Magazine industry overview

Magazine industry overview.

The biggest consumer magazine publishers are Bauer, publishing up to 25% of magazines, IPC, publishing up to 20%, other publishers such as BBC magazine and National Magazine publish 7-8% of magazines.

Today in the UK, there are over 3,200 different consumer titles and 1.4 billion magazines being sold each year. 85% of the population reads a magazine and they spend £2 billion on magazines annually.

There are more than 8000 titles published in Britain which can be categorised as, consumer, business/trade, customer magazines, staff magazines, newspaper supplements, part works, and academic journals, which have their own target audience.

IPC media makes over 60 iconic media brands, and creates multiple platforms, across print, online, mobiles, tablets and events. As the UK’s leading consumer magazine publisher they engage with over 26million UK adults – almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of men.

IPC’s magazines that are aimed at men include: Nuts, Rugby world, ShootingUK and world soccer. Magazines aimed at women include: Woman’s weekly, Beautiful Kitchens, Chat and Essentials.

IPC have different divisions such as:

IPC connect: IPC Connect is IPC Media's mass market women's division with a range of brands that provide powerful reach. Connect's magazines are read by 9.4 million mass market women, which equates to 49% of all mass market women, while its digital brands reach over 5.3 million unique users and deliver 35 million page impressions every month. Connect's audience is highly valuable and responsive, responsible for the vast majority of UK purchasing decisions.

IPC Inspire: IPC Inspire is IPC’s men’s divison. Its portfolio of 38 brands covers a huge spectrum of interests and includes famous names from Country Life and The Field, to Nuts and NME.

Future plc is an international media group, founded in 1985 with one magazine, today they have operations in the UK, US and Australia creating over 200 specialist publications, apps, websites and events. Future plcis the No.1 technology publisher in the UK.

Future plc’s magazines are mainly aimed at males aged from teens to adults (20-30 year olds) and include magazines such as Xbox 360, Classic Rock, Playstation and Mountain Biking UK. 

Target audience mood board

My target audience are people who enjoy to go to clubs/raves regularly and usually go to festivals, as the type of music my magazine will include are ones usually played at those venues.

Mixmag case study.

Open publication - Free publishing - More case study

Colour mood board

I have chose these colours because they will appeal to my target audience, who go to clubs, or raves and will enjoy the bright colors in contrast with black and/or white. I liked the idea of having 2 bright colors with either white or black, or both white and black with one bright color.

Advertisements mood board

My target audience is mainly males between the ages of 16-25, so consequently they will enjoy technology; as such Samsung, Panasonic and Canon are here. For those who are 18+, they will enjoy Smirnoff and Budweiser. Also my target audience may go to festivals, such as Tomorrowland, or clubs, such as Godskitchen.

Font mood board

This is my font mood board. I chose these fonts because I thought these would be fitting for the style of my magazine. The futuristic look of the fonts will match the futuristic/electronic style of the magazine I intend to make. I intend to use these fonts for my masthead, so I need to pick one that stands out and has a strong font.

For my magazine cover, I will use the “Dream” font as it quite strong and will fit in with the style of my magazine, and stand out on the front of my magazine cover.

Double page feature article 2

This feature article uses very few colours; black, white and red. As this is a Q magazine, it follows the house colours so that it can be easily recognized as a Q magazine. Having the large L on the article also fits with the magazines name, Q. Despite it being on top of the article, it is still easy to read. On the first half of the double page spread is a picture of Lady Gaga herself, having it as a whole page means that she is important. The image is in black and white, making it look sophisticated and simple, but it fits in with the style of the magazine cover.

This article does not begin with a drop cap, yet later in the article it has drop caps to indicate new paragraphs. It also lacks a caption for the photo and a kicker, as well as a sidebar, a pull quote and any sub-headings. This article design is very unconventional because it does not use a lot of things that many other magazines normally use. This might be because they want to challenge the conventions of how articles are set out to make it stand out from others.

Double page feature article 1

This feature article is from Mixmag. It uses few colours for the text; white, red and black, but has a lot of colour coming from the image. In the heading for the page is the name of the person in the image, it is coloured red so that it stands out form the other text and can be recognized as that person’s name. The font of the text fits in with the style of Mixmag and makes it look more modern.

This article has a heading so that people know what it is about, although this could also be a kicker, as it is more than just the title for it, it tells you a bit about the article so that it draws people in to make them read it. The article has bold text in it, these are questions from the interviewer, this is so it is not confused with the answers the interviewee gives. 

There is a quote from the person himself on the picture on the right, this makes the readers feel that he is talking to them and makes it more interesting to read. At the bottom of the left hand page is a picture with a caption, so that people know what the picture is about, the text is place so that it does not cover the photo, or the photo does not cover the text.

Content analysis 2

Colours: This magazine uses 4 colours; white, red, yellow and black. White is used as the background so that the other text will show and can be read easily. Yellow is used as a sub-heading colour as it will not be confused with other text and will stand out from the black text and white background. These colours may be the ones used on the front cover.

Layout: This contents page is split into two, half is dominated by an image of Slash, and this image will be directly linked to a story in the magazine, and may be the main story and the image on the front of the magazine. Underneath this is the contents, it has many sub-headings so that certain things can be found easier and is numbered, so you know what page they can be found on.

Images: This contents page uses a big image that takes up half of the page, this image will be linked to the main story and maybe the image on the front of the magazine. It shows a couple of pages from the magazine itself with the page number and what the page is about. On the bottom half it has a picture of the editor and some text about what is in this week’s magazine.

Fonts: The contents page uses fonts similar to the ones on the front cover so it has a sense of unity and only uses about 3 fonts on this page, so that it does not look too scruffy and confusing. The font used is more modern so that it suits the style of the target audience.

Content analysis 1

Colour: This contents page uses very basic colours; white, yellow, black and red. The black and red text stands out in front of the white background, making it easier to read. The word “Contents” is in yellow, because it is the title of the page and doesn’t get confused with any of the other text.

Layout: This contents page seems to be mainly dominated by images, it uses 3 images on the right which link to stories in the magazine, and use little writing on the left which list the contents. The “Regulars”, other sub-headings and the general layout of the magazine will stay the same throughout all other issues.

Images: The contents page uses 3 images which are linked to stories inside. The biggest image of them may mean that it is the main story of the magazine and may even be the person who is on the front cover of the magazine. They have numbers in the corners of the images so that people know which page to go. There is also a picture of the magazine itself in the top left corner.

 Fonts: The fonts used for the contents page are very modern and give the magazine a more stylish and cool look about it. Since the median age of Mixmag readers is 24, they will be more attracted to this modern look.  The numbers on the image also have a modern font to them.

Front cover analysis 3

Masthead: The masthead is placed in the top left corner and uses a big, bold font type so that it stands out more than the other text on the cover, so that people know this is the magazines name. This stays the same throughout all issues of the magazine.

Image: The image takes up most of the magazine’s cover and is placed in the middle of the cover. The image is of Chase & Status and will attract those who are interested in their music. DJ mag’s median target audience is of the age 25, and mostly males, so these people will know of Chase & Status and will be more interested into buying the magazine.

Main Cover Line: The main cover line is linked with the main image of the magazine. It uses a bold font so that it stands out in front of the other stories on the cover. It is also bigger than the other stories because it is the main story of the magazine.

Colours: This magazine uses 3 colours for text; red, white and yellow. The masthead is the only text in red because it is the name of the magazine and is not confused with any stories on the magazine. The colours for the stories stand out from the background so that it can easily be seen and read. Behind the image of Chase & Status is an orange coloured wall, and allows the image to stand out more.

Other: The barcode is kept out of the way in the bottom right corner to not interfere with any of the more important stuff on the cover. This magazine also has a promise at the top of the magazine, telling the customers that they will receive a free CD when they purchase the magazine.

Front cover analysis 2

Masthead: The masthead is the magazines signature; it is the same throughout all issues so it will be easily recognised in shops. It uses a bold font to make it stand out. Underneath the masthead are the words “Special Issue”, meaning they are promoting this issue as Daft Punk is becoming increasingly popular.

Image: The image of Daft Punk although is not conventional as it does not cover a big portion of the magazine, it challenges how other magazines place images on the cover. Behind them you can see what looks like a futuristic tower; along with Daft Punk they give the magazine a futuristic feel to it.

Main Cover Line: The main cover line for this magazine is almost proportional to the image of Daft Punk themselves. The font of the image helps with the effect of the futuristic feel of the magazine. The size of the font will catch the eye of the audience of others who may see this magazine in shops. The other story in the top right corner is also to do with Daft Punk, meaning this magazine is exclusively for Daft Punk fans.  

Colours: This magazine uses 2 colours for text, blue and white, and use blue, white and black for the background. These colours helps even more with the futuristic feel of the magazine, and also give the magazine a more “club” feel to it.

Other: The barcode for this magazine is kept tucked away in the bottom right corner so it doesn’t interfere with the image. This magazine also includes promises, such as a free cd and a party planner; this will get more people to buy the magazine as you will get extra things with it.

Front cover analysis 1

Masthead: The masthead is like the magazines signature, it will always use the same font, size and colours. This is so that it can be easily recognised when people are looking for it.

Image: The image covers most of the magazine’s cover, and is placed directly in the centre of the cover. The image is of Bob Marley, which will attract a large audience of people who are interested in his music, and will still attract people who buy this magazine.

Main Cover Line: The main cover line is linked in with the image and is usually the main story in the magazine. It uses a bigger font than the others because it is linked with the picture and people will get an idea of what is in the magazine before they buy it. “Marley” is in bold and is bigger than all the other text, making it stand out more than the other text. This magazine also has other cover lines placed each side of the image, in a smaller font than the main one, so that the audience can see there is more to read in this magazine.

Colours: The colours on this magazine are not bold and eccentric, they are soft light colours, and this is because the target audience for this magazine is for mainly males of the ages 24-54 who are knowledgeable of music. There are 3 colours used for this magazine, yellow and white for the text, and a peach coloured background, this is to ensure that the magazine doesn’t look to messy and to keep it a clean, simple looking magazine that the target audience will enjoy looking at. Most of the colour is coming from the image itself. The masthead has filled in some letters with colours, but this is their magazine name and is the same throughout every magazine they publish.

Other: The barcode for the magazine is kept tucked away in the bottom left corner so that it doesn’t interfere with the image or any of the stories. In the bottom right corner it looks like what could be a quote, or an award the magazine may have won, but it is too small to see.