Content Analysis

In class today we have been looking at different genres of magazine (Top of the pops, NME, Black beats ect) for each magazine we looked at the amount of advertisements in them and different types of advertisements for example: music albums, hair products ect. We also looked at the amount of space each ad took up- 1/4 page, 1/2 page or a full page. From looking at Black Beats magazine we came to the conclusion that the primary audience were young females within the age range of 14-18 as it has many pin up celebritys and posters that would appeal to a female audience this included people such as Lil romeo, Bow wow and other popular male singers.

For example on the front cover the main image is of Bow Wow, a popular male pin up. Therefore we can immediatly infer this magazine is for girls.

For example products such as 'Olive Oil root stimulator for afro caribbean hair and images of women with long healthy hair can be seen. Therefore we can infer a bit more about the target audience- aimed at a specific ethnic group- black/afro caribbean.

Another aspect of the magazine that showed us it was for teenage girls is the section on 'Prom queens' this gave information about prom and current styles and trends for proms.  In the same way the advertisements are promoting- hair growth and hair care (which would particulary intrest females) also a new book about two black females. Therefore Black beats magazine is very much about personal image and throughout the magazine beauty product advertisement can be seen which offers personal identity to the reader.

 Top of the Pops magazine target audience is aimed at female, teenage girls. We can infer this from the main images on the front cover, they are all male and therefore are looking to get girls interested- The Wanted, Justin Bieber and JLS are all very popular celebrities therefore if girls see them on the cover they would instantly want to see more. The cover stories also suggest it is for a female audience as they cover issues/ deal with things that teenage female girls might relate to. Above I have provided a pie chart of the different types of adverts that feature in both magzines.                           

Ideas for school magazine cover

These are the ideas we came up with in a group for a standard school magazine front cover.

Photoshop mastheads

I have created some designs for some possible mastheads ysing photoshop, with fonts from dafont   as this provides a variation of different typefaces

Magazine cover annotation

This is the cover of a monthly magazine called Sugar, it appears to be aimed at an audience of around 13-18 as the main feature of the magazine is about Emma Roberts who is an idol to many teenage girls as an actress, singer and fashion icon. It is also very obvious that the magazine is aimed at a female audience due to the fact the cover is predominately pink- a colour which represents females, the cover lines- ''your style season'' this suggests the primary audience is for girls who have an interest in fashion and keeping up with the latest trends and the other cover lines which cover issues that teenage girls might have such as boyfriends and body issues.

Evaluation of Blogs

To get a deeper insight into Blogging and the diffrent styles and types of blogs I did some research into previous blogs made by students and some existing blogs on the web promoting products such as shoe lines. The first blog I looked at was Blackstar-Riddemz made by a previous AS media student. I found her blog particularly effective as it had various different forms of media and ICT to keep people entertained this included things such as posted images of logos, playlists, different graphs and chaerts, slide shares and a border which represented the theme of the magazine. I would like to have aspects of her blog in my own such as the consitency of blog and the use of different media. Another students blog I looked at was Emily Mitchells although different to the previous blog I had looked at it was a good contrast as it was very simplistic but clear and good at getting information across. Her magazine also used lots of media techniques to keep the viewer engaged but also conveyed all the necessary information and you could see te amount of research and work that had been put into her magazine from the blog. I also looked at two professional blogs the first on being Lovemydress which is a blog that gives bridal inspiration and promotes dresses from different collections. The Blog uses several different media techniques which makes the blog more professional for example direct weblinks through clicking on images, drop down menu, a consistant theme and font which goes with the bridal style they are trying to promote. The downfall to this website is that there is little information probided and mostly picture based therefore it is harder to navigate through and find exactly what you are looking for. I also looked at Pete Frasers blog which is designed for students and teachers of A level media studies and provides them with information regarding the subject, new oppertunitys, mark schemes ect. The blog uses different media and ICT techniques such as slide share, Jpeg images, screen shots with added annotations and videos. This blog is compact with information along with the use of videos and images to break the page up and keep the reader engaged, this area of the blog is the area in which I want to encorperate into my own blog.

Introduction

Hello, my name is Rachel and I am currently studying AS Media at La swap. The purpose of this online blog is to evaluate the process and outcome of my production work of a music magazine and research surrounding the genre of music. Blogging has several purposes for this unit of work it is used as a form of electronic evaluation for my coursework- a music magazine which will consist front page, contents and double page spread. The magazine is to have a primary audience of teenagers between the age 16-19 in the UK. The magazine will be sold on a weekly basis. I will be making the following decisions for my magazine: a title, genre(s), house style and form, magazine conventions, brand identity and use of logo, representations and ideologies,the language of the magazine article, original images, primary and secondary audience. After browsing through some blogs on the internet made by previous students and blogs set up for business I discovered that blogging is a very effective way of promoting, updating and in this case evaluating things. Some of the best web logs I have seen include 'The Shoe Girl Blog' (mylifeinheels.com) I found this blog particularly good due to its variety of different media and ICT techniques e.g. web links through images, regularly updated images of her shoes, hyperlinks, mood boards. The blogger also keeps the viewer engaged with regular updates about her shoe lines and whats going on her own life, style gurus and her inspiration. This keeps the reader engaged as its not just constant text