I have researched a variety of fonts that would be suitable for my magazine cover, taking into consideration that the cover will be promoting my horror teaser trailer. I am going to use a font that enhances the theme of horror and links in well with all of the aspects of the cover. I will also change the colour of the text to achieve a careful balance between all of the colours that I decide to use.
Wednesday 14 October 2009
Barcode
Here is an example of a barcode that I will use on my front cover of a magazine, this will ensure that it looks like an actual magazine cover and follows the conventions of film magazines. On the majority of issues of Empire magazine the barcode is positioned on the right side of the cover, either half way down the page or furthur towards the bottom. Some of the issues have a horizontal barcode but some have the barcode positioned vertically.
Tuesday 13 October 2009
Aspects of my magazine cover
I have created a list of all the features that I will include on the film magazine cover that I am going to produce, this will ensure that I carefully consider every aspect and it will assist me in the production process.
- A masthead with the title
- The date
- Price
- An issue number
- An image or variety of images
- Subheadings
- A main headline
- A barcode
- Information about what is featured in the magazine
- A thematic link between colours, images and text
- Name of the website for the magazine
- Highlight any extras
- A masthead with the title
- The date
- Price
- An issue number
- An image or variety of images
- Subheadings
- A main headline
- A barcode
- Information about what is featured in the magazine
- A thematic link between colours, images and text
- Name of the website for the magazine
- Highlight any extras
Audience views on film magazines
I have produced a questionnaire that is aimed at not just my target audience for my teaser trailer but a wider audience including people who are interested in films of all genres and those aged between 18 and 35 who most frequently purchase magazines. The questions that I asked will be used to help me make decisions when planning my own front cover for a fim magazine.
1. How much would you pay for a well-known film magazine that contains plenty of articles and information about all the latest films?
-£2.99 lllll 5
-£1.75 lll 3
-£3.45 lllll 5
-£3.70 lllllll 7
2. When you flick through a film magazine before choosing which one to purchase, what is it that you look for?
- The films that are featured llllllll 8
- Who the interview of the month is with lll 3
- The latest news about films and movie stars lllll 5
- Any extras that may be included such as posters or prizes up for grabs llll 4
3. What aspect of the front cover tends to grab your attention first?
- The masthead lllllll 7
- The main image lllllllll 9
- The price l 1
- The subheadings lll 3
4. Do you purchase the same magazine or do you tend to swap and change the magazine you buy?
- I prefer to buy the same magazine llllllllllll 12
- I dont always buy the same one llllllll 8
5. Are you more intersted in the front cover or what is inside the magazine when you are deciding upon what one to buy?
- What is inside llllllllll 10
- The front cover llllllllll 10
From looking at the responses of my questions I can determine that customers expect to pay higher prices for film magazines than the cost of many other magazines such as womens mags. The films that are featured are clearly the main point of interest as well as the main images that are on the cover. The contents of the magazine and what is on the front cover are equally important from a consumers perspective.
1. How much would you pay for a well-known film magazine that contains plenty of articles and information about all the latest films?
-£2.99 lllll 5
-£1.75 lll 3
-£3.45 lllll 5
-£3.70 lllllll 7
2. When you flick through a film magazine before choosing which one to purchase, what is it that you look for?
- The films that are featured llllllll 8
- Who the interview of the month is with lll 3
- The latest news about films and movie stars lllll 5
- Any extras that may be included such as posters or prizes up for grabs llll 4
3. What aspect of the front cover tends to grab your attention first?
- The masthead lllllll 7
- The main image lllllllll 9
- The price l 1
- The subheadings lll 3
4. Do you purchase the same magazine or do you tend to swap and change the magazine you buy?
- I prefer to buy the same magazine llllllllllll 12
- I dont always buy the same one llllllll 8
5. Are you more intersted in the front cover or what is inside the magazine when you are deciding upon what one to buy?
- What is inside llllllllll 10
- The front cover llllllllll 10
From looking at the responses of my questions I can determine that customers expect to pay higher prices for film magazines than the cost of many other magazines such as womens mags. The films that are featured are clearly the main point of interest as well as the main images that are on the cover. The contents of the magazine and what is on the front cover are equally important from a consumers perspective.
Thursday 1 October 2009
Empire Film Magazine
I have observed various aspects of this front cover of Empire magazine. Empire is a British film magazine that is publihed monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. The very first issue of the magazine was released on sale in July of 1989, it is now the biggest selling film magazine in Britain and is also published in Australia, Turkey and Russia.
http://pix.ie/lyricis/419798• The date and the price of the magazine are in very small font just above the title and are not very visible at all, this is because they are not as important to the consumers as the contents of the magazine is.
• The genre of the film featured on the cover is clearly horror, this is reinforced by the colour and font of the text, the red title enhances the eerie sense of the film whilst the statement that goes through the middle of the cover immediately gives the impression that the film is going to contain a lot of bloody violence and gore as it appears to be carved into something rather than typed.
• Just like most of Empire's magazines this issue also shows the feature photograph overlapping the title, this gives an overpowering effect showing that the film is such a hit that it is even better and more important than the magazine itself as the title is in the background in comparison to the photograph.
• The use of the phrase 'world exclusive' in the heading about the magazines main theme attracts customers as they believe that they cannot purchase the magazine along with its exclusive contents anywhere else.
• The fluorescent purple and green colours used for the variety of shapes and letters highlight the key information on the cover and draw attention to the most interesting parts of the cover, without these bright colours the cover would appear very dull and boring. Therefore this shows that simple things such as colours of font can make a huge difference to the success of the issue.
• Although there is text over the top of the photograph this does not take the main focus away from the image, where as if the image was smaller to ensure that the text could fit on the cover without overlapping with the photo it would not be as significant on the cover.
• The section of information at the bottom right corner of the cover in white font is clearly visible ad shows up against the dark background, the fluorescent green cross next to the text draws attention towards the text.
• The use of the word PLUS ensures the customers that there is more inside and not just the film featured on the cover, it also suggests to a certain extent they are going to recieve extra articles or information inside.
Sources of information from http://www.wikipedia.com/
Common Features of a Magazine
-Most magazines are very colourful and eye-catching and they always consist of photographs, usually one that fills nearly the whole cover with several smaller images or sometimes a few images that are similar sizes, therefore of equal importance to the contents of the magazine.
-The front covers of magazines tend to be quite busy with lots of text and images that keep customers interested and makes the magazine more appealing.
-The title of the magazine is usually in the biggest, boldest font on the cover to ensure that it is clearly visible to customers.
-Women's magazines in particular display the two most important peices of information from a consumers perspective very clearly, these are the price of the magazine and a rough idea of the contents of the magazine.
-Magazines that are designed to target a specific group of people with a particular interest tend to be more expensive than other magazines and do not make the price of the magazine one of the main focuses.
-There are plenty of photographs on magazine covers aimed at teenagers and adults
-Although there are lot of images and text on magazine covers there is a careful balance between the two.
-A variety of fonts are usually used to create a more diverse and interesting cover.
-The date and price of the magazine are usually found in small print either near the title or the barcode, however some womens magazines ensure that the price is highlighted through the use of big, bold font and bright colours.
-The front covers of magazines tend to be quite busy with lots of text and images that keep customers interested and makes the magazine more appealing.
-The title of the magazine is usually in the biggest, boldest font on the cover to ensure that it is clearly visible to customers.
-Women's magazines in particular display the two most important peices of information from a consumers perspective very clearly, these are the price of the magazine and a rough idea of the contents of the magazine.
-Magazines that are designed to target a specific group of people with a particular interest tend to be more expensive than other magazines and do not make the price of the magazine one of the main focuses.
-There are plenty of photographs on magazine covers aimed at teenagers and adults
-Although there are lot of images and text on magazine covers there is a careful balance between the two.
-A variety of fonts are usually used to create a more diverse and interesting cover.
-The date and price of the magazine are usually found in small print either near the title or the barcode, however some womens magazines ensure that the price is highlighted through the use of big, bold font and bright colours.
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