Analysing College Magazines

Masthead. Largest text on the screen. Bold. Contrasting colour to the background enables it to stand out even more

Cover lines shown on the front cover are relevant to the target audience and age group

White background makes all text and images stand out

Displaying the award won by the magazine

Fun and playful text indicates this is set for a younger target audience

Added graphics for a specific time of year

Date and Issue number for the reader

Contact details

Fun and abstract background, it is supposed to replicate notice boards around college or at students homes, indicating that the background for the magazine shows that the magazine is for mainstream teenagers

The masthead of the magazine is central and bold, however the black text doesn't stand out a great length

Cover lines of the magazine are shown at the bottom, going along with the message board theme of a ripped piece of paper on the notice board

Date and issue number

More cover lines, opposite end of the magazine, clearly staying with the message board theme by having a staple into the board and being ripped

Indie cover, greyscale tone to the image

Cover lines are very basic yet impressive, the white boxed background for the stories, this makes the stories stand out but still keep to the black and white theme

Issue number and month and year, also possible the price (99)

Masthead only covers half of the width of the magazine, however the text is large, bold and clear

Probably hard to read, initially because of the spaced out letters and most noticeably the breaking up of the words

Barcode

Very right page bias, the right is reserved for the text and information where as the left side is reserved for the image of the man on the guitar, this enables the image to be larger than if it was centre pieced and text all around it

Large bold text masthead, clear large text

Subtle little strapline of the magazine

Seasonal date, no specific month/date or issue number

Green dark background, gradient tone

Cover lines has a larger text size title and a different colour to stand out. Short and snappy to the point synopsis of the story

Line to divide the stories, used to split up the stories and also make the front cover easier to read, also attracts attention to it

Barcode and price

Main headline works well with the central image of the woman, the larger text indicates that this story is the centerpiece of the magazine and therefore draws more attraction to it than the other stories

Other stories that are not as important are hugging the masthead, this is to draw the attention to it with the people who read the masthead will see these stories, this means that stories with no front cover synopsis can still get attention

Large masthead, black text contrasts the white background

Main picture relates to the Masthead

Large main cover lines larger than all the others, drawing attention to it

Large 10 draws attention to it, all the numbers are larger than the text in the synopsis to bring attention to ‘what do the numbers mean’

Lesser important cover lines feature at the top of the cover

Barcode, date stamp, and price