My first impression of this magazine cover is that is it quite plain and doesn't tell you much about what the collage offer’s to its students. The background image does present the collage as being a refined and sophisticated working environment as the buildings look quite superior. The masthead follows the colour scheme of green and white, which presents the audience with the feeling of maturity and a fresh clean environment. This magazine cover would not stand out on a shelf with its competitors as it doesn't have anything going for it. There is no use of cover lines presented on the splash and the writing at the bottom of the page is hard to read and too small to stand out to the audience. I could contrast this and say that this plain magazine cover conveys the idea that the collage only concentrates on education purposes and that it doesn't need a lot of bold text and pictures to present its message.
“College Class of 2009”
Language
The masthead "college" is very simple and not very imaginative or appealing to its target. Behind the anchorage is a background image of the college building to attract students to study at this grand educational building. The green strip at the left side of the splash can be used as a logo to represent all magazines that have been created by the same publisher. There is no bar code on the magazine suggesting there is no price. The small cover lines in white at the bottom are hard to read and do not stand out, the clear colour scheme used is green and beige giving it a simple feel appealing to students who are interested in purely educational information only.
Institution
I think the publisher of the magazine is the college class of 2009, there is no clear identities of the publisher however the cover lines tell me the magazine was created inform students of college news therefore the publisher must have a clear understanding of recent events and college life- telling me they are most probably students.
Ideology
The "college class of 2009" magazine is very plain and doesn't feature any screamers, forms of a flash or kickers. The magazine was created to look very basic, only conveying a clear message that it was created for educational purposes. The cover lines don’t actually indicate to any educational articles throughout magazine, it only talks about college news and doesn’t feature any upcoming events like parties or subject trips ect.
Audience
The audience for the college magazine is clearly students for that specific college, I can infer this as the masthead is "...class of 2009" the magazine title clearly appeals to that certain class of students and informs them about their college news which would not be relevant to any other students.
Representation
I could argue both points of view on whether the magazine promotes the students in a positive or negative view. I could say that the students are viewed negatively as the magazine is very boring and simple therefore it represents the students as not outgoing and tedious. However as I stated before the audience could infer that in fact the simplicity of the splash makes the magazine look classy and focused on educational purposes only, creating an image that the students are focused and work hard. The magazine also looks quite sophisticated representing the students who attend as quite wealthy and upper class.
The “Ridgewater” collage is a well-established and mature magazine which gives the audience the idea that the collage is very advanced and offers opportunities to its students. This is presented though the image of a globe presented on the cover. I would say the colour scheme is white and red to give the audience the feel of a relaxed and comfortable environment, the colour blue featured for the screamers on the page as a way of catching the reader’s attention. A negative of the magazine is that the layout is quite compact and can make the reader feel confused from the different texts shouting out at you although I could imply it as a positive that there is a lot going on at the college. The layout is correct in the sense that the cover lines are presented down the left third of the splash which is where is would expect to see the text. The masthead on the magazine is quite effective; the font makes the collage seem sophisticated however the text colour does merge slightly with the background. The main image on the magazine cover is of a young student presumably sat in a study area. The ethnicity of the student is Chinese which implies the collage is available for all students of all races. Also the image of the globe at the bottom of the splash ties in with this idea. An improvement for the magazine could be to add teasers to what is coming up in the future this would influence the audience into buying the magazine as it would appeal to them more.
“Ridgewater College”
Language
The masthead on this magazine cover is more noticeable and gives the college a sense of purity due to the chosen theme colour white. This colour is also presented for the cover lines; it does make the text stand out on the background image. The main image is of a young female student smiling at college. The shot of the student is medium close and has a positive representation of the college. The ethnicity of the student and the picture of a globe at the bottom right of the splash indicate the college is mixed race and available to all types of people. There is no clear colour scheme used although it does give the feeling that the college is relaxed.
Institution
The publisher of the magazine is "Willmar and Hutchinson" which is presented on the teller on the splash. I am guessing these publishers are in fact students at Ridgewater College itself. One of the headings reads "a community" showing that the students work together to create ideas to be featured on the overall magazine.
Ideology
The college magazine promotes the cultural mix of students around the world by advertising in the magazine for students socialise and meet new people with those from different countries. "How 2 students came from different sides of the world- and came to the same great conclusion about Ridgewater education" This cover line obviously promotes the relationship between people with different cultures. The morale is that “Ridgewater College” promotes to mix of students from different backgrounds and religion. This idea of mixing is further influenced by the image of the globe positioned at the bottom right of the page.
Audience
The audience of the "Ridgewater College" is obviously students. This is shown through the reappearing phrase "Students" indicating who the audience is. Also the background image is of a student studying at college immediately shower the viewer who the magazine is indicated at.
Representation
The magazine presents the college is a very positive way; it promotes college education and targets the audience in a way that makes students interested in learning. It also promotes the mix of different cultures and ethnicity which shows the students are eager to learn in a multicultural society.
There is a page title featured in this magazine "contents" however there is no indication of the date it was issued. There is a continuous colour scheme presented; red and blue showing that the magazine is aimed at both genders. This is appropraite as the magazine will appeal to a larger audience making it more popular. At the bottom of the page there is an advertisement: "Enter the chance to win 2 tickets to the gig of your choice Page 55" Notice the prize of the competition is a "gig" which tells me the target audience is students as it is often looked as an activity a lot of the younger generation do. Down the centre of the page there is a features selection to show the viewer various articles in the magazine, it is all done to draw the reader in and to make them want to read more. The position of these features on the page is very useful as it is where the reader would expect to find them. "South downs college" contents page is very educational and the articles promoted are all about the college facilities not social activities students can take part in. To improve this page images and quotes of recent famous bands would make the magazine much more interesting to its target audience. The font of the text is very bold and clear which succeeds in promoting clear messages to the audience.
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