MAGAZINE ANALYSIS

LOOK MAGAZINE

What breakfast cereal do they eat?Special K
The car/mode of transport do they use?A standard car; nothing too expensive but something with a more average price.
What accommodation do they live in?Flat/average sized house.
What do they drink?tea/coffee/alcohol…anything really.
What TV shows do they watch?Keeping up with the Kardashians, The Hills, Only Way Is Essex, Made In Chelsea
What music do they like?Mainstream music, mainly pop.
What is their favourite meal?Something Italian...Pizza, pasta etc.
What sport do they watch and what sport do they play (if any)?None.
Who is their partner, or are they single?This varies as I don’t think I can’t specify what their relationship status would be.
Where do they go on holiday?Somewhere hot with sun, sand and sea, seemingly with quite a generous budget.
Do they vote, and if so who for?I would say they’re more than likely not to vote.
What type of bar/pub/club do they go to (if any)?The most popular bar in town, nothing with excessive prices but slightly more high end than other options.

I would say LOOK magazine appeals to the ‘average woman’ between the age of 13-40, women that are heavily influenced by the media and always want to know the latest trends along with every move their favourite celebrity does. They like to adapt the styles and lifestyles of celebrities but within their own budget and therefore buy this magazine in hope of tips and an insight to the celebrity life, this is all in an aim to improve themselves and be more like role models shown in these magazines. They have average style jobs with a satisfactory income but are extremely fashion conscious and like to influence their office wear with the latest trends, most of their money will be spent on cosmetics, clothes and going out on a night.

 

NOW MAGAZINE

What breakfast cereal do they eat?Weetabix, possibly with fruit added/
The car/mode of transport do they use?The tube to work.
What accommodation do they live in?Apartment/family home.

What do they drink?Tea.
What TV shows do they watch?Only Way Is Essex, Made In Chelsea, X Factor.
What music do they like?Mainstream music.
What is their favourite meal?They order in on weekends but have salad during the week
What sport do they watch and what sport do they play (if any)?None.
Who is their partner, or are they single?This can’t be specified.
Where do they go on holiday?Greece/Spain.
Do they vote, and if so who for?Probably not.
What type of bar/pub/club do they go to (if any)?Any local night clubs.

This obviously appeals to women as most celebrity gossip magazines are, they have a standard pay job but probably long hours and therefore buy magazines as a source of escapism from their day to day lives, much like the other magazine’s audience these women/girls are heavily influenced by the media and concentrate heavily on knowing every move their favourite celebrity makes so they can aspire to be as ‘perfect’.

EBONY MAGAZINE EVALUATION.

Who are the audience? How do we know this?
The audience for this particular issue of Ebony will probably be mostly women or Beyoncé fans, but  also appealing to men because of the sexual image of this particular celebrity. Also parents as they have an article ‘Who’s watching your kids?’  and I would assume from the sell lines promoting articles on ‘managing your money’ and ‘getting over your ex’ this is a magazine for a more mature audience of mid 20s onwards; as this is the age at which most people are employed and are possibly starting families.

What is the text selling?
The Beyoncé franchise, along with African American news and importance.

What sort of attitude/tone does it have?
The main image connotes power and this could either be seen as power of the black culture in today’s society or power of women as Beyoncé is a huge inspiration for women.

Consider the ideology of the texts- what is valued/believed in?
I think that the main focus on this magazine is sort of family life which includes work, relationships (more than often being marriage) and children, therefore the magazine writers have really thought about the mind set of their target audience; what will appeal to them and what daily issues they face and have then developted articles that they can both relate and find use from. From doing research on the background of this magazine I have found out that it’s popular amongst people of African- American ethnicity and this is its main market and therefore any significant news or changes that will affect this culture would be published through this magazine.

PRELIMINARY TASK

This is the college magazine I created for the preliminary task which includes the front cover and contents page, I'm happy with the result of my magazine although I think that if I was given more time then more images could have featured and the contents page could have been executed to a higher standard with generally more incorporated into the page itself.

FLAT PLAN FOR FRONT COVER.

Introduction

For my Media Studies coursework I was given two options to choose from and this was either to create a music magazine or to film and develop a film trailer. I have chosen to do the magazine task as I've done a similar task before and feel most comfortable with this, also I feel that I could execute the finished product better than I could produce a film clip.

I think my music magazine will be about the pop genre of music, maybe at times delving into other categories, but I would say I am most familiar with this type of music and therefore would be able to present it as well as possible.

I don't usually read music magazines as I take more of an interest in fashion and celebrity magazines such as LOOK and more! but I think I could still take inspiration from these types of magazines in terms of presentation and layout, and even colour schemes etc.

In the following blog I will display all my research along with detailed thoughts on them, this will include text, images and design along with running annotation to show my progress in the project.