Feature Spread Analysis

This double page spread from a popular Cornish magazine makes the most of the space it has by filling it with 16 images and only one column of text which gives it a very modern look as it is unique and appealing to look at. The layout of this feature mimics that of a blog post which is mainly down to the style of typography and how photo heavy and simple it is. The colour scheme, masthead of the article and fonts mimic the soft and elegant tones of a wedding.

The images are mainly of a couple presumably on their wedding day which would suggest that the target audience is females, as stereotypically women are more interested in weddings/marriage than males, between the ages of 18-30 as this is the average age of marriage. However because the colour scheme is not stereotypical 'girly' colours but rather neutral colours of green, white and black, this may suggest that the overall magazine is not just targeted at females and that the audience of this article is likely to be for grooms as well as brides. The social grade of readers of this magazine suggested by this feature is likely to be between C and A as weddings are notoriously expensive so to be able to get full use from this article the reader is likely to be someone who has their wedding coming up and is looking for ideas. As this is a regional magazine there are no celebrity star vehicles in the feature spread which means it has to try harder to occupy, interest and draw an audience in. This is why there are so many images used, as well as there not being much text as readers will be less interested in the content of the feature as it is not about someone they admire or look up to. The masthead of this feature is not eye-catching nor does it have much to do with the article itself. This means that the images have to do most of the work indicating what the article is about. 

The typography of this article is not in a colour that stands out (it is white and black, which is usually a colour that stands out as it is on a white background but as the text is so small on this feature spread, it does not stand out), but it gives the impression that this was the aim of it however it has not worked. This may be because there are around 3 different shades of the same colour in the text which makes it harder for the whole text to stand out. This symbolises that the main body (the darkest lexis) is the one that is to definitely be read and that the slightly paler lexis are things such as links and information that may not interest the reader (as much as the main body (the actual article) of text). 

The main colour in the colour palette of this feature spread is white. This is likely to be because connotations that surround the colour white include 'pure' and 'innocence', which are old-fashioned stereotypes that are associated with your wedding day (as this is why the bride wears a white dress - to represent her innocence). As the main colour is white, the other colours used had to be similarly soft so that the whole double page remained soft and easy to look at. For example, if they had used a colour such as bright red, this would have been too harsh and would have changed the tone of the article, as well as this, it would not go with any of the colours in the images, whereas the colours used (pale green) does go with the images as this colour is in a few of the main images. 

The lexical choices of 'peaches, cream and parasols' set the tone of the feature before even looking at any of the images of reading any of the main body of text. This is because the connotations and denotations of these 3 words are similar to those of weddings and the colours used. Connotations include sweet, soft, feminine, happy etc etc. 

This feature spread from 24/7 magazine is very different from the previous one I analysed in all aspects such as typography, the information presented, the colours used etc. However it is similar in layout as the previous one also had features in boxes (previous had images, this one has text and images). The feature of this double page spread that hints to what genre the magazine is, is the layout. It is simple, tidy and neat, something that is not typically seen in magazines of the fashion genre (as seen in the double page spread below this one) as they have different target audiences who appreciate different styles. For example, the target audience of this magazine is not likely to pay attention to the layout of the images and text, but rather what is in the images and what the text says. Whereas readers of fashion magazines are likely to notice layout and appreciate if something looks 'nice'. This is a feature that hints to the target audience and shows how audiences differ greatly depending on the genre of the magazine. It also shows that you have to be a certain type of person to enjoy a certain type of product (someone who regularly reads fashion magazines might look at this layout and think it is boring and plain, whereas someone who regularly reads this magazine is likely to think a fashion magazine's layout is unnecessary and time/space wasting). 

Considering the information in this feature I would suggest that the target audience is male and female students from the ages of 18 (no younger because there is alcohol and nightclubs mentioned) to about 24 as these are the average ages that people go through university and live the typical 'student' life. Another feature that suggests the target audience is both genders is the graphology used. There are no specifically feminine or masculine fonts used on these 2 pages however the colours could suggest there is a masculine slant to the target audience as there are no colours that are stereotypical to women such as pink and purple. By looking at the people in the images used on this feature spread, it is likely that the gender this magazine is aimed at is males, as there are no females for girls to aspire to be and relate to. The use of males in the images suggests that the information to go with the images is to do with activities that females are not stereotypically interested in. One of the main clues that it is targeted to males is the word 'brothers' in large, bright and bold letters. 

The busy layout of this double page spread matches the busy lifestyles of students/people of this age. The busy layout will also excite the audience into thinking that there are a lot of things recommended for them to try by this magazine, 24/7, and as a magazine is 'recommending' the audience these things, they must be VIP events which will also excite the reader and make them feel that they can live the celebrity lifestyle by going to these events. However, as the target audience of this feature spread is students, it is not a common convention for there to be much text as stereotypically, students are known to be 'lazy' and will not want to read much. This feature spread conforms to these stereotypes and has used little text, making the images its main feature. This is interesting as the previous feature spread I analysed does not have much text and the target audience for that is people of different lifestyles and age than this one so that causes it to seem like these 2 feature spreads have swapped target audiences which means they have both challenged the generic conventions of their target audiences. As the target audience is mainly students, the social grades this will appeal to is E-D as these are the grades that students fall into. 

In terms of theory, it is clear by looking at this feature that it is aimed at young people because of the use of bright colours. This links to Stanley Hall's theory (1904) that young people must have excitement in all aspects of their lives (the excitement in this media product is portrayed through the use of bright colours) else they will term to criminal activity. This feature also links to Gerbner's theory that society is scared by the media portrayal of youth as if they looked at this feature, some of their fears would be confirmed as one of the main things that the media portrays youth being interested in is alcohol abuse. 

The main colour used on this feature spread is black. Connotations of black include evil, power and mystery. These are all connotations that surround students, whether it be a connotation given to them by older people or connotations they give themselves. However, the black is contrasted out by the use of brighter colours such as yellow, blue and white as these have opposite connotations to black (such as happiness, purity and childishness).

This article paired with the article below is going to be my style model as I like the white borders used on this double page and I also like the girly fonts and colours and the use of a white background that is used in the one below.

Even though I am creating a regional magazine I plan on putting a genre slant of fashion into it which means I need to analyse a fashion magazine as well as a regional. This feature spread is from Company magazine and differs from the previous 2 I analysed as this is strictly fashion related. It contains no star vehicles which will impact how many people read this page, especially because there were star vehicles on the cover and contents page which means a lot of people who bought this magazine would have bought it to read the features on the star vehicles who were on the cover and contents page.

Whilst it is a completely different magazine the layout is actually very similar as the previous 2 as they have all used the 'box' layout where they put each different feature/image in a box shape, however it is harder to see this in this feature spread as it is a bit more 'jumbled' and random. Another feature that adds to its 'random' layout is the text that is used. It is similar to handwriting (this is backed up by the magazine being paper instead of glossy) and is slightly messy causing it to seem like it is more creative and modern, which are similar connotations to the fashion that is featured on this page. This may also indicate the connotations that surround the target audience of this magazine as if they are interested in this style of feature and magazine (I can tell that the whole magazine is of this style as the contents page I previously analysed is also like this), they are likely to be modern and have a 'random' personality.

This feature spread directly speaks to the reader as the style of this page is similar to that of a diary, which is a very personal belonging. Another way it speaks to the reader is by the text 'to get you street-styled in 2014'. This suggests that this page is exclusively for the reader to read and to get ideas for their fashion style in the upcoming year, there are no features that suggest it is for more than one reader which makes it seem very personal and will make the reader feel exclusive themselves.

This feature spread resembles one on Vogue's website in terms of content which means this magazine is likely to be slightly higher end (which shows because there are mentions of designers such as Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton on this page alone) whilst managing to keep a relatively high street tone to it by including affordable clothes which means that they will likely have a larger readership because Company is not a massively known magazine so if they included clothes that were made by designers and costed hundreds of pounds for a scarf they would likely not sell so many copies (which is the sole aim of creating a magazine) because Vogue, Marie Claire and Elle etc have a strong core following of hundreds of thousands who buy every single issue and it would not impact them if they lost 100,000 readers whereas with Company it would. Company also do 'high-street edits' of their magazines which means that it gives the audience a variety depending on what kind of clothing and accessories they want to see in the magazine.

Victoria White, the editor of Company, has stated that "Company is the go-to brand in the UK for creative fashionistas. The girl who gets dressed each morning dreaming of being street style spotted. The girl who loves fashion but doesn't want to just follow the trends - she sets her own fashion agenda." This means that readers of this magazine are likely to be young, between the ages of 16-24 (because Victoria referred to the reader as 'girl', and if the reader was an older generation she would have referred to them as 'woman') and because they are this young they are not likely to be able to afford to buy high end fashion, but is very much in touch with high end fashion and would more than likely dress in designer clothing if she could afford it. Victoria said that the readers of this magazine do not want to follow trends and this shows in the fashion that is used on this page because it is not necessarily the most popular and mainstream fashion with colours and designs steering away from the generic shapes and colours that are popular. Victoria has also said that "The Company reader is stylish, individual, creative, opinionated, ambitious and cool. She comes to Company for street style fashion, edgy beauty ideas, nail art inspo, playlist ideas, rising star interviews, career advice, blogging tips and high street shopping. And then she tweets us a pic of how she's recreated something we've suggested she try. And Company tweets her back…. ". This shows that Company is magazine that is very in touch with media and their target audience.
This suggests that the audience of Company magazine are Aspirers or Individuals. Aspirers are people who look to the media to change themselves so they can be 'cool' and interesting, they use media products to define themselves. Individuals are people who are highly aware of the media and the effects it has on society but do not let it affect them. 

As Stanley Hall (1904) stated, "Teenage years are full of storm and stress", and that most teenagers experience identity confusion. This links to the target audience of Company being mainly aspirers, as they use this magazine to confirm their identity. 

The colour palette used on this page is pink, white and black which suggests that the black and white are to seal the connotations of 'modern' and 'classy' (as these are the 2 colours Vogue and most other high-end fashion magazines use which supports my theory that Company are a higher end, high-street magazine) and the pink is to add a 'girly' and 'fun' side to it and to add dimension as if it just used black and white it would have the risk of looking too bland and plain. Using the pink suggests that Company know they are not exactly the same style of magazine as Vogue and that they are going to embrace this. These colours also seemed to have been specially picked so that they do not clash with the colours of the clothes that are worn in the main images on this page. 

Contents Page Analysis

This contents page resembles one that would usually be found in a more well known/popular magazine which means that it looks very professional and stylish. The main reasons I find this to be a stylish contents page is because of the font that is used and the way the text is laid out, the photos that are used as I like the way they have pictures of what are on a couple of pages instead of it being very text heavy and also because of the colour scheme of black, white and green which I think was a good choice as it is not gender specific and is very neutral so it is not overwhelming at all and looks classy and sophisticated. However, a negative with this contents page is that there are no indications that it is a Cornish magazine but this isn't an issue as obviously it will say on the front cover of the actual magazine but this does challenge generic conventions of a contents page.

The target audience of this magazine is indicated by the style, layout, design etc and taking this into account I think it is definitely aimed at the older generations and certainly not any age under 18 as it is too text heavy for children, the font is quite small and the colour scheme is not bright or vibrant enough to appeal to children and hold their attention. Another thing that indicates the target audience are the images. A child is not going to want to read about painting and decorating or wedding dresses which are articles that the images suggest are in the magazine. Also the most obvious reason indicating the target audience is that regional magazines tend to 9/10 times be read by older generations as the type of things featured in them will not appeal to young people (this is a reason why I am creating my magazine to appeal to younger generations as I feel this is a very big gap in the market) and also because young people in Cornwall generally do not like living here as there are hardly any facilities to interest them, whereas older people are interested in the scenery and the farm shops etc so they are more likely to buy a magazine about Cornwall as they like it and it interests them.

The social grade that this page indicates it is targeted at is A-C as one of the features is a wedding which are generally very expensive and if you do not have a disposable income you will struggle to afford one, and it also features an image of a room in a house that looks very nicely decorated, designed and classy which stereotypically is usually what more expensive houses are like and it will not interest readers that do not have a house like this as it is likely to make them feel inadequate and 'poor'. People in social grade C may not have a house like this but they are likely to aspire to people who own houses like this (social grade A).

A feature on this page that goes against the target audience being the older generations is in the bottom right hand corner. This is a special code that is scanned by your phone that will take you to a website that relates to this magazine (likely to be the magazines own website). The reason this suggests the audience is not an older generation is because they have a stereotype surrounding them that suggests they are not good at technology and are likely to not know what this image is. There is also information on subscribing to this magazine via their website, another thing older generations are not likely to understand. Another feature that challenges the suggested target audience is the article that is represented on this page as an image of a young woman wearing a wedding dress. The target audience of this magazine are likely to already have had their wedding and will not relate to this feature as they are much older and are already married. This suggests that the magazine is trying to broaden their target audience and create articles and features that relate to younger generations.

It also suggests that the magazine has features for people of all ages and lifestyles which ties in with the uses and gratifications theory (Katz, 1959). This theory suggests that people take what they want from media such as magazines which means that someone may just read this magazine purely for one feature in it because this is what they are interested in. The theory suggests that we do this in four ways: Personal Relationships which suggests we use the media to help us deal with other people, Indentity which suggests we use the media to help shape the person we are including our personality, interests and looks, Surveillance which means that we use the media to keep in touch with events and news stories happening in the world around us and Diversion meaning that we use the media to escape from real life and be entertained.

This contents page contains a lot more information than the usual contents page and has a lot less images. Most contents pages usually have 3 or 4 main images, the like the one below. This does give it a slightly unique feel however I feel it could look more professional if it followed the generic conventions of a contents page more closely. The reasons I think this is because of the colour scheme, the lack of images, the font and colour of the font, the background etc being quite bland and plain. The page opposite this that is also part of the contents page is just an image of sea crashing against a pier with the words 'contents February 2013' on. This does explain why there is so much text on this page and it does add a slight modern element to the page which differs it strongly from the one below. The main image of the sea stereotypically represents Cornwall very well and in an artistic way. This relates to the modernism era in which 'old fashioned' and classic conventions were rejected and replaced with more arty ways of expressing the content. 

The target audience for this magazine I think is people of an older generation aged 45+ as it is very "grown up" which I think is down to the lack of images. Things aimed at people under 25 tend to have a lot more images but this contents page is mainly text. A factor that challenges this is that a couple of the sections of this contents page suggest it may be for a slightly less mature audience as there is 7 pages of competitions. Competitions are usually found in women's weekly gossip magazines and children's magazines these types of magazine usually appeal to a slightly lower class whereas this magazine looks like it appeals to a slightly higher class, as do most regional magazines. However, a generic convention of a contents page is to have a number of images that relate to the text on the page and this page does not follow this, this could be on purpose to seem more modern and unique or as it wants to appeal to an older audience.  The colour scheme used on this page is something that makes it seem like it appeals to an older audience as they are quite dull and dark colours with no bright colours at all, something that you do not tend to see in a magazine aimed at a younger audience. 

The layout of this contents page shows that there is only one image which is used as the background of the whole page. If this contents page was aimed at a younger audience, there would be more images in order to excite them and attract them. Having only one image makes this page easy on the eye. This may be because stereotypically, older people have difficulty seeing things so a magazine aimed at them is likely to make it easier for them to see it. This is also shown through the way the information is separated into different sections as it makes it easier to find which article you want to read. However, a convention that challenges this is the very small text. The text differs in size depending what section it is in, the 2 smallest being competitions and regular sections. This shows that they also think that the competitions are the least important part of the magazine and is not likely to appeal to the target audience. It also shows that the magazine, despite the fact that the reader is likely to have already picked the magazine up to read, is still trying to get the audience to read the features that were advertised and teased about on the front cover as the text in the features section is larger than any other sections on this page. 

The use of typography on this contents page is different to that of the contents pages above this one and below this one. The main difference, that you notice straight away when looking at the page, is that there are a lot of different sizes and font choices. This makes the overall contents page look untidy. None of the typographic styles on this page follows on from fonts used on the front cover which means there is no sense of familiarity for the reader and that there is no brand image being created. However, there is a sense of familiarity as the lexis on this page will page lexical choices on the front cover as features and articles advertised on the front cover will also be on this contents page. This challenges stereotypes because this magazine is aimed at audiences who fall into social grades C-A as these are generally the grades that people aged 45-60+ fall into as by that age they are likely to have a well-established career and a large disposable income, so they are stereotypically likely to want a product that is neat and clear in their brand image. However, if I did not have any knowledge of the typical target audiences of regional magazines, I would suggest that the target audience of this page is people in social grades C1-D (the "social norm" - Gandal (2007). 

As the magazine I am creating is both of the regional and fashion genres, I felt it would be helpful if I analysed a fashion magazine as well as a regional. This contents page is from Company magazine and similarly to the feature spread it is a 'messy' style and has a layout and typography that is similar to what a diary may look like for instance, the typography at the top is similar to handwriting. Another aspect that adds to the diary feel is the white background which is the most used colour of paper. This is a convention I am considering using in my magazine as it creates a more personal feel which will make the reader feel involved in the magazine and as if I am talking directly to them. Another feature that adds to making it feel like a diary is the size of the overall magazine. They have used an A5 size which is generally the size of personal diaries and journals, unlike most magazines who use A4 sized paper. 

The features that are most exaggerated on this contents page are the images at the top that also have their page numbers on. This is so that the readers attention is drawn to these as this is what the magazine wants you to read and it is also likely to be what the reader is mainly looking at the magazine for as these are 2 of the main feature spreads. Another reason for the contents page drawing your attention to these 2 images is that they contain 3 good looking females (who also act as the star vehicles on this contents page which means it this magazine is already likely to draw more readers in because it will draw in the fans of these star vehicles as well as the usual readers) that the audience of this magazine are likely to aspire to and the creators of this magazine know this, implying that the editors have a close relationship with their target audience and know them very well. This is also so that the magazine can make sure that they attract the right audience as if a reader saw these images they would know if they wanted to read on or put the magazine down, readers that read on are the correct audience.

The poses that the 3 women in the images are doing are ones that give them a sense of superiority and makes them seem like they are higher beings than the audience as the audience do not naturally pull these poses in everyday life and photos, which will make the audience aspire to them even more by thinking that they want to be able to naturally pose like them. The pose that the female in the right hand side photo is doing makes her look elegant and very feminine which are other connotations the audience of this magazine are highly likely to want to carry. She is also wearing a lot of make up and an outfit that shows off her skin which are stereotypically key aspects of  femininity. The colours of these 2 images match the colours of the text box on the right hand side and the colours of the text box at the bottom. 

A generic convention of magazine contents pages is to have the name of the magazine rather large on the page, this one however does not have it anywhere apart from in the box at the bottom advertising a subscription to the magazine. This suggests that the magazine knows the audience do not need reminding as they are intelligent enough to know as it is obviously on the front, it also suggests that they do not need to brag about who they are as it is the content that is most important (unlike Vogue) which suggests that Company magazine know they are not as high-end as Vogue and do not have a name big enough to brag about. Another thing not having their name on the contents page suggests is that they have a very consistent and regular audience so they are likely to know just by layout and the typography what magazine this is. The magazine is also likely to use the same style of language (for instance, 'fab' instead of 'cool') in every issue which means as the regular audience is exposed to this, they will start talking like this as well which is a prime example of the media having strong impacts on the lives of their consumers. This is summed up by the theory that media reinforces certain attitudes, lifestyles and personalities through repetition. 

This contents page is very different to the other 3 I have analysed in all areas such as colour scheme, layout, how professional it looks etc but it does link to the one above because I feel this should've followed the generic conventions more closely aswell to gain a more professional look. The main difference is that is just has a plain black background with no images at all. I think this has been done because the font colour is yellow so together symbolise the colours of Cornwall as they are black and yellow. I am not entirely sure what type of magazine this is as there are no indications without seeing the front cover, except of course by reading the text which is an indication of the target audience. I think this was designed to appeal definitely to the older generation and also to people of a certain lifestyle, when you compare this one to the first one I analysed you can see that they are aimed at completely different types of lifestyles, this one to a person who is more interested in the political and traditional side of Cornwall. This page gives no indication to what this magazine is so I do not know if it is a typical regional magazine or one just given to councellors etc (because of the colours that represent Cornwall, the image at the top of the page, the way it is set out - very different to the typical contents page of any genre of magazine). The target audience for this magazine is likely to be a niche market. One reason for this is that there are no teasers on this page to try and draw an audience in to reading further through the magazine. Another indication is that it says at the bottom 'published twice yearly' and if it was a popular magazine directed to a mass audience they would publish it more often than this. This is like no other contents page I have seen as it follows none of the generic conventions of any contents page no matter what genre.

Front Cover Analysis

This magazine front cover represents exactly what Cornwall is famous for, its beaches and coastline. It does this by having an image of a beach and a surfer as the background and the text "Dive into Newquay's beach culture". Using Newquay as one of the main features is good because this is one of Cornwall's most famous towns, known all across the UK for its beaches and night life. This means that the audience for this magazine does not have to be just people living in Cornwall, but anyone from around the country with an interest in this county. However, the main image and the mise-en-scene used (somebody wearing a wetsuit and holding a wetsuit whilst looking over the cliff at the beach and sea) suggests this magazine will feature a lot about surfing which narrows down the target audience to people who have an interest in surfing and because it features a young boy, it could be said that this magazine is meant to appeal to a young audience but because it mentions enjoying 'a walk around the Lizard Peninsula' and planning 'your dream Cornish wedding' this boosts the mass of audience it will appeal to, but it is likely that this causes it to lose the teenage audience as they will not be interested in planning a wedding, walking or growing their own herbs etc.

This cover does not suggest whether the target gender is male or female because it has no gender specific colour scheme and regional magazines tend not to ever have a target gender however there is a slightly higher chance that it may be aimed at males as there is a male on the front which means they will be able to relate to it whilst women will not. It does suggest however through lexical choices that the social class it appeals to is B-A as to be able to enjoy some of the luxuries in this magazine you must have a disposable income. For instance, at the bottom of this cover it says that you can 'plan your dream Cornish wedding' with this magazine but for many people this really is just a dream as they can not afford it. Another example is because Cornwall is a popular holiday destination and holidays cost a lot, especially to stay by the beach. More lexical choices that indicate a target audience of the higher social grades are the mention of 'Trewithen Estate', a large country house in Cornwall owned by people on the same social grades as the reader and a place that people from the social grades of the target audience are likely to visit, and the mention of the Isles of Scilly and their World Pilot Gig Championships, a boating competition in the Isles Of Scilly. This is highly likely to appeal to people belonging to high social grades such as B and A as boats are fairly expensive so they are the only people who will be able to afford it. Also, to get to the Isles Of Scilly, the recommended mode of transport is a helicopter, a fairly costly mode of transport and one that is stereotypically associated with the higher classes.

The text found on this magazine differs from magazines of other genres such as Vogue or NME and this is because they each have different aims. For example, this magazine's main aim is not to look particularly arty or aesthetically pleasing but rather just get the content and information across whereas Vogue holds a high reputation of making sure their magazine looks glamourous as their target audience is different from this magazine. This is why on this cover the text seems a bit random as there is 3 different fonts in 3 different sizes and each teaser is placed in no particular order, because their target audience is not likely to notice or care about it. I would like to take conventions from both of these magazines as I am creating a mix of fashion and regional. The typography choices use on this front cover imitate the personas of the target audience of this magazine. This is because one of the font choices is particularly 'fancy' and posh which is likely to be a stereotype that a proportion of the target audience fits in to. There are many different typography styles used which also imitates the target audience as the audience includes a range of different type of people (this is because it is mainly aimed at people living in Cornwall - a county that is inhabited by people from a range of different lifestyle backgrounds).

As the masthead of 'Cornwall Life' is on an image of a surfer and the beach, it suggests that this is exactly what life in Cornwall is like. The editors of this magazine have been clever in choosing this masthead as it ties in with the main image but on every issue they must make sure there is a main image that makes life in Cornwall look heavenly. The main image represents what the masthead suggests. By doing this, it is as if the magazine is talking directly to the reader which is a convention that is strongly recommended to include in a front cover because it draws the audience in more effectively as they are likely to already feel involved in the magazine and as if they are already a part of it, rewarding the reader and making them enjoy the experience more. All of the text on this cover contains a drop shadow in order to make it stand out more, however, the masthead does not. This is interesting as a common convention of a front cover is that the masthead stands out more and dominates the cover more than any other text on the page in order to catch the audience's eye easily; this means this cover challenges common conventions.

This magazine is different to the typical regional magazine as it is aimed at a niche market, people who are getting married and more specifically, brides. I can tell this because it has a picture of a woman in a wedding dress on the front, supposingly a bride, but there is no groom in the picture. This could be perceived as stereotypical as it suggests only women read wedding magazines and that men do not. The age range of the target audience will be between 24 - 40 as this is the typical age people get married, this narrows the target audience even further. They are also likely to be in the social grades C1-A as weddings are generally quite an expensive event which means people in lower social grades than these will most likely not be able to afford it as they will not have a disposable income to spend on luxuries. This narrows the target audience even further, confirming that this magazine is definitely aimed at a niche market/audience. However, according the Gandal (2007), social grades C1-B are the 'social norm' which means that this magazine may actually appeal to a larger group of people than originally thought.

The only things that suggest this is a regional magazine is the beach/coastline in the background and also the tagline of  "Cornwall's fabulous wedding magazine" which is not a strong feature but it does prove that regional magazines can be more heavily involved in another genre as well as regional (fashion, music, film etc). I chose to analyse this magazine as I am creating a regional magazine that is mixed with another genre (fashion) so this will inform me of common conventions found on them in order to make it easier for me to create an effective front cover. The connotations of people that stereotypically use the word 'fabulous' is women and homosexual men. This is another convention that contributes towards my idea that this magazine is aimed specifically to women.

The target audience is not directly addressed on this cover (except for the woman on the front giving women readers something to relate to and also making it slightly more obvious that this magazine is aimed at women by not giving men anything to relate to) but rather the whole of the county of Cornwall. This means that the audience will not feel a personal connection to it which may affect the effect it has on them in terms of whether they choose to purchase it and whether they are attracted to it when it is on a shop shelf, but also it may mean that the magazine may attract a wider audience as it can be read by a wider audience than just the bride, which would have been the only audience reading it if it had said 'Your wedding magazine' instead of 'Cornwall's wedding magazine'. However, the main image does heavily suggest the audience they want this to be read by as there is just a woman in a wedding dress (mise-en-scene), assumably the bride, but no groom.

The teasers on this cover suggest stereotypically that women are the primary audience of this magazine as they are features that stereotypically, mainly women will be interested in, for instance the lexical choice of the teaser, 'dreamy new season dresses', is obviously a feature that only applies and appeals to women as they are the ones wearing a dress in the wedding and are likely to be the only gender that dreams about wedding dresses. 'True romance' and 'Ever after' are phrases that have connotations surrounding them that they stereotypically are only things that women would say and want as stereotypically males are generally not thought of as being romantic. The teasers (as well as all the other features on this front cover including the masthead and bar code) are strategically laid out in order to make the most of the main feature of the main image (the woman in the wedding dress and the Cornish coastline in the background). They are also laid out in order to overlap the white column on the left-hand-side of the cover (which is most likely there in order to an a slightly unique tone to the front cover and set it apart from any other magazines, making it more likely to be noticed and remembered by the audience.

The masthead is in the sweet spot of the page (top left-hand corner) which means that when it is on the shelf, it has a large chance of being seen and noticed even if there are other magazines covering it. The typography styles of the masthead mean that it is likely to be noticed as it is bold, large and a colour that contrasts with the background and makes it stand out. This masthead is very different to the previous one (Cornwall Life) in the way of its thickness and font choice. This helps to differentiate between the 2 different target audiences for each magazine as well as the different aims for the 2 magazines and it also says that they are each aimed at different social grades (Cornwall Life being a higher social grade than Wed because the font used for Cornwall Life is classic and professional whereas the font used for Wed is slightly more unique and is not a font choice that is seen being used for mastheads very often). This shows that this magazine has rejected common conventions of magazines and has tried to go for a more original look, which may be because this is an original genre with only a small amount of other counties around the UK creating magazines of this genre.

The background image of this magazine is the thing that sets it apart from the previous two I analysed and makes it unique, suggesting it may be targeted at a slightly different audience. The background image includes a few of the landmarks that Cornwall is famous for such as the Eden Project and the old tin mines. This tells me the magazine will include information and features on things other than beaches and coastlines which sets it apart from the first regional magazine I analysed (Cornwall Life). All of the teasers are laid out in order to take full advantage of the main image which is most likely because this is an extremely unique front cover so is likely to be the main reason why people buy it. The size of the teasers on this cover indicate that the editors are aware that the main image is the reason that people are buying it because the teasers are fairly small so are not likely to be noticed when they are on a shop shelf, whereas the main image is.

When creating regional magazines, the editors and writers have to take into account Higson's theory that "identity is generally understood to be the shared identity of naturalised inhabitants of a particular political-geographical space". This means that when marketing something at the entire population of a certain area (whether it be a town, country or country), you have to take into account that there will be a lot of different types of people and attempt to find the median of the people in order to have a bit that everyone will enjoy. It also means that there is an increased risk of stereotypes being used as if someone was creating something for an area that they did not know much about, the only information they are likely to have is that which they've heard in stereotypes (for instance, girls from Essex are stereotyped as wearing a lot of heavy make up and not many clothes, but this is not likely to actually be the case).

The major convention that makes it unique and sets it apart from other regional magazines is that the main image is in a cartoon style, rather than a conventional photograph. This suggests that the target audience is slightly different to the first front cover I analysed as the cartoon style suggests it is a more modern magazine and is aimed to be directed at a more media based person, it almost gives me the feel that this is a downloadable magazine (mainly because the images were created on a computer instead of being photographed), and because of these reasons the target audience is likely to be a niche group of people as not everyone will enjoy this style and will not be able to adapt to this from a normal magazine style. This is also a reason why this is likely to be a downloadable magazine, as because it is only targeted at a small group of people the cost of printing physical copies of it will be too high and they will make little to no profit, whereas if it is a downloadable magazine it will most likely be sold cheaper than a normal magazine (between £0 - £2 rather than £3 - £6). Another reason why I get the impression that this is a e-magazine is an interesting feature at the bottom of this cover that says you can win 'a luxury holiday in Cornwall'. This is interesting as this is a regional magazine aimed at people living in Cornwall and as they already live here, they will not be interested in winning a luxury holiday here.

This relates to the Modernism era in which traditional and classic looks were rejected and replaced with more abstract and arty looks. This magazine front cover has successfully done this as it is a cartoon, something that is modern and challenges generic magazine front covers that instead just use a traditional photograph as their main image. Another thing that shows Modernism is the name of the magazine, 'myCornwall'. The way they have used a lower case 'm' and put the 2 words together challenges conventions of generic magazine names as these are normally always separate words and have correct uses of capitilisation.

The masthead of this magazine, 'myCornwall', gives a personal feel and suggests that this is a personal journal instead of a magazine which will make the reader feel more involved and likely to enjoy reading it more, meaning they are more likely to go out and by the next issue. It also suggests that this magazine is created by someone who lives in Cornwall and wants to express their views on it (including what to do, where to go, what's happening) from an 'insider's' point of view. The style of the masthead is unconventional meaning that it challenges generic conventions. However, it does follow the common convention of the thick, bold styling and a colour that stands out against the background in order to grab audience attention when it is on a shelf.

As I stated before, the target audience of this magazine is likely to be someone who has a job in the media and appreciates this style of front cover. This means that the demographics of the target reader is likely to be a 30-60 year old, white, male in a social grade between C1-A (as if they had a job in the media, they are likely to be an established professional with a solid career, earning a good wage). Stereotypically, cartoons are usually only consumed by children which means this magazine had to make sure that they included teasers on the front cover of features that definitely are not aimed at children in order to dismiss this issue.

Initial Thoughts On Genre

I decided to add a genre slant of fashion on to my regional magazine because there are no Cornish magazines that are aimed at young people. This may be because Cornwall forgets about young people which is seen in the fact that there is barely any facilities for them and Cornwall tends to only cater for the older generations. This is shown in the target audiences of current Cornish magazines as there are no features that appeal to young people and only appeal to people over the age of 40. Another reason I decided on this genre is because there not only are there no Cornish magazines aimed at young people, there and none that heavily involve fashion.

By creating a Cornish magazine that will potentially be sold in other parts of the UK, Cornwall will be put on the map and remind people that it exists and educate people on it if they do not know much about it. This is likely to bring more visitors to Cornwall which will be good for the economy. It may also let people in other parts of the country know that there are young people down here because this is a feature that is very overlooked. It will also educate readers on the fashion available in Cornwall such as the styles that are popular here and the fashion that is available to buy in Cornish boutiques etc. I also plan on including places that are not very well known, as well as places that are well known such as Truro and Newquay. However I do not want to focus too much on the well known places because when analysing Cornish magazines I found that these are the ones that tend to be featured and less known ones are rarely seen. Even though Cornish fashion isn't hugely different from anywhere else in the country, it is well known for its large number of surf shops which sell normal clothing such as tshirts, jeans, skirts etc but the difference is that they are made by companies that predominantly focus on surfing and creating wetsuits and surf boards etc as well as beach clothing such as swimwear and board shorts. These companies include Animal, Roxy and Billabong and are not very widely known or found in parts of the country that are not well known for their beaches such as London and the North which means people in these parts of the countries are very unlikely to wear clothing by surfing companies whereas in Cornwall it is extremely common.

I am not going to stray too far from the generic magazine layout, fonts etc as the Cornish magazines I have seen and adverts in them etc have tried to do this but failed making the quality decrease dramatically.