Task 1: B

Closer

This is an online magazine, which is well known worldwide for it's exciting gossip. It's similar to all the other well-known magazines, which are out there on the market. However, there are distinctive colours, which are used in this magazine that helps it differ from other published magazines. The interesting layout and use of colours helps to draw attention to readers.

In this specific magazine, they try to keep their interaction skills at its maximum and this is because the more/easier you can interactive with an online magazine the more positive feedback you'll receive from the readers. The navigation system on this magazine itself is actually good because as the magazine is fashion based, they've created the website so that you'll be able to scroll through pictures easily and at the top of the website are various links you can click to fit your certain mood, the link (page) layout is shown below.

As you can see in the picture shown above (navigation links), there are major headings which are: Showbiz, News & Real Life, Style & Beauty, Lifestyle, Closer Diets and Win. Within these headings, subheadings will appear once you click on a specific page, which is shown. In this case, Style & Beauty was clicked and the subheadings shown underneath were Fashion and Hair & Beauty. As "Closer" is based on a black and pink page layout, the headings are in black whereas, the subheadings are displayed in pink. There are a few animated graphics which have been coded into this websites digital magazine and these were used in order for the readers to find it easier to review and read information that they may have missed. The few animated graphics they used were useful. Because this is a model/beauty/fashion magazine they added directional arrows both left and right in replace of next and previous and as you press next or previous there is a sliding transition between the photos in the gallery and this is a neat way of viewing a next picture.

The overall layout of Closer is quite plain however it is quite effective. The reasons I say this is that, the black and pink colours they portray are easy to see. The layout is neat and isn't too flashy or packed, it feels like there is enough/more than enough space for everything to fit and they've done this purposely, this way as a reader you can take your time to read every part of the magazine or which part interests you clearly.

Apart from the headings/page links they haven't actually used any exciting fonts throughout the magazine and this is simply because they want this to be easily read by all ages, all people. They were mindful of peoples eyesight, this is because there are several numbers of magazines online (digital magazines) which have loads of fonts that look very creative but, on the other hand, aren't easy to be read. So, Closer helped preventing this. An example of the boring/dull font used to get information over to a wide range of people with good eyesight or bad eyesight is shown below.

SHOWBIZ NEWS

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Task 1: A

Pros of Digital Magazines

Cons of Digital Magazines

Digital magazines come with a low cost budget for the publishers. Digital Magazines are easier to access as they are online at any time. Digital Magazines can’t get ripped/torn, as they’re not hard copy. Digital Magazines are easier to read and this because the pages won’t get stuck together. This will reduce costs of publishing, as you will not have to pay for printing. In a publisher’s point of view, they will be able to distribute the magazines along a large scale of people quicker. There are also no losses from unsold magazines therefore you can only gain profit. The readers, which are needed for the digital magazines to run, are now available on most smart phones, which improves convenience. There is more flexibility shown in the content of a digital magazine than a print magazine. The publishers are also allowed to go much further with content by including videos, etc.

People may not have any technology to access these magazines. At times, the font type and size can be hard to read and requires adjusting. Digital magazines aren’t portable, without a smart phone. You have to wait for articles to load up. You also have to wait for videos to buffer and pictures to download. You can’t touch it as there is no physical appearance. You’ll need Internet in order to access new information or look at another magazine. There may be an added layer of confusion for readers, which is a disadvantage. For most digital magazines, an iPad is required which is a very expensive technology device. You also have to pay for subscriptions in order to read the magazines, which can be expensive, two.

Pros of Printing Magazines	Cons of Printing Magazines
It’s portable. Don’t have to wait for an article to download. It’s cheaper to pay for a paper magazine than subscribe for an online membership. Printing magazines are also taken more seriously by other sources. In the publisher’s point of view, publications tend to be more stable and this is simply because technology doesn’t change quickly.	Printing magazines are only able to aim for one target. However, online can cover all targets. Online will be able to get 100 million viewers for example as it is free and it will be able to reach a lot of people. Hard time leveraging commerce. There are losses made when publishing printing magazines as people may not buy it. Reprinting costs can be high if you make an error.

In the tables above, there are several pros and cons of both Digital Magazines as well as, Printing Magazines. However, they are all in different views. Meaning, the pros and cons are split into different audiences which is the reader (The people who read the magazine/public), designer (the people who design the magazines but, are told what it has to look like) and last but, not least the publisher (The people who publish the final product whether it's online or hard copy, these people send it to major distributors.)