Textual Analysis of Quad and Newman

In todays media lesson, We were given two front covers of university prospectus as well as our own schools prospectus. We were asked to analyse all three of them, talking about the colour schemes, texts, images and how they targeted their audience. There were a number of differences and similarities in both the Queen Mary University and Newsman University.

St. Marks Catholic School

My first impression of the St Marks prospectus is that its a multi cultural and catholic school. This is shown through the different images on enthic groups. The large logo also has a cross in the middle to represent the catholic side.  The images attract the readers eye through the use of bright colours and large font sizes. I also find that the images blend very well with the text. The prospectus is aimed at Parents adn students.

Newman University

With this University there were a lot of informative language, good use of images and text. The front cover also included the issue date and Logo. Although the images seems confusing, they link to the text somehow. For example the image of the little boy playing a game links to the rhetorical question at the bottom of the page. The bold White Mast head, helps attract the attention of the reader as well as inform its audience of the name of the University. Some of the Advantages in this prospectus includes the good use of images, texts and also the use of the issue date as this informs the reader of when the prospectus came out. However some of the Disadvantages includes the use of dull colours. I also think that the the front cover looks too busy with images. This takes the attention away from the text information. For an improvement, it could do with brighter colours and less images. The images also needs to be linked to the texts more effectively. The logo on the top right  hand side of the page could also be enlarged.

QUAD University

With this prospectus, the first image that catches the eye is the large logo. Underneath the logo is the issue date and the name of the magazine. The first impression that you get from this front cover is that its a multicultural university. This is due to the images of the different ethnic graduates that are used. There is also some text information next to some of the images. This informs the reader of some of the courses that are available.

Another key point is the image of Queen Mary. As this links to the name of the university, " Queen Mary University of London".  There is also the use of an olden day picture and a modern day picture. This helps show the contrast between the two and shows how the University has changed over the years. A disadvantage would be lack of text. There isnt enough text on the page to inform its reader of what is in the prospectus. The images also look too untidy and easily made. It looks like its been made by a 5 year old as the images dont blend together very well but instead looks like a copy and paste. However I do like the good use of colours. As an improvement, I think the name of the university should be a lot larger.

Overall, I find the QUAD University more attractic and eye catching. I find it less confusing and appeals to its targeted audience a lot better than the Queen Mary University. The Queen Mary prospectus looks too messsy and not well laid out.