Magazine Analysis

Analysis of magazine - Version 1 (First draft)

Title

The name of the magazine is in a clear 'Century Gothic Bold' font allowing it to be clearly visible to catch passer by's eyes. The title is a specific typeface which should be kept constant throughout different copy's and issues of a magazine as it allows a recognisable brand to be formed to it's audience. The colour of the font is a baby blue which has positive connotations, for instance,  peace, strength and tranquility. The title is positioned directly above all other contents on the cover as this is consistent throughout all magazine covers.

Dateline

The dateline (month and year of publication) and  issue number are all located together in top of the right third of the cover. This information is in a 'Century Gothic Bold', however strategically in a size 10 font due the unimportance in this information in the context of selling purposes. 

Barcode

Standard bar code used by retailers, displayed on UK magazines since 1988. This is positioned in the bottom of the lower left third due to it not being a selling point of the magazine it is not necessary for it to be bigger or highly visible. 

Cover lines

The four cover lines, are all located in the left third. They vary in colour and size, drawing in attention and potential buyers. The cover lines must appeal and make the articles appear as interesting as possible. The left third of the magazine cover is vital for sales in shops as the magazine is not shown full frontage . Therefore the cover lines must be effective. The cover lines are purposely in the specific colours pink and green. As green suggests nature and health relating to the theme of the magazine (animals). Similarly pink suggests passiveness and friendliness. 

Analysis of changes made to magazine cover - Version 2 (Second draft)

Firstly, I changed the font of the "pet care - special edition" from yellow to black as this made it prominent on the page and stand out more. As the fact this issue is a special edition is a main selling point  it was vital this was clearly visible. 

I also added the price of the magazine to the cover, this was however in a significantly smaller size (font size - 10) as it's important the customer decides to buy the magazine before they actually notice the price. 

I added one more cover line in the left third. Due to fact that cover lines are the buyers first insight to what the magazine contains it's important to include many cover lines as it suggests the magazine contains lots of information and detail. 

Furthermore, the colour of all cover lines where changed to pink. As well as the colour of the pink circle, it was important to maintain a branding colour scheme, I did this my maintaing pink as the colour of all cover lines. 

I addition, I also added a main cover line which is the main article or feature within the magazine.  This is very large - taking up almost a quarter of the magazine cover. The us of the colour red allows the buzzword "deadly' to be more visible within the page. 

In conclusion, my final layout links to my research on magazine covers due to the inclusion of all magazine cover components I researched. For example barcode, cover lines and the use of thirds. I believe my use of colours will be useful in encouraging purchases as the pinks, reds and blues are bold, dominating colours which will catch peoples eyes. Overall, in this magazine cover producing task I have successfully learnt how to use Desk top Publishing in a effective way in order to produce well thought out content.