Research Blog - Magazine Content

 Welcome back to my research blogs on the elements of magazines. Today I want to dive into the actual content that magazines contain in them. This research will be especially beneficial when I'm making the article for the double page spread of my final product. I'm hoping that this research can make my final article much better and actually fit in to the rest of the theme in my magazine.

Articles in magazines are categorized into different types, mostly based on what the article is covering and who it's coming from. The main categories for magazines are First Person, Opinion Piece, Information Piece, Personality Profile, and Think Piece.

•  First Person Article- 
• A first person article is an article written in the first person, relying on the personal experiences and individual perspectives of the author. These often include first person accounts of special events, experiences, or noteworthy stories. These articles often have the aim of presenting different point of views from a fresh perspective. Depending on the length of the article and its importance, they can be sold as feature articles or essays.

• Opinion Piece- 
• An article posted in the magazine that shows the author’s opinion on a particular subject. They often feature expert opinions on decisive or misunderstood topics. These are similar to First Person Articles because they share the particular viewpoint of an an individual. However, opinion pieces are much less personal and significantly more professional.

• Information Piece- 
• Also known as a service piece. As the name suggests, these are articles that are aimed at delivering information on specific topics to a relevant audience. They aim to expand the knowledge that their audience has on particular topics. Information pieces often come from either experts or interviews with experts. These are genre-specific and contain information that would be relevant to their demographic.

• Personality Profile- 
• These articles are an in-depth look at a person’s lifestyle, hobbies, appearance, characteristics, etc. These are most commonly about celebrities and widely recognized public figures. They showcase what makes the individual in focus tick and what makes them who they are.

• Think Piece- 
• a think piece is a magazine article that is aimed at making the audience think about a particular topic. They involve the analysis of the author on certain topics and opinions. The whole point of these is to inspire the audience to think about a specific topic and come to their own conclusions. They also often try to persuade readers.

source:

https://shorturl.at/acBR1

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-profile-article

https://www.tckpublishing.com/think-pieces/

Research Blog - Magazine Anatomy and Design

 

Welcome back to my blog! Today, we'll be continuing with my research blog series, focusing on the anatomy of magazines. This is an important topic to research because it will allow me to understand how magazines are put together and the elements that have to be present to make a successful one.

In order to study the anatomy of magazines, I thought it would be best to focus on deconstructing existing magazines. Below is my deconstruction and analysis.

Cover Page

The image above is my deconstruction of the cover page for a "Noise" magazine. For starters, the masthead can be seen right at the top with big and bold lettering. This instantly lets the audience know what the magazine is about. Another thing that quickly catches the audience's attention is the center image. In this particular example, the image is monotone, highlighting the text and making it easily recognizable from a distance. Following the magazine down, we then see the articles. It is easy to distinguish between the main and supporting articles because of the separated layout that they have. Additionally, the different colored fonts guide your eyes to the important information.

Mixed in with the major and eye catching details, we can also spot smaller elements that contribute to this cover. For example, important information about the magazine is kept near the masthead, including the issue number, release date, and magazine type. A pull quote is also included to build interest in the reader.

Double Page Spread

the image above is the deconstruction that I did on a double page spread. For starters, the article title is highly stylized and even stretches across both pages. Additionally, the main image for the article takes up the entire left side of the page, drawing your attention to the model and what they're doing. On the right, drop caps are used to start the article and even to indicate a later subsection of the article. A hook quote is placed in the center of the article with unique font. This attracts your attention to reading it and creates a break from the wordy article.

Some other elements that can be seen are a description of the article at the top, summarizing the article. The pages also have a page gutter to distinguish between the left and right pages. On the bottom, the release date and page number for the article can also be seen.

Research Blog - house style

 Welcome back to my blogs for my Media Studies class! Today, I'll be continuing with my research into different magazines and what makes them successful. Specifically, I want to discuss the research I did on House style.

What is House Style?

House style is a term that means the basic conventions used in magazines by writers and editors. These conventions ensure their stylistic consistency throughout their publications. House style includes things like Masthead, font, page layouts, proportions, etc. 

Magazine publishers follow house styles for a multitude of reasons. For starters, house styles provide the consistency needed to produce high quality publications on a regular basis. Without this consistency, magazines wouldn't be nearly as good. Another benefit of maintaining a house style is that it presents your publication as professional. A seemingly unprofessional can put off a lot of the intended audience, making them not want to read your magazine anymore.

In the example on the right, the top 2 magazines share a similar house style. This is easily identifiable just by looking at them. You can see similar styles for the masthead, main image, article titles, font, etc.

In contrast, the bottom 2 magazines have a completely different house style that the top 2. They feature completely different fonts, layouts, and branding. While there are many similarities between all 4 magazine examples, it's clear to see the differences in the house styles between them.

Creating a Personal House Style:

To create a personal house style, it is necessary to know who the intended audience for your magazine is. Using this information, you can cater the design and contents of your magazine to that audience, providing them with a better experience and creating a happier customer. Because of this, market research is a major step in the creation of a magazine. In the future, I'll have to spend more time on market research to create a better house style for my magazine product.

source:

https://www.thoughtco.com/house-style-editing-1690842#:~:text=%22House%20style%20is%20the%20way,the%20rest%20of%20the%20publication.

https://shorturl.at/ezW58

Research Blog - Genres

Welcome back to my blog everyone! Last time, we talked about the history of magazines and how they rose to popularity. This time, I want to continue this discussion into the different types of magazine genres that have emerged and some of their design/content conventions. 

Once magazines had begun to spread throughout the world, people slowly branched out into different genres that catered to different audiences for different purposes. Some examples of genres include fashion magazines, cooking/food magazines, travel magazines, and teen magazines. lets get right into it!

Fashion Magazines - (focus on fashion trends and clothing brands) 

• 
  conventions

• usually show modern fashion trends and culture
• Often feature popular celebrities and models in various poses and outfits to attract a wider audience
• Masthead is usually big, bright, and bold to catch your attention
• usually use one specific font or small selection of fonts
• images are often mid or long shots, allowing the reader to see the full outfit on display

fashion magazines range from minimalistic to expressive, however, they all serve the purpose of displaying the current fashion trends and advertising them to you.

Food Magazines - (focus on food, cooking recipes, and nutrition)

• conventions
• The cover has images of appealing food to attract the audience
• has many varying fonts, making them feel more friendly and relaxed to their audiences
• also use bright colors to appeal to their audience
• contain many recipes and instructions

Travel Magazines - (focus on traveling, tourism, and destinations)

• conventions
• large and bold masthead
• cover usually has minimal words, instead focusing on the central image
• cover image shows the destination that the magazine will focus on
• colors depend on the colors established by the image
• usually, the images aren't centered, instead using the rule of thirds

Teen Magazines - (focus on teen life and focus on entertainment value)

• conventions
• target audience is young teens
• tone is usually friendly, light-hearted, and happy
• focus on teen icons, using them in the cover images and focusing on their gossip 
• use bright colors to establish the tone and attract audiences
• advice columns are often featured to make the magazine more relatable

sources:

https://study.com/learn/lesson/magazine-types-genres.html

http://magazinesgenres2011.blogspot.com/2011/03/teen-magazines.html

https://prezi.com/p/p__p013k5erz/travel-magazine-codes-and-conventions/

Research Blog - History

 Welcome Back Everyone!

As part of my objective to create a professional magazine project for this course, I think it's best that I spend some time looking into the history of magazines. This can help me learn what makes a magazine successful and how that has changed over time.

Origins of magazines

In the 1400s, many changes started occurring that allowed magazines to become a possibility. Literacy rates throughout Europe had started to quickly increase, a trend that would allow more and more people to read and acquire information. Additionally, Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1440. This invention allowed for the mass production of written media. These 2 factors set up for the creation of magazines.

The first known example of the magazine style and concept was created by Johann Rist, a German theologian, in 1663. It was named "Edifying Monthly Discussions" and was sent out to it's subscribers every month, summarizing new books and research articles. This magazine inspired many people throughout Europe to experiment and explore this new concept, raising their popularity.

About a decade later, Jean Donneau de Vize published the first “periodical of amusement”. In contracst to Rist’s magazine, which focused on articles and books, Donneau’s magazine took a far less serious approach. It instead focused on gossip and entertainment, reaching its French audience much better and becoming extremely popular. It was known as "Le Mercure Galant" or "Mercure de France". This new magazine expanded the boundaries of what magazines had been used for, now entering the world of entertainment.

The concept of magazines eventually spread to Great Britain, where they quickly began producing their own. 3 major publications quickly emerged in 18th century Britain, being "The Review", "The Tatler", and "The Speculator". These publications focused on specific topics of note and where released on a consistent schedule to their audience.

Eventually, magazines began to spread to North America as well. The first American magazines emerged in 1741. Examples such as the "American Magazine" and "General Magazine" quickly popped up, however, their success left much to be desired. They simply did not attract enough popularity to be successful. By the end of the century, this had clearly changed as over 100 different publications had appeared throughout the U.S. This popularity continued to grow until the modern age, where magazines have become one of the most popular forms of consumed media in the world.

sources:

https://www.magazines.com/history-of-magazines

https://shorturl.at/efpJ5