College Magazine textual Analysis: ‘Vibe’.

The masthead for this magazine is ‘Vibe’. The type of font that is used is Sans Serif. This gives the magazine a modern as the magazine is appealing to a modern generation. The audience that this magazine is aimed at is teenagers. This is because, they study in college; for some of them, and this is a new step in the journey of their lives. The word vibe is frequently used by this group so therefore, it suits the magazine perfectly. The magazine is also made to make the thought of college a more exciting one rather than the usual set of mind that most teenagers have.

The girl in the image of the front cover is young and attractive. This will help grab the attention of the designer’s target group. Her eyes are looking directly into the camera which instantly connects to the reader as it is a form of eye-contact. Her pose gives the magazine a fun, cheeky and youthful feel. She is pouting in Red lipstick and is doing the ‘peace’ sign which also gives a relaxed sense to the reader of the magazine. Her Red lipstick complements the front cover of the magazine as the background is also bright Red.

The main image is placed to the right side of the magazine not the centre. I think this is a good idea as it makes the magazine cover different from all magazine covers. It gives it more energy than the usual front cover centre images do. The shape of this image is also unusual and shows the creativity of the designer as it is just not just an ordinary square or rectangle.

Although using Black for the masthead is quite creative and makes the magazine stand out because Black is normally associated with dull and boring things especially in the media. However, the size of the masthead makes the title look big and bold.

The choice of the colour of the background for the magazine is a good one. This is because, it’s bright and it carries a lot of connotations. The colour Red connotes feelings of love, passion, romance, hatred, anger, excitement, danger and hyper activeness; in the media and in our everyday lives.  This is connected with most teenagers as they are filled with theses emotions and have the tendency to show them at appropriate times. The lighting that is used in the image front cover is high-key lighting; this gives the magazine a bright sense and feeling.

The cover line in this magazine is about the student of the month, fresher’s tickets, an iPod competition, what is going on in college and a free poster. These issues are there to attract the attention of the reader. The students will want to know about the sorts of activities that are available in college. This is because, some of them are new to the system so they don’t really know what to expect. They would also want to know what the magazine is about because magazines are mainly about gossip and the latest things that are sold in the market not really things that are related to college.

These issues are also to show the students reading the magazine that college is not just about hard work, it can also be fun. It is about socialising and working hard to achieve recognised grades. The font of the cover line is also in San serif which gives more of a modern look to the magazine. The word “Win” is in capital letters in a Yellow colour with a times roman font because it is another thing that the designer knows would attract the students as it is one of the materials that teenagers would like to have so therefore it will encourage them to join the competition. In the top right corner of the magazine, there is a ‘puff’. It is labelled “special report” to draw the audience as they will want to know what the special report is and how it concerns them.

The data line on this magazine is placed below the magazine to the right with the barcode and the price beside it. The magazine costs £2.99 which I think is a good price for the students to pay as they would have enough money so it’s not so expensive. I also think its a good price concerning all the work that has been put into the making of the magazine e.g. the printing, picture taking, words etc.

In conclusion, I think this front cover is designed very well and it’s organised because it shows the amount of work that the designer has put in. It also appeals to me as an individual reader because I am also a teenager and so if I was to see a magazine similar to this, I would buy it. It looks enjoyable to read.