Analysis of Edinburgh Napier Magazine Front Cover

Target Audience- The primary target audience for the Edinburgh College magazine is students of 16+ as people already at the University will read it but also people looking into going to that University will read it too, so this is who they will aim the magazine at. The majority of people reading this magazine will fall into the audience demographic at band A down to C1.

Masthead- The masthead here is effective as it is clear against the background and is a decent size which means the reader’s attention instantly draws to it. It also sticks to conventions of typical magazines with it being about an 1/8 down the page and all these things together make it fit for purpose. The masthead also links back to the target audience as it’s quite a simple masthead yet very modern making it appeal to this age range.

Layout- The overall layout fits the purpose of the magazine as it sticks to typical conventions with the use of one main image being the focus which makes the magazine look professional and not too busy. It also has the text overlaying the image but in an order that looks confined and as if it should be there, with these bits of text giving teasers and information about the magazine therefore serving the purpose that they should. The layout attracts it’s target audience as it looks professional and not tacky, with the whole theme being modern and subtle to get your attention properly. Therefore making the target audience feel like young adults rather than an in your face layout that would make them un-interested because of the child like aspect.

Colour- The colour on this front cover works well as it has a simple colour scheme with the use of red, black and white to add the background magazine layout therefore adding the professional aspect and keeping it from looking garish. Also the main image doesn’t have many different colours in it, so it doesn’t overpower or contrast with any from the colour scheme making it fit in perfectly as the background image. Although the red colouring to some of the text doesn’t show up perfectly against the image it still works as it is still readable without detracting from the overall cover of the magazine. These uses of colour work well to get the desired target audience as the colour scheme adds a more sophisticated feel which is what people of this age group are more likely to want.

Images- The use of images on this front cover stick to the conventions of usual magazines as it has the one image being the focus so that the reader looks mainly at this and doesn’t find it too heavy looking at a bunch of images. Something that could have been added in to make it look slightly more interesting though would be to have a few smaller images with some of the teasers just in a subtle way to add more interest for a reader. This use of images if effective on the target audience as the image is quite artsy appealing to a younger range of people as this is the style of photo they are more likely to be interested in.

Typography- The typography on this cover page is effective on the reader as the use of fonts that look very similar to each other makes it flow more while all the little snippets add more information to capture the readers attention. The logo and extra sentence under that mast head to introduce the magazine make the reader able to understand where it comes from and what it’s goal within the magazine is. While the teasers give them an idea of what will be in this issue sparking an interest in any pieces they may want to read about. This works well on the target audience as this age group is likely to be caught in by teasers on the front cover that lead to a story they really want to read about.

Conclusion- I think this College magazine is much more suited to it’s target audience than the Bodmin College magazine is as the Edinburgh magazine sticks to the common conventions of a magazine which overall makes it look more professional. This means that through the colour scheme, non-busy layout, clear masthead and other aspects the target audience are more likely to read it as these things catch their attention because they stand out in the way they should. Rather than the Bodmin College magazine standing out because of how bad it looks. Although the Edinburgh magazine still has room for improvement with the need for further detail on the cover with more stories to fill it out and make the reader interested in what’s inside. This idea could also be furthered with bigger headings for the more important stories that are likely to get the readers attention.