Doctor who magazine

Title of production- the title is placed at the top in the centre of the cover. It is also in the font of the ‘Doctor Who’ trade mark logo which is well known, it is easily recognised. This is then visible to the fans of the programme and catches their attention.

Slogan- The slogan is above the title so that the person reading the title of the magazine will most probably read the slogan. This slogan is effective as it sums up what the magazine is about. ‘Celebrating 50 years’ is a way of getting the reader to buy it as they would think it’s like a special edition as it is out to celebrate 50 years of the programme which fans will be excited about.

Central image- The central image shows 3 characters. The character in the middle being the most important as he is in front of the other two people.  This shows a strong image which would intrigue fans of Doctor Who as they would most probably be fans of the actors. A part of the image covers a bit of the title; however this does not really matter because the Doctor Who logo is so distinguished. This also portrays the importance of the character.

Cover lines- ‘The day of the Doctor’ is the larger flash which catches the reader’s attention because it is in capital letters and it’s in the colour white which stands out because it is bold. The smaller cover lines are placed beneath the flash line which all connects to the image as the actors names are written in a different colour to make them stand out as they are well-known. The smaller cover lines say the actors ‘exclusively chat to DWM about the biggest TV event in the history of the universe’. This will be read because the flash line stands out and it is placed under it.

Free offer- This magazine does include free offers which are shown on the right hand side of the cover. This section has a different coloured background which highlights the offer. What is included in the magazines free offer is written in a red font which stands out.

Colour scheme- The colour scheme of this magazine is royal, gold and silver/white. This gives an important feel to the magazine because the gold immediately tells us it is a special edition as most special editions tend to be in gold. Gold also indicates a 50th anniversary in general known as a golden anniversary. Silver/white stands out because they are bold and are on a darkish black background and connotes purity and originality. Bits of red are also used so certain things stand out, it’s to give a bit of a kick to the magazine cover, red in general is a colour that pops out and is generally a royal colour. The black and white links with the genre of the programme which is sci-fi. Sci-fi is mainly dark as it links to space for example. White/silver and black are the known colours of how space looks.

Name/game checks-  It is clear of the region the magazine fits in as there is a reference on the right hand side of the magazine of the ‘1960s themed mini issues’ and art cards. So this would appeal to the fans who know about the old Doctor Who’s as well as the new ones.

Language- The language used on the cover is very simple and straight to the point. Some of the story is given away but in a very short way. ‘The Doctors past comes back to haunt him’, this would make a Doctor Who fan want to read the magazine so they can find out more. The sci-fi fans would relate to this magazine because there is a lot of reference to space. The slogan says ‘adventures in space and time’. The cover line says ‘biggest TV event in the history of the universe’. The readers that are fans of Doctor Who would have a personal connection with the magazine.                                          

 The font used is very rounded making it look better when it is bold, the flash line is the boldest, the rest of the font varies of how bold it is.   

Competitions- On the bottom right of the magazine cover shows a picture of stuff that can be won. They also mention what prizes can be won such as; ‘blu-rays, dvds, cd’s and books’. This could entice fans or the reader to buy the magazine.

Direct address and asking questions- On this magazine cover there is no asking questions but instead it is informing and telling the reader about the 50^th anniversary of Doctor Who. There is one direct address which is near the bottom of the cover telling the reader to turn over the page.  

Barcode, date and price- The barcode is not shown too big and is displayed at the bottom of the cover with the price of the magazine beside it. The barcode is shown to be quite small because they are seen to be an encumbrance.

The real target audience- The target audience for this ‘Doctor Who’ magazine would be fans of the programme from 16-50 year olds. However I do not think 16 year olds would buy it but instead take a look at it online. The older generation would prefer to buy the magazine as it is a special edition and they would keep it for a long time if they were proper fans.