Although Cornwall Today isn't a fashion magazine,
it's important for me to analyse a regional magazine so that I can incorporate
features from it into my fashion magazine. The purpose of Cornwall Today is to make Cornwall seem appealing to the audience and show them what it has to offer.
The audience demographic for Cornwall Today is from grade A to C1. This is because they mainly focus on targeting at higher class people in Cornwall as well as wealthy holiday makers. My magazine, however will be targeting a lower class boundary as it will be aimed at younger people that are interested in fashion. Cornwall Today also mainly aims at white British people in terms of ethnicity because the county of Cornwall doesn't have many mixed race cultures. The age of the target audience for this magazine would be 30 years and older of both male and female gender. This can bee seen on the cover of the magazine, particularly the main images used on Cornwall Today because they usually reference to nature, and often gardening, which older people have more of an interest in than younger people. This links to Stanley Hall's Storm and Stress Model as it stated that youth seek excitement in the form of drink, drugs and sexual behaviour.
In terms of the masthead, ‘Cornwall Today’ has been chosen because of the purpose of the magazine – to show and represent an up to date Cornwall. It is aimed at the high class older generation in Cornwall, and the aspects of the masthead suggest this as the font is quite plain, but also because the name is very simple and straight to the point; whereas fashion magazines usually have more creative names. The magazine is mainly sold in Cornwall rather than to advertise the county around the country (other than to holiday makers) because a lot of the content in the magazine includes stories that would relate to Cornish people, so the masthead shows that the magazine isn’t aimed at a diverse audience. The cover follows conventions in that the masthead covers 1/8 of the page in order for its audience to recognize it easily. The font used is of a similar style to Vogues, they both have a Times style but Vogue’s is more decorative. The font gives a high-class feel to the page because it is clean and formal.
Cornwall Today do not usually feature models on their magazine covers as the magazine mainly features landscapes/waterscapes or locations that are unique to Cornwall. This image used on this particular cover is of a sunset waterscape photograph taken on a Cornish beach. The mise-en-scene portrays Cornwall as beautiful and a place to escape to. This links with Blumer and Katz Uses and Gratification theory that states that an audience consumes texts for a reason. The photography used on the cover of this magazine makes the cover look very professional and formal, whereas my cover won't have such a formal look because it's main genre is fashion and is aimed at a younger age group. The particular image that has been used on this cover is effective because it has captured the beauty of a Cornish sun set and is of course a good quality photograph, showing detail that catches the audiences' eye. I also think the photo editing or use of a camera filter is effective on this image and helps to give it a calming and peaceful mood. My front cover image will have to have an element of escapism so that my audience sees it as entertainment that they can use to escape as this is a main purpose of a magazine.
The colour scheme used on this cover connotes a summer evening mood with the orange, yellow and purple theme. These colours could also be used to create an autumn mood, but because the main image features a sun set on a beach, it makes the reader think of summer. For my own magazine, I need my audience to think of summer when they see the front cover, so I might use more obvious summer colours such as blues or yellows.
The fonts used for the story headings are very similar; for the main headings a bold font is used and a lighter version is used for the other text. Whereas other magazines that I have analysed such as Vogue uses more decorative fonts, this magazine uses plain and formal fonts - except for the font used above the masthead that reads, 'Your county...the magazine' which is more of a decorative handwritten font. Because my magazine will be of the fashion genre, I will need to use more decorative fonts similar to the ones used on the Vogue cover. The text on the magazine shows and advertises things that are going on around Cornwall, and also includes tow prizes that the audience could win which will make them want to buy the magazine so that they can fine out more. This is something that I could include on the cover of magazine as it is also a regional magazine for Cornwall.
The layout of the page consists of a waterscape image in the background with the text forming around the outer sides of the page leaving a clearer view of the scenery. Similar to Vogue, Cornwall Today magazines don't usually include smaller images on their magazine covers to show anything about the content of the magazine. The smaller headings and information are placed to left, right and bottom of the page, but unlike Vogue, they are all the same style and size font. This cover only has 4 story headings on the page, while Vogue included twice as many. Above the masthead, there is a bar with text that reads 'The biggest and best-selling magazine for Cornwall', and a triangle on the right with text that reads, 'Voted the UK's best regional magazine' - both describing how successful the magazine is.
As a conclusion, I think this magazine cover would work well for inspiration for my regional fashion magazine in terms of how to bring regional elements to my cover. Unlike Vogue, I would be able to get a similar photograph for the main image of my cover, but this wouldn't represent the fashion genre. The natural beauty of Cornwall is something that I would like to portray in my own magazine; which links with Bentley's theory, "the creative process is the rearranging of the old and making of the new".
In terms of the masthead, ‘Cornwall Today’ has been chosen because of the purpose of the magazine – to show and represent an up to date Cornwall. It is aimed at the high class older generation in Cornwall, and the aspects of the masthead suggest this as the font is quite plain, but also because the name is very simple and straight to the point; whereas fashion magazines usually have more creative names. The magazine is mainly sold in Cornwall rather than to advertise the county around the country (other than to holiday makers) because a lot of the content in the magazine includes stories that would relate to Cornish people, so the masthead shows that the magazine isn’t aimed at a diverse audience. The cover follows conventions in that the masthead covers 1/8 of the page in order for its audience to recognize it easily. The font used is of a similar style to Vogues, they both have a Times style but Vogue’s is more decorative. The font gives a high-class feel to the page because it is clean and formal.
Cornwall Today do not usually feature models on their magazine covers as the magazine mainly features landscapes/waterscapes or locations that are unique to Cornwall. This image used on this particular cover is of a sunset waterscape photograph taken on a Cornish beach. The mise-en-scene portrays Cornwall as beautiful and a place to escape to. This links with Blumer and Katz Uses and Gratification theory that states that an audience consumes texts for a reason. The photography used on the cover of this magazine makes the cover look very professional and formal, whereas my cover won't have such a formal look because it's main genre is fashion and is aimed at a younger age group. The particular image that has been used on this cover is effective because it has captured the beauty of a Cornish sun set and is of course a good quality photograph, showing detail that catches the audiences' eye. I also think the photo editing or use of a camera filter is effective on this image and helps to give it a calming and peaceful mood. My front cover image will have to have an element of escapism so that my audience sees it as entertainment that they can use to escape as this is a main purpose of a magazine.
The colour scheme used on this cover connotes a summer evening mood with the orange, yellow and purple theme. These colours could also be used to create an autumn mood, but because the main image features a sun set on a beach, it makes the reader think of summer. For my own magazine, I need my audience to think of summer when they see the front cover, so I might use more obvious summer colours such as blues or yellows.
The fonts used for the story headings are very similar; for the main headings a bold font is used and a lighter version is used for the other text. Whereas other magazines that I have analysed such as Vogue uses more decorative fonts, this magazine uses plain and formal fonts - except for the font used above the masthead that reads, 'Your county...the magazine' which is more of a decorative handwritten font. Because my magazine will be of the fashion genre, I will need to use more decorative fonts similar to the ones used on the Vogue cover. The text on the magazine shows and advertises things that are going on around Cornwall, and also includes tow prizes that the audience could win which will make them want to buy the magazine so that they can fine out more. This is something that I could include on the cover of magazine as it is also a regional magazine for Cornwall.
The layout of the page consists of a waterscape image in the background with the text forming around the outer sides of the page leaving a clearer view of the scenery. Similar to Vogue, Cornwall Today magazines don't usually include smaller images on their magazine covers to show anything about the content of the magazine. The smaller headings and information are placed to left, right and bottom of the page, but unlike Vogue, they are all the same style and size font. This cover only has 4 story headings on the page, while Vogue included twice as many. Above the masthead, there is a bar with text that reads 'The biggest and best-selling magazine for Cornwall', and a triangle on the right with text that reads, 'Voted the UK's best regional magazine' - both describing how successful the magazine is.
As a conclusion, I think this magazine cover would work well for inspiration for my regional fashion magazine in terms of how to bring regional elements to my cover. Unlike Vogue, I would be able to get a similar photograph for the main image of my cover, but this wouldn't represent the fashion genre. The natural beauty of Cornwall is something that I would like to portray in my own magazine; which links with Bentley's theory, "the creative process is the rearranging of the old and making of the new".
• Planning and research evidence will be complete and • There is excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience • There are excellent communication skills
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