Magazine newsstand task

At the newsagent I visited there were different sections for different magazines. The music magazines were found above the Music and Hi Fi section. The rock/metal magazines were mainly placed next to each other in the middle row. Around these magazines were magazines that were about sound and mixing. There were a few magazines at the back of the row that did not have anything to do with music or hi fi. The majority of the magazines in this section were mainly mixing magazines. The magazines at the front covered the magazines behind them about half way. One of the most noticeable things on the front covers were the mastheads. As they were placed at the top of the magazine it was what you could mainly see. They are also quite big and bold which makes them stand out. The colours used on these magazines are quite bright, making them stand out even more especially the text. There are also a few skylines on the magazine that stand out, like “Free plug-ins” and “Special collector’s edition”. These things attract the reader’s attention because it makes it look like the content in the magazine is only limited to the current issue that is being displayed, making the reader want to buy it.

The images on the front covers are mainly pictures of people. These pictures are probably pictures of artists that are featured in the magazine. By using pictures of artists they can attract the attention of reader’s that are interested in these artists, which increases their sales as more people are likely to buy it. The cover lines of these magazine are not visible as they are covered by other magazines. Only parts of the cover line can be seen on the front of the magazines. This can intrigue the reader by making them want to know more about what it says and what is being featured in the magazine. A lot of the magazine use white text for their masthead to keep it plain but also because it contrasts with the background making it stand out more. Furthermore some of the magazines are quite hidden like Q magazine. This is because magazines like Q magazine have quite a big reputation so the reader’s usually look for the name of the magazines rather than the content. This is because they know the magazine is quite popular and that popular magazines normally have good content.