Story structure

Story Structure.

The next thing that I research will be the structure of the stories featured in the magazines and the key conventions each share.

-Grazia Magazine.


The first magazine I will look at is 'Grazia Magaine'. This is a celebrity and fashion magazine, and is aimed at older women or young adults that are throughly into the fashion industry. It is a more expensive magazine, meaning that is is only bought by a selected audience.
Because of the fashion genre that this magazine delivers to the reader, the main purpose is having the 'latest look', and being ahead of society. This could explain or reflect on this particular page layout for the featured story, as everything is not how you would usually see it in an average magazine, and has a uniqueness about the layout which is instantly noticeable.
The first thing that catches the reader's eye when opening the page, is the large image on the left page. Underneath it, is the main title which informs the reader what the writing on the far right of the second page is about. This is to grab the reader's attention instantly when turning to look at the first page, and then making it able for them to look accross rather than turn the page, for elboration on this image and title, making it easy and convenient for the reader. When looking accross to the second page, the reader will notice that it is structed by having two paragraphs of plain, small text at the top, with a coloured box of more text underneath, containing perhaps the more important or key information. In the middle, are two pictures; the first of a group of girls maybe on a night out, and below this, the second image, which shows a collection of makeup. This bottom imgage is informing the reader of what is needed to get the desired look, and the above shows the people that have used this idea. This is all very unusual, as in a standard layout of a story for a magazine, there would usually be maybe a couple of images, one at the top left and bottom right, with wrapped text around these images, the title placed accross the top centre of the two pages. However, this layout does not only include two pictures of the finished 'look', but also a picture of what is needed, so that the products are visually recognisable to the audience when purchasing these things, and lots of information at one side of the two pages about the actual look itself and how you can create it.
The layout design for this magazine is very unique, using randomly placed images and text at one side of the page. It uses one whole page for just the main image and title, to attract the audience's attention, and uses the double spread page as convenience for the reader to find out more. It is a very successful way of displaying a page, and is unique in a way that it will not have been done in this way by any other magazine. These are all successful key features that I will think about when designing my own story page for my magazine, as I know it is convenient and popular to the reader, and attracts their attention instantly.



-What's On Tv Magazine.


This second magazine, named 'What's On Tv Magazine', is suitable for all ages and audiences, yet is probably read by older women that work and miss or want to find out about their favourite T.V programs.
This magazine is very different from the first, as is cheap and affordable to buy, and has a theme of infroming the reader about television programs, rather than the latest look in fashion or what a celebrity is doing. It is not trying to be more unique than other magazines, as is purely to inform and entertain.
As there are many T.V programs that are featured in the magazine with big storylines, etc, each story is mainly just on one page so to fit a lot of other stories in, unlike 'Grazia Magazine', which casually includes double spreads for attraction and convenience, a feature this magazine cannot always afford to involve.
When turning to this single page, the first thing the reader will see is probably the large title in the colour yellow to attract instantly, with extra text at the side to give added information. However, the large image of Simon Cowell, used as a page background also grabs your attention, so either could be seen first. Below the image of Simon Cowell are two others beside each other, of contestants on the show being promoted on the page. The use of this many images is common in a T.V magazine, as visual impact is a key feature for advertising.
In the centre of the page is a big white box, filled with information, interviews, and quotes about the new show featured. This contains the majority of information the reader will need, exept for the top and bottom of the magazine, which has a title at the top informing what the page is about, and a competition at the bottom, to give added interest and attraction to the reader as an extra feature of the magazine. There is also a website next to the white box for the reader to find out about more information on the magazine, and catch up with more stories. This gives the reader more to read about and find out about the magazine, meaning it is getting more promotion for everyone that visits the site, and is giving the reader more for their money, as they do not just have the magazine to read.
The way that this magazine is laid out is very different from 'Grazia Magazine', as thing are not randomly placed and does not contain an image and a title displayed accross a whole page. 'What's On T.V Magazine' has a very average, straight-forward layout for the reader's convenience and to get straight to the point with what they need to read, as this is the main objective of the magazine. It uses extra things like competitions and their website to attract the reader to buy their magazine again and keep them busy, and has a central area where the majority of their needed information about the program advertised is contained. There are a selection of images placed together, one being a background for decorative effect, and to show the importance of the celebrity involved in the program, and annotations underneath the images with comic quotes for the reader's entertainment. This magazine, though holding a very different purpose from the first, has elements of attraction, information and entertainment all in one page, making it successful as the first, with a basic, to-the-point design. This is an easy accessible way to find out what the audience need to know, and will also be something important that I will consider when creating my magazine.