Newstand

WHSmiths offers a diversified/ large collection of magazines for the audience to pick from. The layout/ newsstand is very narrow in what we can see out of the whole front cover. We are only limited to see the top quarter to top half of the magazine. From observing the magazines we are only able to see the Masthead and skyline of each magazines. By having the masthead visible the audience can find their desired magazine, however also to see alternatives to their magazine’s or new genres to try. The skyline is visible in most magazine which identifies the genre of the magazine. For example MIXMAG “The world’s biggest dance music & club culture magazine”. From observing the skyline we can insinuate that new people who are interested in the genre can find the right magazine by reading the skyline.

However the price is not visible or near the top half of the magazine as it can make the reader not wanting to buy the magazine, due to the high price they need to pay. Most magazine use psychological pricing method which makes the magazine appear cheaper. For example MIXMAG is £4.99 not £5. This method makes the person think that the magazine is much cheaper that £5.

Magazines genres can also be identified by the name of the magazine or front cover star. For example “Computer music” is a magazine about mixes of real music to suit other genres. The front cover is a mixture of block of colours to represent the mixture of different songs/ effects in order to create a new sounds appealing to other audiences. A popular example is Skrillex.  Another example a guitarist as the cover star can illustrate that the magazine would appeal to guitarist players (e.g. adverts about offers on guitars) or guitarist artists.

The magazine have been organised based on genres, so is easy to find the desired genres and other magazine with the same genre. Another reason is to create competition on the same genres between each brand.