Codes and Conventions of Catster and Dogster
The conventions and codes of a magazine are the signs with meaning and the accepted way of making it. My partner and I did sister magazines, Dogster and Catster, to precisely analyze these techniques. In doing so, we aimed to find techniques that we could apply to our own magazines.
In terms of the cover, both magazines had an enlarged photo of a single animal (dependent on whether it is Catster or Dogster) towards the center. These visually tell viewers that the magazine will be about taking care of animals. We would keep this as it depicts purpose and theme in a simple manner, and it is also visually appealing. Catser's mastheads go for a serif font, and so does Dogster. The effect of such a font is evoking formality, but the style of the text is jovial at the same time. This means that it will be very enjoyable and pleasant to read, so we would both mimic this in our own work. For Catster, 2/3 of the issues has the main image (the animal) going over the masthead. Dogster only has one. The way that we took it, having the animal over the masthead implies urgency, and so since I want to have urgent care for animals, as does my partner, we decided that this makes sense for our products. Also, we noticed that Dogster magazines usually had a scenic setting in the background, while Caster issues did not. That scenic background creates a joyous feeling since it is cuter, at least cuter than a plain background. We both agree to implement a background like this for our covers.
For the table of contents, both of the magazines aimed to make it more interactive and enticing. The techniques to accomplish this are effective since the table of contents are usually dull, not attractive to readers. Each issue has 80 pages. This forms consistency; it makes it a memorable trait of Catster. Not only are there 80 pages, but each magazine divides those pages into the same sections, and some pages are kept with the same topics/features. For example, each issue has Obsessions and Confessions pages. These are usually on the same page number (like page 8 for Obsessions). On these, they talk about things like cat people problems, what people do for their cats, etc. Then there are the Mind+Body, Life with Cattitude, and For the Love of Cats sections. By having these occur in each table of contents, Catser creates a formula for their work. They know what they have to make because of what each section would hold, and readers know what they could expect to find in each issue. This could also form anticipation. I now know that there will be a section that will discuss lifestyles, but since the pages in those sections change, I do not know what to expect. I anticipate reading the next issue because I want to know what they will do next. Will they show off extraordinary felines? Will they display different cat cleaning products? Will they do something completely new? Since I enjoy consistency, I would adopt the page methods used by Catster, meaning I would have the same amount of pages shown, and I would use sections to divide all the topics I want to touch upon, similar to what we do in the school's yearbook. Both magazines also use miniature pictures of pets and pet products, which enhances the cuteness that they are trying to go for. Vibrant color choices like reds and greens in both issues effectively catch the viewers' eye, so we would implement that too.
There was a lot in terms of the feature spread. For Catster, the majority of the text is in sans serif font. The mood and feelings most associated with sans serif typefaces are modern, friendly, direct, clean and minimal. I prefer serif fonts because they are more formal, and I would say, sophisticated, which seems appropriate when dealing with animals struggling alone. One issue forms the title of the article with a question, while the others use a sentence. Using a question is more personal to the reader, which would make them become more interested or invested. Thus, I would try to use that technique, although not for each. I prefer the personal aspect of them, though sometimes it could be better to be exact and frank with titles. Catser also uses a variety of designs for the titles of these feature spreads. One is a simple serif, the other is a sans serif in a design that looks handwritten with a marker, and the third uses another handwritten font mixed with serif. The handwritten design is more visually appealing, but cannot be taken as seriously as normal text. I think a nice mixture of the two would work out nicely. Since my magazine covers pet care, the hand written titles could go there since it is a more playful topic. On the helping strays parts, I would use normal, more serious fonts to reflect the seriousness and urgency of the issues.
Dogster uses a concise text style for its feature spreads instead of the large and more pronounced one of the cover story. This is to fit the long text of the cover story. The camera angle gives a sort of over-the-shoulder accompanying vibe. The summary for this is sufficient, though a bit too much for readers to enjoy. Thus, both of us agree that there should be less text, and perhaps more images.
https://prezi.com/view/
In terms of the cover, both magazines had an enlarged photo of a single animal (dependent on whether it is Catster or Dogster) towards the center. These visually tell viewers that the magazine will be about taking care of animals. We would keep this as it depicts purpose and theme in a simple manner, and it is also visually appealing. Catser's mastheads go for a serif font, and so does Dogster. The effect of such a font is evoking formality, but the style of the text is jovial at the same time. This means that it will be very enjoyable and pleasant to read, so we would both mimic this in our own work. For Catster, 2/3 of the issues has the main image (the animal) going over the masthead. Dogster only has one. The way that we took it, having the animal over the masthead implies urgency, and so since I want to have urgent care for animals, as does my partner, we decided that this makes sense for our products. Also, we noticed that Dogster magazines usually had a scenic setting in the background, while Caster issues did not. That scenic background creates a joyous feeling since it is cuter, at least cuter than a plain background. We both agree to implement a background like this for our covers.
For the table of contents, both of the magazines aimed to make it more interactive and enticing. The techniques to accomplish this are effective since the table of contents are usually dull, not attractive to readers. Each issue has 80 pages. This forms consistency; it makes it a memorable trait of Catster. Not only are there 80 pages, but each magazine divides those pages into the same sections, and some pages are kept with the same topics/features. For example, each issue has Obsessions and Confessions pages. These are usually on the same page number (like page 8 for Obsessions). On these, they talk about things like cat people problems, what people do for their cats, etc. Then there are the Mind+Body, Life with Cattitude, and For the Love of Cats sections. By having these occur in each table of contents, Catser creates a formula for their work. They know what they have to make because of what each section would hold, and readers know what they could expect to find in each issue. This could also form anticipation. I now know that there will be a section that will discuss lifestyles, but since the pages in those sections change, I do not know what to expect. I anticipate reading the next issue because I want to know what they will do next. Will they show off extraordinary felines? Will they display different cat cleaning products? Will they do something completely new? Since I enjoy consistency, I would adopt the page methods used by Catster, meaning I would have the same amount of pages shown, and I would use sections to divide all the topics I want to touch upon, similar to what we do in the school's yearbook. Both magazines also use miniature pictures of pets and pet products, which enhances the cuteness that they are trying to go for. Vibrant color choices like reds and greens in both issues effectively catch the viewers' eye, so we would implement that too.
There was a lot in terms of the feature spread. For Catster, the majority of the text is in sans serif font. The mood and feelings most associated with sans serif typefaces are modern, friendly, direct, clean and minimal. I prefer serif fonts because they are more formal, and I would say, sophisticated, which seems appropriate when dealing with animals struggling alone. One issue forms the title of the article with a question, while the others use a sentence. Using a question is more personal to the reader, which would make them become more interested or invested. Thus, I would try to use that technique, although not for each. I prefer the personal aspect of them, though sometimes it could be better to be exact and frank with titles. Catser also uses a variety of designs for the titles of these feature spreads. One is a simple serif, the other is a sans serif in a design that looks handwritten with a marker, and the third uses another handwritten font mixed with serif. The handwritten design is more visually appealing, but cannot be taken as seriously as normal text. I think a nice mixture of the two would work out nicely. Since my magazine covers pet care, the hand written titles could go there since it is a more playful topic. On the helping strays parts, I would use normal, more serious fonts to reflect the seriousness and urgency of the issues.
Dogster uses a concise text style for its feature spreads instead of the large and more pronounced one of the cover story. This is to fit the long text of the cover story. The camera angle gives a sort of over-the-shoulder accompanying vibe. The summary for this is sufficient, though a bit too much for readers to enjoy. Thus, both of us agree that there should be less text, and perhaps more images.
https://prezi.com/view/
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