Summary:
"Acoustic" magazine is a British glossy publication that concentrates on only acoustic music. Originally, it was bi-monthly publication, however, now it has changed into a monthly magazine. The typical conventions you would find in this magazine are features such as:
- Reviews
- Guitar reviews
- Artist interviews
- Guitar lessons
- Tricks
- Vintage guitar advice
- Many of it’s columnists are famous guitarists and musicians.
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| This is a front cover of an issue of "Acoustic" Magazine |
Mast Head: “ACOUSTIC” is the magazine's title, which is always presented the same bold, size, white font across the top of the cover. By having it big and bold, helps to stand out and attract the reader. This feature enables regular readers to instantly recognise the magazine, as well as allowing new subscribers to know what this magazine is on about. The fact that the image overlaps the mast head shows that it is a very well known magazine as it will still be recognisable to its target audience and does not have to worry about a bit of it being covered. Also, this is a deliberate technique to use it, as they familiarise themselves with the title of the magazine and feel exclusive and a part of the club in this magazine.
Tagline: this is the motto of the magazine, which in this case is, “The UKs only dedicated acoustic guitar magazine." This lets the target audience know that this is the only magazine who specialise in their wanted genre and is the best one to buy for your money. It also implies that there is a gap in the market, for my particular magazine I would like to create.
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Colour Scheme: The main colours on his particular issue, is white, black, green and red. These colour help portray and appeal to males as they are quite dark and masculine, which links back to their target audience.
Main Images: Even though this is a rather small image, this is the main picture (besides the model photo) presented on this page. By having picture of men, link back to the target market, suggesting men are more likely to relate to this magazine.
Feature Image: this particular feature image is of Kris Kristofferson, who is a recognisable man, not only in the acoustic world, but is the acting business too. Therefore, as he is an inspirational musician, who will attract the male target audience.The image is the first thing that the eye is drawn to when looking at the cover as it is the biggest thing on the page and is positioned in the centre. It also jumps out from the page as it over laps the name of the magazine and everything else is positioned around it. The fact that the image overlaps the mast head shows that it is a very well known magazine as it will still be recognisable to its target audience and does not have to worry about a bit of it being covered.
Font: The text on the front cover, is clear and easy to read, due to the fact the font is big, bold and doesn't blend in with the background. Additionally, the majority of the text is presented in capital letters helping to show the importance and exclusivity of the cover lines.
Boost: This is the main sell lines on the magazine, which tends to be the body copy on the page (apart from the magazine title). This ensures that readers know what the main article is inside the magazine. By having the name of his new album "Closer to the Bone", giving a good insight into what the article will be about. By using a variety of colours is this front cover is effective by putting different emphasis on each word, which makes the text stand out even more. This also indicates that the article will be "closer to the bone" leading the reader to believe that the interview will be more personal. By including a quote from Kristofferson himself, helps to provide an insight into the sell line.It is most probably the second thing that will catch the audience's eye.
Cover Lines: There are numerous sell lines on the front cover, which seems to be a conventional feature that you will most commonly find in Acoustic magazines. All though there are many of them, they are in a neat layout, which are easy on the eye to read. An advantage of having multiple cover lines on the front cover, help give a brief summary of what is inside this issue of the magazine, allowing readers to instantly know what the magazine includes, without having to browse through the contents and pages. The cover lines have been structured into two main columns. Each column is on either side of the cover image, so it does not detract from the main image and be more aesthetically pleasing for the reader.
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Banner: On this particular issue, there are two banners on the cover, one across the top of the page and at the bottom. These are used as devices to inform readers of what is included in the magazine, other than those already listed in the sub-stories. Banners, conventionally contain relatively small writing, placed on a bright background in order to make them stand out.
Burst: There is a burst advertising a Free CD for the readers. This advertising technique entices the reader to buying the magazine by introducing "Malta's Finest" an Acoustic duo. By having it presented to the audience in a circle shape, helps differentiate it from the other cover lines and to also make it more noticeable to readers.
Barcode: this is located at the bottom right hand side of the page, which also contains the price of the magazine and the issue date too. It is usually found near the bottom of the magazine, so it does not draw attention away from the other main features on the cover.
Price: this magazine costs £3.95, which I believe it price rather expensive for my target market, however, as it is aimed at adults (aged 30-50's) they are more likely to have money, compared to a teenage market, who may not have a large amount of income. On the other hand, considering it is a monthly magazine, the price is reasonable in that case.
Logo: The logo of the magazine's publisher is also featured in this rectangle, "Oyster House Media". This acts as a little advertisement for this company.
Contents Page Analysis:
Layout: The page is set out in a simple, yet effective way, making it easy on the eye and to follow. This seems to be their house style, as they try and keep this theme continuous throughout the whole of the magazine. I believe this simple layout is important in music magazines, as readers would prefer a publication that is easy to navigate, considering they have paid their money for it. Additionally, the different features are all separated into matching topics. For example, all the new music is in its own box, and so are the guitar techniques and reviews etc. This makes the pages look neat and organised, so it is therefore easier to understand.
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The only bright colour used is for special things such as their “New techniques section” and the “Acoustic competition”. These articles are highlighted in bright red to signal their significance and importance.
Main Image: The largest picture is for the main article, takes up half a page. Once again it consists of dark masculine colours. Also, there is a paragraph underneath the page number and man interviewed, to give an indication to the reader what the article is about.
Thumbnails: there are numerous pictures to represent their relevant features, which also help to make the page more appealing to look at. They act as an extra aid to knowing what the magazine will contain as some of them have a small paragraph telling the reader about the article.
Page Numbers: these are consisted next to all features in the magazine, in order for the readers to easily flick to specific pages they would like to read.
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Double Page Spread Analysis:
Layout: In this particular magazine, the amount of pictures and text seem to be in proportion to each other, as there is a large picture that covers over half a page, with a large amount of text. I think that I should try and stick to this convention.
Mast Head: The title of the article is in very big, bold font, and it is relevant to the article.Underneath the heading is a brief description, that acts as a small introduction to the article, saying who Rosanne is and what she will be discussing.
Main Images: In this particular double page there are two images of Rosanne used; one that is the background picture, taking up more than one page, and a small one of her with her guitar. The use of having a picture with her guitar, I believe it a convention, that I again should stick to, as it represents the music genre I have chosen, to make it look like a realistic magazine. The bigger image of the two, with Rosanne in a strong and powerful stance with her arms crossed, showing that although there is a woman in this male dominated magazine, she is making her mark in the industry.
The second image portrays her in a much happier pose, to connote the atmosphere that you would usually find in an acoustic magazine. Also, by having head, overlapping onto the white background, makes her stand out more.
Article: There is a lot of writing in this article that is neatly presented and easy to read, despite being in a small font. Rosanne and the writer seem to discuss about her musical influences and inspirations, her writing process, what guitar she plays and why. The style overall, is rather formal to appeal to the older audience that they are targetting their magazine at. Therefore, I think I should take the type of language, style and layout I use into consideration, when creating magazine double page spread.
Extra Layout: There is a separate box on the right, where Rosanne talks about her father, who is an acoustic legend. This box includes a little picture of Johny Cash, presented in masculine colours to appeal to their audience.
Conclusion:
The article is of a woman, Rosanne Cash, so the colours used here are more soft and feminine. Also, the use of flowers, connote femininity, as well as representing the acoustic music genre, as it relate to nature, which is an aspect that I will keep in consideration when taking my photos.
Pull Out Quotes: Although the text it is not presented as a typical interview with written questions that you would conventionally find in a music magazine, there are many sections with large quotes from Rosanne. There is also a quote from Rosanne taken out of the article and enlarged, separately in its own box, shown below...
Conclusion:
The main conventions that are usually found in acoustic magazines are often including natural colours, or 3 colour scheme (depending on their target audience, as this case it was more masculine colours to link with their gender market) Also, simple layouts and more intellectual writing style seemed to be used to showing what their house style is.They also seem to contain similar features, such as guitar and gear reviews, new music features, album reviews, guitar techniques and other articles and interviews somewhere in the magazine. Although I have only creating one contents page, the use of having a double page spread of one in this magazine, gave me inspiration for when I start producing my first drafts and final piece e.g the use of including a guitar on its own or something. With the double page spread, it helped me come up with some ideas for the development of mine e.g. the use of the picture taking up more than half a page.
Reflection:
When it comes to creating my magazine I will stick to typical conventions that you will find in an acoustic publication. Therefore, these features I have included below, is what I plan to include on my magazine...
Front Cover:
- Mast Head
- Skyline/Banner
- Consistent colour scheme
- Boost
- Cover lines
- Burst
- Barcode
- Price
Contents Page:
- Consistent colour scheme
- Cover lines that link back to the front cover
- Thumbnails
- Page Numbers
Double Page Spread:
- Title of article
- Main image (take up more than half a page)
- Question and Answer type interview
- Columns (usually three on a page - rule of thirds)
- Pull Out Quotes
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