The front page main story and layout ideas.

This is a post explaining just my main story and my main story layout ideas.

I have created a few ideas for what the headline will display, what the main story is inside. As i am personally into my singing i would like to create wyke's version of 'The X factor.'

I have thought of a possible headline, and is simply:
'The Wyke Factor'
However, there's a fraction of doubt that maybe this is a bit too simple, and perhaps i can create a more personalised one. On the other hand, i do believe this is catchy enough and would make a good headine. I thought of another possible headline 'Wykes Got The X Factor' however, this isn't as personal, where as this magazine, is targetted at the Wyke College audience, its seems to be more personal to the targett audience.

I would like the text to pratically, be a replica of the text which is used for 'The X Factor' however, i honestly i don't believe this will be possible to get the title to be an exact replica however all we can do is try! I would like the 'Wyke' in the title 'The Wyke Factor' to be most emphasised and dominant, i feel this is more eye catching for the target audience which is Staff, Parents and students who attend the college. I want the 'Wyke' to be the first thing the audience see, as that establishes the niche audience and makes it obvious who the magazine is targetted at. The X factor logo (below), the main colours they've used is red, this suggests 'red hot and brand new!' They have layered therefore emphasizing which then sparks interest, what is this 'x factor' about? The Large 'X' gradualy forming a small X connects with the idea this is a national search, a national competition and in many competitions there is usually, only one winner thus the tiny, red 'X' within the larger white 'X' in the centre of the frame. Again, the idea of the tiny 'X' being the colour red suggests 'brand new, red hot, see the next big thing here!' The idea of the other words in the title, the letters are quite spacious between one another, I believe this is to draw attention to the other words, as the 'X' is the main focus point the other 2 words of the title are important, because the audience need to know what the programme/competition is. It's like people speak slow so people will listen to them more intensley, it seems to be the same with spacious lettering, you tend to take more notice, then you would if it seemed like just an ordianary printed text. If you follow the Logo from 'The' down through the centre, to 'Factor' you can visulise this poster as a kind of process. 'The' is placed just above which looks like a funnell, the funnell then points straight to the centre of the tiny 'X', then follows out of the centre to the largely spaced X factor. It seems to be suggesting 'The X Factor Journey', you enter small and can leave a 'big' star, the spaciousnell and largeness of the 'Factor' along the bottom is large in comparrison towards 'The' at the top. However, i don't want it to look like i've just created a logo, i want it to look like a head line so perhaps, its not going to be a replica of 'The X Factor' Logo at all, however i'm still going to make the 'Wyke' most dominant and

The main focus point on my front page, i would like it to be the image. I would like to produce an image which connects with the idea of 'The WYKE Factor.' I have an idea of two people being in the shot, one playing an instrument sat on a stool and another singing through a microphone, stood on the ground but i really want to see their passion of their singing through this photograph. I would prefer the people in the photograph to be quite neutral dressed as i feel this would help widen the target audience, for example, if i were to photograph a 'goth' singing their heart out it would only attract a certain audience were as by using neutral dressed people it's alot harder to gain a stereotype for people who don't express themselves through different clothing. I'd rather them not wear jackets/clothing with the brand of clothing visable, i think this raises stereotypes and expectations for the people who wear them clothing brands. For example, people who wear adidas are expected to be sporty, or even food wise people may not want to buy a magazine promoting Nestle, because of their contraversial history.

The lighting, i would like the spot light to be on the singer who is also stood up, i feel this gives the right idea of 'The WYKE Factor' being more of a singing competition, rather then a music competition as with the spotlight on the performer, the main focus point within the image will be the singer, however i feel by including a musician it also widens the target audience, however will spark interest and encourage musicians to take part, and will spark interest within these musicians.

The camera angles i will shoot this will have to be mediam close up/MCU, because they where the set guide lines, however, i feel it would be a lot more appropriate within my piece if i shot this photograph, with a Low Angle Mediam Shot Close Up, this gives the singer the dominance in the photograph which i want and also gives the impression of if you enter this competition you could leave being as powerfull and dominant as this performer. However, actually thinking that i have to use a medium close up, i don't think i'll be able to do it within a two shot, the way i wanted to. I feel to photograph a medium close up, within a two shot could be too much of a squeeze and look rediculous, aswell, i might not be able to photograph using the Low Angle which i hoped to use either.

The subheading, is supposed to follow on from the heading, and gives a little more insight into the main story. I was thinking about a possible subheading which is actually a rhetorical question 'Have you got the wyke factor?' however i feel by using this pun, makes it cheesy which degrades it a little bit. Another one i thought of is 'As the auditions start, who will have the Wyke Factor?' This i feel is a lot more inviting and makes the artical more interesting and leaves the audience wanting to buy the magazine. I like the like 'As the auditions start...' because it adds a hint of reality into the story as the auditions have 'already begun.' It also draws in the audience from the beginning, and by printing the new updates in each issue, the regular audiences will keep purchasing as since they where involved from the begging, they will want to know how the competition is going.

The text of my subheading will be smaller then the main heading, however it doesn't need to be that big. Im trying to create a sort of order in which the audience will first look at the front page, first: The main focus point, the image, second: The heading, and third: the sub heading. And by the third stage the main story should have already lured in the audience to purchasing the magaizine. I would like the text to be small, however i also want the text to be possibly underlined and coloured in a contrasted colour depending on what the background of the image is.

I have just displayed my ideas for the main story on my front page. These will probly change as soon as i start to take photographs, get new ideas, plan it out on paper!

The conventions used on a magazine front page

The codes and conventions of a magazine are quite similar to a newspaper.

A magazine always includes a main focus point of an image. Whats interesting to note is when the main headline is displaying bad feelings for a celebrity, they show a photograph of the celebrity with indirect mode of address.which makes the celebrity look very unconfident and unhappy. However, if a celebrity is using direct mode of address, they look a lot more confident and happy this also benefits for the readers as it comes across as inviting and warm... they use this when the celebrity is making positive headlines.

If the magazine is lucky and rich enough to have booked to celebrity for an interview and a photo shoot with the celebrity, the celebrity in the photo shoot will rarely display indirect mode of address, but focus more on the emotion she is experiencing whilst making these headlines/quotations from the interview. If you look at the heat magazine to the right: 'Charley' has had a photo shoot for the magazine, and the quotations do match the emotion she seems to be showing. E.G shes quoted 'Chanel- I WILL go out for a drink with him' with the emphasis on the 'WE' suggest determined, and with her being photographed with her arms on her waist, she does look determined, very dominant and confident.

The headline is always used, this is to advertise the main articles they have in the magazine to make it sell. Usually, the main headline will accompany the main image, and be assisted with sub headline, these can be quotations from the celebrity during the interview. Most magazines have a kind of order in which they intend you to read the front page, first is the image, second, is the main headline and the third will be the sub headline. Which in the NME magazine's case in a quotation from the band 'the automatic'

Another convention of a magazine front page are plugs, plugs are used to lure the audience into purchasing the magazine, because they give an insight into what stories and images inside the magazine. In the secondary teachers magazine, they had plugs which were about learning because the magazines ideology was for supporting learning. Were the NME's ideology is music, therefore their plugs which they include: the stories, competitions and images will be involved somehow with music.

When a magazine/newspaper advertise a competition on the front page it's called a Puff. Competition Puffs are a lot beneficial for the magazine to use, if the magazine is tar getting a mass audience as their are more people to support that competition and take part.

The masthead is another big convention of a magazine front page as it's the magazines 'name', usually after years of the same magazine being in the production the magazine will hopefully become more well known such as 'the sun'.

This masthead is very popularly known, and people also start to get their expectations of the magazine with the colours supporting the idea of 'the sun' being a 'red top' which is automatically suggesting it's very celebrity driven. Also 'the mirror' is a red top newspaper; which suggests the newspaper is celebrity driven. The masthead, i believe has to be a quick, snappy name to make it more memorable, magazines also tend to use the same masthead for years whilst the magazine is in production, because people will remember it, and as soon as you change it... it's a lot harder to remember the new name. The mastheads font and name give a first impression of the magazine, so calling a magazine 'Secondary Teachers' is almost obvious to what the magazine is about and who the target audience will be, just by calling a magazine 'Wyke College Weekly' you can get an idea of what the magazine's ideology will be about.

Magazines will usually include a date, issue, email/website, price line just above or below the Masthead. These are used for obvious reasons, they are informative to the reader and by displaying the email or website the audience may the magazine cares about their feedback, and any questions or comments.

There are lots of Conventions i could use on my college magazine, there where some conventions used more on a magazine targeted for a mass audience however, they could still possibly work on my niche audience targeted magazine, and possibly make it a bit different. These are all conventions of which i gathered from analysing magazines front covers from both a mass audience and a niche audience:

- A Masthead

- A Head Line

- A Sub Head line

- A main image being supported by the headline

- A line displaying the date, price and website/email

- Plugs

-Puffs

- Some include a tagline.

Analysis 3: Another Secondry School Magazine Analysis

This is another magazine for Secondary School teachers and parents. This is again targeted for a niche audience and with the main focus point being on a main image which is two gingerbread men, on a baking tray being held by a student.
The Gingerbread men represent a girl and a boy, this is obvious because one is wearing a skirt which we would expect a girl to wear for school. By using a stereotype you are making it obvious what the gingerbread men are, as we do represent a girl wearing a skirt, shirt and tie: as a school uniform. The boy is wearing what a stereotypical school uniform for a boy would be, a shirt and tie, however he isn't wearing trousers... possibly this could have made the image too complicated to understand which is why they have left it stereotypical and to a minimum. The gingerbread men are both the same size, they are not promoting one sex rather then the other, and they both have completely equal facial features, they're both smiling: like a nice, friendly, happy to be a school, students.
The person holding the tray, is gender unidentified: you can only see the tie, shirt and a little bit of the bottoms, whether it's a skirt or trousers are unknown. This widens the audience from possibly one gender toned, into multi gender toned, as its not one gender specific.
The caption above the centre image is printed in white and again includes a sub caption underneath the main caption. Again it's as if there is an order in which you view this magazine, as in what features the magazine want's you to see first: First, it's the large caption, which gives you a hint on what the main story is inside. Second, It's the sub caption which gives the main insight into what the story is like on the whole, and third is the supporting image which supports the main article in the magazine and also provokes a lot more interest, then there originally could have been with the use of text, rather then an attention grabbing image. The idea of this being in a kind of order, never lets the reader loose attention with the magazine, as the readers eyes are always fixed on something also the caption 'Cook With Me!' uses a personal pronoun which is very inviting and warm.
The second main focus point is the masthead, which is the same on the other magazine, it is very mature colours compared to the primary school magazine. The Masthead is a fade between green to blue and is in sans-serif font, this gives a more tabloid feel to the magazine thus attracting a wider based audience. I feel the colour bluey/greeny gives a lot more older feel to the students, whereas primary school children would be more acceptable of being labelled with a lighter colour, either baby blue or baby pink, however with the darkness to the colour it seems to have matured the look of the audience a bit more, as well as the masthead called 'Secondary' we then understand why it's trying to have a more mature feel to the magazine.
There is again 3 plugs at the top of the magazine which are supposed to lure the audience into buying the magazine, it's supposed to seem to the audience that they're are a lot more stories then just the main article. The colours are a lot more warm, using reds and pinks: it also connects with the uniform the students wearing whilst holding up the baking tray. The plugs are including quotations which could intrigue the audience as they don't really make since, they've used an image along with a caption however, they don't give too much away by using the image, it still creates interest about this plug, and the final one is hints and tips in the classroom using alliteration and all words are all duel syllabic. It seems all 3 of the plugs all include a different effect, the first plug includes a quotation, 2nd includes an image and the 3 includes alliteration. I believe the they've used this to make it a lot more different, the fear of how boring the 3 plugs would seem if they just used the same effect, it creates a variation and therefore can retrieve a more interested audience.
At the bottom of the front page, they again include a sort of by line, displaying their production company as well and an email which does give the audience the idea of caring, because why would the magazine print their email if they weren’t caring enough to receive feedback, comments and questions? It's all an idea of caring for the audience.
This is another good example for a college magazine, however, they use the same ideas for each magazine, and that’s their way of producing their magazine front cover. However, I feel it would be a lot more helpful if I analysed a different magazine perhaps, one targeted at a mass audience, or maybe just another college magazine as I do have to produce a college magazine, I feel I just need more interesting ideas then I’m analysing already.

Analysis 2: Another Niche Audience targetted magazine, for a primary school

This is a front page for a primary school magazine, this is again targeting a niche audience, of teachers or possibly parents.

The masthead is a lot more warmer and seems a lot more younger colours then the secondary school magazine. The primary masthead is a fade between pink to red. It seems a lot more caring because of the warm colours and a lot more maternal and paternal whereas on the other magazine, the secondary school magazine the colours where a lot more mature.

The main image, is again the main focus point, it shows a person holding a mug which states in bright, white on red text 'The Boss.' The image on the mug stands out a lot from the bright white mug, and connects with the headline underneath the image, 'would you want the top job?' It seems stereotypical that in school, you do always see a teacher drinking coffee through a mug, either in the staff room or on their desks, or just in simple office job, however, everyone must have a quick thought of what their working life would be like as boss... and that's what this image and the caption underneath is doing it's recognising the realism for people to think this. There is only the hand shown which is holding the mug, also the hand has no features to fully determine the sex of that person whereas if they fully wanted the audience to determine the sex of the person holding the mug for a woman they could have painted the nails, or wear a diamond ring. Or for a man, they could have made the person have unkept hands, dirty hands and unmanicured nails because these are all the factors which make the sex recognisable. By keeping the model's sex completely anonymous they are stretching their audience to men and women by stating this magazine is for men and women by not stereotyping the other sexes.

The caption underneath the picture, the topical, controversial question is coloured in a light yellow/orange, this informs us on what the picture was about and we can then conclude on why the picture was any relevance to the article. After the caption we then have the sub caption which is just a basic summary of the article as a whole, this intrigues the audience and acts like a mini preview or a trailer on TV, once you've actually read the basic summery and what it's about you want to then buy the magazine and read the article. The sub caption is in WOB however, it is in smaller text then the main caption, they've tried to make it a lot more obvious to read the main caption first because of the way it's placed in order size on the page it's as if there is an order in which you have to read this section of this front page: First it's the large image, then the caption by using large bright text underneath the image and to Finally fully conclude what the image and caption are about is the sub caption, in even smaller, black text.

This primary school magazine is made with the same layout as the secondary school magazine layout, there are again 3 plugs at the top of the page, 2/3 of the plugs are health related which is an important issue for parents with young children and will again help stretch the target audience wider then just teachers. The three colours of the plugs are all different, ranging from pink to orange to red. I feel this is to give the idea there are variations of children and suggests that every child is different, and this magazine (especially because most of the plugs are giving advice on health problems and advice which children do commonly suffer from e.g How to spot dyslexia) could give advice to every child no matter how different as well as there is a photo of a young girl and boy also suggest this magazine is very uni-sex. These plugs are again, used to lure the audience into buying the magazine and by stating the magazine is useful to both sexes of children and adults it's widening the audience which where originally targeted.

There is a kind of by-line at the bottom of the page, with the institution clearly noticeable, with the issue, and the website. This adds responsibility into the production, like someone cares enough what they've produced to accept feedback. It seems like the institution care about their readers.

Ultimately i believe with the features used in this front page gives strong identity of the audience they are intending to target: Teachers and Parents. This audience is very niche however, i believe they have widened their audience as much as they can, with trying to keep it very open, by keeping the person holding the boss mug unidentified and by using a photo of young children of both sexes.

Analysis 1: Secondary Teachers Magazine Cover

This is an example of a college magazine front cover, I will be analysing this and pointing good ideas which i can then use on my magazine:

The first key point is the photograph of the boy student, it's obvious these two people are school students because of the uniform they're both wearing. The boy student is displaying direct mode of address, this is inviting and provokes interest, his smiling face creates ambiguity and the caption to the left of the photo which is actually a good controversial question can also be used as a lure, to lure the audience into to reading the debate.

On the opposite side of the page there is a girl student giving him an annoyance look, she is not displaying direct mode of address and this suggests she doesn't have as much confidence as the boy which then connects with the idea of learning, and the confidence with certain subjects. The caption for the girl (it's displaying the same rhetorical question as on the other page) is written in pink, and the caption for the boy is written in blue. The idea for this picture is promoting the debate 'Do boys and girls learn differently?' It coming across as a bit of battle of the sex, which then connects with the iconographic factor of the colour representing a sex.

At the top of the front page there are 3 plugs, one is another interesting, controversial question which is attempting to lure the audience into buying the magazine, the other two are just features of whats in the magazine to also lure the audience into buying the paper. It's interesting to note the boys hand is upright (obviously trying to get attention from the teacher) and his finger ends right underneath the question 'Dyslexia- how easy is it to spot?' perhaps he's trying to draw us to reading the plug, which we probably could just simply not notice, or perhaps he's trying to state the connection between students and Dyslexia, because Dyslexia does effect learning thus effecting schooling. There is also another plug to the bottom right of the boy in the picture which in a bright colour states 'PLUS, FREE student cookbooks. See page 5' this is tempting the audience by using the word FREE, and in bold capital WOB it makes it a lot more noticeable.

The 3 plugs at the top of the page are coloured in bright pink, red and purple, this are all warm colours and do invite the reader but also suggest the other sex, because on this page we have a main focus point, which is the boy centered presenting direct mode of address, with all the typical boy colour, blue, around him and by using stereotypically more girly warm colours like pinks they will also be targeting and attracting the other sex.

The Masthead is a fade between green to blue and is in sans-serif font, this gives a more tabloid feel to the magazine thus attracting a wider based audience. I feel the colour bluey/greeny gives a lot more older feel to the students, whereas primary school children would be more acceptable of being labeled with a lighter colour, either baby blue or baby pink, however with the darkness to the colour it seems to have matured the look of the audience a bit more, as well as the masthead called 'Secondary' we then understand why it's trying to have a more mature feel to the magazine.

Ultimately i believe the publishers created the two front pages, opposite each other to break the stereotype that girls and smarter then boys, and by using the total role reversal they are attracting an audience by the mysterious picture and also luring in the audience to read/buy their magazine.

This magazine i believe is cleverly produced and i feel does attract the correct niche audience of a college. There are lots of good points about this magazine which i feel, i could on my magazine front page.

When You Read You Begin With ABC, When You Study Media You Begin With LIIAR

Language- Technical terms, theoretical terms of which we use when we are analysing a media piece; and what we use as guidelines: Denotation, connotations are used as well. In a magazine the Language Features which are included on the front page, are possibly a main image displaying direct mode of address, also a masthead is an example of media language.

Institution- The institution is the production of media texts, from a magazine point of view the institutions are OK! and Heat magazine! These magazines objective is to provide celebrity news.

Ideology- The ideology is represented in it's beliefs and values, what the magazine personally believes in: it's its more celebrity driven or world news driven. For a college magazine, they would include news on education and students as that is their ideology.

Audience- The consumers of Media, a large media audience are called a mass audience, and a small and specialised audience is called a niche audience. For a college magazine they are targeting a niche audience as it is small and specialised.

Representation- This is how social groups are portrayed in the media e.g Teenagers are portrayed particularly bad for creating havoc on the streets. For a college magazine the students would be represented as hard working and generally really nice students!