Existing Products Research

All of the magazines have very large masthead's covering the entire width of the top cover. They are all in large fonts and stand out very clearly against the main images. Each magazine has a cover story. In magazine a) it is a lot harder to spot than in the others as the font is a similar size to the rest of the stories. The cover story is 'A new kind of balancing act: Nastia Liukin on SMU's Campus'. The main image supports the cover story on all of the magazine front covers; for example Mike Posner is on the cover of magazine b), supporting the cover story 'Mike Posner isn cooler than you', whereas a student features as the main image on magazine c), supporting the cover story 'Exclusive Interview with past students'. All magazines feature a barcode and a price. This is important as the customer wants to know what they will be paying and if the magazine is free (which magazine a) and b) are). Magazine a) and b) also feature a website under the barcode. This fuels the readers initial interest as they can go elsewhere to find out more information about the contents of the magazine or college. There are also various other cover lines on the magazine front covers which are not as important as the cover story but help the potential reader get a rough idea of what else will feature inside the magazine. This is useful as there is bound to be something that will interest the reader. All magazines also feature a date at the top of the page under the masthead. This is so the reader knows how old the magazine is and how recent the issues discussed are. Magazine a) and b) also have an edition as well as a date which catches the readers attention more as they know it will only be available for a limited amount of time.
All of the stories that feature in the magazines relate to issues that affect the students in either a positive or negative way. Some are also there to entertain the reader and give them a break from their work. Magazine b) is more entertainment orientated. I can see this because the main image is of a celebrity who was probably very popular at the time the magazine was published. The stories also seem to be of bizarre events which students were willing enough to share. Magazine c) however is more aimed at the work side of college. Every headline is trying to encourage the student to work harder to achieve their dreams in some way.
The colours used are all very complimenting. On magazine a) the colours are very vibrant. There is an obvious theme of red, green, blue and black. The colours are very bright giving a freshness to the magazine's appearance, although the smaller stories appear to be in the darker colours so that they are not overpowering the cover story and masthead. It is similar on the other magazines although the colours are not as bright or vibrant. Magazine b) seems to use blue and orange which is very appealing as the two colours compliment each other very well.
The 3 magazines clearly want to be perceived in a welcoming, inspiring way. The stories on a) and b) are quite funny which gives a friendly feel to them as similar jokes could often be made with friends, whereas magazine c) tries to inspire the students. Overall, they give off a very positive representation of the colleges although some may disagree on magazine b) depending on their moral views.