Research and Planning - Analysis Of Magazine Cover - Totally Tracy Beaker

To help me with my magazine front cover (second ancillary task) I am going to look at an existing front cover for a children’s TV Drama.

The magazine I’m looking at is ‘Totally Tracy Beaker’. The magazine is based upon the popular CBBC show ‘The Story of Tracy Beaker’.

Although this magazine is aimed at a slightly younger audience than my TV drama, this exercise will allow me to come up with a list of conventions to include in my own magazine front cover for my own Children’s TV drama.

The first thing that stands out to me is the use of big, bold and colourful writing. This style echo’s that used in the title sequence for the TV Show (Which I have already analysed) and would appeal immediately to children jumping off the shelves and catching their attention.

Also, like both the TV Show and the DVD cover the title of the magazine fills a large proportion of the top section of the cover.  This enables children to see clearly the title of the magazine and to gage an understanding of the type of things it will feature.

The use of the `child-like` shapes (circles, starbursts) are something that the reader can relate to and something that would appeal to them.  These shapes are also used on the DVD cover. 

The picture of Tracy dominates the front cover. She is a recognisable figure for children and on seeing this, the reader would know what to expect in the magazine and wouldn’t be disappointed with the content.

Another common theme used is the animation of Tracey. This plays a key part in the story telling of the programme.

 The same presentation style has been used for the DVD cover and the magazine cover incorporating the same /similar conventions to advertise these products.

This analysis has enabled me to gain a list of conventions that I will incorporate in my magazine cover.