Here is the research for my magazine:
Magazines are displayed in stores on racks. The section where they are displayed are usually limited, meaning that magazines must compete with each other to gain the attention of people scanning through them. Since there is limited space, the magazines must be stacked above each other, usually only showing the upper third of the magazine or the left third. This means that this space must be used to the maximum as they are what may attract potential customers. In order to stand out, magazines may use different typefaces, fonts, colors and etc.
Drop Cap:
A drop cap in a magazine helps to separate and indicate the start of a new section. It can also be used to grab the attention of the reader especially if the article is long, which may make the readers lose attention and become bored.
Cover Page Analysis:
Magazine brand: Dior
Edition: No. 40 Andalusian Grace
Representation
The women in the front cover of this magazine have been represented in a positive way, showing that they are almost magical/mystical/ethereal. First, we could have a look at the location where this image was shot. The mountains in the background and the rocky but calm terrain almost seems out of this world. This background especially seems to be emphasised as it is shown by using an extreme long shot. The use of the colour gold/yellow also makes the models stand out as it greatly contrasts with the main colour of the background which is blueish-grey. The women are also wearing flowy, open dresses that are beautiful but wouldn’t normally be used when travelling to a mountainous area like this. The women are positioned in a way where they aren’t looking at the camera, making them seem like they are in a different league. The combination of contrasts that are put well together helps to make this cover image look otherworldly.
Media Language
Typically, the conventions of a usual fashion magazine included the additions of coverlines and bar codes. This Dior magazine does not follow these conventions as they have chosen to take the more minimalist route and have only included a main cover image, border, masthead and issue number. It almost also seems that the focus of the main cover image isn’t just the models themselves, but the setting too, also subverting from the usual fashion magazine convention. To make up for the missing elements on their cover page, the typeface is printed in shiny, gold colour. This and the combination of the text being big on the page makes the cover page seem full despite multiple missing pieces of information.
Audience
The target audience for this magazine is most likely women from the ages of 20 to 40 years old. This magazine seems to cater to the women who have a taste for luxurious lifestyles and fashion. The individuals who read and purchase this magazine are most likely using it for surveillance (Uses and Gratification). They are reading this magazine in order to keep up with the current Dior fashion trends and to gather information about new Dior products that are being advertised. The masthead (Dior) is displayed in an especially large font on the top fourth of the page with metallic gold font colour. This is especially effective for attracting their target audience as the masthead is placed on the top of the page, where it will stand out and grab the attention of passing individuals. For regular readers of Dior’s magazines, the typeface of this masthead will be highly recognizable, meaning that it will be easy to identify the magazine.
Industry
Dior has websites where they update frequently about the latest news related to their products or the celebrities who wear them. This will prove to be beneficial for them as with these updates, their audience will become informed even without purchasing their magazines, potentially also increasing their brand recognition.
Magazine brand: Vogue
Edition: October 2023
The subject on the cover of this magazine has been represented positively as she is seemingly extremely confident. This representation can be concluded based on the location of this image too, the colours of the room greatly subverting from the convention that they are usually solid colours that are plain and dull. This room is filled with bright, bold and saturated colours which contrast with each other. Even if the setting of this image may seem to be distracting, the confident stance and piercing gaze of the subject (Kate Winslet) draws enough attention so that she is not outshined by the many different elements in the background. The camera angle for this image was meticulously thought out, utilising a long shot to capture the entirety of the subject’s stance and demeanour as well as provide a small teaser of the room. The gaze of the subject directly addresses the audience, sending a direct message to the audience in order to persuade them to read the magazine. Similar to the background, the subject’s dress is also quite abstract however it is desaturated and quite dark in colour, preventing the subject from blending in with the background and instead, makes her pop out. The combination of all these elements makes the subject’s dominating aura exude from this cover page.
Media Language
This magazine cover page seems to greatly follow the conventions of typical fashion magazines. This is due to the fact that it has many elements such as a masthead, border, coverlines, a barcode, main cover image and issue number. It seems to subvert from the usual convention of having a plain colour as the background of the subject. Instead, it seems to have a much more cluttered background that may be considered distracting. Another thing to note is that this magazine cover also subverts the usual conventions of a Vogue magazine cover as often times, the subject is captured in close-up or medium shots. In this cover, the subject is photographed using a long shot camera angle, emphasising her pose and posture that shows that she is directly addressing the audience. The signature Vogue masthead is placed on the top of the magazine, easily accessible for those looking for it. The typeface for the coverlines of this magazine are very clear to read and the font is in full capital letters, also allowing the audience to comprehend the text quickly and easily. The coverlines for this magazine complements the cover image, further drawing in women who keep up with lifestyle trends. Vogue is the masthead of the magazine and its definition as a word is "popular or fashionable". This masthead directly relates to what the magazine is about and it will again attract those who want to be up-to-date with fashion.
Audience
The target audience of this magazine is probably more mature, appealing towards women from the ages of 30 to 45 years old. This is supported by the fact that Kate Winslet, the featured subject of this magazine, has a positive reputation for representing strong and complicated women in multiple different occasions during her acting career. Kate Winslet is described as fearless and a mother, further supporting the fact that this magazine is targeted to an older audience that maybe already have a family of their own. This means that she is likely to have a solid fanbase, possibly drawing in an audience of women who look up to her and want to be like her (personal identity) or those who simply want to keep up with the current trends (surveillance) according to the Uses and Gratification theory by Katz. The coverlines also teases the audience, building up their anticipation using bold words and statements like “shock” and “less is more”.
Industry
Vogue, similar to many brands of fashion magazines, also has a website which regularly posts their magazines and various other types of media such as videos and podcasts. These types of content can help to increase their audience as people may be more inclined to tune into media that can be accessed without fully focusing on them, allowing for them to multitask. This is major as convenience plays a big factor in what many individuals prefer to consume.
Magazine brand: Elle
Edition: 2009
Masthead/Title
The masthead of this magazine is Elle. Elle translates directly into the French word for “she” or “her”. This already suggests that this magazine brand caters generally to women.
Typography
The masthead is quite big, takes up around a third of the cover page and is placed on the very top, very visible as it is almost neon yellow in colour. The shape of the typography is very elegant as it has a mixture of thin and thick weight for each letter, also giving quite a sharp look. The coverlines use the colour white, yellow and black. The coverlines are coloured depending on their position in the magazine. If the coverline is on top of a mainly white background, it is coloured black so that it contrasts the most and is visible. Some text from the coverlines are typed in a bold font so that they are easier to read and can grab attention quicker. In the double page which features an article, most of the text is relatively consistent in font and size with the exception of the drop cap which is much larger to grab the reader’s attention as well as the title of the article and the other subheadings that are in red since they are the main points of focus for the text. This same method is also used for the contents page of the magazine.
Image
The cover image features a female subject sitting on a chair with a seemingly suggestive pose wearing a relatively exposed outfit. The image is captured with a long shot, showing the entirety of the subject’s body. The lighting is quite dramatic and highlights the subject’s face as that is where the light mostly hits. The subject is gazing directly at the reader, directly addressing the reader.
Language
The coverlines on the cover page mainly use words related to beauty in order to attract people (men). This suggests that the readers are most likely women who are looking for advice on how to take care and dress up themselves in order to become “hot” or attractive. This magazine seems to be made for a more mature but young audience, around 18 to 30 years old who usually still think about this kind of content. The use of the buzzword "free" is also highlighted, potentially drawing in the reader's attention.
Representation
The subject on the cover image of the magazine is seemingly sexualized which generally conforms to the usual representation of women, particularly models. The aim of the image on the cover page is definitely to make the subject seem more seductive as it is also relevant to the content of the magazine. The images in the contents page also seem to follow this trend. The subjects are wearing very revealing clothing conforms to the representation of women being viewed as just beautiful and nothing more.
Adverts
The usual products that are advertised in this type of magazine are makeup and clothes for women that are flattering and maybe revealing. Due to the mature theme of the magazine, alcohol may also be a possible product that may be advertised. For services, hotels and accommodations that are suitable for couple trips or honeymoons may be advertised.
I tried to use this format for the less detailed magazine analysis however I believe that it would take too long to analyse 3 more magazines with this layout so I am changing back to the original format.
Edit: It turns out I misunderstood the assignment and I only needed to give my opinions about the magazines but more research doesn't hurt anyone!
Magazine brand: Vogue
Edition: September 2023
Representation
The models on the cover image are represented in a positive way as they are dressed up in seemingly expensive outfits while having a very clean look. This connotes that these women are “powerful” or “in control” as people must be very rich in order to purchase expensive clothes. The models are also all posed in a very striking and bold way, each giving off a lot of presence. This further pushes the agenda that these models are “untouchable” and independent. The double page spread also represents the models in a similar fashion, none of the camera angles are high in any of the images. The expressions of the models are quite intimidating which subverts the usual convention of women being friendly, warm and maternal.
Media Language
The convention of a usual fashion magazine is to feature a single subject as the focus of the main cover image. However, this magazine cover image seems to subvert from this convention and instead features 4 different subjects with distinctly different poses and style. This could indicate that the content of this magazine will feature something unexpected from the usual and may also include more stars or models than usual. This magazine will definitely appeal to those who are classy and prefer to purchase clothes and accessories from luxury brands as the subjects on the cover page also have quite a dignified and classy look. In addition, the cover page itself does not have a lot of text however, the cover has a selling line with the words “super fashion” capitalized to further highlight them. This may have been strategically done in order to build anticipation for the contents of the magazine. The lack of information on the cover page seems to assist in teasing the readers.
Audience
The audience for this Vogue magazine are most likely women who may be interested in pursuing fashion as a career or those who are regular enjoyers of luxury and branded fashion. This means that according to the Uses and Gratification theory by Katz, individuals would purchase this magazine for surveillance or personal identity. Another thing to note is that all 4 models on the cover page are directly looking towards the reader, addressing the reader directly. This may subconsciously persuade individuals to buy it as they may feel a sense of obligation.
What do I like?
I think that some of the images used in the double page spread are very clean and look very professional. I also like the image on the left which shows a model integrating as a part of the society, doing something normal like walking in the park.
What do I dislike?
Personally I really dislike the way the images were arranged in the double page spread because it is quite distracting. I also think that some images should have been given their own page as they are too good to be cluttered around like that.
How is this relevant?
I am planning to create a fashion magazine so I think that taking inspiration from such a big magazine brand like Vogue would prove to be very beneficial for my research.
Magazine brand: Teen Vogue
Edition: January 2016
What do I like?
I really like how colorful and saturated the cover image is. Even though the cover image looks quite simple, I think that just because of how colourful the background is, the cover image is already very attention grabbing. I think I am also going to try and find a colorful background for my main cover image. The third image is something I would like to reference while adding a fashion tips page for my magazine. I think its very cool how each of the clothes and accessories were arranged one by one.
What do I dislike?
However, regarding the third image I think that the bottom left part of the third image is quite cluttered and messy so I would just add the clothes and remove the other images.
What do I like?
I think that the cover page is very colorful and the use of colors work very well. I really like how rich the red in the background is and the vignette in the background really makes the subject pop out. The use of gold and yellow text on the background really works well with each other and all the text is readable because the colours really contrast.
What do I dislike?
The layout for the content of the magazine is very bland and there is just generally way too much text that may be overwhelming and boring for the readers to read. More images could have been used and placed strategically to help support the content of the text. For the contents page, I think the layout is also boring and way too tidy. I think that if the text was a bit more spread out it would be easier to read.
Here is a link to my Double Page Spread research and development.
https://jasminejosant-regentsmedia.blogspot.com/2023/11/double-page-spread-research-development.html
Reflection:
This research was relatively new to me so it was quite hard to comprehend what to do at first. The workload was quite a lot especially for the detailed cover page research. I think it was quite interesting to use media theories in order to make a connection with how the magazines utilize certain elements in order to attract their targeted audiences. It was interesting because I also never really realized that such “trivial” things could be used to influence the audience. Although I had complications with misunderstanding the task at times, I still think that I took a lot out of this research and I definitely understand more about magazines (especially their covers) now than I did before. For the double page spread research, I had a bit of a tough time trying to analyse the articles as they were quite a lot to read at times. Even so, after doing the research, I now have a rough idea of what I want to include and avoid while I’m writing the article for my magazine.
No comments:
Post a Comment