The article which I am going to analyse is titled "the best albums of 2016" and on the Time Out London magazine website, it is a mixture of reviews of different pop albums. Link: [x]
This critic explains that band, Radiohead, have not released an album in "yonks". Yonks (meaning 'in a long time') is colloquial language with the origin of Britain. Although it's not know in which region of Britain the word was first born, it is known to be from the 1960s and it is theorised to brew from the saying "in donkey years". James Manning continues to explain that the album was "inspired by the end of Thom Yorke's 23-year relationship". This is emotive pathos as the concept of ending a relationship which has lasted as long as 23 years easily makes the audience upset, as we can reminisce relationships we have had with friends, family, and partners, ending. When I read "heartbreaking", I thought of loads of situations where someone is quite obviously heart-broken, like someone crying or having a panic attack or someone just being completely emotionally numb, and for me thinking of all these things that are connotated with the word made me sad.
This critic, Kate Lloyd continuously used emotive language through her column where she describes the "manic" album, 'My Women' by Angel Olsen. She describes the record as one "to be miserable to". This is emotive language because the audience can identify with the notion of feeling down and listening to down music and doing nothing else. And because the audience can assimilate with this, it's quite sad to read because it reminds us of when we have been sad. The words 'sulky' and 'angsty' are also emotive words because unlike other emotions like sad and angry, these words are very specific and like the previous sentence they remind us of when we felt these ways. Lloyd says that the album illustrates "a troubling picture of love". Because love is practically always shed in a positive light, I think this statement catches the audience off guard and reminds the vulnerable members about the damage that love can make.
James Manning, who I analysed earlier, again used colloquial language when describing Iggy Pop's album 'Post Pop Depression'. Manning exclaimed "who'd have though Iggy would outlive his old mucker Dave". Here he is addressing Iggy Pop's good and passed away companion, David Bowie. 'Mucker' is a word used in middle England and it is slang for friend.
Q. Why do magazines use colloquial language?
Magazines which are more article based than pictorial like the Guardian use colloquial language because this informality makes it seem like the journalist is writing to their friend, the magazine's occupier. Taking the article on the right as an example, "Why the Internet Loves Cats - Not Dogs", the writer Jack Shepherd tells us that he embraces "feline overlords". This informality is funny and sarcastic, and it seems like common banter between two pals which attracts the audience. Another example is when he tells us that "the cat propaganda machine is ruthlessly effective". Obviously Shepherd is not being literal however it does engage the audience by proposing that cats have a publicity machine. Another useful aspect towards colloquial language is that it sets the mood for the piece. Going back to this extract, Shepherd tells us that "media is almost completely under the sway of the powerful cat lobby". The subtle informality and humour sets an upbeat and cheery tempo, which is a positive thing to read thus attracting more customers.
A feature which is really popular in modern day is multi-modal language (e.g "nvm" - nevermind, "lol" - laugh out loud) and puncuation (emoticons like :) and (≧∇≦)/, and symbols like #, @, etc). These serve a similar purpose to colloquial language in that they make the text seem more personal and informal. This journalist uses multi-modal punctuation as he hashtags, "#AskAlan". This hashtag is effective as it seems modern and contemporary and a hashtag is an ordinary concept within youth culture, which is effective as it corresponds with the target audience of young adults. The journalist continues to say "I like his all-around game and his swagger". Swagger is colliqual language as it's a friendly and slang adjective meaning 'fashionable' or 'trendy', originating for Britain. By mentioning a word which the reader would probably use, the text seems more familiar and personal.
In conclusion, colliqual language is appreciated in magazines because it spews a sense of familiarality and friendship between the writer and the reader. It does this because ordinary people use these words in everyday speech and therefore we, the audience, recognise this dialect as how we would speak to our friends.
Task: Create coverlines for a target audience using emotive and colliqual language.
From this task I've learnt how effective it could be to introduce your cover model with connotative adjectives on a magazine cover (I.e:Lana Del Rey The Saddest Baddest Diva in Rock).
When designing this cover I opted for my fourth cover design [x] because as I mentioned in that article, I find this design the most individual and creative; individual because it suits my school perfectly because we have a circular logo, and creative because a circular mastered is not totally common.
I chose to keep the colours on my cover quite simple with only red and white. My school uniform is black, red and white so I thought these should be the central colours of the magazine. However as the background of my cover image is quite dark I found black font to be quite an unnecessary effort to read.
I chose this cover image because one of the things I value the most about my school is the diversity it contains, and this picture shows two opposite races. Additionally, I feel my school caters a lot in particularly helping and assisting sixth-form students, and so that's something I wanted to prove in my cover. In my opinion, this also promotes the school's sixth form because the models are so happy and because they are holding a post sixth-form poster which shows the school guides students even after school.
13/01/17: I took these photographs this morning in my art class:
I think what is successful about these photos is that they show students committing to something creative which I found when analysing the other school magazines, this trait is essential for attracting artsy students. I also think these photos are strong because they present loads of students from various ethnic groups which advertises my school as an affluent centre for everyone of every background.
I think what is non-successful about these pictures is that they don't present a powerful message, such as Ark Academy's cover which reads "Teachers make me think about my FUTURE". I want to photograph one picture which promotes the school. I also think that these pictures are not colourful enough for my taste so I want to place more colours into future-images. Finally, in my next pictures I will be sure to also include boys, as all these pictures feature girls which seems like I favour girls.
17/01/17: Photos taken during my media lesson:
These photos featured the sign motivated by The Civitas' cover. I asked Caleb (the model) what school does to him and he said it "motivates him to think about his future" which I just remembered (while re-reading) that Ark Academy's sign says "teachers make me think about my future" which is definitely similar to my sign. Therefore I don't think I'll be able to use this picture as a cover.
This picture would of been my most victorious photograph because it displays two friends of different gender and race, being friendly. However one of the models, Tiyana, blinked which I think would make the magazine cover appear rushed.
This picture is good because the models are holding a poster about post sixth form options which obviously appeal to students of that age group. I think that possibly this could influence the audience into thinking that my school is effective for helping students create a future for themselves which would again promote the school. Again, this photo is good because it features two genders and races, being friends.
20/01/17: Taken after my lessons:
I took these pictures because I want to feature photographs without models in my magazine. What I enjoy the most about these photos is the angle which they are taken from, I think it looks exciting and refreshing because it's not the typical face-on shot I usually strive for.
This is my questionnaire with 14 questions. I chose to display them on a word puzzle because I thought this was interesting and slightly enticing and also suited the school concept. The questions aren't numbered, nor are they located in colonies of the same sort of question.
Questions which will effect the content within the magazine are coloured yellow here:
I think that with school questionnaires, it can be easy to answer as a student with answers that teachers want. Therefore most of my content questions are aimed at unearthing what students enjoy.
This question aims at finding what exactly students like to read the most, that a school could aspire to. Obviously a school magazine couldn't full the objectives of magazines like the Rolling Stone or National Geographic, so I chose three magazines which a school could be inspired by. Wallpaper* magazine is an art, theatre, and music magazine so this could represent my school if we placed a lot of emphasis on these subjects. As well as these things, The Guardian covers some much more factual things such as politics, scientific findings, and mathematical advances, so this could represent my school if the magazine concentrated on these subjects. Finally, the community magazine which is the most diverse from both of these genres; if the majority of pupils enjoy the community magazine in comparison to Wallpaper* or the Guardian, this clearly states that pupils enjoy knowing what is going on within their local society, and that the school magazine should consider this.
This question will effect the content of the magazine for obvious reasons. If there is a large population of pupils who attend debate club for example, then it would be smart to contemplate including a political section within the magazine. This question is being asked so that I can prioritise the most popular subjects and even possibly charge specific teachers or classes to create articles based off their projects, etc.
These two questions serve the same purpose and are just aimed at finding what the expectations for the school magazine are. Due to the fact that one of these questions is a closed question, this will allow a precise clear outcome that I compare easily. These questions are all factual to ease the popularity of the magazine. The question "what style of journalism do you prefer" is neccessary because it manipulated my choice concerning the type of magazine I create, and the question "what year group are you in" is intrinsic because it will allow me to see if there is possibly a correlation between a generation, for example year 13's may think community-based articles are the most valid, whereas year 8's might think drama is the most important.
My first magazine layout plan was similar to my design for my Meraki magazine in that there were borders surrounding cover, however on this one the magazine will be completely inside of the border, not overlapping, as this looks more neat and organised in my opinion. The border around the edges is inspired by the National Geographic Magazine because I admire how renound the yellow frame is; if i saw any old magazine with a yellow box I would immediately assume that it's from the National Geographic, and I wanted to remake something as well-known as that. Therefore I think if my magazine had another bold colour framing it, like red or royal blue, then it would be much more memorable.
I've only included images and their anchoring texts on the left hand side as I think with a school magazine there will be fewer captivating and attention-grabbing images, compared to say a fashion magazine, because a school wouldn't have as many pictures compared to an editorial establishment.
I plan for the tagline to have a decent amount of space and not to be overlayed or shadowed by the title, reasons being I think with the school magazine the tagline would not only promote the magazine, but also the school which is important.
This template is concieted over lots of blog themes I stumbled across on tumblr which concentrate on pictures. I thought that by using images to highlight what is inside the magazine, there's less of a need for coverlines.
The only written piece on this image is the title, and that's because I wanted this layout to just be pictorial, therefore the barcode might be placed on the back, and the issue date may be placed on the contents page (like Vogue) or on the editors letter page.
My first illustrated magazine layout was inspired by this minimalist cover and I thought that this magazine was sophisticated and proffessional which is effective as schools aim to be like this. This magazine called Minimal provoked my tagline and date to be fitted neatly underneath the masterhead. This layout doesn't include any images aside from the background, this is because I think with fewer cover images, magazines look less tacky and the one center-image looks more special and expressive.
This magazine cover is concepted around the circular shape of the masterhead, which brewed from this magazine and how it contains its title, coverlines, and tagline in a circle. I saw this magazine and thought not only was it individual, but also it suited my sixth form very well, as my school owns a circular logo. I decided to position the coverlines and tagline next to the logo as it will allow the cover image to stand out as it won't overlay it.
The second magazine which I am going to analyse is the National Geographic, a science, geography, history, and world cultures based magazine that has been publishing since 1888. The edition which I am going to discuss is July 2002's issue which features an eagle as the cover model. Eagles are connotated with strength and often nicknamed the kings of the sky. They are witty, strong, large, and thirsty for domination but are never really described as beautiful or cute, proving that the National Geographic isn't concerned with beauty but instead facts, knowledge and pizzazz. Ever since it's first issue release in 1888, the National Geographic has supported a yellow frame. Yellow is the colour of the sun which is a common thing brought up in scientific, geographical, historical, and cultural debates, making it suit the magazine really well. Additionally yellow is representative of wisdom and smarts and National Geographic has a very niche audience of people who appeal to these values. Aside from the border, the cover features blue, black, white, red, and again yellow. The blue sky is clear of clouds or the sun making it look like a block colour; the appeal of adding a block yellow border, a block blue background, and block red font is that all colours are twined into the primary colour scheme and they look attractive together, as well as bold. The white feathers all have a natural twinge of grey making them not too loud and lively but instead allowing them to diffuse the excess vibrancy from the sky and border. The gradient of black feathers force the text to stand out and be read without too much effort.
The magazine has the bird overlaying the masterhead which proves that National Geographic is so famous and popular that they do not need to show their title fully. Additionally the height of the masterhead is the same height of the passage dedicated to coverlines. The coverlines aren't bombarding the cover like most magazines chose, and so it is once again demonstrated to us that the National Geographic is so popular that it does not need to hype up every edition on the cover, because they intend for it to gather sales without excess coverlines, thanks to it's cult following. There is only one thing in the coverlines which is red and this is the start of the main coverline which reads "Bald Eagles". Considering that this coverline is placed directly below the bald eagles face, this serves the image like a caption which is probably what the editors foresighted, and why they made the text red. Below that in white and the same shade of yellow as the border are various coverlines. The editors have written the contents of the magazine in a way which doesn't precisely tell the audience what the articles are about, for example they write: "Somalia (-) A Failed State?". Here they could of let us in by saying 'Somalia, why it is a failed state' or 'Somalia, a failed state? No', but instead they haven't expressed their views in an obvious way, which pulls in their audience even more as they want to know what National Geographic thinks. The contents page of National Geography is neatly divided into three sections. There is a big image which has the issue number, date, and title overlaying. The image is of a man walking on water lilies with a big leaf as an umbrella, and this image appeals to the audience of the National Geographic because it shows a different and interesting culture parallel to Western society. The colours in this image are also red and green which are complimentary colours which suit each other well. The largest section is the "Features" quartile and to my surprise the features of the mag are the same on the contents page as on the front cover. This is a surprise because I was expecting for such a famous magazine and a magazine which is practically the only famous one in it's genre, that it would have more content in an issue to brag about. The smallest quartile is dedicated to two topics, thanking Norbert Rosing for photographing the eagle on the cover, and to promoting the National Geographic site. The editors letter discusses nuclear waste, global warming, and cancer. Normally editor's letter are meant to welcome the consumer and thank them for buying an issue of the magazines, but this editor's letter, written by Bill Allen instead scares the audience. Perhaps Allen's aim is to show his disgust at global warming and influence his audience by scaring them, however I don't believe this theory to be 100% because Allen is mainly highlighting nuclear waste as a cause of global warming. More so I think that Allen's goal is to educate his audience of people who pride themselves on being intelligent, into understanding and being aware of global warming, it's causes and effects.
The editor's letter overlays an image of a nuclear explosion. This is probably because global warming (which is the topic here) is hard to show in an image considering that it's a process. To represent it one would maybe have to draw a diagram or something, but National Geographic is more up-market than this and strives for exceptional photography. Therefore they probably chose to have an explosion as the underlay because it is something that the readers do not see everyday and it sort of has to do with global warming.
To notify the reader of the section of the magazine about wildlife in the Philippines, there is a double page poster of a lizard's eye. The picture is sharp and high contrast making it interesting to look at. The next double page is mainly an image, this time showing off a fig tree in the rainforest, next to a river. This picture is captivating because like on the contents page, red and green are the main colours and these are complimentary colours. This picture also grips the reader because the figs look different from the way figs usually look, most of them are red (not green or purple), they're also slimy and covered in small yellow seeds.
The next double page is written in a descriptive story style with the journalist telling us about her experience in the Philippines, for example she tells us that "sun and rain poured down together as the storm passed the Puyoy-Puyoy river, drenching the forest in gold". The double page spread also features some factual information, for example captioning the picture of the bat sucking the fruit on the left hand side, we're told that flying foxes weigh "up to three pounds, with a wingspread of 5.5 feet.
Q. Why do magazines use colloquial language?
A feature which is really popular in modern day is multi-modal language (e.g "nvm" - nevermind, "lol" - laugh out loud) and puncuation (emoticons like :) and (≧∇≦)/, and symbols like #, @, etc). These serve a similar purpose to colloquial language in that they make the text seem more personal and informal. This journalist uses multi-modal punctuation as he hashtags, "#AskAlan". This hashtag is effective as it seems modern and contemporary and a hashtag is an ordinary concept within youth culture, which is effective as it corresponds with the target audience of young adults. The journalist continues to say "I like his all-around game and his swagger". Swagger is colliqual language as it's a friendly and slang adjective meaning 'fashionable' or 'trendy', originating for Britain. By mentioning a word which the reader would probably use, the text seems more familiar and personal.
