Case Study 1

This is a music magazine however it is a fashion edition. It cost £3.99 which was the average cost of a music magazine according to my research. This is called psychological pricing. Psychological pricing is a smart way to get people to buy magazines only because buyers feel like they have got a bargain as they are getting back change with whatever they pay with.

This magazine is appealing because it has a big bold title. I think the name of this magazine does not match the picture on the front page cover. The reason why this magazine attracted my attention was because it includes music, fashion and film. On the front cover it also includes in the teaser the name of the celebrities that feature. I think the colours and model make the cover look sophisticated which could be a reason why someone was to pick up the magazine.

This magazine is different to many as the model is not looking directly into the camera so therefore it does not have the effect of the model looking at the consumer. This is a close shot and it fills the whole front page, it covers up nearly all the gaps. The model is not a known person and I think it would be better if he was because the magazine would appeal to a lot more people. People usually like to read about people that they know of. The model has dark hair and dark clothes which makes the masthead stand out as it is white and it looks bold.

Think that the writer of this magazine has chosen to talk about the 1975’s because I feel like a lot of old fashion is coming back. Fashion plays a big part within the music industry.

There is no skyline on the front cover, although the skyline is usually about who is featuring in the magazine this designer has done this differently. They have chosen a basic layout which is easy and simple for a buyer to look at.

I researched that the age of the most popular buyer is 21-25 years old at 37% and the lowest aged 36+. I think that the magazine to reach out to a larger audience as it is not really a known magazine and I think the more people that buy the magazine the more popular the magazine will become.

Clash can be viewed in magazine, which is what I purchased mine as, it can be viewed or/and purchased as an app on a smart phone, online and as a newsletter.

I also found out the prices to put advertisement into a magazine ranging from £750 - £6,400.

This is the contents page of Clash magazine. The contents of the magazine has been split up into genres such as the stories on the front cove and regulars. The magazine talks about fashion as well as music and films too.

The background of the contents page is plain black. This makes it look sophisticated as well as look simple. By having a black background it reflects the theme of the magazine which is 1975.

At top of the magazine it has the date of when the magazine was issued. It just says October 2013, this shows that the magazine comes out every month. Having a magazine that comes out every month it more efficient because consumers are looking forward to the magazine coming out.

On the other side of the page there is an image of a split-flap display from the 1970’s, this is ironic because it is for the trains and their boarding times and this is talking about the future leaving. With the black and white image it makes it look retro and vintage.

This is a double page spread in Clash magazine, unlike the cover and the contents page this article is colourful. This is a visual article because it has many pictures, some are in a grey scale and some are in colour. There is a medium close up shot of Asap Ferg. There a various backgrounds within the picture and this allows us to see that there are a variety of settings. Having lots of different pictures with many settings tells a story and can give us an insight to the type of person the article is about, is.

The text is placed in an inconsistent layout with make it look like there is a lot of free space. I think that if the background of the page was a darker colour like black it would look like the pages are fuller. The text slightly overlaps the main picture in this article with look good because it doesn’t just give us a plain background to read off, some people may think white is a boring colour and might find it hard to focus on.

The page number is placed on the inner side of the page, this makes the publisher look creative as I have never see this before in the magazine.

There are different fonts in the article and again brings out the inconsistency of the magazine. However, I think it looks good as they didn’t use a range of colours so it does look sophisticated. This is good for readers as they like to seem sophisticated and this is one way to put that into practise. Also the target age is 21-25 years old where most people are either at university or working and therefore this works for them.

The paper it is printed on is not glossy, pages that have been printed on and are glossy they tend to last longer but the ones that aren’t printed on glossy paper they are better for the environment and they can be recycled.

I have noticed that in this magazine it has lots of advertisement. The advertisement is relevant to the magazine as most of the ads are about fashion and music. Also, the magazine has been split up into their genres and I got this article from the music section.