Magazine distribution (planning)

Magazine Distribution (planning)

 

 

 

The store stacks the magazines vertically over each other on the shelves, if they are the same magazine)  so the mastheads are on view. They keep the left third and cover lines visible to the consumer. Some of the lesser known magazines are situated at the back of the rack while the more popular ones infront. The designer has kept the masthead’s showing at all times so that the consumer may pick up the magazine and observe, so the mastheads must have an appealing font and colour to be able to be seen.

These magazines are on the racks infront to catch the view of the consumer as they are at eye-level. These are normally the newest or most popular magazines, and more often than none they contain “gifts” with the magazine which makes the consumer more obliging to buy it. Most times the magazines in the rack infront are the most appealing for example, the ones in the first picture are aimed at young children who can immediately see the difference in the layout of the magazines and are more appealed into picking them. Where as in the second picture it’s showing a ‘CHAT’  magazine that is normally aimed at the older woman these are situated out infront because of their cover-lines and teasers about real life as they appeal to the audience they are aimed at. The magazines that are out on front, most of the whole cover page is shown so that the splashes, teasers, left third, right third, skylines and cover lines are on show to entice the reader to buy it.

 

DISTRIBUTION

 

 

 

Sale or return:

Sale or Return is the system used by magazine and newspaper distributors with newsstands The distributor is given a number of magazines to sell (20) And only ten are sold, then those ten copies that are left are then returned to the distributor with no cost to the retailer. This is a benefit to the retailer as there is no risk or wastage involved, but it's a risk to the environment and the publisher and distributor as lots of paper is wasted and the money it had cost to print the magazine. This is why retailers agree to sell as many magazines as they do because they wouldn't be losing out on any money if they had to be returned to the distributor. This way of distribution is also quite beneficial to the consumer as they don 't have the hassle of subscriptions on websites/emails and sometimes prefer hard copies to electronics.

Freemiums- direct distribution:

This method is the distribution of free magazines has become increasingly popular amongst tube stations and busy public places. This method is good because it goes straight to the customer, because the magazine is free the publisher needs to raise profit by adding in a huge amount of adverts to get back profit.

Postal Subscription:

Postal subscription is a good way of distribution because it is sent straight to the customer when they subscribe to the publisher/magazine via email or website - Copies do not get wasted this way. Also, subscription is also a huge saving method for customers as they save money instead of buying each issue singularly and many customers get a gift with subscription which also helps to keep the customer rating high because they feel that they get more for their money.
 



Blogging

Blogging

 

Over the past weeks creating the magazine, I feel that I have started improving on the designs. Working with InDesign and Photoshop, which is completely new to me as I've never used them before feels somewhat like a second nature now as I feel that I am growing more confident with using them. Creating the induction assignment on InDesign was more difficult than the college magazine contents page as it was new, but I feel that I can work better on them now if need be when I start creating my final music magazine.

 

 

Gathering feedback from classmates on the college magazine has really helped me into making sure that I do not make the same mistakes when it comes to the final product. It helped me to evaluate what I need to work on and what aspects I can bring to making the final magazine.

 

There are something that I find difficult for example, evaluating the magazines for the case studies. I feel that I performed very badly in that because I'm bad at evaluating things that are new to me. I personally feel that I need to work on using my analytical skills to evaluate the important aspects in the media world to help me focus on creating my final product. Over all, I think the last few weeks have been productive but, there are a few aspects in which I need to improve.



Preliminary task - Evaluation

Preliminary task – Evaluation

What I think went well on my college magazine would be the text and the colours that I had used. I had made sure that the colours that I had used were appropriate and would match and certain scheme that I wanted – I didn’t want to just use any colours as I personally thought that would make my cover-page more childish than College.

“Your front cover looks nice and it is clear to read. The colour red used in the text stands out more which I think is a good idea to grab the readers and I like how your main image links to the masthead. =)”

Also, not only did I want to have the colours engage the readers, I wanted the font to. I had made sure I used bold, but stylish font to attract readers to the front-cover. I thought that using a plainer and smaller text would be inappropriate for the younger readers in the college. This links on to the layout of the magazine, the text that I had used would have to be visible, but also able to perfectly fit onto the front cover without being messy or unclear.

“In terms of layout it suits perfectly well. There are less teasers making it look not too packed to read. Overall your front follows the codes and conventions of a magazine”

I didn’t want to overcrowd the magazine and make the front cover too intimidating to the audience as many teenagers are reluctant to read too much. I wanted to ensure that my teasers stayed short and sweet and captured the main highlights of the magazine.

For my content page the colour scheme that I had used had been abolished and I wanted to make the content page much more colourful than the cover page. Although the front cover is more important in attracting the audience, the contents page is just as important to show the reader where the stories they want to read is. I made sure that the colours that I had used matched so they created their own little scheme of their own. I wanted to use unique colours so they were engaging to all of the audience.

“Your contents page looks good overall. I like the title for your contents its like you've used unique colours. The audience won't get confused as in to what to read since you've outlined what to read”

“The colours you have used are very nice! The bright colours give the page a 'glow-in-the-dark' effect, especially with the letters being unlined.”

I made sure that the masthead on the contents page was just as, if not bigger than the cover page to ensure the readers know what page they are on.

What do I need to improve on?

I think that I need to improve layout sometimes with spacing and images. I feel that my front covers teasers and cover lines were too close together and looked untidy and made the page look crowded.

“The coverlines could have been spread across the page: instead of leaving the bottom of the page without coverlines you could have written them on the bottom of the page or devided the page and spread them.

Also, on the contents page I feel I should add more photos as it looked too plain and dull with only one photo. I thought that if I added too many it would look crowded and unprofessional but I learnt that only using one also looks unprofessional and dull.

“But in terms of making it a bit more interesting is to add images”

1)      I need to work more on layout with images and fonts and choose carefully when planning my actual music magazine to make it look more professional

2)      Choose an appropriate colour scheme to match the genre of the magazine.

3)      Make sure that my journalistic skills come across in teasers, cover-lines, editor’s note etc. to make it more professional than the college magazine.

case studies 2

Case studies

 

 

 

 

 

Media Kit evaluation

The "We love Pop" Press pack, the majority of the readers of the magazine 'We love pop' is young girls, their target age between 13-15, which suggests that the magazine would feature colour schemes, layouts and artists which interest the young, teenage girls. The price of the magazine is £2.99 and is only dispatched monthly which may suggest that the content of the magazine would contain a lot,  which may also include premium gifts when you subscribe. The magazine contains backstage access and interviews and photos, which is an increasing popular topic with the young teenage audience.

College Magazine CTP

College Magazne FP

Analysing College Magazines

• Masthead - Bold, colourful text to stand out and appeal to students and is also a clear representative of the college. 'CTK COLLEGE MAG'
• Clear selling lines and strap lines to inform and appeal to the audience, still bold enough to be seen - same colour as the masthead to stand out underneath the masthead.
• The image is 'Shallow depth of field' the main image of the student is in clear focus while her surroundings are slightly blurred, representing the importance.
• Clear price and issue in lower left hand corner on a Yellow background for more of an impact to stand out.
• Quote at the bottom right corner that makes reference to the college - quotes to make it more personal to the college students, also makes it clear what college it is from.
• Coverlines are clear at the left side, informs students about fashion which is important to college girls. The coverlines stay to the same colour scheme as the masthead and selling lines; pink, grey and black.

College Magazine draft

 

This is my college magazine draft ready to be made into the real thing on Photoshop. I chose to centre the image and to add the cover lines to the left, with the teaser at the bottom. The masthead and skyline is in the traditional region; above the image.