Research into similar products

This is the front cover the “Canary wharf” magazine which is another magazine set in London (canary wharf) which is another city style magazine which is what I am planning to do. There is also an advertisement which I have analysed before where you can also see my analyse of the “the city” magazine front cover as well.

Link here: http://callumcartera2media.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/research-into-similar-products.html

The front cover uses a simple sharp font which makes it look professional and it makes the text easy to read on top of a dark image/ background which is very important for a regional magazine as it appeals to a broad target audience. The image itself is an Arial view of canary wharf  which is similar to what I want to do as I want to have an image of Birmingham itself but an Arial view will be hard to get so I will go for a different angle. There is also the use of some cover lines but less than a usual magazine which again follows the same font style of the rest of the page.

Research into similar products

This is the double page to “The City” magazine which is from the same article I analysed for the contents page.

Link here:http://callumcartera2media.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/research-into-similar-products_22.html

I like this double page spread and it has gave me lots ideas for my magazine. It is possible that I may be only doing one page set on a story/topic however the double page spread gives me a better understanding of how the magazine is set out. I think the fonts and the colours work well together which is something I hope to have in my magazine because I think the font should stay professional as the magazine appeals to a very broad target audience and I personally think black and white go well together on a magazine article. I again like how the images placed in the same way as the contents page with them overlapping one another and it is something I am planning on doing in my magazine. The overall layout to the double page spread is very good and the way the text is placed in the boxes makes it easy to read.

Research into similar products

This is the contents page to “The City” which is the same magazine company which I previously analysed for the front cover and advertisement.

Link here: http://callumcartera2media.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/research-into-similar-products.html

“The city” magazine again keeps to a similar font to the front cover which is something I expect to be common throughout the article. The colours work well together (black and white) which is a likely colour scheme I may use. I particularly like the layout to this contents page epically how the images overlap one another which is something I may replicate in my magazine. The magazine has page numbers, title and dates which is something I think is added to every regional magazine so I will be doing the same with my magazine

Research into similar products

This is the first regional magazine I have researched is called “The City” which is magazine set in London.  This magazine in particularly is relevant to me as the magazine is set around a city (London) instead of other regional magazines which are set in other locations such as a rural or coastal setting. This is something I am planning on doing so I would expect my magazine to be fairly similar.

This is the front cover which looks simplistic as there is a lot of space with a simple font as it is appealing to a mass audience which includes people living in London and people planning on visiting London,  instead of a smaller demographic for example a music magazine which targets a niche audience (certain genre and age). The image contains a celebrity looking directly at the camera for direct address which is use to target the audience. I like the font of this magazine however I might prefer my front cover to show attractions. There is also cover lines present which keep to the font style and are quite limited (only 2).  The colour scheme shows a dark coloured magazine with a bright white text which highlights the importance of the text because most people are concerned with the content rather than image of the location or in this case a celebrity.

I have also found that regional magazines tend to contain a lot of advertisements (The right image). So I am looking to include an advertisement in my magazine and in this case it links to fashion in London so I could advertise something in Birmingham like a shop or restaurant and the items they sell. This advertisement is very bright and displays items with a short description with a price and contact information. 

Drafting and planning - Magazine choice

For my regional magazine I am going to set it in Birmingham. I think this will be the best option as I live in Birmingham so I can easily collect photography and research. I also have some knowledge of Birmingham so Birmingham is my ideal and logical choice.

I have found a number of useful links that can help me with the first website been the Birmingham mail news which will allow me to keep my magazine up to date which will make my magazine more realistic which I hope can be a key feature in my regional magazine.

Link:  

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/ .

Secondly I have also found the Birmingham trip adviser useful as it gives me list of all the Birmingham attractions with reviews.  This is also useful because I plan to section my magazine into different areas such as sport, news, fashion, nightlife and much more which is similarly set out on trip adviser. This means that I can write a lot about a topic in my magazine for example if I was focusing on a restaurant I could use trip adviser to find out information about it and add real life reviews and ratings which I hope the consumer of my magazine would be interested in and my article will be more reliable.

Link:

 https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g186402-Activities-Birmingham_West_Midlands_England.html .

Drafting and planning – Brief options

For my course I have to complete 4 pages of a regional magazine where I plan to have a cover page, contents page, possibly a page for an advertisement and either 1 or 2 pages  based on one of the features/story’s on my contents page. Along with this I have to pick 2 of the 3 following options:

·         A radio advertisement for the magazine.

·         Two hyperlinked pages from the magazine’s website.

·         A billboard advertisement for the magazine.

I don’t think I will choose the radio advertisement  as I think this is my weakest area out of the 3 because I have no experience or interest  in the radio where as I have created a billboard before as a task In media  before my GCSE’s and the hyperlinked website fits into my ICT subject and I think it will be more enjoyable so I think I can do this much better than a radio advertisement. 

introduction

For my year 13 A2 Media course work i was given a choice of 14 different topics (Brief's). The brief I have chosen for my course work is:

"The first four pages from an original regional magazine."

Although this task can be done as a group I am going to choose to work interdependently. I think this is the best option for me as I prefer independent work and I think I would struggle at doing one of the moving image projects. However this is not my final decision and it can change but it is unlikely.