily recognisable. The background of the image is blurred which makes her face stand out and, makes it look professional. It appeals to the target audience as it is a high quality image suggesting the standard of the magazine. She is shown to look sad/upset suggesting what the article will be about.

Model creditThe model credit is quite large and, easily visible showing that they are going to help sell the magazine to the audience. However, it isn’t as large as the masthead suggesting that will be a bigger selling point for the magazine that the star featured. The text used is bold so, stands out and, fits in with the house style. It will appeal to the audience as its plain and, simple much like the rest of the front cover.

Target AudienceThe target audience for the magazine will be mainly young adults as they are most likely to be fans of the artists featured and, the older generation may not be interested in them. And, the magazine may be too serious for teenagers so they would not won’t to read it. It would appeal to both genders as both would be fans of the musicians featured. The target audience would buy the magazine to find out all the information about the artists lives while being entertained.

House StyleThe house style looks very professional and, formal appealing to the target audience. The main colour scheme uses quite dull/plain colours making it look more forma and, serious. Yellow and, white text is used to brighten up the magazine while also looking professional and, fitting in with the rest of the house style. The style is a simple design which adds to the overall impact of the magazine cover.

Main cover lineThe main cover line sums up what the main article will be about inside. It suggests that the article will be talking about the success of the cover star. The main cover line is in yellow demonstrating that the article will be about the happy, positive side to her life. It would attract the audience as it only hints at what the article is about encouraging the audience to buy it to find out more.

CoverlinesThe coverlines are all down one side of the page and, are confined to a certain space so; they don’t obstruct the main image suggesting that the main image is the most important part for the audience. They are used to sum up the other articles inside so, the audience know what else will be featured and, encourage the audience to buy it even if they aren’t a fan of the cover star. They will appeal to the target audience as they look professional suggesting the type of articles inside.

Guttenberg Design Principle The main masthead and, some of the cover lines are included within the primary optimal area as these will be the first items people see so, people instantly know what the magazine is and, some of the main articles. The logo stretches over to the weak fallow area drawing attention to some of these areas that people wouldn’t normally notice. The main image stretches across the page into the terminal area, drawing attention to the image as a whole. The barcode is placed within a weak fallow area as it isn’t important for the reader.