The Grimsby Institute magazine
Looking at this magazine at first glance, it does stand out quite effectively because of the consistent colour scheme running throughout, although I don’t really believe this is a good thing as the colours used are gory and bold! Secondly I think the masthead stands out quite well and is also very dominant; even though it’s not clear as to why the magazine is called ‘gx’. The main image is not very true to life as it’s in a cartoon style it is fitting though as it contrasts the colour scheme. There are two thumb nail pictures, giving a preview of what will feature in the magazine and will influence the readers decision as to whether to buy it or not. Finally there isn’t a main headline, so the main image doesn’t have anything to relate to. I should imagine that the magazine isn’t part of an institution. I guess that the editor of the magazine wanted to portray a positive view of the college- shown by the use of the house style, and the casual image made by the student’s photos on the front. Obviously the magazine is targeted at the college students and teachers too, yet the main age range it’s aimed at around 16-20.
Contents page
The house style has not run through to the contents page, which proves that the organisation of the magazine might not be that good. There is a lot of going on such as two separate backgrounds and about 10 different colour themes too, some may say this is a good thing, but to me I believe that the reader wouldn’t know where to look. The advertisements on the left are a good way of promoting things going on in and around the college; also it follows the proposed house style used on the front cover too, unlike the contents page itself. The college’s anchorage is used again as well as on the front cover. Another bad point about the contents page is the images; although they are eye catching they don’t have any information underneath so as the reader you don’t know why the images are there in relation to the magazine. A conventional style has been used for this contents page, as there is a very detailed description connoting each article’s subheading.
East Riding college front cover:
This is the East Riding College’s magazine, and as the reader you can easily tell this by their logo in the bottom right corner, unlike the Grimsby institutes magazine. It does have a consistent house style, but it’s very dull and not very eye catching either. The issue shown is from spring 2010- yet the main image doesn’t really portray this, although the caption with it does correspond unlike the ‘gx’ magazine. The mast head is very clear and dominant and does also fit in with the house style used. Another negative point about the front cover is that it doesn’t have the college’s slogan, so the magazine is relying on the mast head to draw attention to the reader and nothing else. Also I don’t understand what is featured in the bottom left corner it doesn’t really make sense or relate to anything either. As discussed previously the main image isn’t very fitting but also it doesn’t draw the reader in, as it’s just the backs of peoples bodies, students can’t relate to this especially if no eye contact is made from the image, this could deter the audience away from the magazine, which isn’t the publishers aim even though the magazine is free. The target audience will also be for college students aged between 16-20 just like the ‘gx’ magazine. Unlike the ‘gx’ magazine I believe with the house style used that the college students have been portrayed in a very negative light. 
Contents page:
This contents page does kind of follow the house style, but another colour has been added, although this is not a particularly professional thing to do, it does make it more eye catching and entice the reader in more, it also makes the article features easier to read as well, even though they don’t have any description underneath the sub heading. Also the images on the page don’t have any informative content about them just like in the ’gx’ magazine, so in the readers mind they just look like floating images! What is fairly clear though is the mast head on this page, it stands out well and evidently the reader knows what page they are reading.
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