overall media analysis

Magazine Analysis- Front Cover, Content Page & DPS Pages.Obehi Ejele

I will be analyzing both front covers of these magazines and comparing an contrasting them to each other, the one on the left is a gospel magazine which is the genre that I plan on making, whilst the one on the right is a pop magazine. Analyzing and comparing both would help me point out the major differences between both genres and what to do and what not to do when approaching mine.

Magazine Analysis- Front Cover, Content Page & DPS Pages.

Masthead- The Masthead of both these magazines are very different from each other. The masthead for gospel generation is written in an un- stylized font and is rather plain and bland, whilst the masthead for the opposing magazine is harder to read makes use of more colour and is bolder and much brighter, with an added slash going the typography of it.

The gospel music magazine takes a much more tasteless approach when compared to the pop magazine which may not work in its favour that much as it doesn’t necessarily attract attention as much as the pop magazine does.

Slogan- A slogan only appears on the gospel magazine cover which is sued to accompany the masthead and boost its reputation to the audience.

Headlines- The headlines both share some similarities . The similarities being that both are written in a simple typefaces that do not demand attention , however the colour used for on the top magazine helps the headline stand out more against the white background, unlike the second which is harder to read due to the clashing colours.

Magazine Analysis- Front Cover, Content Page & DPS Pages.Main Image- The main image of the pop music magazine shows a mid shot of Leona Lewis’ full body while the Gospel music magazine shows a mid- shot of half of the models body. In the image of Leona Lewis it is evident that she was wearing making up assisted by the editing photographers must have added to it. Sharp and somewhat intense lighting was also used to make the m=image look more professional and pleasing. Contrasting the overall appearance of the gospel magazine which is presented without these extras, connoting the idea of purity. The pop magazine shows Leona in a rather seductive pose, which is more acceptable in the pop world, whilst the gospel music magazine shows a more covered model which is what is expected from the cover page of religious content.

Features & Sell Lines- The gospel magazine lacks in the amount of features and sell lines that the pop magazine makes use of helping with the overall appearance of it and making it look more interesting in general. In addition to this it also help advertise what the viewers cannot see inside the magazine. Serving as a downsize of the gospel magazine as it lacks these.

Magazine Analysis Conclusion- From analysing these magazines I have come to the conclusion that my front cover will almost be a crossover of these two. In an attempt to make a gospel like contemporary magazine that isn’t bland and unattractive. I plan to implement elements of the mainstream pop/R&B elements of magazines I’ve analysed such as the stylized headline to do so.

Magazine Analysis- Front Cover, Content Page & DPS Pages.Additional Magazine Analysis

This very last music magazine I will analyse briefly is another contemporary gospel music magazine that breaks the usual conventions of most other magazines., linking directly to the genre and style of music magazine I plan to make.

Masthead & Slogan- The masthead of this magazine is written both boldly in a simple typeface for viewers to read easily, however the second part of the masthead is written vertically making well use of the space given, whilst making t slightly harder to read. The slogan written directly below it emphasizes the relevance of the magazine as clearly and visible as the masthead.

Main Image- The focal image of the front cover matches the dark brown and black colour theme used and is of a gospel artist with dark shades on staring at the viewer.

Features/Advertisements- Oddly a huge portion of the front cover includes an advertisement for this particulars artist mix tape which is very unusual to see, breaking the normal conventions of front cover magazine design, however having a big feature on the front cover can help an artists exposure a great deal.

Bar Code & Issue Number

The front cover breaks many rules and conventions in the sense that there are near to no headlines or sell lines used and the front cover relies heavily on a mix tape advertisement differing itself entirely from the other magazines analysed. I feel this would not be as effective as other magazines due to these crucial rules being broken.


I will be analysing both of these DPS (Double Page Spread’s) as well as comparing and contrasting them to conduct an exceptional amount of research to create one of my own. Unfortunately I was not able to find a double page spread of the gospel music genre so I had taken two from other music related genres. On the top we have the DPS of a rap music magazine while on the bottom is the DPS of a rock music magazine, both differing in many aspects of production which should ultimately give me more than enough information to create one based on the gospel genre.

Magazine Analysis- Front Cover, Content Page & DPS Pages.Text To Image Ratio- Both double page spreads have made use of a different text to image ratio. The rock genre DPS has used over a half of the double page given to show off images of the artist/band, filling up roughly a quarter of the second page. Whereas for the rap genre DPS has used a huge block of the first page for a focal image and almost a sixth of the second page for a much smaller secondary image. This is almost the same for the blocks of text used within the DPS of the rap magazine, a huge majority of the second page is used for text . The rock DPS has a lot less space dedicated to text however the font size is a lot smaller to compensate for this.

Layout/Columns- Layouts on both double page spreads also differ dramatically. The layout of the rap magazine DPS is much more simplistic when compared to the rock magazine, in the sense that text is split on one page and photography on the other. The Columns re not used to organize the text, it is instead split in a simplistic and spacious manner to allow the reader to breathe between paragraphs. However the rock DPS does not do the same with text, no space is left between paragraphs and they are split through simple indents within the text, conveying the messy and wild lifestyle rock artists live by. The layout of this DPS is a lot less basic


Photography/Cinematography & Colours-The main colour scheme for both these magazines are mainly different however both maintain the main colour of black, this may be due to association of more dark and mature themes present in both genres. Genres such as Gospel may feature more lighter and less intense colours e.g. white, sky blue..etc. Both double page spreads feature mid shots of the artist themselves in non casual clothing at a normal angle. The secondary images used within the DPS tend to be entirely different from each other. The rap magazine DPS makes use of extremely low lit lighting whilst the rock magazine DPS makes a nice use of juxtaposition lighting and involves images of other band members performing.

Quotes & Typography-Both DPS’s make use of quotes usually tied to the text content and said by the person who is being interviewed. Throughout both genres the typeface remains bold and stands out from regular text matching the colour theme used throughout the DPS


From analysing both of these Double page spreads of completely different genres I’ve learnt the basic conventions and rules used to formulate my own. Both of these make use of consistent colour scheme across both pages and make use of a small selection of typefaces and fonts. One simple font is used for the main body of text and another bolder and bigger one used for additional quotes used to draw the reader into the double page spread itself. Both spreads make use of a small introductory stand first to start this main body of text. The majority of the main images fill up almost a whole page with a smaller second image to accompany it. All this allows for an organized and interesting read while still managing to look ordered and pleasing to the viewers eyes.

Magazine Analysis- Front Cover, Content Page & DPS Pages.Additional DPS Analysis

This very last Double page spread I will be analysing briefly is of an urban gospel music artist Faith Child, linking directly to the work I will be making myself.

Text To Image Ratio- The text to image ratio used within this double page spread is very structured, in the sense that there is a huge block of text on one page and on the other there is simply a huge image. This can be seen as playing safe and sticking to these rules and conventions stated before which can be understood seeing as its a gospel based DPS, breaking these notable rules could be seen as unorganized and unruly by the Christian/gospel society , but may appeal to the younger generation.

Layout/ Column– The layout of this magazine is also very straightforward. Columns are sorted in the style of a newspaper article in the sense that it’s rather plain. Half of the DPS is used for as text while the other half is made up of an image. The text is ongoing and only separated by small indents rather than paragraphs. This makes the text to appear more crowded than usual and a lot more text heavy. The layout

Photography/Cinematography & Colours- The colour scheme for this gospel magazine is also uncomplicated, making use of a simple white and red and following it onto the second page.

Quotes & Typography- The quote within the DPS is placed in the middle of the first page, It is also used as a means to separate the text and give the reader some breathing space whilst reading. It follows the same colour scheme of red and white that the magazine page follows.

This DPS tends to follow all basic rules and conventions of any regular magazine, in terms of spacing, photography, text and colour. This is as expected from a Gospel music magazine to play safe when approaching this type of media.


I will be deeply analysing these two content pages and the elements needed to create my own. The contents page on the left is taken from a rock music magazine while the contents page on the right is taken from an R&B music magazine featuring the female artist Ciara, while on the left the focus of the content page is the image of the rock band. The main purpose of a content page is to give the reader an idea of the stories/information inside the magazine in a stylized fashion.

Magazine Analysis- Front Cover, Content Page & DPS Pages.Main/Focal Image- The main focal images for both these contents page are generally based on the genre that they for. The rock genre contents page shows a simple image of a band performing enclosed in a basic box, whilst the R&B genre contents page shows Ciara posing seductively, showing a lot of skin to do so. The focal image for the rock magazine appears unedited contrasting the photo of Ciara which anyone can clearly see was heavily edited from lighting to colour.

Contents Page Title/ Masthead- Both of these content page title’s are presented in a similar light. In terms of the font and colour used, however the R&B genre contents page is a lot more stylized. The plain white text used is stacked on top of each other rather than written normally like the rock magazine contents page is. In stacking the text the text for the R&B magazine it leaves a lot more space for the focal images presence.


Article Information & Features- Both sets of article information have been laid out in an organized manner however the rock magazine contents page makes use of bolder and more present headers, diving the information into sub genres as opposed to just the ‘Features’ and ‘Fashion’ segment that the R&B magazine on the right hand side has. The R&B magazine also makes use of a more script styled font to accompany the more feminist approach to the theme of the contents page. Both contents page have the article information aligned on the right hand side of the page and cover almost the length of the page.

Magazine Analysis- Front Cover, Content Page & DPS Pages.Additional Contents Page Analysis

The last contents page I will be analysing briefly is a hip hop related rap magazine featuring rap artist 50 cent. Unfortunately I was unable to find the contents page for a gospel magazine on most search engines.

Main/Focal Image- The main image for this contents page is the feature rapper itself 50 cent. The image takes up near to half of the page with writing on the other side. The image is a full body long shot and like the main image of the R&B magazine it is evident that the photo used has been visually enhanced. The rapper is dressed in rap/hip-hop associated clothing such as a huge t-shirt and sagging trousers to portray hi image as a thug and gangster rapper.

Contents Page Title/Masthead- The title for the contents page is rather small compared to other contents page I had analysed. The font used isn’t very legible nor does it bold or striking as opposed to the font used for the features segment of the contents page.

Article Information- Each part of the features segment has a small sentence of writing below it , written in a smaller font. Like the other contents pages I’ve looked at, this has its writing aligned on the right hand side of the page. The text covers close to the whole length of the page.

Magazine Questionnaire AnalysisObehi Ejele

Male

Female

1) What gender are you? The first question of my questionnaire asked my audience simply whether they were male or female. Over half of the twenty people, eleven to be exact were male. The other nine of my audience were obviously female. This means throughout this questionnaire analysis the majority of the answers will be taken from a male perspective; however there is only a slight difference in the number of male and females, so it’s almost as if half of my audience were male and the other female.

Magazine Questionnaire Analysis

10 to 12

13 to 16

17 to 21

22+

2) How old are you?The second question asks my audience how old they are, acknowledging and recording this demographic would help me specifically keep in mind who to target my front cover, content and double page spread also. A huge majority of the group I had given my questionnaire to was between the ages of seventeen and twenty one, this means the bulk of my answers will come from this age groups point of view. Behind them was the age group between thirteen and sixteen. This also means that over a quarter of my answers are coming from a teenage to young adolescence standpoint. The minority of opinions and results are from those between the age’s ten to twelve and over twenty two. Ultimately I feel that it was important for me to have a lot of teenagers and young adults involved with my questionnaire seeing as this was the initial target audience that I wanted to aim my magazine at.

Catholic

Muslim

Christian

Athiest

3) What religion are you?I felt that it was only right for me to ask my audience what religion they practiced, seeing as though I am making a religion based magazine. Half of the twenty people I gave my questionnaire to were practicing Catholics and an additional four were Christians. This means that almost three quarters of my questionnaire are again being answered by people who fit my target audience, the Christian and catholic market. Although my primary target audience is those who practice Christianity, my secondary target audience is those who are Catholic and the religions do not differ from each other majorly, meaning that I will get a rough idea of what my target audience want from my magazine. The minority of this question was answered by both Muslims and an Atheist. Even though they aren’t part of my target audience I still find it useful to know what others expect out of my magazine.


0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Yes

No

4) Are you the same religion as your parents?I had asked this question as a follow up from the last based on religion; I simply asked this to gather more religious information about those who I gave my questionnaire to. Asking if they followed the same religion as their parents was merely to find out what religion they also practiced. If my target audience are consuming my magazine and taking it home with them as expected, it’s possible to reach out to their parents and get them interested also. Seeing that almost three quarters of those who took my questionnaire are within my target audience and that seventeen of those who answered this question said yes, there is a high possibility of reaching out to parents outside of my target audience.

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1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Daily

Weekly

Fortnightly

Monthly

Never

5) How often do you read magazines? This is a basic question to see how much my audience actually reads magazines on a regular basis, nine of the twenty people I had asked answered that they read magazines on a weekly basis, which accounts for the majority of the audience. Three people had answered that they read magazines on a monthly basis, with three saying that they read on a fortnightly basis. Three out of the last five people read every day while the last two never read on a regular basis. Personally I was extremely happy with this outcome seeing as over three quarters of my audience read, meaning that they are potential customers. Only two of the twenty never tend to read magazines meaning that these are consumers I cannot really reach out to at the moment.


£0-1

£2-3

£4+

6) How much are you willing to spend on a magazine of interest? This question is crucial to my questionnaire, knowing exactly how much my consumers want to spend on my magazine is extremely important, when setting the final price of my very own magazine. Three quarters of the twenty that I had asked this to replied that they would pay between the prices of two pound and three pound. Three people had said that they would pay between the prices of nothing and a single pound and two said they would gladly pay above four pound. Knowing exactly what to charge my consumers increases its chance of sale and makes sure I’m not over or under charging them.

7) Do you know of any Gospel Magazines?This was simply to ask the audience if they were already familiar with anyone within the gospel music scene, already being familiar with gospel artists within the industry would potential artists that and or feature of the front cover, the name that was most frequent amongst those who were asked was Kirk Franklin. His name had came up thirteen times out of the twenty given the questionnaire.

8) What would you like to see in your music magazine?Asking this question was to simply establish and find out what additions and features my audience would like to see within my magazine. The most frequent answer was artist interviews which was chosen 15 times, with music reviews coming in second at 8 and competitions third at 4.

9) What is your favourite genre of music?The answer to this question was R&B with 12 people choosing this, and although gospel was only mentioned 3 times, R&B can be a somewhat sub-genre to the main gospel theme, which will grab more peoples interest seeing as the audience of teenagers asked were interested in this genre.

10) How often do you listen to Gospel music? This was to simply see how often those who I had given my questionnaire out to listen to gospel based music. The majority answer that was given was fortnightly as nine people had answered this. Meaning that almost up to half of those who answered would have a direct interest in the magazine because of this.

Gospel Music: Genre Research

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