In ‘Now’ magazine the price of £1 is at the top of the magazine, it overlaps the title and is in bright blue and yellow, to some this could be seen as cheap and not worth reading. In ‘OK!’ the price of £2 us underneath the title in small font and is in white so it stand out against the red back ground, the font used is the same on the rest of the front cover. Some readers would think that £2 is a reasonable price to pay since ‘OK!’ is quite thick and would take longer to read then ‘Now’. The front cover of ‘OK!’ is all colour coordinated and the rest of the magazine is in the same colour. The front cover of ‘Now’ magazine is too bright and colourful. There are bright pink, yellow, dark blue, light blue and many different colours cluttered onto one page. This gives an impress of disarray and untidiness. However readers of ‘Now’ might find ‘OK!’ a bit boring due to its lack of colour. Some might say that ‘OK!’ less eye catching and appealing to the reader.
The front cover of ‘Now’ magazine could be improved in some ways, starting with the font. As mentioned before the front cover in packed with large headlines in various different fonts. The editors of ‘Now’ could have taken more time and could have thought about what font would suit the cover without making it look rushed and cheap. Also the font is overlapping images and this again looks quite messy, the editors should have thought about putting the font underneath, above or beside the images, this would give is a much more interesting and tidier look. Another improvement could be made on the images and colour. The various images are all crammed together and many are crooked or are overlapping headlines or other images. In this case the editors should have arranged the pictures in a presentable way and perhaps should have fewer pictures; however it is understandable that the many images are to attract the reader’s attention, though in doing this the cover looks slightly chaotic and disorganized. The same is true with the colours on the front cover. With so many bright colours, it does indeed attract the reader’s attention however it also can seem too bright. The editors should have chosen colours that are bright and attract attention but also colours that coordinate with each other, giving a good impression.
In ‘OK!’ magazine the list of contents takes up a whole page. The colour of the page is dark blue and this gives an organized and calm impression. It also fits in with the colours shown on the front cover. However in ‘Now’ magazine the contents only take up half a page. This page, like the front cover is covered in images and is quite bright. Also in ‘Now’ the font is quite small and stays the same style. Celebrity names, “Jordan” are highlighted in bold and this is to increase the reader’s interest and to give them an idea of what is in the magazine. People will also be more inclined to buy this magazine if they see interesting stories or names of celebrities in the contents.
However in ‘OK!’ the font is all in bold and is in the same style and size. The main stories are highlighted in red. Like in ‘Now’ magazine these main stories are highlighted to catch the reader’s interest and to encourage readers to buy the magazine. “Kerry’s Big Engagement.” This headline can be used to shock the reader because if the reader is a fan of the featured celebrity (in this case its “Kerry”) then this headline would interest them and encourage them to buy the magazine. Once the reader sees this headline, then they may be eager to read that particular article. Therefore they will end up buying it. Also in ‘OK!’ parts of the contents page has pictures on the outside of the contents but also in the middle of it as well. This shows the readers what celebrity stories there are inside and the public will be more likely to buy the magazine if they see pictures and stories on their favourite celebrities in the contents. Even though the public can tell what’s in the magazine by looking at the front cover, the contents page for ‘OK!’ lets the readers know what else is included in the magazine such as horoscopes or stories that were not mentioned on the front cover.
In ‘Now’ magazine there are images in the contents with page numbers showing which celebrity is on which page, this is good because again the public will be able to have a quick preview of what is in the magazine besides what was on the front cover. Also on the front cover of ‘OK!’ it mentions a small heading about a free magazine inside, the contents page shows a miniature image of this magazine so readers can see what they are getting free without having to go searching throughout the whole magazine. Likewise ‘Now’ magazine has a miniature image of the front cover of the magazine with arrows pointing to all the stories shown on the cover and showing which page number each story is on.
Since they are both gossip magazines ‘OK!’ and ‘Now’ magazine contain similar articles. Both use articles that readers will find interesting. In ‘Now’ magazine the articles are mostly about celebrity fashion and gossip, likewise in ‘OK!’ magazine celebrity gossip and celebrity fashion are the main themes. In both magazines this gives the impression that readers are interested in celebrity news and different celebrities lives. In ‘OK!’ there are also many interviews with different celebrities and celebrity couples. However readers of ‘Now’ also seem to be interested in a variety of topics as there are articles containing information on recent TV shows and real life stories. Similarly Readers of ‘OK!’ also seem interested in different articles and how they present themselves to the public. This is shown through the various articles focused on beauty, health and there is also an agony aunt page. Both ‘Now’ and ‘OK!’ contain articles on film previews and travel. This suggests that both ‘Now’ and ‘OK!’ try to appeal to maybe a older or a wider audience.
Overall, I feel that ‘OK!’ has a better and more interesting range of articles then ‘Now’. ‘OK!’ magazine contained many articles that sound interesting and would appeal more to the reader, this is one way in which ‘Now’ magazine could improve. Since they are both gossip magazines, ‘Now’ is likely to contain articles relating to similar topics that appear in ‘OK!’ (For example, celebrity gossip). However, ‘OK!’ magazine contains interviews and fashion etc. This not only makes it more appealing to readers but it also makes it seem worth its value. ‘Now’ magazine has a bright front cover and attracts readers but it doesn’t have as interesting content as ‘OK!’, if the editors of ‘Now’ added more articles, more stories, interviews etc. then readers will have even more reason to buy the magazine then just a flashy front cover, they may take their time to read it instead of just casually flicking through.
‘Say hi to Shanghai’. This article appears in ‘OK!’ magazine and mainly about Shanghai, the sights and place to stay. This article may encourage readers to go on holiday there etc. The headline is in bold blue letters and the reporter has used rhyme to attract the reader and makes the text easier to read. The article includes various pictures of shanghai, this would help the reader to understand the text, the page is in light blue and the text is quite small. This would grab the reader’s attention as the page looks quite calm and neat. This article is written and laid out in such a way that it gives the impression that it has done all the preparations for the reader. The article includes air fair and which aeroplane to fly by, it includes the sights and hotels etc. The reader might see this as quite helpful for they know where to stay and the best restaurants and shops etc.
‘Wake up to this super-trendy Chinese city that never sleeps’ This subtitle would attract readers and it would also interest the reader as the heading mentions Shanghai’s night life ‘city that never sleeps’. The language is mainly formal and it seems that the article is trying to appeal to young adults as there is some informal language hidden in the article ‘Super-Trendy’. The language is also quite light hearted and this gives a good impression on the reader. The language is also easy and interesting to read. Some of the language in the article interest me and encourages me to read more ‘Behind the soaring skyscrapers you’ll find pockets of traditional life’ This quote interested me because it seems that even though Shanghai is vibrant and modern, there is still people living traditionally and it seems a good mix of the new and the old. The article also attracts and interests readers by mentioning famous names that have visited the city. Using celebrity names will encourage the readers to visit Shanghai. ‘Nicole Kidman is reported to be jetting into China soon’ ‘Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were in Shanghai at the end of last year’.
The article also gives information about the city such as where you can shop and the good restaurants. It also asks questions to the reader to draw the reader in ‘Why is Shanghai so special?’ This would encourage to reader to read the article. The article also mentions a hotel in Shanghai ‘If you want to sleep with you head literally in the clouds, the Grand Hyatt is the place to be’ This quote is a play on words by saying you will sleep with you head in the clouds because the article later goes on to say that the hotel is the worlds tallest hotel. ‘OK! stayed at the Grand Hyatt hotel’ this quote says that ‘OK!’ stayed at the best hotel and this might interest readers as they might feel more inclined to stay where ‘OK!’ stayed.
‘Shanghai is a shopper’s paradise’ this quote says that Shanghai is a great place to go shopping and this would interest readers. The article mentions famous fashion names and tells the reader exactly where to find them ‘The big names - Gucci, Prada and Shanghai Tang - can all be found along Nanjing Road’ The article also talks about a fashion market, describing it as ‘a vast rabbit warren of stalls’ This would interest the reader as it means that the market has many things to see and it is quite easy to get lost, it means there are many different parts of the market and many things to buy. The article also talks about restaurants in Shanghai and what is available to eat ‘Shanghai offers many ingredients and dishes that will delight of disgust the curious diner’ This quote would interest the reader and make the reader curious as to what type of food is in Shanghai. Again this quote might encourage readers to visit Shanghai.
Overall ‘Now’ magazine has some good articles, the layout is quite good, and the front cover is colourful and attractive however it could be improved. ‘Now’ is a gossip magazine although it contains a variety of articles which would interest other readers (travel etc.) ‘OK!’ magazine also contains good articles and the layout is neat, the front cover is eye catching and organized. ‘OK!’ also is a gossip magazine and like ‘Now’ it also contains a variety of articles. The language in both ‘Now’ and ‘OK!’ is informal and this shows the age group aimed at. By comparing both magazines ‘OK!’ magazine seems to be better for value for money, ‘OK!’ is more thicker then ‘Now’ and contains more articles. ‘OK!’ magazine is worth £2 and readers may take longer to read it. ‘Now’ magazine is priced quite reasonably at £1 however it has fewer articles then ‘OK!’ and ‘Now’ can be read quickly by just quickly glancing through. ‘OK!’ is also better at level of interest. ‘OK!’ has much more interesting and longer articles then ‘Now’. Also it has a mixture of articles and has more articles then ‘Now’. However when looking for a magazine ‘Now’ is most likely to attract the reader’s attention as it is bright and bold and stands out in the crowd. Personally I would recommend both ‘OK!’ and ‘Now’ magazine but in two different situations. I would recommend ‘OK’ to someone who enjoys reading long articles and who spends time reading magazine, perhaps at home. I would also recommend ‘OK!’ mainly due to its content and its layout. However I would recommend ‘Now’ to someone who perhaps doesn’t like to spend a lot of time reading magazines but likes to casually glance through on the bus etc.