Bodmin College Magazine Analysis
The first thing I noticed about this magazine front cover is that it doesn't follow the normal conventions of a magazine. Normally magazines don't have 9 pictures on the front cover they usually have one medium close up shot, to attract the reader.
Target Audience- The target audience of the Bodmin College Magazine is for students aged 11-19 years as this is the ages of students in Bodmin College. There is a secondary target audience of parents and teachers who are obviously older than the students. The people that are reading this would fall into the demographic band of C1 right down to E.
Masthead- The masthead doesn't fit its purpose because it is dull and does not stand out, the colours that have been used are not bright enough to jump out to the audience. The fact there are 9 pictures on the front cover distract the reader from the masthead as it is too busy. The masthead is usually a main feature of normal magazine and take up to 1/8 of the cover so it fits its purpose to stand out. The text on the masthead doesnt fit with the target audience of youth, you would not expect this masthead with the target audience of 11-19 year olds. The school logo blends in with the background making it hard to see the logo. This issue number doesn't fit in with normal conventions.
Layout- The overall layout of the college magazine comes across as cluttered and too busy, this doesn't fit in with normal conventions of a front cover usually they have one main medium close up of a feature in the magazine. The front cover doesn't look at all professional as I think it is far too busy and the pictures are all from the same event. Another main difference between this front cover and the normal conventions of a professional is that there is no text as 'teasers' or 'kickers' so the audience have no idea what they are going to read apart from the pictures suggest a recent event but there is no written evidence. The audience may not want to read on with just images to represent the content.
Colour- The colour scheme of the front cover doesn't follow any sort of two/three colour rule meaning that each image doesn't follow the the colour of the masthead. This again makes is seam a bit of a jumble and it less professional. This wont attract attention and therefore people wont want to read it. The colours need to look professional, this front cover doesn't follow any form of colour scheme and it makes it look messy. None of the colours stand out and attract the reader in they all seem to blend together. The busy colour scheme doesn't follow normal conventions as they usually use 2-5 colours at the most. This doesn't appeal to the target audience as youths the colours should be more bright and vibrant.
Images- The images goes against the normal conventions of a front cover as there is normally one main medium close up shot of a feature in the magazine. Whereas this front cover has 9 images that all follow the same theme of an event that happened in the college. The images are not clear or easy to see because of the lighting used in the photographs. They're boring and would not excite the target audience of students as they have no tag lines and may not interest the reader. Also the images are all based around females and this is being biased to the male audience. Really it would only appeal to people that are interested in dance and this would not be the whole of the target audience.
Typography- There is no typography apart from the main title which is not a youthful or young typography its quite outdated and boring. Therefore it doesn't appeal to the target audience of students and youths. There is no extra informations on the front cover that would appeal to the audience.
Conclusion- Overall the Bodmin College magazine does not follow any of the normal conventions of a magazine and it goes completely against it in fact. This magazine wouldn't appeal to the target audience and therefore is not ding the job it is supposed to be doing. There is no big story to pull the reader in and attract them to the magazine.
College Magazine Analysis
The first thing I notice about the front cover of this college magazine is the main feature photo of a student at the college. This is something you would notice straight away with the front cover of any magazine. It does follow main conventions of a magazine.
Target Audience- The target audience for this college magazine is students ages between 16 and 19 meaning they are older students and for both male and females so they have to ensure that they are not bias towards either gender, the secondary target audience would be the parents of the students. The band they would fit in to would be anywhere between D and B.
Layout and Masthead- The layout of the magazine follows normal conventions of a magazine front cover making it what you would expect. The positioning of the text creates depth on the image and the way everything is laid out makes it easier for the audience to notice and read the cover lines. The masthead of the magazine is in yellow making it bright and vibrant so the audience notices it straight away. Also the mans head covers two letters so the audience must be familiar with the magazine font to recognize it. But the masthead follows normal conventions of a college magazine.
Colour- The colour palette of the magazine front covers follows the 3-5 colour rule. The colours of this magazine are yellow, black and white which all the photo fits in with as the guy is wearing black and white so the photograph looks right with the cover. This follows normal conventions and it looks professional with the background photo and the cover lines and subheadings. The pink splat sign is a trigger to what the 'exclusive' or 'important' story is inside the magazine, this is done purposely to attract you to that particular bit of the cover.
Images- There is only one image in the background of this photo and this is what you would expect normally however usually there are 2 or 3 smaller images to support stories but otherwise it does follow normal conventions. The image is of a student holding books for his college course which in terms of mise-en-scene represents the college well. This would again follow normal conventions of a magazine.
Typography- The typography is the same throughout the magazine front cover which is a normal convention of a magazine, the only difference between the text is that it varies in size and colour but the colours fit in with the scheme. The only thing is that the typography could have been more youthful to connect with the target audience, but it is clear and attracts them with the colours.
Conclusion- Overall the College magazine follows normal conventions of a professional magazine with the main image and the colour palette. This magazine looks very good and I think would appeal to its target audience of students and parents also with the stories that it includes. The more important feature stories are in a bigger font than the rest of the stories which is like a professional magazine.
Ridgewater College Magazine Analysis
The first thing I noticed with this magazine front cover is how it looks professional and not like an amateur production. The layering and positioning makes it look well produced.
Target Audience- The target audience of this magazine is students ages between 18-25 that attend Ridgewater College it appeals to both males and females and has to be careful of not being bias.
Layout and Masthead- The layout follows normal conventions of a magazine with one main image and little images around it to follow stories. The way the text is positioned and other images it gives the main medium shot depth and makes it look less flat and boring to look at, most magazines do this to make it seem more interesting to look at. The masthead however doesn't follow main conventions of a magazine and it blends in almost with the background, not making it obvious what its called.
Colour- The colours of the magazine don't follow normal conventions as they all seem to blend in and not stand out. Also it doesn't really follow the 2-5 colour rule and therefore it doesn't look professional as none of it seems to stand out the the audience. The highlighting of certain words make it obvious what is most important to read.
Images- The images that are used aren't appealing and they don't fit in at all with the colour scheme and there fore it looks unprofessional and a bit messy. The main image follow the conventions of a main medium shot to draw the reader in and she looks very happy connoting that the college is a nice place to be and that it is friendly and welcoming. The photograph that is on the front cover isn't brilliant quality and the lighting isn't great, this wouldn't normally be used on the front cover of a magazine. This is where it differs from a professional magazine.
Typography- The typography changes on the front and there is a difference in style between the masthead and the font for the subheadings. The typography is important as it needs to appeal to the target audience and I wouldn't say that they do appeal to the target audience as they are quite outdated and boring.
Conclusion- I think that this college magazine follows some of the professional magazine conventions but not all as it comes across as if it has sort of been thrown together and it could be a lot more interesting. The masthead is a main feature that is very dull and looks unprofessional and boring as it is in reverse and the white is on the coloured background making it look boring and dull because it blends in with the background.
Analysis of a college magazine contents page
The first thing I notice about the contents page is that it is quite busy and the images and production of the whole thing is very flat and boring. It doesn't follow any of the normal conventions of a college magazine.
Target Audience- The target audience of the magazine that the contents page is in is students between 16 and 19 making it for males and females. It has to make sure it appeals to both genders and all ages for it to be effective. The band it would come under would be E3-C1.
Layout and Masthead- The layout of the images and text is very boring and dull making it unappealing for the audience and the audience may not want to read on. The images are all flat and it doesn't give it any depth. It doesn't follow any of the conventions as usually the contents page is supposed to be busy and almost cluttered to make the reader want to read each individual story. The masthead is very standard as you would expect it isn't anything exciting or appealing.
Colour- It defies all conventions colour wise as it is plain and boring and the pictures don't link in with the font or background at all. It is very dull in terms of colour and has no sort of colour palette they seem to have just used random pictures and not thought about how they will look within the context of the page.
Images- The images that are used relate with the content of the magazine and they link in with what is included on the contents page. However the images do not fit with any form of conventions as they do not fit in with the colour scheme and the images therefore look out of place and a bit like they have just been placed there and no thought has gone into it. The images also don't really connect with the audience and make them feel as if it appeals to them, in one of the images the model isn't looking at the camera and it not something you would usually include.
Typography- The typography is quite boring and doesn't fit with the target audience of students and teenagers, it is just boring and simple. This doesn't fit with normal conventions where they should fit the typography around the audience and make it seem as it is applying to them.
Conclusion- Overall I don't think that the contents page is effective at all and it doesn't fit with any of the normal conventions of a magazine making it look unprofessional and boring. The layout especially makes it look flat, boring and just out of place as there is no use of layering to make the images have any kind of depth of feeling to them.
This photo was taken to represent the animal care department of the college, so in terms of mise-en-scene this photo has a lot to do with the college. However the photo I have taken is clear and in focus there is another animal in the picture so I couldn't use it for either my contents page or my front cover because it looks unprofessional. the natural light makes the photo good quality as it is completely in focus and I actually like this photo its only because of the other animal that makes it unusable. 
This photo is an example of bad lighting and bad quality. I would not have used this photo anyway because it is not in a good setting and the model isnt looking at the camera so it wouldn't connect with the audience which is what I want. The lighting in this photo is awful and the photo therefore is very dark. In terms of mise-en-scene this may support the theory of 'Common mood in teenagers is depressed' (Stanley Hall, 1904) because of the bad lighting and setting. 
This photo supports the theory 'Youth as fun' because the model is smiling and looking happy. This would fit well with the magazine as it would connect with the audience and come across to them as if school and college is fun. However I do not like the setting or the lighting in this photo and I don't think its completely in focus which ruins it a bit and I won't include it in my contents page or front cover.
