Research and analysis of music magazine pages

Here is my analysis of different magazine's front covers, contents pages and double page spreads. I did two of each so that I have a range of different magazine types with different genres and styles.

The key learning points about the front covers are...

• There is a 'sweet spot' which is the same on every magazine. This is positioned on the left side in the middle. This is where the reader is most likely to look first so it is a good idea to put the key cover line here or something interesting that will make the reader want to buy the magazine, such as details on posters or free gifts etc.
• Things such as free posters, stickers and gifts (for example a CD) increase the amount of readers.

The key learning points for contents page....

• You should try and put the logo of the magazine somewhere, such as at the bottom next to the page number or at the top somewhere as this provides brand identity.
• Most magazines use two pages for the contents as it gives you more room to spread everything out and not have it crowded.This way you can have a mixture of text and images to keep it looking interesting.

The key learning points for the feature article...

• A stand first, drop caps, pull out quotes and side bar are key to make your feature article look realistic and interesting. They are good entry points for the reader.
• The key image should anchor what the article is about, and the stand first. It should be similar to the front cover image, not a different person or dressed in a different way as this wouldn't make sense.

Here is my power point presentation analyzing the music magazines:

Olivia Whittingham music magazine analysis from oliviar0sew