Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections.
At the top of the front cover there is often a highlighted strip that mentions another article or feature within the magazine as well as a free CD, and a image that relates to the feature. Often interviews or reviews.
On the left side of the main image there is usually a quote which is related to the main article, or something that just indicates what the main feature of the issue is.
The bottom of the magazine shows small columns that mention other artists that will be mentioned throughout the magazine, albums that will be reviewed, and other articles they will feature. The colour scheme continues, as red, black and white are still used predominantly. Yellow is introduced as well, which would draw the readers attention towards the text.Overall: The magazine uses a fairly simple colour scheme, choosing to use three main colours (red, black, white), and occasionally use another colour to ensure the reader looks at that particular part of text. The magazine offers things like free CDs and posters for readers, which would help to ensure the magazine would continue to sell. The images used usually have the artists in similar poses, for example, both feature an artist with their arms folded. It merely has the artists standing there, rather than choosing a particular pose, which could indicate how serious the magazine is. The layout of the magazine appears the same on every issue. I decided to go away and research two other magazines that focused more on films, compared to Uncut.
FILMINK features content from Australia and abroad. It reviews mainstream films, local pictures and arthouse and independent fare.
The title is in a plain block print, and is in the same position and style on every single magazine. This is similar to Uncut, but it is a rule that Empire does not follow. Changing the title style and colour may be an effective way to draw in customers as it's interesting, but may also confuse some people if the magazine is not always recognisable.
Every issues has information listed down the sides of the magazine, either over or around the images to advertise the other features within the magazine, like interviews and reviews. This is a common feature on most magazines, as it introduces the rest of the content to the reader.
Under the information on the left of the magazine is the barcode, which is in the same place on every single issue. The colour scheme for the information is usually a pale yellow or green, which can sometimes make the information a little bit difficult to read.
The title of the film that is the main focus of the magazine is in the same block print and colour on every issue, which can be seen here. The first word in the title is enlarged slightly to draw attention to the film, keeping the readers attention on the main focus of the issue. Above the title of next to it is often a slogan that the magazine has created to describe or introduce the movie. For Alice in Wonderland, they used "welcome to Tim Burton's tea party" as the slogan, introducing the fact that it was created by Tim Burton, who has made many popular films in the past.
Overall: The magazine uses a similar colour scheme on every issue, as well as the same fonts. This creates a continuous theme throughout the many issues, meaning that the magazine would be easily recognised by the reader. The main image is of the main characters involved in the movies, and usually has images that overlap instead of just one single image of an actor/character, which is what Empire and Uncut prefer to do. The actual layout is fairly simple, with the image being the main feature, with little text down the sides of the page. The page doesn't seem cluttered because although the text does advertise features like posters, the page is not littered with loads of text or symbols offering different things, making it easier to read quickly.
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. It reviews both mainstream films and art films, but feature articles concentrate on the former.
Each issue uses the same font and size every time, but changes it so that it can relate to the main feature. They have left it clear and white to tie in Captain America's shield on the first image, made it glowing blue for Thor's issue, and made it look like splattered blood for the Kickass issue. Personalising them like this adds a variety to each issue, rather than keeping the same font each time. It also makes the magazine more eye-catching. Additionally, above the title there is usually an offer like free covers, an exclusive review on a film, or they put "magazine of the year" above it to draw in more customers. Broadcasting that they achieved this title means that they can hopefully gain more of an audience, as they will be seen as the best.
The name of the main feature is placed in the middle of the page, stylised in a way that would be associated with the movie. It is always in a clear, bold, block print so that it can easily be seen. This would help when drawing in readers as we often only glimpse at the front page, so if it can draw us in with the image and fonts, we are more likely to read the content. Around the title of the film, the magazine often write a little slogan. "It's bloody! It's brialliant! And, boy, does it Kickass" is the slogan they used to gain the audiences attention. "How Summer's biggest superhero went to war" and "... The mighty Thor. World-first look at Marvel's superhero god" are the slogans used for the other films. Mentioning that it's an exclusive or first look at a film would make the magazine more appealing because it would not be competing with any other magazines in terms of solid and correct information related to the film.
Around the main image or at the bottom of the front page, the magazine will often offer new posters, special reviews and interviews, and information on the release of popular movies onto DVD. Offering little exclusive gifts would also draw in customers because they would be given the opportunity to get it before others.
Overall: When looking at the magazine for the first time, it could appear cluttered, but the majority of the front page is just the picture, which has been edited and photoshopped to make it look more appealing. The magazines colour scheme and theme is linked to the focus of the magazine. For example, the magazine looking at the movie Kickass used fonts and styles that would typically be seen in a magazine, such as bright, bold and eye-catching colours, as well as a slogan for the superhero: "It's bloody! It's brilliant! It's Kickass". Behind the image of the main actor - Aaron Johnson - images of the other two superheros (Big Daddy and Hit Girl) involved in the movie can be seen in their comic book theme, creating another link to the actual film. This is also a common choice for other magazines, as the Thor(God of Thunder) magazine shows the title glowing blue like the films title, while lightening bolts can be seen over the front page which also creates a link to the superhero. Out of all of the magazines I researched, Empire was my favourite because it was the one that truly grabbed my attention. Many of its features I hope we can recreate when we make our own magazine cover.
Conclusion:
When creating our own magazine cover, it'll be a goal to include some of the main effective features of the magazines I have researched. For example -
- Using Empire as a guide, we could use bold colours/fonts that create some sort of link to the film. An eye-catching title is often what draws the audience in first. We will also list a small amount of the features within the magazine alongside the main image, to show what else the magazine has to offer.
- Images that show the characters clearly, like Film Ink did, would show the focus of the magazine. We could photograph our main characters in their costumes, and mention an interview with the stars or a review on the film as a feature. This would effectively bring in an audience that finds an interest in who is being mentioned within the magazine.
- Offers like free posters or vouchers that enable the reader to purchase DVDs at a reduced price would be another feature to include. This is a tactic that all three magazines used. By offering exclusive free content, they can try and almost bribe the audience into buying their magazine instead of a different one.
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