Mad Kids : Brand Eye Analysis

 

Teen Vogue : Front Page Analysis

Teen Vogue : Front Page Analysis

It is evident straight away from looking at this magazine front cover, that it's target audience is teenage girls, specifically those with an interest in fashion and celebrities. This is obvious because the masthead, and subsequent name of the magazine is "Teen Vogue" , the Teen therefore implying it is aimed at teenagers. Teen Vogue is evidently a subsidiary magazine of Vogue, which shows the brand is attempting to reach out to younger audiences who wouldn't usually read the normal Vogue magazine.

The colour scheme is predominantly pink, orange, black and white. The main image is of Rihanna, who's appearance on the front page will attract teenage girls as she is seen as an icon for them as she is very popular at the moment. She is in a pink dress, which has connotations of girls, innocence and children. This further reinforces the afore-mentioned theory that this magazine is aimed at teenage girls. She is not showing any cleavage or anything remotely sexual, which conveys the idea that this is aimed at younger, less mature audiences. 

Rihanna is not shot in line with the male gaze, as she is giving direct address to the camera, and she is not shown in a recumbent position that usually conveys vulnerability. This idea that she is not weak or vulnerable is used effectively because it is in a teenage girl's magazine, therefore this will inspire young women to be strong and independent (because there is no man on the front cover supporting her) which benefits the brand image that Teen Vogue is an inspiration to girls.

The featured articles shown on the borders of the magazine are the kind of news articles that would appeal to teenage girls, as they are not about tragic world news or presidential debates, but about dresses and breakups. This shows that Teen Vogue is a light-hearted magazine, which provides light relief reading. One of the features is about getting a job, which reinforces the previous point that Teen Vogue are projecting their brand image in the direction of inspiring young women to be strong and independent. Therefore, teenage girls will see this magazine and will be more inclined to want to get a job, because they read it in a magazine aimed at their age and social demographic.

Brand Eye : GamesMasters

Brand Eye : British Journal of Photography

This is a brand eye diagram for the British Journal of Photography, used to highlight and explain the strong points of a brand, and how it could be improved, in order to create a better, more positive brand image.

At the start of this lesson, I did not understand what brand eyes were, and I was struggling to understand its' concept. Eventually, I learnt how to use brand eyes effectively, through practicing them on the GamesMasters magazine front cover. I will continue to use brand eyes to highlight the positive aspects of magazine brands.

Photography Magazine Analysis

British Journal of Photography : Front cover analysis

It is evident here that this magazine is not aimed at children, like the afore-mentioned Nat Geo kids mag. This is because there are no soft bubble writing pieces of text or typography, and not lots of different photos. This magazine is more minimalist and simplistic, as there is only one large image in the centre, and not lots of smaller images around it. There is no border, unlike the Nat Geo kids magazine, which means it doesn't stand out as much.

This magazine's target audience is presumably 18+ age, of people wanting to become professional photographers, therefore they will want to purchase this magazine because they want inspiration on how to take better photos. This magazine may also be bought by family and friends of someone who they think should become a photographer.

There are only two colours prominent on this page, which are blue and white. Blue has connotations of calm, tranquillity and deep thought. The idea of deep thought links to the main image, of a cast of someone's head, who looks to be thinking with their eyes closed. This main image will work to attract aspiring photographers to read the magazine because they can see that it is a very interesting, thought-provoking photo.

This magazine is not conventional, in the sense that usually the magazine has the features of whats inside, all over the sides of the front cover. However, in this instance, the three features of the magazine are shown at the top, in small white text. This shows the target audience that this isn't a conventional, typical photography magazine, but a magazine aimed at people who are more artsy, and want to take more unrealistic photographs.

The typography of the masthead at the top : "British Journal of Photography" is in white, which has connotations of purity and peace. This idea is reinforced by the typography font, which is soft and lower case, which shows it is peaceful. On the other hand, on the bottom the font changes and in large capital letters it exclaims; "ONES TO WATCH" which is useful to attract the eye of the reader, as for once the text is in capital letters.

Nat Geo Kids Mag Analysis

Nat Geo Kids Mag : Analysis

Firstly, it is evident that this magazine's target audience is children, because there is a large masthead exclaiming "KiDS" across the top of the page. This is effective because it catches the eyes of children as it is bold and big. It is also light green, which is a soft colour with connotations of nature, which is the main theme of Natural Geographic, therefore it helps reinforce brand identity. The typography of the masthead is bubble writing with soft, curved edges, which opposes the hard, bold typography used on magazines with older intended audiences.

The colour of the border is yellow, which is synonymous with National Geographic, therefore it teaches a child that when they see the yellow border, they know they are looking at a National Geographic magazine. Yellow works well because it has connotations of warmth, happiness and sunshine, which are all things that children love at their young age - therefore they will be more inclined to want the magazine as the colour yellow appeals to them, and at that young age they will judge how much they like something based on the colours and photos, as they cannot read yet.

This idea links to the big image of the panda in the middle. This photograph is used because pandas are seen by many to be cute animals, therefore children especially will be more inclined to want to read it. It is the main image on the page because children prefer images to text, therefore a large image of a panda will be more appealing to them than a chunk of text.

Introduction to AS Media Studies blog

This blog was created to document and present my AS Media Studies coursework.

 

My name is Sam Williams and I am a student at Rooks Heath college, currently studying AS Media Studies. I have a passion for photography, and that will be helpful for taking photographs for the magazines and composing the design aspects of them. I also took Media and Photography at GCSE level, therefore I have an established knowledge of how to design magazine pages, as well as Adobe Photoshop CS6.

 

Throughout the duration of this blog, I will present various pieces of work, the first of which will be a school magazine, presented alongside relevant information and explanations. Once this preliminary work is complete, I will be moving on to the next piece of work, which will be a music magazine.