Font Choices

In order for us to make the right choice when choosing the font for our magazine logo we had to use trial and error to make a clear selection. After analysing already existing magazine logos it had been made clear to us as to what codes and conventions we needed to follow in order for our magazine logo to look affective, realistic and convey our intended target audience in the correct way. By selecting fonts and putting them in place to see what worked we were able to choose something that followed our desired affect.

Arial Narrow (Bold)

This first font on the left is one of the fonts that we have chosen to use for the logo of our TV listings magazine.
There are many reasons as to why we have chosen this particular font over other choices that we could have had. One reason is because when analysing existing magazine TV logos  it was clear that the font used is very square shaped rather than rounded. By using a font of this shape it fits in with the way in which are magazine is intended for the older age group. These types of magazines are generally not aimed at those of a more sophisticated background and usually for those people of a more

Egyptian505 MD BT

This was the second font that we chose to use on the logo for our TV listings magazine. We felt that this font also followed the key codes and conventions that we had previously analysed in existing magazines. We therefore felt that by using something that was similar it would make it easier to achieve the desired affect of being a realistic magazine that our target audience would be attracted to buying. From looking at existing magazines we noticed that the fonts used are very straight edged and simple. By using fonts that are straight and simple this gives a better affect to the magazine.



Adamsky SF

 This font to the left was one which decided wouldn't work well being used on the front of our magazine. We felt that this font had too much of a cartoon feel towards it and therefore didn't offer what we desired for our target audience. Although a TV lisitings magazine isnt very sophisticated and up market looking we still had to think about the age range ect that we were aiming at. The way in which this font is uneven doesn't give it the feel and affect that we were looking for. In some ways the font that was more suitable for our TV listings magazine was more simple and straight forward looking. Although this font uses straight edged lines

VAGRounded BT


This font on the left was also another one that we decided to reject rather than take onboard. This was because of many different reasons. For example many of the exisiting fonts that we had looked at all followed the similar convention of being quite square looking and much more edgy and sharp. Whereas this font to the left is alot more rounded and soft looking. It gives the impression that it is for a younger audience. The rounded font suggests something that is subtle and and more calm. If we used this on our magazine cover it would not work, this is because our TV listings magazine is intended for an audience that is of an older generation, meaning that the font needs to look more professional and sophisticated.



Creation: (1)

As part of our portfolio it was required of us to create a Listings Magazine front cover. On the left hand side of this text is the very start of this process, and will act effectively as a template and uses distinct codes and conventions of other Listing Magazines such as that of What's On TV? as well as TV Times.

Typically, Listings Magazines are very colourful as denoted by our template on the left hand side. This connotes the feeling of a lack of seriousness which they have a reputation for having. Essentially, what you view on TV is a form of entertainment, regardless of it's context. It would be completely odd to try and create therefore a Listings Cover that connoted the feeling of formality, when what they are advertising is pure entertainment. For instance, the Radio Times Listings Magazine is commonly associated with Drama and for more factual based TV programmes, rather than that of LM's such as that of TV Times which focusses heavily upon Soaps and Human interest programmes. As such, because our Soap will be based upon the lives of characters in the area known as The Cross, it will fit in perfectly with the current codes and conventions of What's on TV or other less formal LM's.

Returning to the colours, we took a small poll (Which can be seen in Magazine Research) and discovered that this was the most preferable form of colour coding, after giving a group of people various LM's and asking which colour combination they found most attractive in regards to what is being advertised. Of course, it is important to remember that a LM is essentially a form of advertising and must  look attractive to an audience, and we must also consider the fact that Soap's are aimed at a certain group and must find out what codes and conventions are commonly associated with this audience.

In terms of the layout, you will see that we have made great use of standard shapes and placed them in where we believe that they will be most effective. For instance, on the left hand side there is a yellow column which is where we play our auxiliary advertising for other programmes not associated with the soap, in order to maintain typical codes and conventions of the LM.

Creation: (2)

In our last post, we gave a general summary of the features of our Listings Magazine (LM) and where it will be heading in terms of it's final outcome. As you can see on the left hand side, we have taken another step towards creating an effective LM that will not be appealing to our target audience, but will also advertise our soap (The Cross) in a professional manner, maintaining the identified key codes and conventions of an LM.

We have now added a variety of shapes to our LM to as previously stated maintain the already established codes and conventions of Listing Magazines. The idea of using rond shapes creates the feel that the LM is a friendly and easy going magazine to read and for advertising purposes. Creating one with jagged imagery however, would suggest that we have not adopted typical codes and conventions and therefore our product would not be attractive to any audience that were to see it.

In addition, we have also added a logo to the LM once again conforming to the codes and conventions. The logo itself makes use of red, white and black to not only look appealing to our target audience, but to also cause certain elements of it to stand out. For instance, the placing of white text upon a red background creates a perfect stand out effect for the text and causes the audience to view the logo before the rest of the magazine, primarily because it's colour scheme will eventually differ completely to that of the rest of the LM. For instance, the current turquoise background will likely be changed to a more eye-pleasing colour and likewise, the layout itself is subject to change during the creation of the LM.

Returning to the logo, despite black being a relatively harsh colour that we wanted to stray away from, we chose to use it on the background of the logo as we felt it once again provides a pefect stand out effect that we were trying to achieve. In regards to the colour scheme of the LM, we wanted to use more primary colours rather than that of tones, as we felt that it is not only more attractive, but it also fits well with the ideology that Soap Operas are purely a form of entertainment, and as such generally have happier themes, which ties in well with the use of primary colours that are used to represent fun, for instance they are used frequenly on childrens toys.

Creation (3)

During the creation process of our LM, there was a point where we needed to revaluate where we were heading with our cover. For instance, the colour scheme has now been modified, the logo has been reformed in terms of it's layout, and we have removed a number of shapes.

Firstly, in regards to the colour scheme, it was effectively going off target of our original plan to create not only an effective, but an attractive LM to advertise our Soap Opera. After running a small poll (Results can be seen in Magazine Research), we discovered that the original turquoise style colour that we had for the background was far too bright and made the magazine not only unappealing but gave it an element of being unprofessional. Considering this, we decided that we would literally tone down the blue level which resulted in the colour on the left. It not only looks more appealing, but it doesn't blend in as much with the other colours around the magazine, ultimately meaning it creates an effective stand out effect in which we can use to advertise our Soap Opera. Similarly, we also used this opportunity to change various colours around the LM. For example, the triangle (Plug) that we have in the top right hand corner has now been coloured yellow, rather than that of green to create a similar stand out effect as previously mentioned with the background blue colour.

As you can see, the logo itself has also been revamped to make it effectively look more like a logo rather than the previous incarnation that made it seem very unprofessional. We have reproportioned it so that it is more compact and therefore looks more similar to the other LM's that we have previously analysed.

Magazine Creation (4)

Since our last blog post, a great deal has changed on the Listings Magazine that now make it look like a product that fits the codes and conventions. We hit a point during the production phase where we realised that we were straying to far away from the codes and conventions. The colours we were using were starting to become quite dark, or didn't fit the overall tone of the cover, and fonts became very jagged and edgy, something we simply didn't want to create as it detracted from our target audience. So, we went back to our roots so to speak and altered fonts, and changed the colours back to what they were at the end of stage 3, effectively starting from scratch in a way.

Due to use starting from scratch we turned to the help of current Listings Magazine for inspiration. Notably, stage 3 will show that there is a distinct lack of 'busyness' on the page in the sense that their isn't a lot going on and it just doesn't have the feel of a LM, which are typically dynamic and busy. They often house a lot of content, which is something we were planning to do to an extent. We say to an extent because of the fact that in order to challenge codes and conventions we have limited the amount of imagery on the LM front cover, and instead emphasised other factors such as colours, puffs and pugs to offer other distractions, and attractions for that matter. Take for example the use of puffs and pugs, which are now spread constructively around the page to offer a higher level of interest and attraction for the reader. Notably, they also give out a lot more information about the magazine as well such as the price, the issue number, and a selection of other stories contained within the magazine itself.

At this stage we have not yet uploaded any photos onto it as we've attempted to simply create an outline and we feel the addition of photos may well distract us from the other essentials that are required to be on a Listings Magazine, judging from the currently established codes and conventions. 

Final Listings Magazine

We have now finally hit the stage with our Listings Magazine where it is effectively finished as we feel we have hit a limit in terms of what we can do with the content. Overall we feel that this is probably our best product as it fits in perfectly with codes and conventions of Listings Magazine covers, and does not attempt to bend the rules in ways that our over products have done. The most notable change between the 4 stage of development and this, the final stage, is the inclusion of images on the LM itself. As previously mentioned in other posts; we held back from adding images until the last stage as we needed to add everything else that was needed in order for it to be effective, and for us not to mentally believe it was done, purely because it contained imagery,

The imagery itself we have chosen as it is representing typical aspects of an LM. For instance, the picture we used in the right hand corner has been edited in a way that will make it appear to be apart of a soap reference, and as such acts as an indirect inter-textual reference for the cover. Of course, the most notable image is one of the main characters of the soap, whom we chose not to name, purely as there wasn't an overall need. We asked her to face directly to the camera as this seems to be a standard code and convention so that they are viewable by the audience. Notably, we also got her to put a big smile on her face in an attempt to lure an audience with a positive agenda to the magazine.