I am going to analyse existing products before I start creating my own magazine. I will analyse magazines from a similar genres to gain a better understanding of how to use media language when representing my target audience. It is very important to understand genre conventions because following what Bentley said (1997) the creative process is “Making of the new by rearranging the old.”
I have decided to look at NME as I have decided I want to create a magazine similar under the genre of indie. NME is primarily pitched at white males ages 17 to 30years under the social band of B to E. From the front cover it is apparent that the magazine is aimed at this particular group.
In terms of denotation, the masthead is in a masculine typography and reads NME, which would be classed as appealing to the audience as its abbreviation and therefore representing the target audience. Abbreviation is usually associated with young people as it is seen as being cool and casual. The masthead is white, which would connote retro and cool, which would also link to the audience, as they are young individuals. White would defy what Stanley Hall (1904) said, “The common mood in teenagers is depressed” as white is seen as cool. I have to ensure that when I am making my own magazine that I make sure that everything I produce appeals to the target audience. It is vital that the masthead stands out because it is the brand name of the magazine and customers need to feel as if it represents them correctly and effectively, it is also important for it to stand out on the shop shelves and ensure customers return. It is essential to follow conventions and make sure the masthead takes up the whole of the top 1/8 of the page which is know as the ‘sweet spot’ and on a crowded magazine shelf the magazine masthead would not be covered.
In terms of imagery, there are only three images on the front cover two minor images and one main central image. The central image takes up the most of the cover page. In terms of denotation it is a medium shot of Lana Del Rey with a white dress on and with her tongue out. The choice of model connotes the largest audience is male as the image is of a woman looking seductive and cheeky supporting what Dick Hebdige (1988) said ‘Youth are fun.’ Also the image supports the Laura Mulvey (1975) ‘Woman are erotic objects of desire for the spectator’ With Lana Del Rey having her head down and looking in to the audience (males) and with her hands on her hips looking seductive and sexy. She is being looked at as an object of sexual desire which would appeal to the target audience of males. The smaller images are Polaroid images which make the reader feel as if it is a personal album of images rather than a magazine. The Polaroid images make the magazine feel a lot more personal, the images are of males and they are a lot smaller than the bigger photo but this would appeal to the secondary audience of females. In terms of iconography Lana Del Rey would be seen as a sexy, attractive, beautiful female to the target audience of males. To women she would be seen as role model and an inspirational figure to the secondary audience.
In terms of lexis the colour of the words fit in with the colour palette the main headline is "Lana Del Rey" and a quote from the inside article "I'm a psycho!" The quote is supposed to stand out to intrigue the reader. In terms of connotation the word 'psycho' connotes; mental, trouble, sex, drink, drugs and crazy which would support what Dick Hebdige (1988) "Youth are fun" and "Youth are troublemakers" which is the sort of thing NME readers want to read about. Lana Del Rey is attractive and therefore this would attract the male target audience and the quote would just make them want to read more about her as they could interpret it as sexy and intriguing because they would want to know about the story. The majority of the "I'm a psycho" quote is is in the 'sweet spot' which is where the eye is drawn to when you first look at a magazine. The font is masculine, appealing to the target audience of males and the blue colour can also be seen as a male colour appealing again to the target audience. The quote is in a different colour font of black and this is too make it different from the main text of "Lana Del Rey" which is in blue.
As I am going to produce a magazine in a similar style to NME, I will analyse another magazine cover of theirs to ensure I know exactly what it is I want to achieve Again I am going to follow what Bentley (1997) said "Making of the new by rearranging the old" this is the creative process I am going through with my magazine cover.
In terms of denotation the font is in a masculine typography and again it reads NME, NME is the abbreviation of New Musical Express which appeals to the target audience of males between the ages of 17 to 30 years. the red typography connotes passion, sex, love, danger things that would relate to the pictures and the front cover and the images of it. The colour of the masthead which is red would support what Dick Hebdige (1988) "Teenagers are sought in sex and drink". The main point of the front cover is to appeal to the target audience and so that they want to buy it and carry on reading. The masthead needs to stand out in order for it to advertise the brand of the magazine and in order for it to stand out from other magazines. The masthead is in the top 1/8 of the magazine which would be the first thing people see when they are looking at the magazines on the shelves. This is an essential convention of a magazine front cover.
In terms of imagery the denotation of the image of M.I.A wearing little clothing and smoking a cigarette. Which would connote; sex, drugs, rock and roll and excitement which is what the target audience would be interested in. The image of M.I.A supports the theory of Laura Mulvey (1975) "Woman are seen as a sex symbol" which is what M.I.A would be seen as, as she is wearing a low cut top showing a bit of cleavage and skin. This would attract the male audience immediately as they would instantly be attracted to her as she is representing the genre of music that is being included in the magazine. The way the model is looking in to the camera is seductive and she is looking directly at the audience (males). Her hair is messy and again connotes the same things as above of; messy, crazy, passionate. The fact she is wearing a denim jacket and a Great Britain dress fits in with the colour palette and therefore is aesthetically pleasing for the audience. M.I.A as an icon is good because she is attractive and sexy and is therefore selling the magazine with her looks to the males especially and to the secondary target audience of women she would be seen as an icon because they would want to be like her in the way she appeals to men and that she is attractive and individual. M.I.A is smoking in the image which would support Dick Hebdige (1988) "Youth as troublemaker" this would appeal to the target audience as it would be seen as an attractive trait to the audience. In terms of iconography MIA would be seen as sexy, attractive, rebellious female this would appeal to the target audience of males, the fact she is smoking and looking like she doesn't really care will intrigue the audience especially if they know of her music because her music has the potential to be rude. Women will aspire to be like her and think that men like this image and she would therefore be seen as an icon to both audiences.
The lexis that is used represents the artist on the front as a trouble maker once again supporting the theory of Dick Hebdige (1988) 'Youth as troublemaker". The words 'I fucking do' is rude, rebellious and a bit crazy which would attract the audience and want them to carry on reading this would be a teaser in to the article inside the article may be an outrageous and clearly representing the icon as a rebellious figure. The imagery also links to the lexis as the image is provocative and rebellious so the two link together to make it aesthetically pleasing. Also the main teaser for the feature article is in the 'sweet spot' which is in the left third of the magazine as this is where the eye is drawn too. On the other side of the magazine in the right third, there are more teasers of what you will find in the magazine. The colours of the texts fit in with the colour palette of black, white, grey and red. The red is only used for the M.I.A title and the masthead which is the most important of all the text because its what the reader will be drawn to first also its in the left third putting it in the 'sweet spot'. The teaser for the main feature article is in black making it important also as it is again in the 'sweet spot'. The other text is all in white making it less important however putting it in reverse with white text and black background. The size of the text varies depending on how important each bits are; the main title and masthead are a lot bigger than the rest of the text, making it seem more important and more attractive to the reader on the magazines shelves.
I am going to analyse one more cover of a magazine to ensure I am keeping to the conventions of magazines and the genre which I will be producing. NME seems to be an appropriate model for the genre of magazine I would like to produce.
In terms of denotation the font is in a masculine typography and again it reads NME, NME is the abbreviation of New Musical Express which appeals to the target audience of males between the ages of 17 to 30 years. The blue typography connotes relaxation, chilled and calm things that would relate to the artist on the front of the cover, this may appeal to her genre of music. The colour of the masthead which is blue would defy what Stanley Hall (1904) said 'the common mood in teenagers was depressed' The main point of the front cover is to appeal to the target audience and so that they want to buy it and carry on reading. The masthead needs to stand out in order for it to advertise the brand of the magazine and in order for it to stand out from other magazines. The masthead is in the top 1/8 of the magazine which would be the first thing people see when they are looking at the magazines on the shelves. This is an essential convention of a magazine front cover.
In terms of imagery the denotation of the image of Laura Marling is defying the stereotypes of woman icons as she is fully clothed and she isn't showing any skin, her hair is up and she overall looks relaxed and chilled out. This isn't something you would necessarily concern with woman models in the music industry. She appeals to men and that she is attractive and individual. Laura Marling is smoking in the image which would support Dick Hebdige (1988) "Youth as troublemaker" this would appeal to the target audience as it would be seen as an attractive trait to the audience. The colour of her clothing and the accessories relates to the colour palette of blue, white, black and grey. The image looks really good because she is breaking the usual stereotypes however she is intriguing and would appeal to the audience which is essentially what they are trying to do. In terms of iconography this image may be seen to appeal more to the secondary audience of women as she isn't showing skin or looking particularly seductive which is what they would normally expect so Laura Marling would be seen as a role model for women. However it doesn't mean that it can't appeal to men because it does just in a different way, and they focus more on the rebellious attributes than the sexy, seductive look.
The lexis on the front of the magazine is a lot of extra information about whats included in the magazine. The main text is in the 'sweet spot' of the front cover which is the left third of the magazine. This is where the eye is drawn to when you first look at a magazine, this would be what is showing when the magazines are stacked on the shelves in shops. The teasers, headline, masthead and a quote from the interview inside is in that spot. The quote of the interview includes abstract nouns which are 'talent, integrity and self-loathing' the artist may be trying to tell the reader that its not as easy as its made out to be. The text would support what Stanley Hall (1904) said 'All adolescences go through some form of emotional upheaval'.This would connect to the audience immediately because they would be urged to read in to the full article to see what its about. Above the quote is 'Laura Marling' the name of the feature artist this is in blue and is a lot larger than the rest on the text. Also the colour of the masthead is blue which connects the main headline and the masthead together. The rest of the text is in a small band/ list on the left third at the bottom of other artists that are included inside the magazine. The size of the text depends on how important the producer thinks it is.
In terms of lexis the colour of the words fit in with the colour palette the main headline is "Lana Del Rey" and a quote from the inside article "I'm a psycho!" The quote is supposed to stand out to intrigue the reader. In terms of connotation the word 'psycho' connotes; mental, trouble, sex, drink, drugs and crazy which would support what Dick Hebdige (1988) "Youth are fun" and "Youth are troublemakers" which is the sort of thing NME readers want to read about. Lana Del Rey is attractive and therefore this would attract the male target audience and the quote would just make them want to read more about her as they could interpret it as sexy and intriguing because they would want to know about the story. The majority of the "I'm a psycho" quote is is in the 'sweet spot' which is where the eye is drawn to when you first look at a magazine. The font is masculine, appealing to the target audience of males and the blue colour can also be seen as a male colour appealing again to the target audience. The quote is in a different colour font of black and this is too make it different from the main text of "Lana Del Rey" which is in blue.
As I am going to produce a magazine in a similar style to NME, I will analyse another magazine cover of theirs to ensure I know exactly what it is I want to achieve Again I am going to follow what Bentley (1997) said "Making of the new by rearranging the old" this is the creative process I am going through with my magazine cover.
In terms of denotation the font is in a masculine typography and again it reads NME, NME is the abbreviation of New Musical Express which appeals to the target audience of males between the ages of 17 to 30 years. the red typography connotes passion, sex, love, danger things that would relate to the pictures and the front cover and the images of it. The colour of the masthead which is red would support what Dick Hebdige (1988) "Teenagers are sought in sex and drink". The main point of the front cover is to appeal to the target audience and so that they want to buy it and carry on reading. The masthead needs to stand out in order for it to advertise the brand of the magazine and in order for it to stand out from other magazines. The masthead is in the top 1/8 of the magazine which would be the first thing people see when they are looking at the magazines on the shelves. This is an essential convention of a magazine front cover.
In terms of imagery the denotation of the image of M.I.A wearing little clothing and smoking a cigarette. Which would connote; sex, drugs, rock and roll and excitement which is what the target audience would be interested in. The image of M.I.A supports the theory of Laura Mulvey (1975) "Woman are seen as a sex symbol" which is what M.I.A would be seen as, as she is wearing a low cut top showing a bit of cleavage and skin. This would attract the male audience immediately as they would instantly be attracted to her as she is representing the genre of music that is being included in the magazine. The way the model is looking in to the camera is seductive and she is looking directly at the audience (males). Her hair is messy and again connotes the same things as above of; messy, crazy, passionate. The fact she is wearing a denim jacket and a Great Britain dress fits in with the colour palette and therefore is aesthetically pleasing for the audience. M.I.A as an icon is good because she is attractive and sexy and is therefore selling the magazine with her looks to the males especially and to the secondary target audience of women she would be seen as an icon because they would want to be like her in the way she appeals to men and that she is attractive and individual. M.I.A is smoking in the image which would support Dick Hebdige (1988) "Youth as troublemaker" this would appeal to the target audience as it would be seen as an attractive trait to the audience. In terms of iconography MIA would be seen as sexy, attractive, rebellious female this would appeal to the target audience of males, the fact she is smoking and looking like she doesn't really care will intrigue the audience especially if they know of her music because her music has the potential to be rude. Women will aspire to be like her and think that men like this image and she would therefore be seen as an icon to both audiences.
The lexis that is used represents the artist on the front as a trouble maker once again supporting the theory of Dick Hebdige (1988) 'Youth as troublemaker". The words 'I fucking do' is rude, rebellious and a bit crazy which would attract the audience and want them to carry on reading this would be a teaser in to the article inside the article may be an outrageous and clearly representing the icon as a rebellious figure. The imagery also links to the lexis as the image is provocative and rebellious so the two link together to make it aesthetically pleasing. Also the main teaser for the feature article is in the 'sweet spot' which is in the left third of the magazine as this is where the eye is drawn too. On the other side of the magazine in the right third, there are more teasers of what you will find in the magazine. The colours of the texts fit in with the colour palette of black, white, grey and red. The red is only used for the M.I.A title and the masthead which is the most important of all the text because its what the reader will be drawn to first also its in the left third putting it in the 'sweet spot'. The teaser for the main feature article is in black making it important also as it is again in the 'sweet spot'. The other text is all in white making it less important however putting it in reverse with white text and black background. The size of the text varies depending on how important each bits are; the main title and masthead are a lot bigger than the rest of the text, making it seem more important and more attractive to the reader on the magazines shelves.
I am going to analyse one more cover of a magazine to ensure I am keeping to the conventions of magazines and the genre which I will be producing. NME seems to be an appropriate model for the genre of magazine I would like to produce.
In terms of denotation the font is in a masculine typography and again it reads NME, NME is the abbreviation of New Musical Express which appeals to the target audience of males between the ages of 17 to 30 years. The blue typography connotes relaxation, chilled and calm things that would relate to the artist on the front of the cover, this may appeal to her genre of music. The colour of the masthead which is blue would defy what Stanley Hall (1904) said 'the common mood in teenagers was depressed' The main point of the front cover is to appeal to the target audience and so that they want to buy it and carry on reading. The masthead needs to stand out in order for it to advertise the brand of the magazine and in order for it to stand out from other magazines. The masthead is in the top 1/8 of the magazine which would be the first thing people see when they are looking at the magazines on the shelves. This is an essential convention of a magazine front cover.
In terms of imagery the denotation of the image of Laura Marling is defying the stereotypes of woman icons as she is fully clothed and she isn't showing any skin, her hair is up and she overall looks relaxed and chilled out. This isn't something you would necessarily concern with woman models in the music industry. She appeals to men and that she is attractive and individual. Laura Marling is smoking in the image which would support Dick Hebdige (1988) "Youth as troublemaker" this would appeal to the target audience as it would be seen as an attractive trait to the audience. The colour of her clothing and the accessories relates to the colour palette of blue, white, black and grey. The image looks really good because she is breaking the usual stereotypes however she is intriguing and would appeal to the audience which is essentially what they are trying to do. In terms of iconography this image may be seen to appeal more to the secondary audience of women as she isn't showing skin or looking particularly seductive which is what they would normally expect so Laura Marling would be seen as a role model for women. However it doesn't mean that it can't appeal to men because it does just in a different way, and they focus more on the rebellious attributes than the sexy, seductive look.
The lexis on the front of the magazine is a lot of extra information about whats included in the magazine. The main text is in the 'sweet spot' of the front cover which is the left third of the magazine. This is where the eye is drawn to when you first look at a magazine, this would be what is showing when the magazines are stacked on the shelves in shops. The teasers, headline, masthead and a quote from the interview inside is in that spot. The quote of the interview includes abstract nouns which are 'talent, integrity and self-loathing' the artist may be trying to tell the reader that its not as easy as its made out to be. The text would support what Stanley Hall (1904) said 'All adolescences go through some form of emotional upheaval'.This would connect to the audience immediately because they would be urged to read in to the full article to see what its about. Above the quote is 'Laura Marling' the name of the feature artist this is in blue and is a lot larger than the rest on the text. Also the colour of the masthead is blue which connects the main headline and the masthead together. The rest of the text is in a small band/ list on the left third at the bottom of other artists that are included inside the magazine. The size of the text depends on how important the producer thinks it is.
No comments:
Post a Comment