Industry Research

For industry research I couldn’t use the exact same diabetic magazines that I analysed earlier as it was difficult to find information due to the specific/cult audience of the magazine.

Diabetic Magazines:


Diabetes Health:

First Published in 1970
Until 1999, it appeared more like a tabloid newspaper than a magazine. Except for the cover, it was still printed on newsprint. Not until the February 2002 issue did it begin to look like a regular magazine.
Annual circulation number 900,000
6 issues per year.
Organised by JDRF, a diabetic research organisation.
Set up by parents of diabetics.
Receives its funding from government grants and public donations.
Audience average age = 41-65
Audience female % = 60%

Diabetes Forecast:

First Published in 1948
Annual circulation number of 5,340,000
12 issues a year
Organised by the American Diabetes Association.
Receives its funding from government grants and public donations.
Audience average age = 53
Audience female % = 65%


Diabetes Focus:

Annual circulation number of 6,600,000
4 issues a year
Published by Remedy Life.
Company involved in giving health advice and providing help for many conditions, including heart disease and diabetes.
Audience average age = 54
Audience female % = 57%

Diabetic Living:

First published in 2004
Annual circulation number of 1,720,000
4 issues a year
Owned by the Meredith corporation, as part of the Better homes and Gardens company.
Audience average age = 54
Audience female % = 62%

Teen/Young Adult Magazines:


Mari Claire:

First published in France in 1937. Re-launched in 1954 (after WW2)
Annual circulation number of 11,100,000.
12 issues a year
Audience average age = 30
Audience female % = 92%

Cosmopolitan:

First published in 1892.
It started originally as a family magazine.
Annual circulation number of 36,000,000.
12 issues a year
Audience average age = 26
Audience female % = 83%


Teen Vogue:

First published in 2003.
It came from the magazine “Vogue”, first published in 1892, who decided to create a magazine specifically aimed at a teen audience.
Annual circulation number of 10,000,000.
10 issues a year
Audience average age = 16
Audience female % = 95%


Seventeen:

First published in 1944.
Annual circulation number of 22,000,000.
11 issues a year.
Audience average age = 21
Audience female % = 89%

Magazine front cover analysis.

Diabetic magazine: Diabetic Living.

This cover had one main picture as the whole background.
Pink, yellow and purple colour scheme.
Text a mixture of capitals and lower case. Yellow, pink, purple or white.
Pink, purple and white colour scheme.
Banner at the top of the page with text. Green colour makes the banner stand out.
Purple circle with white outline for appealing information.

 Diabetic Magazine: Balance

One main picture as the whole background.
Pink, purple and white colour scheme.
Text mainly white on pink or purple or white. Many colours to make each section stand out.
Title situated in top left. White against bright pink rectangle, stands out.
Banners at the top and bottom of the page with text.
Purple circle with white outline for appealing information.

Diabetic Magazine: Diabetes Forecast
One main picture as the whole background, image of a natural woman.
Red yellow and blue text
Title situated in the centre and top of the page. Title covers over image of woman.
One blue banner at the top of the page with white and blue text, highlights one of the main stories.
Diabetic terminology frequently used.












Teenage/young adult Magazines: Teen Vogue, Mariclaire and Cosmopolitan.



Teen Vogue

Title at top centre of page.
Image merges into text, with text placed over the top of the girl.
Main photo as background, blurred plain background of photo has the same effect commonly used white backgrounds, making the woman stand out.
Text colours are mainly pink, also use of red, yellow, and black.
Yellow star used to highlight key information.
Outfit of woman compliments the colour scheme of page.
Date at top right of page.
Mix of capitals and lower case throughout.

Summary:

The diabetic magazines all contained banners to show key elements of what the magazine included, there was also a very wide variety of colour schemes and text colours between that magazines, though either blues, pinks or both were used in each of them. The title was usually at the top left of the page, and fitted around the main image. However the last followed a style more like the teen/young adult magazines and was in the centre, fitting into the image. Mixing the two styles is something I will need to try to do in my magazine cover. The main image was always used for the whole background of the page. Some of the magazines also included diabetic terminology, and stories would always relate to diabetes.

The teen/young adult magazines had a variety of colour schemes. The headings and title would usually be within these colours, with black or white text for less important information or descriptions. Pink was a popular colour, and the other colours chosen would contrast well such as red or purple. The title was always at the top centre of the page and overlapped with the image of a woman. The same style of image was always used, and the woman's clothes always matched the colour scheme. The background of the magazines were always white. A date and price was situated at the top, with bar codes at the bottom.

Almost all the magazines, from both genres, included the use of a circle or star, usually a colour that was not included in the colour scheme to stand out. The circle was used to draw attention to appealing information, usually to do with money, for example sales in shops or the cheap price of the magazine.

This week...

Last lesson we were designing a school magazine front cover using Photoshop, here is mine.

This task was particularly helpful as it allowed me to discover how to edit the text to create a shadow, embellishment etc, which I did not know how to do before. The effect of this was good and may be a possibility when creating my coursework magazine cover.

A Day in the Life of Claire

Here is the finished piece.