Analysis into similar magazine genres - Top of the pops

Cover – Top of the pops

Mode of address
The mode of address for this magazine is quite informal as it is made for teenage girls and so they are not going to expect to read something they cannot understand and so I find that terms like ‘shocking report’ tells us that this magazine is very informal. Also, due to the fact that the cover refers to first name terms tells us that it is also informal and that the teenage girls are likely to know who these people are by first name terms. Therefore this also tells us that the reader of this magazine reads it and buys it on a regular basis and the fact that they buy this magazine because of who is in it.

Contents
· Stars before their famous
· Fashionable stars
· Embarrassing stories
· Stars caught off guard
· An interview with Diana Vickers
· An interview with Zac efron
· Posters of stars
· Make up and beauty tips
· Real life stories
· Puzzles and free gifts

Conventions
In this cover I found that a main convention was a celebrity image in the middle to do with the genre of the magazine. For example they used an image of Cheryl Cole which tells us that this magazine is to do with pop and celebrities as she is a pop singer and is also seen as a style icon. I also means that she is going to be in the magazine and that other girls who read this magazine are going to recognise her. Another convention is the smaller images around the outside are also all pop singers and so this links in with the pop genre of the magazine and therefore they are used and seen as easily recognisable. It also has lots of fashion tips and images on there of clothes to relate to the magazine and tell us that a main convention is fashion. It also helps tells us that the magazine is for girls. The cover also has lots of bright colours which connotes that the magazine is girly and bright and therefore links in with pop which is also very cheery music. We can also expect that there is going to be lots of games and competitions in there which relates to the adolescence of the magazine as there is competitions with stars and singers being advertised on the front which tells us that young girls are going to do these competitions to meet their idols.

Layout
The route of the eye for the magazine goes across the top which shows the owner of the magazine - “BBC”. This tells us that the reader is allowed to go onto the BBC website to read more about certain things to do with this magazine. It then goes across to an image of Zac Efron who is a young actor. It has the heading “Bust-ups, cringes and crazy fans.” This tells us that the girls can read about him in the magazine and what they can read which will therefore make them interested. This is there because it is one of the first things to be seen in the magazine and that he is a crush to a lot of girls and if they knew he was in the magazine it would make them want to buy it. It then goes down and across over the image of Cheryl Cole in the middle. This is the main image as it is someone who everyone recognises and can relate to. It is also an image that every girl sees as an idol and therefore again, if they knew she was going to be in the magazine, they would want to buy it and so this image of her has been put in the middle to draw teenage girls in. It then goes across to an image of another celebrity singer. This time it is Selena Gomez who is more of an idol to the readers as she is their age and can therefore relate better. She is being seen next to a selection of clothes which tells us she is a fashionable person and that she is going to be in the magazine for her fashion rather than her singing so the readers can learn more about her. Therefore this tells us the magazine is for fashion also. The route of the eye then goes across the bottom to some cover lines. One of these cover lines is a real life story about a young age. This tells us that the magazine puts in stories about people who the audience can see as role models for what they have done or what they have gone through. It also adds seriousness to the magazine and adds real life to the magazine rather than all about music. Then it goes to the second cover line which is about another male celebrity singer who is new and that the reader can learn more about before anyone else. As it an exclusive interview, the reader will be drawn in by that as they will want to buy it to know more about him before others can. The main hot spots of the cover are: Cheryl Coles face; the fashion part; the headline “You can be Cheryl”. Three out of four of the hot spots are of Cheryl Cole which tells us that the magazine contains a lot of information about Cheryl Cole. The dead areas of the cover are the areas where there is not information or images. This means that the dead areas are all the sections that you can see purple which are the parts around the main image which can therefore keep all of the information away form the main focus of the main image. The cover for this magazine is quite cluttered as it contains a lot of images scattered around. It also has a lot of varying in fonts and font sizes which means that there is a lot of attention dragging the reader towards it. There is also a lot of bright advertisements scattered around the page. They organised it this way so that it looked eye catching to the reader as it is towards a young audience and they are likely to look for the magazine that looks the most attractive rather than sophisticated.

Fonts
The font of the masthead is sans serif but still attractive. It is a complex style that is still easy to read. It is made to look attractive to connote that the magazine is fun and that it is to be read by a younger audience. The cover lines are all sans serif. This is to draw attention away from these as they are pretty basic and simple and draw all of the attention to the images and masthead. Also, sans serif is easy to read and so when the reader has bought then magazine, they can then read the cover lines in depth rather than a scan before buying it. The comments below and around the cover lines which are in a style as if someone has written them is to be seen as fun. These are in serif to make it look fancy and as if someone has written it themselves. The masthead is the largest font to connote that it should be the first bit of text to be seen at a first glance and is therefore the reason why it is attractive. Whereas the next biggest text is the cover line for the main image. This is so after looking at them image, you can see the text and then be interested in buying it. Whereas the names of the singers and celebrities are the next font size down so that the reader can see the names and familiarise themselves with them and then relate it to the magazine and then want to buy it. Then the next font size down is the other more minor cover lines. These are this size so they are not too attractive and seen when looking at it from a first glance. They do this so the reader can focus on the masthead and attractive images so they are convinced to buy it through the images. Then the smallest font is the small print at the bottom. They make this almost non readable so that it is not seen when looking at it from a first glance.

Colours
The background colour for this cover is purple. This is a very bright and feminine colour which tells us that it is a feminine magazine and whatever is in the contents of the magazine is going to happy and feminine. The masthead is pink against a white outline. This is so the masthead does not blend in too much with the background. Therefore they have added white to make the pink stand out. Pink is a very feminine colour which also tells us that whatever is in the magazine is going to be feminine. The main cover line is white against a pink background. This is so the writing can stand out against the bold background colour. However the name Cheryl is in black to add a contrast between the first few words and then the name which tells us that as it is black, it is going to be in the magazine and it is going to be good as it already stands out against anything else. All of the minor cover lines around the outside are in black which connotes that it is not something that should be seen and read at a first glance and therefore by adding black, It takes the spotlight away from them and allows the attention to be on other information and images. The colours of the clothes are quite bright to again add happiness and make the reader think that the contents of the magazine is going to be happy. Whereas the images of the celebrities around the outside are quite bright and they all have glowing skin to make them look happy and therefore there white clothes stand out and show a contrast between the purple background and the white clothes.

Images
The main image in the middle is of a famous celebrity. This connotes that the reader can relate to this person and therefore familiarise themselves with her and see her as a singing sensation, a style icon and an all around nice person. Therefore by not just adding someone who sings but who is fashionable and happy, the reader is more likely to buy it. She is wearing a white dress which makes her stand out against the colourful purple background. She is smiling which tells us that she has had a professional photo done with the magazine and so we can assume that she knows about the magazine and has maybe done an interview and so the reader will want to read it to know about her more. This is a mid shot with no mise en scene. This connotes that we need to focus on her clothes and her looks rather than what is around her. Whereas Justin Bieber, Diana Vickers, Joe Macelldery and Zac Efron are all close ups. This tells us that we are focusing on their facial features which is happy rather than there clothes and what is going on around them. It also connotes that they are talking and so they may be doing an interview rather than seeing images of them performing ect. Another image is slightly smaller. This is a mid shot of another teenage singer, She has images of clothes next to her and so this connotes that she is fashionable and that we can assume she is in there promoting clothes rather than herself as a singer/celebrity. This Is a mid shot to connote what she is wearing rather than her facial expression or anything going on around her. Another image is of a band called ‘The Wanted’. The mise en scene of this image is some cell bars. Therefore this connotes that they are going to be talking about themselves and maybe what they have done that they regret which therefore adds scandal and excitement to the magazine and make the reader want to buy it.

This Magazine does not have a contents page.

Two Page Spread - Top of the pops

Layout
The layout of this two page spread is very organised. It does not have a lot of information and therefore focuses on the main image which takes up the majority of the right hand side of the page. It also does not have any advertisements or smaller images and so the layout is very organised in the way that each line of the article is in a vertical line. Also, the stand first is very neat and in a straight line below the pull quote. The route of the eye starts off at the top where it goes across the pull quote which says “You’re growing - Embrace it!” This connotes that the article is about Diana Vickers becoming a woman and that she is going to talk about things she was worried about and how she grew up in terms of age and appearance. This means that the magazine has made sure that they have created an article to relate to the reading target audience of teenage girls. Therefore by talking about growing up, it is kind of like a manual to help teenage girls grow up and make them feel like they can relate to the celebrity because she is going through the same thing as any normal girl. The next thing that is seen is the head and face of the celebrity in which the article is about - in this case Diana Vickers. They have made this a very large image so that it is very noticeable when reading and so by making it large it is easily seen against the background and text. It then goes across the middle and shows the article text which is larger than the rest. This says, “I had terrible acne.” They have shown this pull quote as it is a section that this celebrity found as a weakness and this is good because it shows that she is just like any normal teenager with acne and so this makes the audience relate better and make them want to buy it. It then goes across the bottom over a section of the article. It then goes across over a link for an advice web page for teenage girls. They have shown this as it allows girls to write there own opinion of the article and allows them to express some issues they may have and therefore allows the audience to have a voice. They have put this here as it allows the reader to read the article and then see this advert to then make a judgement on the article. It then shows a small amount of text at the end which names a website about Diana Vickers, her new single and then the radio chart show times. They have put this at the end as the reader is feeling quite excited about Diana Vickers and if they want to download her new single they can do so and so it is advertising her single and then they have added the radio advert to connote that it is related to the article and so the reader will want to listen. The hot spots of this article are: In the main pull quote. This is so the reader will look at this first when glancing at it and see that it is something a celebrity has said and therefore can make assumptions in what is going to be in the article. The next hot spot is her face. This is so the reader can look at her face and familiarise themselves with it and then relate it to the article and therefore want to read more about her. The next hot spot is a section of the article which talks about her having a period and how it is nothing to be nervous about. This is a hot spot as the reader can relate themselves to it and then think that the article is about giving advice about growing up and so they will want to read it to learn more advice. The last hot spot is another part of her body which tells is that she plays a big part in this article and if they see her before the article and like her and her music, they will want to read about what she has to say. The dead areas of this two page spread is the empty space around the pull quote and around the outside where there is no information as it is somewhere where the reader is not likely to look and so they have not put anything vital there so the reader does not miss anything.

Fonts
The large pull quote at the top is in a sans serif large font to make it stand out and be the first part of text that the reader will see. This font is sans serif so that it is easily readable when the reader is quickly scanning over the page and so they want to be able to see it clearly so they can understand it. However, it is in a fancy style as if it was hand written to connote that it is supposed to look like she has written it herself to therefore connote that the article is her opinions and her views rather than information about her. This is similar to the pull quotes that are smaller at the top of each article column. They have again done this so it looks like she has written it to connote it is her voice being heard and not what the magazine has to say. It is, however, smaller so that it draws attention away from it and so it is not the main attraction of the page but is still seen to show what may be in the article. The stand first in the middle of the page is in a sans serif font which makes it easy to read and therefore does not stand out against the article but is still seen when being read. The small text in the article itself is a serif font for the answers which tells us that it is very formal and easy to read. Whereas the questions are in a sans serif font to contrast between what is the questions and what is the answers and this also makes it easy to read. In the corner of the page at the top right is text that says ‘Star advice’. This is in the corner so that it is not seen very well and therefore is in a sans serif font to make it easy to read and less formal. Whereas the text in the bottom right hand corner is sans serif also, and a lot smaller to show that is small print and that it is not seen until the article has been read and so they can read more into it.

Colours
The background of this article is grey which is a very bland and boring colour which connotes that it is not supposed to be seen very well and it is not going to draw attention to it and therefore allows the reader to focus more on the actual article rather than the background. Therefore it allows the colourful article and images to stand out against the bland background. The large pull quote at the top is black which makes it stand out as the article is colourful and therefore makes it seen against the light background and therefore adds contrast. The image of Diana Vickers on the far right is very bright with light whites and cream colours to make her stand out against the grey background as she looks very natural and therefore is seen better. The stand first in the middle is a white font over a pink background. The pink background is added to make the white font stand out against the pink rather than the grey. Therefore it is easily seen. Whereas the actual article itself is in white vertical boxes to make the black and orange text stand out against the white to show a contrast rather than blending in against a grey background. The Diana flower, the star advice in the corner and the advertisements in the bottom left corner is in pink and orange colours to stand out against the white and cream of the image and so this is seen better but is still small so it is not seem as much as the image of Diana Vickers. In the smaller pull quotes, they have highlighted some of the letters in pink. This connotes feminism as they are all words to do with women and growing such as boobs, periods and shave. They have made the colour scheme of this article pink as it is a very feminist colour and so the reader can assume the article is for or about girls.

Images
The main image of this article is the image of Diana Vickers. They have made this image cover a whole page as they want it to stand out. They have made this image a mid shot as you can see from her top up however the top is covered by the text so the main focus is her face. This connotes that the reader can familiarise themselves with the face and therefore assume the article is about her. There are small images of faces to add a slight amount of childish fun to the article to make it relate to the article better.