Three pop magazine contents page analysis

In this entry I will be analysing three magazines to be able to take parts from each of the magazines so when I make my contents page it can be as good as the professional magazines this  follows Bentleys theory which stated in 1997 that : “The making of the new though the rearranging of the old." I will take parts from each of the magazines and rearrange so it appeals to my target audience.In the analysis I will look at what is the same about the cover and and contents page and what is different.  I am also going to look at the colour pallet, the use of typography and Lexis I will also look at the layout and images. When looking at text I will be trying to keep it as much the same as the other two magazine as  the text used is already now for that genre and will help to appeal to my target audience which follows Hall and Holmes 1998 theory  that: "Any media text is created for particular audience and will usually appeal most to this particular target audience."


We Love Pop

We Love Pop is going to be the first magazine contents page Im going to look at as it is the same brand of magazine that I looked at on my last post. The contents page appeals to the same target audiences therefore appeals to the same gender and social groups.

The use of text (Lexis) is very good as they have used a heart instead of love in the logo "We love Pop". I like how they used the heart as this links with the target audience of teenage girls. One main problem I can see is that they have not put the words Contents page which is weird as normally they have the word contents page on the page. Although you can tell its the contents page  as it has the page numbers this tells the reader of the main stories in the magazine. One key apart of text (lexis) used is the masthead "We Love This "they have used word love constantly throughout the cover ,this is good as it gives the impression of goodness and kindness as love is a positive word this reflects on the magazine which is also positive. The typography used is very good as its very big, bold and clear. One problem with the typography is that parts are to close together causing confusion for example the box with the title "Inside this month"is very small text and all compacted it a small space. One other part of text (lexis) they have used that I like is the text: "Save your pocket money"!One Direction aren't pricey." I like this text as give the young target audience the idea that they could save up and pay One direction to go naked.

The colour pallet  used is  more eye appealing than the cover page and it is more balanced.They only use blue, yellow, red, black and white which is a lot less than "I'm a pit bull apparently"! cover. Although  I don't think using the colour blue is a good idea as it symbolises the cold however it does look good there and very eye appealing. I also like how they have used the colour yellow to show the main parts on the magazine and as it is yellow it stands out a lot more than the other colours to make the main stories to stand out.

The layout is a lot more structured than the We Love Pop cover page I looked at and the layout does not look that much like a soap magazine this is good because when people look at it they will know its a magazine to do with the music genre of Pop.They have or so put it into different parts this good because it makes it easier for people to pick out the key parts they want to read for example all the key stories are on the right side of the page and then the next imported stories are on the bottom of the page in the box labeled Inside this month.

The use of images are pretty much the same as where used on the cover page as the pictures mainly consist of medium shots and close ups. They have also used a lot of images as like the front cover. The We Love Pop magazine has or so put a group of  males as the centre image to appeal to the target the images is about the story "I'd pose naked for about a hundred quid!" this story is based around One Direction one of the most popular music groups at this time they have also been called the next big Beetles they came to stardom after being on X Factor and they are now know around the world and best now for songs like What makes you Beautiful. They have used this boy band as the main image as they have one of the biggest audiences out of all the people on the page which is the same target audiences of the magazine We Love Pop.

The video above is One Directions most popular song which is called What Makes You So Beautiful I found  this out because of site below.
http://www.thetoptens.com/best-one-direction-songs/



 Top of the Pop

I looked at a Top of the Pops magazine in my last post because of this the social groups that this magazine  appeals to is the same as like the gender and ethic groups are the same or so.

I will start the analysis of Top of the Pop by looking at the use of typography and Lexis. The use of typography is very basic as it is all the same style of text however as it is the same style of text it is very easy to read. One problem with the typography is that the  key words are made bold which I think looks unappealing and if they simply change the colour of the text it would be allot better also I think the bold text does not relate to the target audiences as its very heavy and females are stereotypically seen as light and small so the typography should relate. The type words (lexis) used is very lad back like the mast head: "inside the mag" this is a very lad back approach which will appeal to the target audiences of young teens who are stereotyped for being lazy and lad back.One main part of typography that I like is that they have a big 26 over the well know pop group called One Direction this tells the read as soon as they see it to go to page 26 to see all the One direction gossip. Or so strangely their is no text saying contents page as like the We Love Pop contents page.

The colour pallet used is not much different from the colours that where on the Top of the Pop magazine that I looked at in the last post doesn't the reason I think this because they have mainly relied on the colours yellow and pink. The uses of the colour pink is a good idea as it is a very fun colour and as Hebdige said in 1979 that: " youth are represented as either fun or trouble." By using the colour pink it goes along with the theory as pink is a fun colour and appeals to a fun happy target audiences. They have also used a very pall yellow colour which is a little unappealing and boring. They have also used the colours red, blue, white, black and grey. The use of colour seems very basic on this contents page as they have mainly relied on using the colours pink and yellow which are stereotypical two of the female target audiences favourite colours and if they are also trying to appeal to the gay male target audiences using the colour pink could be a bit of putting.

The Layout of the magazine Top of the Pop is structured well  and  the magazine has clearly broken down the different topics into 5 boxes including different titles they are: We love boys, We love Shopping, All about you Celebs and gossip and Wins and offers apart from the last two topics are a very stereotypical view on females for example the title all about you young teenage girls are stereotyped as being self centred which clearly links with the title. When making my contents page I will try to keep away from some of this style types as it can be seen as degrading to females. One positive of the Top of the Pops contents pages is that it doesn't look like a soap magazine contents page as the cover page I looked at in the last post did look like a soap magazine. I personally would not change the layout of the contents page because it is very clear and very well structure I or so think the layout is very appealing to the female target audiences as females are stereotyped as being tidy which is reflected onto this page.

The use of images on the magazine is very simple they have used 5 images on the contents page although one main image has thrown me as they have a image of the cover page which I find a little strange although its a good idea as they have a image of Selena Gomez on the cover who was on a Disney TV show called Wizards of Waverly places she then become a pop singer after see got a fan base from the Disney TV show. One of her best know songs is Come and get it and because of song names like that she appeals to men who see her as a object of sexually desire this follows Wolfs theory that: "images of females used by the media present females as sex objects. "Although see or so appeals to females and is seen as a role model by young teenage girls. They have also used a image of three of the members from One Direction who I spoke about in the analysis of the We Love Pop contents page above this. They have used this boy band because they are one of the most popular bands that's fan base is teenagers of 13 to 15 years of age.

Billboard

As I said in the last post the Target audiences appeals to a higher social class than the over two magazine and or so a wider age range as Billboard give the reader a lot more like the top of the charts.

I will start of the contents page analysis of Billboard by look at the Typography. To start of unlike the over two magazines  they have include the mast head Contents which clearly tells the reader its the contents page this is a positive of the magazine as the over two magazines did not provide the reader with the text contents. Another key part of typography that I like is that have made key features bold text backing it really stand along side the blue text the reason I don't mind the bond text on the Billboard magazine and dislike it on the Top of the Pop magazine is because they have high lighted to much so the bold text does not stand out. I will have to take this into consideration when making my own contents page as I want any key text to really stand out of the page. Another key part of typography is the page numbers which are on the left which I find weird as I would think it would be better to have the information about the page and then the page number after, although as all three magazines I have looked at do it this way I should or so, as this would mean I am following the genres rules/structure already in place this follows Bentleys theory which stated in 1997 that : “The making of the new though the rearranging of the old." I will hope to follow this theory so people recognise my magazine contents page genre. One key use of Lexis on this page is the magazine logo Billboard in the top right corner and the world billboard is normally though as a big sign/ big poster however in this contents it is a magazine and give the idea its big and including big stories as billboards are big. I think this is a good use of Lexis and when making my own magazine logo/ title I will try to do draw comparisons as well. One over key part of typography is the date on the magazine this provides the reader with the information to check if they have read the magazine before they decide to buy or read the magazine.They have also place the page numbers by the images tell the reader where to look for stories relating to the images.

The colour pallet used is very basic as they have only used red, white, black, blue, yellow this is a total of 5 colours however one of them is only used in the logo.The use of the colour pallet is good as it keeps the colour as the second objective and uses the typography as the key of the contents page this provides the reader with a easy eye appealing read.  Although unlike the over two magazines it does not look, like they have used any colour as it all blends into one and keeps it eye appealing at the same time. I would like to do this with my magazine as to much colour can be a weakness however if I use five colour in a effective way like the Billboard magazine it can look very nice and eye appealing to the target audiences. A other good uses of the colour pallet is on the main image where the female looks happy and excited and the red colour goes will with the mood of the image as red is a very vibrant colour which is reflected on the page.

The layout of the contents page is very basic I mean this  because of the way it is split into three parts one the text on the left hand side of the page. Then second theirs the main image in the centre and thirdly a column of pictures on the right hand side of the page. In reflection the contents page is simple but it is presented in a tidy clear cut way. One main problem with the layout is that it is not, interactive enough for the younger members of the target audience. Although this could be a positive that it not very interactive as it makes it a easier read for the target audience.

The use of images are a little different than what was used in the over two magazine content pages this is because they have used a full body shot to do with the story of 360 deal with Fueled by Ramen,Paramoreis getting ready to shrine with "Brand New Eyes." One good thing about this image is that the mood of the female in the image is a very happy mood which is reflected into the story. Also all of the over images used a other medium close ups or they are  full body shots. As billboard does not just focus on the Pop genre and some times includes video games some images show this  for example the image on the top right hand side of the page is to do with: "On The Road Again Plus : the seasons new music videogames." One of the other images is to do with the story  6 questions: Kermit Ruffins who is a famous American jazz trumpeter, singer and composer from New Orleans.The over image is to do with the story the indies. All of  the stores on the page appeal to a different target audiences and different genres of music however as I am looking at the Pop music genre I will try to not do what Billboard has done and I will try to keep images that are relate to the pop music genre.

In conclusion when I make my contents page for my magazine I will use some of the common convention between the three magazine contents pages. One of the first things I will do when making my magazine is put the mast head contents on, yes only one magazine has put this word as the masthead however I should not need to rely on another key feature, so people think its a contents page if I use the the mast head contents there will not be any confusion and by doing this it makes it as simple as possible for my target audiences. I will also have to put the page number before the text however as much as I would like to have it at the end of the text the three magazines have all put it before the text so to follow the common conventions of my chosen genre I will need to put it before the text. Or so when making my contents page I will need to have my  logo on the page which should also be on the cover. Two of the three magazines have had their logo on the contents page which were We Love Pop and Billboard however Top of the Pop includes their logo in a image of the front cover which I think is a smart way of presenting there contents page.Also when making my contents page I will need to use around five colours as two magazines used 5 colours and one used seven however if I use five colours I want to be surtitle like the Billboard magazine but also use one or two prime colour like We Love Pop which had blue as the main colour and then yellow. Also when taking images for my contents page they should be mainly be meduim close ups as that the most often used shot on all of the magazines and may be a couple close up shots.