Magazine Deconstructions

As part of my research I deconstructed two other school magazines in order to help me decide what would and would not work for my own.

The two magazines I chose to deconstruct were ‘The Griffin’ and ‘News from Hampton’. Although they are both clearly public schools ‘The Griffin’ is an example of a poor school magazine whereas ‘News from Hampton’ is an example of a good one.

The colour scheme on ‘The Griffin’ is bland and clashing. The background colour is grey and plain which is very basic and unappealing to the eye. The two main colours on the front page are black and purple. The use of black is bland and unexciting as it not only blends in with the grey background but is a boring colour. The choice of purple used for the banner at the top of the magazine is not the same purple as is used for the sticker or some of the font and therefore it clashes and is cringeworthy as it doesn’t look right on the page. The font not only changes colour but also changes from bold, italic, capitals and lowercase which makes it confusing to the reader as you don’t know what to follow. The headings ‘WHAT’S NEXT?’ and ‘SCHOOL FOOD’ instantly draw your attention as they are in a bigger font and are also in bold so your eye is drawn in their direction. The photo is well cut and placed and draws attention to the poster as it is central and everything else is focussed around it. The logo of the griffin is placed at the bottom left of the poster and makes the poster look tacky as it looks as if it’s just been placed there and no thought has gone into its positioning. The poster tells you that it is free by the use of a sticker with the word ‘FREE!’ written on it. The sticker is a graphic that has been made to look as if it is peeling away from the magazine. It was most properly placed there in an attempt to make the magazine look modern and therefore appeal to its target audience but if anything it just makes the magazine look tacky and cringeworthy.

‘News from Hampton’ is a magazine which is clearly aimed at parents as you can tell straight away due to its appearance. It’s not your typical school magazine in that it has a simplistic front cover with a professional finish. The magazine has followed the ‘3 colour colour scheme’ and uses white, yellow and grey as it’s main colours with the exception of the logo. This helps to make it look classy as well as appealing to the eye as the colours compliment each other. The logo is placed in the top right hand corner where it is out of the way but can still be seen along with the school website. Underneath the logo is a column containing the title of the magazine and an ‘In this issue’. The title is in a large font so that it grabs your attention and it is also sideways on so that is makes the magazine look compact and neat. The ‘In this issue’ is helpful to the target audience as it gives them an insight into exactly what they can expect from the magazine and what parts in particular may appeal to them. The main focus of the magazine is the school production of ‘Les Misérables’. A wide shot photo has been placed at the top of the photo showing the majority of the cast mid production which instantly draws attention to it. Underneath the main photo are three smaller overlapping photos showing various scenes and characters during the performance. The main body of text is then placed in the lower half of the magazine talking about the production and what it involved. The text is laid out in small paragraphs so that it doesn’t bore the reader by dragging on and containing too much.