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.