Case Study Part 3: Double Page Spread Analysis

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Case Study Part 2 : Contents Page

The contents page of Hello magazine is much more colourful and eye catching. There is a certain layout to the page to apply to the conventions of a magazine cove page. These include;

  

Images

There are many different images to inform the readers about what is included in the magazine. These include different shots to create a more exciting look. There is one main image on the left side of the page, this is a long shot of one of the main articles in the magazine. Seeing as this is the largest image on the page this suggests that the editor wants this particular article to be read more by the audience, it is also the article that most probably appeals the most to the magazines audience in love with celebrities and royalty. The subject of the image (Dita Von Teese) isn’t making direct eye contact with the audience however some of the smaller images surrounding this image do make eye contact. This attracts the audience more and allows curiosity to build for what articles follow through. 

Each image included in the contents page also has a page number again on a red background including puns/ jokes to make the magazine more appealing and favourable.

The title is also clearly printed at the top left hand corner of the page. This makes it clear who the contents page belongs too. The bright red square background where the magazine title is printed in a white large font allows the title to be memorable for readers and therefore easily recognised in the future. This bright red also makes the magazine title stand out and is more convenient to be recommended to amongst other readers. Right beside the title ‘’this week’’ is also written down in a large bold yet more simple font, this stands out too and suggests that all the articles included in the magazine are up to date and correct for the readers to easily rely on. This creates a good relationship between the magazine and its audience as trust is gained. 

Contents 

The contents are divided into two sections on the right hand side ‘’ people in the news’’ and ‘’regulars’’. This makes it easier for the audience to divert their attention to what interests them the most. Each page number is clearly stated in red on the side by a simple description including names of the celebrities involved which are written in a bold, larger font compared to the rest of the text. This again attracts attention to the articles depending on what the reader is interested in the most. The ‘’regulars’’ section includes pages that are always present in the every issue of the magazine which again suggest loyalty towards its readers.

Interactivity

The magazine stimulates audience interactivity, more so the contents page. The page includes a large section at the bottom of the page where it states many different ways on interacting with hello magazine on different social sites such as; twitter, facebook,instagram and even allowing the audience to be solomnley dedicated to the magazine by downloading the app via app store and google play. This high level of interactivity again highlights the amount of consideration the magazine holds towards the audience and allows the readers to always be alerted for the latest information and juicy details! 

The contents page also includes the magazine office's email address for any new stories to be sent too. This also shows a soft , more open side to the magazine, they are open to new talents and will take readers or other journalists stories into consideration.

Case Study Part 1: Front cover

Image:

The front cover of Hello Magazine is Princess Charlotte.

The daughter of Cambridges’, a major part of the British Royal family. The close up of baby Charlotte, allows the country to feel closer to the royal family. It is beneficial for the magazine as this issue applies to the whole country as oppose to a specific audience. Her facial expression is a slight smile which is welcoming and warm. Using a close up allows us to see her strong features and have a good look at the latest royal family member. You can see that she is a cute chubby baby girl, the audience is able to create comparisons and see resemblances between other family members and  baby George. The sweet floral dress topped over with a light pink/cream cardigan sets a very neutral tone to the front cover. 

The font colour (white) used around the cover also suggests this. The use of neutral tones and white for the font suggest innocence and purity which is exactly what little Charlotte is. Charlottes eye line is slightly to the side which doesn’t create the feeling of superiority, it makes Charlotte seem like an ordinary baby, this allows the uses and gratifications theory to apply to the audience as they are able to relate, children will be able to relate when seeing the picture as will parents of little children. They are also able to engage and escape their ordinary routing by flicking through the magazine. 

Title:

 The title of the magazine ‘’Hello’’, is a sister to the ‘’Hola!’’ magazine in Spain.

The aim was to create a light hearted magazine which focused on new marriages, relationships, babies and other self centered stories .Unlike other magazines, ‘’Hello!’’ focuses on the positive things about celebrities and does not aim to demoralise or make famous people look bad. The magazine focuses on Royals and compelling human interest stories. The respectful treatment of many celebrities allows the magazine to hold a positive relationship with many stars. This also follows through with the magazine title as it is a greeting, a friendly greeting. This sets an expectation for the magazine to readers and ‘’Hello!’’ lives up to the expectations.

Language:

The language used in the magazine is formal and sophisticated, the magazine uses ‘proper’ English to appeal to its audience as it includes articles of people within the higher social class. No abbreviations or shortened words are used. The language used is usually flattering such as ‘’picture perfect’’ and ‘’angelic’’ again works with the magazine title and aim as it comes across as friendly and generous.

Coverlines:

The coverlines on the front cover again solemnly focus on baby Charlotte, alerting the audience on the official photo album, photos with the ‘’adoring mum Kate’’ otherwise known as the Duchess of Cambridge. The front cover doesn’t include any information about other featured articles, this allows the audience to entirely focus on Royalty for the issue, this helps attract a wider range of readers and buyers for this particular issue of Hello magazine. As the magazine is aimed at the working/lower social classes it allows them to interact with those ‘above’ them.

Price:

The magazine sells at £2.00 , this is the average price for magazines.

This suggests that it appeals to those of the lower social classes as it is affordable. It also allows for the magazine to be favorited as other magazines such as Marie Claire sell at £3.99, this means that the readers will appreciate the consideration for the audience and their affordability. 

Magazine Colour Schemes

The main colour scheme of Q magazine is red,white.yellow,soft pink and black. The colours used in the magazines front covers are usually very attractive and bright. The logo of Q magazine has a red square background, this has connotations of love, danger and passion. This also makes the logo of the magazine memorable therefore it is highly noticeable to its audience when sitting on the store shelves.The font colour is white which contrasts the background and has different connotations of innocence, purity and elegance. The subject also has a white dress which suggests the same idea. There are a variety of colour's used to make this front cover appealing. The use of soft pink font around the corners of the magazine cover aid to blend everything together. The colour's used in the Q magazine, which is based on music and has a young audience of mainly aged 15-44 years old. 


The use of the colour yellow is used to attract attention to specific parts of the magazine, it contrasts all the colour's used as it is the strongest, yellow has connotations of power,happiness, strength and energy. It is where the readers eyes will divert too almost straightaway. This is good to get the message across to the audience immediately about what is included in the magazine also to bring attention to what targets the audience specifically such as festivals, new songs,new albums etc...  The layout of the magazine also suggests that the magazine has a lot to offer, there are so many little details included on the front cover. This makes every issue special and unique.

 The magazine also sets out their double page spreads in a specific way, again using the colour red to make an exquisite report on any famous singer/songwriter. The celebrities initial is splashed across the page in red for every artist used in Q magazines issue. The colour's used on the front cover are mirrored throughout the magazine in the different articles and picture's used.

Formative blog feedback - Miss Hunter

Gresa, your blog is on track.

 

So far:

 

WWW: Your ideas are thoughtful and detailed. You understand the conventions of a magazine and I can see that you have used them in the preliminary task. Your magazine covers look impressive. Well done.

 

EBI: Try to work faster so that you keep pace with the best students in the class. You are capable of doing very well in this coursework, but you need to avoid rushing the final steps.

 

Next steps:

• Case study of a magazine of your choice - front cover analysis, contents page analysis, double page spread analysis, colour (throughout the magazine) analysis.

Keep up the good effort.