School Magazine Deconstruction

The colour purple connotes luxury. This could suggest that it is a private school that produces the magazine. It could also suggest that the students at the school come from wealthy backgrounds.

The main central image is of two of the school’s students.  They are both making direct address to the reader. The students are quite close together which suggests that they could be in some form of relationship. For example, the two students could be head boy and girl (they have to work closely hence them being in a small proximity of each other). They are both dressed formally which could suggest that they are important figures within the school. The boy has quite a mature and smart hairstyle which also emphasises his importance.

The name of the magazine is ‘The Griffin’. As the logo of the school, a griffin is also used. A griffin symbolises wisdom and strength which suggests that the school achieves good results and that the students are strong minded and determined.  The logo could also make the reader feel that the school has clever students without even reading the rest of the magazine as they will sub-consciously see the logo and think of power and intelligence.

The headlines on the magazine also suggest and show different things. As the ‘school food’ heading says ‘tell us what you think’ which directly addresses the reader. This makes the reader feel connected but it could also suggest that the story is important as it asks the reader for their opinion.  The headlines and the image are the only ways that the reader can tell that it is a school magazine as the title and logo give no hints. The skyline says, ‘Win £15 worth of ITunes vouchers’. This could emphasise the school’s wealth.  Also, another headline mentions ‘Sports tour to Barbados’ which once again informs the reader that the school is superior to most others. 

The ‘Free’ sticker is very bold and stands out. It is very attention-grabbing and brings the quality of the front cover down.  This completely contradicts the message the magazine is giving (intelligence, wealth) and makes the magazine seem unsuccessful.

Overall, I believe that this is not an effective front cover as it is hard for readers to realise that it is about a school if they just read the title (they need to look and the pictures and headlines to fully understand). However, the magazine is generally good at sustaining it’s ‘powerful’ and ‘luxurious’ feel with the colour and image choices.