College Magazine Analysis

The first thing we can see on this magazine cover is that the logo incorporates the name of the educational body that it is made for; this is a convention of college magazines that allows for the immediate identification of the target audience. The model in the middle is someone of the age band that the magazine is aimed at – further allowing the audience to identify with the magazine – and the model wearing both sports gear and a standard uniform helps portray the students of Whitman as both academic and athletic (as well as appealing to both academic and athletic readers). The cover utilises just a serif font for the title and a san-serif font for the body – this has been done to add an aesthetically-pleasing variety to the page. The san-serif font suggests a modern attitude, whilst the serif font suggests a classical ethos and an academic topic. As the product is being given away free, there is no RRP or barcode, and because it doesn't have a shelf as a point of sale, it doesn't follow the left-third rule. The use of graphics on the 'DESIGNING TH FUTURE' cover line brings the attention immediately to the cover. The main cover line is at the top-right of the page, which is not very effective at getting the reader to view the whole page – following the Z-rule would have given a more effective composition to the piece.