Front Cover & Contents Page

Focus Group

Holly, Student. 12

Holly is interested in dancing and taking part in the school dance club. She also likes going to the school discos with her friends, and enjoys socailisng. Holly plays netball at the weekend, as well as going shopping and the cinema with her friends. She likes to go away with her family, every year to either Spain or France.

In the magazine holly would like to read information on the school clubs, such as dance clubs and homework clubs. She would also be interested in reading about the languages. As the school is a language college, she would like to see some more of language clubs in the magazine to help her and encourage to learn more languages.

Izzy, Student, 12

Izzy loves to socalise with her friends and going to the cinema. She has a dog and a rabbit, and loves animals. Izzy likes listening to Mcfly and girls aloud, and enjoys watching hannah montana and high school musical films. She loves to go out shopping in topshop and new look, with her friends, sisters or mum. Izzy travels with her family a lot.

In the magazine Izzy would like to read about the school discos which are up and coming, school clubs and clubs outside school. She would also be interested in articles about the language clubs in school so she can speak abroad. Izzy wouldnt mind reading things about high school musical, and other music she listens too. She said it would be nice to read stuff about school and stuff which goes on outside school.

Nina, Student, 11

Nina likes to go out with her friends on the weekend and go shopping or to the cinema. She likes dressing up in fancy dress for parties and enjoys dancing. She is a member of a dance club outside school but also is part of the school dance club. Nina loves to go to the school discos - when she can get tickets - with her friends and dance to her favourite music. She enjoys listening to Mcfly, Pink and Pussycat Dolls.

In the magazine Nina would like to read about homework clubs in case she struggles in her subjects, and would like to know more information on language clubs as she feels she is falling behind. But she would also like to know more information on sports and dance clubs that she can join and go to in her free time. She said it would be good to know some events inside and outside school and also have some competitions she could do.

Audience Profile

For this task I have intended to produce a magazine aimed at year seven girls, they will be in full time education. After asking people in my questionnaire I am going to focus the magazine on a mixture of different aspects including school life and social life. I think it is important that I include social life as most year sevens are still adjusting to school life and may not have made many friends. This has given me an idea to include articles about school clubs and discos. However I have taken into account that everyone is different and want to read different things, so I am trying to include all different aspects.

Social life activities may include shopping, going to the cinema, sports clubs and school discos. School life would include, homework clubs, school sports clubs, and book club.

Some articles I will include in the magazine is information on how to feel good about yourself as some year sevens are quite shy and may compare themselves to people who they feel look nicer than them. I will also incorporate information on homework clubs incase they get stuck at school and need extra help, also have information on clubs that they can join inside and outside the school.

Questionnaire

Mood Board - Year 7 Magazine

I have brought together a mood board, I have chosen these pictures as they target my audience of year 7's. I have researched into what year 7's enjoy watching, reading and doing, by asking them in the questionnaire to find out their enjoyments and hobbies. Some of my target audience also liked animals and sports but most of my target audience enjoyed other things, including shopping, watching television and films and reading magazines. By researching i found out that they enjoy going to the cinema, hence the odeon logo. They also enjoy watching television programme's such as Hannah Montana, Mean Girls and High School Musical, that is why i have put in pictures of those to symbolise those programme's. On the mood board i put a few headings and pictures of the magazines that they enjoy reading, which helps me with how to present my magazine front cover as these magazines will give me ideas of how they like their magazines presented. I have a picture on my board representing a disco as a lot of year sevens enjoying going to the school disco's and out with their friends, so this gives me an idea of what to put in my magazine. Topshop and H&M are on the opposite mood board as they exemplify the shops that year 7's usually and like shopping in. This helps me was I can then include adverts of those sorts of shops in my magazine. The last thing that i have on my mood board is a picture of smarties, this illustrates the sort of food they enjoy to eat and examples of food that they would like to be published in a magazine.

This is more focused for the age generation that the magazine I am producing.

Southend High School For Girls

This is another Southend High School For Girls magazine. This too has the school logo on the left hand side ofthe magazine and this one has an extra symbol about the language college. This is good as it shows that the school is good for languages as well as other subjects.

On the front cover there is two girls smiling and looking like they are having fun. The are also in non uniform which shows that they have non uniform day, giving the school and relaxed impression about it.

The writing on the front is bold and the writing is put on to a lighter colour to make the writing stand out more and more appealing to readers.

This magazine would appeal to future students reading it as they have an idea of some of the students that go there and they seem happy. Students in the school will also like as its not just school life focused as there is information about outside events in the school to.
There is information about school life, homework clubs, sports clubs and recent events and news in the school as well as some upcoming events. There is extra information on outside clubs and events and what students are achieving outside school.

The school does have competition with its magazines with other grammer schools and has to make a good impression to future studentsa and parents wanting to send their children there as they need to know what is good at the school, so the magazine has to show off and put what is best about the school in there to prove it is better than the other schools.

Southend High School For Girls Magazine

This is a school magazine for Southend High School for Girls, so this is a magazine aimed at students, parents and new incoming students to the school. The magazine has information about what goes on in the school, recent events, sports news, and upcoming events.

It would be focused at future parents and students so they can get a feel for what goes on in the school and have an idea what occurs. They will also get a chance to see what the school environment is like and read about what students do together in the school.

There will be information on events that the school does, such as fun runs, trips skiing, watersports etc, so all the students can get involved and the parents can get their children to participate.

The front cover has the school logo on it to represent the school, and has the headline of the magazine is bold and stands out. The picture connotates that it is a relaxed and fun environment and the girl looks happy like she is enjoying herself. This gives an impression that it isnt just all hardwork but there is fun in the school too.

The magazine will be free to all students and to anyone else who wants the magazine. The way the magazine has to be written is in a colloquial way to appeal to all generations, but it is written in a way that wants students to read but is then again formal enough for parents to read too.

The school is in competition with other schools such as westcliff high school for girls and st hilda's. There would be competition when new future students and parents read the magazine and see what school they would prefer there children to go to and see what appeals more to the future students.

Analysing Magazines - Mizz

Mizz magazine is a magazine published in the UK, and is aimed at teenage and pre-teens (usually to those between the ages of 11 and 14). Mizz incorporates pages of fashion, displaying clothing trends, using models ranging from 12 to 16 years old. It encourages its readers to write in about events in their life, varying from serious to comic issues. It also contains information about celebrities in a gossip form and includes stories from readers which have been sent in. The magazine also includes information on how to deal with teenage issues related to friends, relationships and growing up. It has a range of competitions and quizzes and posters. 

The magazine comes out once a fortnight and often comes with freebies, and it's current retail price is £2.10.

The connotation on the heading of mizz is that it is like miss, so its aimed at younger target audience. 

The magazine has a website which you can visit to interactively complete quizzes and competitions. This is an advantage as they can also email into the magazine regarding stories they want entered into the magazine. 

The model used on this magazine is a younger model so this appeals more to the younger generation who read this. It also gives them a role model to look up to. On the front cover of the magazine there is freebies advertised, "free bracelet." There is also two real life stories and headings underneath to tell you a bit about what the stories included but not much so it makes you want to buy the magazine to read more. There is also a bit about Mcfly, a boy band that attracts young teenagers, so this is included on the magazine to get girls to buy it, so they can find out what is happening. There is also a little bit on "Celeb Style" so the girls who buy the magazine can get a look like a celebrity. 

The magazine cover is busy and using bright colours and pictures all over the cover, which draws attentions to the girls aged 11-14 as there is a lot to read and take in. 

The magazine is in competition with other magazines such as sugar, shout and cosmo girl and they all stand out in similar ways with a main teenage model on the front and stories which are the main focuses in the magazine around the edge. 

In the magazine there is all adverts about make up, clothes, films newly released and  shops opening etc, which is aimed at the target audience for the magazine. 

Analysing Magazines - Sugar

Sugar is a well known magazine for teenage girls which tells them about boys, celebs, fashion and problems. It has a lot of real-life stories and similar matters. It includes an advice column that answers questions sent in by readers, typically dealing with relationships, body image and health issues. 
It runs a nationwide model competition every year giving a lucky girl the chance to win a modelling contract. 

It is particularly popular in teen girls between the ages of 13-17 because it provides up to date knowledge on most aspects of teenage life. 

The design of the magazine is sophisticated for the age of the audience with its layout and photoshoots. 

The magazine has a website which you can visit interactively to complete quizzes and competitions. This is an advantage as they can also email into the magazine regarding stories they want entered into the magazine. The model used on this magazine is younger model starred in a film that most people have watched, so it gives them a role model to look up to and appeals to them. 
The magazine cover has bright colours used with bold headlines to attract the audience of 13-17 year olds to buy the magazine and read it. It has fashion headlines and pictures on the front to draw your attention to and to make you read it to follow the fashion and there is also a quiz headline in bold to make you want to complete it. 

The magazine is in competition with other magazines such as mizz, shout, and cosmo girl as they all have similar layouts and stories, so there is a high competition with each other. 

Analysing Magazines - Cosmo Girl

Cosmogirl was an American magazine based in New York City. The teenage spin-off of Cosmopolitan, it targeted teenage girls and features fashion and celebrities. It was published ten times a year and reached approximately eight million readers before folding.

Inside each issue of CosmoGirl, there was an interview and photo shoot with a current celebrity, a beauty section featuring hair, skin, and makeup tips and trends, a fashion section highlighting various spreads of trends and clothes, and the Stars section which included articles on celebrities other than those featured on the cover. A monthly freebie calendar allowed readers to win various prizes by typing in a code to enter for a chance to win a prize on the magazine's website.

Cosmo Girl is a magazine for the 11-15 age range audience. Its a spin off from the magazine cosmopolitan, as that is more focused at the age range of 20-40 year olds and Cosmo Girl is something for the younger age range. This is also where the heading of cosmo girl came from, instead of cosmo-politan they instead changed it to cosmo-girl.

The magazine also lets you interact with them online. You can go on to their site (http://www.cosmogirl.com) and complete competitions and play online games which link up with the magazine.

Inside the magazine it has adverts for shoe shops, clothes shops, make up, new films out that are fitting in with their age range. This is evidence for the magazine to be more focused on the younger teenager generation as this is the sorts of things they like to read and see in a magazine.

On the front cover there is headings that stand out to try and draw your attention to the magazine. "Real Life Drama" is in a bold and big font to try and grab your focus onto the magazine, then underneath that it then tells you a few headlines of the stories they have on the magazine to try an make you want to read more into them. Another one of the headlines is about "The Miniskirt Workout," which makes younger teenages want to read to see how they can improve that and then below that they have a "plus" to say there is more than just the miniskirt workout in the magazine. As the younger generation are just starting to get interested in boys they have at the bottom of the front cover about "4 Dates Guys Love" drawing the younger girls interest into the magazine to read about what boys would love, so they can impress them. About 3/4 of the way down the front cover they have a bold and big "fresh!" across the page, making you look at that heading and what it is about, as it then tells you just beneath that it is about "85 ideas for a hot new you this spring," which girls will all love as they want the latest fashion and to be with the new clothes and ideas.

This kind of front cover attracts the younger generation as there is a lot going on and a lot for them to read. The model used on the front cover is a younger model than one used in a magazine such as cosmopolitan so it is more focused and aimed at the younger generation. It gives the younger teenager girls someone to look up to and admire as she is closer to their age.

This magazine has a lot of competiton with other magazines such as Sugar, Mizz and Shout. All these magazines are aimed at the similar age range audience and all have similar stories, quizzes, adverts and competitons to put in the magazine. I think Cosmo Girl stands out quiite a bit more than the others as you see cosmopolitan on the shelf near it when you buy the magazine and this is a bonus as people think they are more mature buying it as it relates quite well to the older generation magazine.

Analysing Magazines - Hello!

This magazine I have chosen is called "Hello!" The magazine Hello! was first published in 1988 and is a spin off from the Spanish magazine "Hola!" created by a Spanish Publisher called "Eduardo Sanchez Junco." The connotation of the of magazine title is that the magazine is implying "hello," to make you want to pick it up and read it. The title also gives the idea of hello to all the famous celebrities and their gossip. Its written in a bold white font on a red backing made it a signified logo and able to stand out on shop shelves.

Hello! is published by a company called "Polestar Sheffield" who also publish the magazine Now! and Women's Own. It also publishes different types of media such as newspaper supplements, travel, retail and financial. Hello! is published weekly at a cost of £2.00. This is quite a good price for a magazine with the latest gossip and news. Other magazines such as cosmopolitan cost more than Hello! so i think this is an average price for the magazine. The magazine also has a website, www.hellomagazine.com, so you can look only at the latest information and look interactively.

I believe the magazine is aimed at people from 25-50, I believe this because the magazine is mainly focused on weddings, new born babies, makeover of celebrities and the younger generation isn't normally interested in those areas. I also believe this as the adverts in the magazine are about aging creams, wrinkle creams, hair products to "cover those grey hairs"and the clothes adverts are more sophisticated and for the older generation. The models used in the magazine are usually plus size models with underwear or moisturizer next to them so the target audience aren't put off with the skinny models next to them. The models are also older and not as young as models that would be used in magazine such as heat or look.

The reader can interact with the magazine by emailing their views to the magazine, and they can also interact online by filling in questionnaire on the internet from the magazines website.

On the front cover of the magazine there is one main focus on the wedding of soap star Scott Maslen and Estelle Rubio. The main focus is on this story with most of the Eastenders cast surrounding them at there wedding. All the clothing looks expensive and very formal for the wedding, with all smiling faces to show it was a happy event. There are another two pictures on the bottom of the magazine cover smaller than the main picture, one of Victoria Beckham about her new makeover and then one of Prince William and his girlfriend Kate at a friends wedding. The pictures tells you that the target audience is aged between 25-50 year olds who are more sophisticated and would pick it up and read it on their way to work or at home after work. The colours used on the magazine are bold to stand out and the writing about the wedding the name of the character from Eastenders, Scott Maslen, is in a bigger bolder font as it will stand out and draw peoples attention towards it as people know him from the TV soap.

The magazine does look very similar to OK! and I think this is because as they are close rivals they are competing against each other they have more competition if they do look similar. It also gives them a target as they have to beat eachother, but then I also believe if that they do look that similar people will think they are very alike magazines and either pick up both or just one, which could be good for one magazine but then not for the other.

The magazines presentation looks quite sophisticated and expensive, and doesn't look like heat or more which do look cheaper. The font and writing colour is all quite similar to blend in the magazine and make it look more expensive and not cheap looking. I notice that the magazine is always similarly laid out with the heading at the top, the main focus in the middle with writing down the side and then two or three side stories at the bottom or top corner of the magazine.

The magazine always seems to show rich, posh and well known celebrities in the magazine to target the correct audience that read this magazine.

I think Hello! is a popular magazine as it is a well known magazine and has being going for a long time. People know this magazine is reliable as it directly speaks to the celebrities in interviews and not twisted like other magazines.

Southend Boys Magazine

This is a magazine cover of the Southend High School For Boys Grammar school. The magazine has the school colouring as the background and has the schools name across the centre of the magazine in a white bold font also in capitals making it stand out on the page.

The first image on the picture is a girl playing a flute which suggests that the school is keen in music and one of their talents. The picture is of a girl playing the instrument which shows that girls are also welcome to the school.

The three pictures represents the school in three different ways. The image in the middle shows two boys in a science lab with equipment around them. The connotation of this picture is that the school is very academic as well as musical.  The boys in the picture are also wearing protective goggles suggesting its also a safe environment. One the far left in that picture the boy looks happy and enthusiastic, showing that whilst he is doing work he is also enjoying himself.

The final picture is of a boy playing a board game, giving you the impression that they have a games club at school and it's not all academic as it also has activities and clubs that students can join.

I think this magazine is aimed at future students, students and parents. It is aimed at students to tell them what is going on around the school, what music clubs and clubs they can join and general school information. For future students as they can then see what the school environment is like and for parents as they can see if they want to send their child there or if they have a pupil there then they can see what is going on around the school.

This magazine also has competition from other schools as well, as if they parents have pupils in another school and they have a more informed and better magazine than Southend Boys, they may be more inclined to move their children to that school as they may think it may be more informative to parents and more supporting. This means that Southend Boys will have to make a magazine that is more focused to all parents and students with information that both of them need.