Magazine Project Research- 3

TASTE OF HOMES - JUNE/JULY 2003

Taste of Home is a food magazine that focuses on practical "home cook book" recipes that are easy for their readers to duplicate. This magazine includes many easy-to-follow recipes, along with pictures of each dish. Taste of Home is a magazine targeted to the average person, who loves cooking and food. Light & Tasty is Taste of Home's magazine that includes healthier "trimmed-down" recipes. 

COVER PAGE

Because this magazine is from 2003, the quality of the cover photo is not as clear as more recent magazines. The fonts are also very basic and not as unique. Other magazine covers usually have article titles on the front, but this one does not. When creating my cover, I plan to use clearer pictures and more unique fonts. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The table of contents in this magazine is in alphabetical order and has almost every article in the magazine listed. Unlike newer magazines, this issue highlights all of it's articles. The table of contents page also has pictures of food with the article/recipe title and page number label above the picture. This is a good way to grab the readers attention and then direct them to a specific page in the magazine. I plan to use this when creating my table of contents. 

FONTS 

The font used throughout the magazine is fairly big and suggests that it is targeted to an older audience. The fonts used are also very basic and consistent through the entire magazine. Very rarely are different or unique fonts used. This is something I plan not to do when creating my issue. I think using different fonts and colors is a good way to attract the readers attention. 

ADVERTISEMENTS

There are not many advertisements in this magazine but the ones that are included are for the magazine itself, or for other traveling magazines. It seems like this magazine is interested in getting viewers to buy subscriptions to their magazine, rather than others. Including subscription cards may be a good idea; however, overwhelming the reader with these ads can cause them to not subscribe. Finding a happy medium between self promotion of the magazine and other related ads is very important. The ads shouldn't break up the magazine. 

PICTURES

The pictures used in this magazine, just like the fonts, are very basic. They all are taken from similar angles and are not edited. Editing some of the pictures to enhance the colors could have made then look more appealing to the reader. Using different camera techniques and angles could also add to the magazine and make it more attractive to the reader.