Final Pieces

Front Cover

To appeal to my target audience, I haven't used any large or complex words. Since my target audience is teenage boys and young adults (early 20s), teenage boys may be put off by complex words they may not understand. Also, I have made key words in the cover lines stand out. For example, the words "Exclusive" and "Best" have been made bold and are in a larger font size than other text. Finally, I have used a colour scheme that uses bright colours, in yellow and red on white and black. The yellow and red text stands out against the white and black backgrounds. The puffs I used have been made circular, originally, they were going to be star shaped, but then with star shaped puffs, a lot of space is wasted as well as it being difficult to have large amounts of text fit in neatly. In my opinion, the way I used them made them look quite unprofessional. The fonts I used throughout the cover were fonts that I thought would be associated with a rock magazine. I made the masthead black to make it stand out from the white background.

Contents Page

I split the contents page text into two columns with pictures in each column. I added a caption and a page number to the pictures used so that the reader knows what page to find the articles. Also, the titles or categories are a different colour than the text to show that it is a title and clearly separates the different sections of the contents. I have also used small descriptions on the articles to let the reader know what the article is about but to also make them want to read on. I wanted the style of the contents page and the double page spread to be quite simplistic and basic so that it didn't look overloaded or messy.




Double Page Spread

The layout of the double page spread may not be a very common layout, but I wanted to have two pictures. I was going to have to pictures collaged next to each other, but then thought that it might look better if I had them on either side of the text. Regarding the fonts, I have used the same fonts as I had on the cover page and the contents page as it is what is usually seen in magazines. This is also the same with the colour scheme with the contents page. I used language that I think my target audience would use with profanity and shorter words like “sweet” and “alright”. Finally, I also used quotes from the interview to break up the text so that it isn’t just one solid block of writing. I have seen it done on other magazine double page spreads I have looked. I made these quotes a different colour and a larger font size than the interview text to make them stand out more.

* Apologies for the poor quality of the pictures, I have tried to make them as clear as possible and have tried many different ways of doing so.

How Magazines Make Money

Magazine Advertising

Advertisements are extremely important to magazines as it is the main way they earn money. Magazines wouldn't survive without advertising. Companies and brands can advertise their products in magazines and depending on how big the advertisement is and where in the magazine the advert is placed, advertisement will cost more. For example, a large double page advert placed in the middle of the magazine will cost more than a smaller advert featured on one page placed randomly in the magazine. Also, advertisements cost more in magazines with a high circulation and possibly readership. Different companies have different target audiences and would want to advertise in a magazine that reaches and appeals to their target audience. So, adverts need to suit and appeal to their magazines specific target audience.

Another way that magazines can keep up to date and another way of making money is by moving online combining magazine advertising with online advertising or requiring customers to have a subscription. This can also increase sales or make other companies want to advertise in the magazine as a different audience will be reached and more people may see and subscribe to the magazine. Continuing, moving online is more convenient for customers and can be more accessible by younger people, for example, as younger people spend more time online than older people. Finally, some magazines offer a mobile app version of their magazine so that it can be easily read from a mobile device.



Commercial Media Structural Triangle

There are 3 factors that form the basis of the business model for producers.

Circulation - the number of copies it distributes on an average day.

Advertisers - Most commercial media producers rely on advertising revenue as a large part of their profit.

Readership - Readership is an estimate of how many readers a magazine has.

This is a Prezi I have made about different rate cards, what companies would want to advertise in my magazine and my magazine's rate card.