Evaluation of Magazine Products

EVALUATION OF MAGAZINE PRODUCTS

The magazine cover I composed was organised and categorised to its genre, which is that of a business magazine. This is recognised, without difficulty, by the target audience through several uses of common elements such as the narrative, structure and generic conventions on the front cover and content page. My target audience lies on a very broad scale of people in the social classification, which is based on earning power. According to Noam Chomosky, an American intellectual, society is made up of two classes of people and my magazine has hit both of these. There is a top 20%, the professional class. These are people who evidently have a true interest in politics and the rudiments of power that are associated with their position that are featured in the magazine. Then there are the remaining 80% who’s main function is to work and follow orders, usually at the biding of the 20%. Their interest in politics is generally minimal. I feel my magazine also lies within this audience, as there are many prospects in the magazine for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to earn money and become suited in the top 20%. Although the social classification of this magazine is very broad there are certain subjectivities that make up the target audience. I feel that the target audience’s self-image must be successful or that they have the potential to be successful. Because of this I find that the magazine requires being of a high quality and of a conservative layout. The concerns attended to in the magazine are of no real significance to anyone under the age of 21. This is as political matters and business prospects do not impinge on or reach the curiosity of the under 21 age group.

The issues dealt with are on a macro scale and therefore involve current matters all over the world and are not subject to a particular nation or family structure for that matter.

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The issues dealt with are on a macro scale and therefore involve current matters all over the world and are not subject to a particular nation or family structure for that matter.

The features on the front cover are not presented neutrally but are constructed to produce an image to the target audience of business. By the use of iconography and colour codes such as red, blue and grey, the informative layout and use of pictures like the use of a graph which instantly connotates positive finance and encourages the audience to identify certain cultural and social attitudes. The social and cultural attitudes of the target audience are as equally portrayed by what isn’t depicted as I felt the product could loose its appeal to this distinguished target audience. This would include the use of embellished fonts and excess colour distribution. There is also the use of the enigma code whereby there is a mystery to what is within the magazine e.g. the sub-heading “Your path to a healthy profit”, this is an excellent selling technique used regularly on front cover of magazines of a variety of genres.

When producing this magazine product I considered it obligatory that the front cover illustrated directly what the magazine involves. The magazine occupies what new knowledge entrepreneurs need to start up or expand a business in the best possible way. Alongside an employment background where a job for life is not any more a rational expectation and where H.M. Government actively supports individuals to provide for themselves. The Acquisition Money magazine I have produced would act as an basic reference point for the chosen target audience to evaluate the many different routes to generating an revenue through a successful business. The notion this front cover should instantly give is that it is categorically a business magazine and that it should not be confused with a magazine of any other genre. This objective was attained with the application of the colour grey. The colour grey is a very subjective colour to a definitive magazine audience, which involves a more pragmatic and informative content that is often centred on business as it signifies the suit someone might wear for commencing business. I consequently established that the application of this colour signifies exactly what the Acquisition Money magazine is regarding despite including an assortment of brighter and more eye-catching colours as well. The other main colours used on both the front cover and the content page are red and blue, which denotatates the two major political parties, labour and conservative. I opted not to put a website on the front cover as I feel the consumer should be confident that everything that might want to be obtained is within the front and back cover of the magazine. Also, when a website is distributed the consumers could be capable of finding all the crucial information from it, leaving it avoidable to even pay money for the magazine. Politics is of course what would have the biggest influence on the issues covered in the magazine as it is the central command point for the economy as it stands. The heading of the magazine is Acquisition Money which would instantly suggest to the consumers that the magazine is concerning making money. The colour used for this magazine heading is a pale green that signifies money. This is for the reason that the colour of all American dollar bank notes is also a pale green. For a progressive effect I also applied a forward slant to this heading. This concept of money is then again highlighted by the use of the dollar sign ($) which reinstates the customary ‘s’ in the word acquisition. I have then added a solid shadow behind the heading and a thin outline to highlight the title font. From seeing this heading in pale green your attention is promptly brought to the second pale green image of the page which is essentially of bank notes. This gives the whole magazine a very prosperous feel. The notes that are featured on the graph do not show any actual authentic figures but do identifiably shows a positive trend which assures the consumer that the main article is about escalating prosperity. This picture is all printed on a grey background which again signifies a business world environment. All the sub articles are aligned left on the page on a red background, with blue bullet points and written in random sized bold font. This all forms an eye catching cluster of images. To the right of the magazine heading there is a red box with contrasting coloured white text inside. The text in this box tells the consumer in a very short space of time exactly what the magazine withholds. To the foot of the page there is a darker grey banner with an offer for a free pullout. This free offer is a strategy often used by magazines to win over the buyers as it assures them that the purchase is a significant value.

The content page has a far more uncomplicated layout that still attains most of the same colour code. There are narrow red and blue lines running down and across the whole page used to section of the contents of the magazine. These lines are exactly coincide with the colours used on the front page. The beige extract positioned to the left of the page feature the Mission Statement of the magazine and the area where the production teams names would feature. To the right of the page features the first page of the content page, which illustrates the page numbers for business and franchising. To draw attention to each of the pages number sections I have highlighted the numbers with a gold box which connotates a quality to the magazine.

To develop or improve on my magazine I would have carried out extensive research in order to unearth a method in order to appeal to those previously uninterested in economical issues in a way that it could possibly persuade them to possibly enter the world of business. There was also limitations to the design package I used with regard to fonts, clipart and effects. It is also apparent that the positioning of a number of pieces of text on the front cover and content page are not as flawlessly aligned as they should be in order to compete in a market of such high standards.