Magazine Contents Page

Evaluation Of My Magazine Cover

On my magazine cover, I have the basic conventions of a real magazine cover. For example: I have the name of my magazine (lash), a bar code, the volume number, a picture/photo and basic information about what kind of things are included in my magazine. There isn't much different on my magazine to a real magazine cover. For example, most magazine covers include the name/title at the top of the magazine because it can be seen easily and won’t be hidden by shelves in the shop.

The types of social groups my magazine cover represents are 16-18 year-old students (mainly girls as it is a beauty/fashion magazine). It does this by the colours of the background, text, and the photo. The colour of the background is an obvious 'girly' colour (pink) and not many boys would be attracted to this which is why it is aimed at girls. Also, the photo on the front of the magazine makes it more obvious about the target audience as it has nothing to do with anything men/boys want to read about in a magazine. My media product will be distributed in school/college and I have added things to the cover of the magazine to make it look as if it should be distributed in a school or college such as the text 'interview with school health & beauty teacher' this makes the magazine more academic but not too much so people would actually read it because no one really wants to read a magazine full of school things.

Technology plays a big part in media, which is why it was important that it was, used it throughout my media product as technology is what media is all about. The types of technology that I used are: a digital camera, a blog, photo-shop and more. Without all of these things, my magazine cover wouldn’t have been created at all. This is the achievement that I got from using technology. I only had a few minor problems such as certain things I couldn’t do very well on photo-shop but I managed to get the hang of it after using it for a while.

From the preliminary task I have learnt many things which will help me in the main task. Such as, I taught myself how to use programmes such as publisher and photo-shop which I experimented with until I got the result I wanted. This may have taken a little longer to create my media product, but it was worth learning something new which will then help me when I go on to do the main task with the music magazine cover. I also learnt about different camera shots and which are the best to use on my magazine cover. For example, I used a medium close-up for my photo on the cover which I think looked more professional than my first attempt, which included a close-up. When I compared the two, my second attempt looked a lot better than the first. All of this will help me in Media in the future so I think I learned a lot from this.

School Magazine Cover

This is my new magazine cover. As you can see, it is an improvement on the first one and the photo works better than the close-up photo. Also, in my last one, I didnt use original photography whereas this one I did. I found this helped me learn a lot because it made me learn from my own mistakes. Creating this second cover, made me realise what was wrong with the last one and why this one is better.  

This is my old magazine cover which I first designed before the above one. It helped me alot because this is a bit like a practise. I improved a lot in my newer magazine cover but there are still certain things I kept the same such as the font and colour scheme. 

Top Gear Magazine Analysis

The title of this magazine is ‘Top Gear’. The reason it is called this is because it is the name of a TV show shown on the BBC, which they then made a magazine for. The words ‘Supercars on ice’ suggest it is a male magazine, because it is about cars and very good cars (the word supercar suggests this) which most men enjoy looking at and fantasizing about their ‘dream car’ which is probably something like the one in the picture. The cover of the magazine connotes cars, people working with cars (the man in the white with the helmet on ‘the Stig’). Also, the quote at the bottom ‘Possibly the worst idea we’ve ever had’ is a quote from the TV show which suggests comedy in the magazine as well as the other aspects of it.


The publisher of the magazine is Adam Waddell, part of the BBC. Adam Waddell does not publish any other magazines other than ‘Top Gear’. However, the BBC has published many magazines, most of which come from television shows and follow them.  For example, another magazine they published was the ‘Top of the Pops’ magazine which was also a television show. However, this was aimed at teenagers, mainly girls. Even though this television show isn’t broadcasted anymore, the magazine is still published as usual. The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is the largest broadcasting network in the world which is why this magazine would be popular as it is published by the BBC and everyone knows who they are. The magazine is published monthly and is at the price of £3.95. The website for the magazine contains a preview of the upcoming issue, about the television show, games, videos etc.


The type of reader for this magazine is mostly middle aged men between the ages of 25-40+ whom are working/mainly social class of a mainly white ethnicity. We know this because of the content of the magazine as it regularly contains articles about family hatchbacks. This would be for 25+ men and second hand vehicles for the older generation. Also the writers in the magazine such as: Jeremy Clarkson appeals to this age range the reader interacts with the magazine through its articles inside.
The cover of the magazine has three cars on it (Lamborghini, a 599 and a DBS). However, there isn’t just a list of the cars, it is trying to portray that inside the magazine these three cars are being compared. The words ‘supercars on ice’ suggests that these three cars are the best cars and they can move on ice which is difficult to do. The car closest to the camera has snow on the bonnet. This suggests that the car was going too fast in which case it crashed into snow. This is showing that the cars are very fast and men like fast cars. The words ‘On ice’ are light blue which suggests ice or cold. This is a good idea because the issue was released in October 2010 (autumn/winter time). The front cover helps to identify the middle-aged target market as it is formal and professional with a very up-market look to it. The title ‘Top Gear’ is a Grey colour which stands out and is immediately noticed because the background colours are White and light Blue. Generally, the covers of ‘Top Gear’ magazines are different and are all unique. This is easy to do as it is not a weekly magazine, it is monthly. However, some of its rivals may slightly copy the covers making them the competition.

The publisher of the magazine (BBC) has made it look as if it is really expensive with the photos of fast and expensive cars. However, it is only priced at £3.95. We would expect the magazine to be a lot pricier than this as the publisher is the BBC and gets its funds from the government and the photos on the front show expensive cars which also suggest a high-priced magazine. It could be compared to the ‘Auto-trader’ magazine because of the similar front covers. For example, both have expensive, high-end cars on the cover. This connotes that these magazines could be in competition with each other therefore making the front covers slightly the same.

The magazine addresses the readers through its layout and of its looks. It speaks to the reader through the title ‘Supercars on Ice’ which entices the reader as the word ‘Super’ suggests that these cars on the cover are the best cars in the country, world etc. The reader addresses the magazine as soon as it is aware of what the contents are in the magazine. The reader is persuaded to slowly peak and enjoy the magazine. The audience knows what is going to be included in the magazine because of these words which are already telling the reader what to expect.


The main types of products being advertised on/in this magazine is cars. As said earlier, the magazine contains articles of second hand vehicles for the older generation. Another type of product being advertised in this magazine would be other cars, car parts and other car accessories. The products are aimed at the same target audience as the magazine, who has a normal income and probably working or middle class which is why the magazine is relatively cheap. This means, the products they are advertising wouldn’t be high-priced because the target audience wouldn’t be able to afford it. There is a photo of one of the ‘characters’ on Top Gear (the Stig) and he relates to the products being advertised because of the clothes he is wearing (white motorbike clothing and helmet to match). He relates to the products in this way because he is dressed like he would be in or on some sort of vehicle which is what the magazine involves.


Another title in competition with the ‘Top Gear’ magazine is ‘Auto Trader’ the price of which is £2.70. this is relatively cheaper than ‘Top Gear’. However, the publisher of ‘Top Gear’ is much more well known to the public, therefore more people would be more willing to buy this instead of ‘Auto trader’ magazine. The covers of both the magazines are quite similar; however, ‘Auto trader’ is more about selling cars unlike ‘Top Gear’ who give information about cars. On both the magazine’s front covers have photos of expensive cars which makes the competition go up.

Magazine Questionnaire Evaluation

I asked 21 students at the ages of 16-18 a questionnaire on magazines. The results that I gathered from this questionnaire were diverse and I asked a wide range of people to get reliable results. The first question I asked was: ‘Which genre of magazine do you read’? I found that the most popular genre of magazine to read was fashion & beauty and gossip. These answers only got four votes. However, I also gave them the option to pick ‘none’ which got five votes leading overall.

The second question I asked was ‘what features do you like to see in a magazine’? I found that the most popular feature to be in a magazine was pictures/photos and interviews. Pictures/photos gathered the most votes. I think this is because the genre which was picked the most was fashion & beauty magazines which always consist of lots of photos and pictures. Also, gossip magazines have a lot of photos of celebrities and famous places etc. This helped me a lot because I now know people like to have photos/pictures in their magazines so I can please the target audience.

The third question I asked was ‘what features do you not like to see in a magazine’? I found that the most popular with 13 votes to not be involved in a magazine, was advertisements. I think people chose this the most because advertisements are not what they pay for in a magazine. Also, everyone who answered the second question didn’t choose advertisement as a feature to be included. This shows that advertisements would be a waste of time and space in my magazine because no one wants to see them in there.

The next question I asked was ‘do you read the school magazine’? And the majority of people answered no. And their reasons being were because they had no interest in it at all. This was one of two of the reasons and it got the most answers. I think they chose this because they believe everything in the school magazine would be about school. An eye-catching front cover would change their opinion on this. I also gave the yes option. However the reasons for them saying yes are either because of boredom or because the magazine is free. Those who I asked, their perspective on the school magazine are not very good.

Questionnaire

Magazine Questionnaire

1.    Which genre of magazine do you read?

·     Fashion & Beauty

·     Gossip

·     Home & Gardening

·     Transport (Cars, Trains etc.)

·     Technology (TV, Computers, Games etc.)

·     Men’s magazines (nuts, Loaded etc.)

·     Other  (specify)

·     None

2.   What features do you like to see in a magazine?

·     Pictures/Photos

·     Interviews

·     Advertisement

·     Reviews

·     Real-life stories

·     Other (specify)

3.   What features do you not like to see in a magazine?

·     Pictures/Photos

·     Interviews

·     Advertisement

·     Reviews

·     Real-life stories

·     Other (specify)

4.   Do you read the school magazine?

·     Yes

·     No

5.   If yes, why?

·     General interest

·     Bored

·     Because it’s free

·     The stories are interesting

·     Interest in happenings around the school

·     Other (specify)

6.   If no, why?

·     No interest at all

·     Boring stories

·     None of your friends read it

·     Other (specify)

Accused - Frankie's Story

The new BBC drama 'Accused' by Jimmy McGovern is a series which looks at different people's lives and stories and how they ended up in court/prision. This week's episode was called 'Frankie's Story' and it was about two men (Frankie and Peter) who went to a pub and one of which punched another man hurting him badly. The court decided the best place for 'vicious' men like this was the armed forces. This portrayal of the army is different to other television shows because they show another nasty side to it. Bullying. This makes the 'army experience' alot more difficult as he is not only fighting for his life, his 'fellow soldier' Buckley is bullying him making it unbearable.

When he first goes to Iraq and we see both the British soldiers and the Taliban firing at each other, we see Peter who doesnt want to fire at the enemy. he then gets both verbally and physically abused by Buckley and he names him 'the bitch' this is the first we see of the bullying. This is a bit like taking a look 'behind the scenes' in the armed forces and how the soldiers relate to each other. It's alot more realistic than other dramas/television programmes about the army.


this bullying seemed to go unnoticed for a while and it was like everyone expected it to happen and it was normal and they don't react to it as much as they should. it makes the audience think that this happens all the time and its just everyday life in the armed forces. The result of this bullying forces 'the bitch' to kill himself as he doesn't want to be bullied any longer. Again, this is a realistic portrayal of the Army.


The same man that starts off the name calling and abuse is a bit like the 'main bully' and all the others are too scared to stand up to him incase they get bullied too. it is much like a school playground and very realistic as bullying happens everywhere in the world no matter what age or status. some of the other soldiers join in with this bullying and isolate him. Frankie, in the end, was sentenced to life after taking the blame and continued lying to his family that he was killed in action when he really commited suicide.

AS Media Studies Audit

My main strengths in approaching this coursework are: Using Power point, taking digital photographs, using the internet for different purposes, reading magazines and watching different types of film. My main weaknesses in approaching this coursework are: using Photoshop, creating digital videos, recording, making my own music and designing magazines.