LIAAR Analysis of the brief

LIAAR Analysis of the brief- AS Media-

Language-

The language that my final college magazine will need to include firstly is a masthead, this is basically the name of the magazine, it will be a short and large title in the top left hand corner of my front page, an example would be the one on Wyke’s college prospectus;
This is a good example of a college magazine because it has the masthead in the top left of the front page, and then has an image of the college so people who look at the prospectus get an idea of what the college is like before they look further into the prospectus or visit.

The main image used for the college magazine I am going to produce should have a medium close up image of the subject I am using, this means that in the image you would only be able to see the face and shoulders of the subject. If this is a person the individual should be making good eye contact with the audience, this is important because if they are looking down or away from the camera it makes the magazine look poorly made and make it look like not much effort has been put into it before the person reading it even opens it up to have a look, this would then possibly give the college a bad image because if the person reading thinks that they haven’t tried with the magazine, then this may be repeated throughout the college (education standards etc.)

Another thing to consider when creating a college magazine is the colour scheme, this tends to be made up of maybe two or three bright colours, this is called a house style and it is important to use this same scheme throughout a magazine because if you use different colour schemes for each page or every few pages then it looks like you have thrown a series of different magazines together and also looks like there is a poor level of attention to detail when the product was made. The use of two or three bright colours as your house style is also important because if the magazine is all dark colours (black, greys etc.) then it looks quite boring and also may not reflect on what the college is look, it also does very little to grab the readers attention and make them look further into the magazine. A good example of a house style being used in an effective way is again the  Wyke College prospectus, this is because it uses two bright colours (green and purple) and then a more plain colour (grey) to make it look not tacky, the colour scheme is also consistently used throughout the prospectus.



A bad example of a house style is the East Riding College magazine, this Is because the image in my opinion is poorly taken, even though it does say what the image is of, I think a medium close up would have been more effective in this magazine, also the boring house style does nothing for the magazine. This is because it lacks any sort of fun or brightness,  this will make the reader not want to look at the magazine as it is boring and has very little going for it. This is the complete opposite of what I would want my final magazine to look like and I would preferably use the Wyke College prospectus as a better example to use for my magazine, as it is a better looking magazine and also looks more professional.


Another important language technique may be using thumbnail images and appropriate text to tell the reader what the article is about and also what page it is on, this can either be done on the front page, or on the first contents page on the inside of the magazine. This is a good thing to do as it can draw the readers attention to things that may be of interest to them and give them an image and text to also give them an early insight to what the article is about, this doesn’t have to be a lot of information on this page and the picture can describe more for the reader because it gives them an idea in there head so they will only need very little text to actually inform them. This has to be done well though because the images must relate to what the article is about, this is because there’s no point in having an image of a student with a piece of art work and then the article being about the new principle of the college for instance, so everything has to be meticulously done when thinking of this sort of thing. A good example of this is the magazine for Grimsby Institute and a bad example, yet again is the magazine for East Riding College.







Another idea that I may use on my magazine is a barcode or price for the magazine, this would be a good idea because it would give a professional look to anyone who viewed the magazine and would make it look a more professional publication because it was actually being sold.  If I were to use this idea, I would have to make everything around it look as professional as possible because it would have to look good enough to be actually sold to someone.







Teasing contents along the bottom of the page are there to grab the readers attention to one or two particular things in the magazine, this done well can be very effective and may be the difference between selling a magazine or not or someone picking up the magazine and reading it or not, this can be done in a variety of ways and is used in many different examples such as in music magazines and college prospectuses.






For instance in the case of a college magazine, they may have something like plans for a new college and on the front page there might be something like a short line saying about new college plans, and then next to it a page number so the reader can go and find out more about it, this is a useful language technique as it yet again grabs the attention of the reader and in some cases actually helps sell magazines because this teasing content is of so much interest to the reader that they have to buy the publication. Linking in with another point the teasing content could be telling a reader of competitions in the magazine and then a brief example of the prizes on offer or some sort of freebie included with the magazine, this could entice the reader as it may make them think they have a chance of winning something decent if they buy the magazine or get something free as a perk of buying the magazine.

Most magazines will have a main image on the front page, this must relate to the main article inside the magazine or the main point of the magazine. For example in a music magazine they may have a large image of a band on the front page, this is likely to mean that the main article inside the magazine will be about this band , this is important as it would be completely pointless to have the band as the main image of the magazine and then totally miss the point by writing about another band in the main article, and if this was done they wouldn’t sell their magazines as it would look unprofessional and a bit rubbish, it would also be very uncongenial to do such a thing.  The image may also represent the point of the publication or the institution it represents, such as the Wyke College magazine has the picture of Wyke as the main image on the front page, this shows what the institution is and also then links in with the masthead.


Institution-

The institution is basically the name of the brand or place that the magazine is representing, foe example if I were to create a magazine for NME then I would obviously use the NME name as the masthead so the reader could immediately make links with the company and the associate it with what sort of content would be in the magazine, in the example of NME they would create magazines to sell their brand to the public and also to sell magazines, basically meaning to promote themselves through publication that shows what they’re about.  This is different from what I would be doing when creating my college magazine, I would be using the magazine to represent my institution of choice to attract people to the college, this could include high level members of staff and also the best students. This is a very important aspect of a magazine because if the front page doesn’t include any sort of information on the institution it is representing then  it is a bit pointless.

Ideology-

Ideology is all about moral values and beliefs, in this case the moral values and beliefs of my college magazine. I would use the moral value of treating everyone fairly and in a way that makes the college seem like a happy environment where everyone can get along and do outstandingly well. This would also link in with beliefs because in a college magazine it is likely I would have some sort of representation of pass rates at the college to show that the moral values of everyone getting along would link in with the beliefs of a good standard of teaching and also students working hard to be able to progress further in the future.

Audience-

The audience I would be trying to attract to my magazine and the college it represents would be any person aged between 15-18 who is thinking of taking this route into further education, this is because they’re the target group who are likely to be most interested in the college and what it is all about. It would also be there for parents and people who have got degree’s in teaching, the  parental side it would be useful as they may want to know what the institution they’re sending their children is all about and also how good it is, and for the target group of people with degree’s in teaching because the college would obviously want to attract these sort of people to come and work there.

Representation-

I would like to use my college magazine to represent my college of choice as a great place to go and study but also fun and enjoyable for anyone who does go to study there, I could do this buy doing interviews with students who are currently studying there to give an idea to potential students what it is like and how good It is, even if that’s far from the truth. I think the stereotypes behind colleges would be described by words like boring, this could be pushed away by my college magazine by using a bright house style and also by showing that college can be fun and an exciting way to progress to a students future career plans.