Textual Analysis of LOOK magazine
LOOK magazine is a celebrity gossip and fashion magazine that is aimed at young women in society today.
The title in the case of this particular issue, is pink, which refers to the fact that the magazine is aimed at women, and the choice of the word 'LOOK' as the magazine's masthead connotes that it is about fashion and beauty. The masthead is large and bright which makes it stand out from the page, so in effect, it grabs the reader's attention and makes them look at it and hopefully buy it. Above the masthead is a kind of strapline for the magazine. It reads 'Glossy High Street Fashion Weekly' which definitely gives the message to the audience about the magazine's genre.
The magazine keeps up the feminine and girly feel within the cover, by the pink layout, which I think attracts feminine women to read this magazine. Also in-keeping with the fashion theme, the font cover features many pictures of female celebrities, and appropriate straplines underneath, such as 'all the glam dresses!' and pictures of different clothes featured in the magazine, again with straplines underneath detailing what the pictures are about, for example 'the £15 office shoe that all the celebs want!'. I think this attracts readers in a certain way because if they see a dress or a pair of shoes on the front cover that they would be interested in buying, then they are more likely to buy the magazine and look for more garments to buy.
The magazine features a medium close-up shot of a celebrity (in this case, Jennifer Aniston), with the main headline 'The Hottest Celebrity News!'. This helps convey to the reader the fact that the magazine is also a celebrity gossip magazine. Again, the fact that the magazine features different celebrities each time, will attract readers, as if there is an a celebrity they like, or a particularly interesting celebrity on the front cover, then they will be more likely to buy the magazine and read on.
Textual Analysis of NME Magazine
NME magazine is an alternative music magazine aimed at young people in society.
The magazine's main feature is the large photograph of the band which takes up most of the page. It is a medium close up shot of the band, which gives the reader a lot to look at. The photo partially covers the masthead of the magazine, which shows that the magazine is well known, and people know the magazine based on a tiny glimpse of the masthead. The photo is covered with the magazine's main headline, 'The Automatic' which tells the reader the name of the band, and also what the main article of the magazine is about. It is in a big, bold and colourful font, which draws the readers attention, as it stands out from the page. The headline is also in an interesting font, and is displayed differently to the other magazines that I have looked at, as it is diagonal across the page, along with the straplines that go with it.There are a lot of different plugs displayed on this magazine, which run along the top and bottom edges of the magazine. The plugs are clearly worded so that the reader knows what it is talking about, and what is involved in the magazine. Some plugs are accompanied by photographs to compliment them. The background of the plugs is a bright red colour, which stands out against the main headline photo, again catching the eye of the reader and making them want to buy and read the magazine.
Textual Analysis of Teen Vogue Magazine
Teen Vogue is an American fashion magazine, aimed at teenage girls.
I think the masthead of the magazine, "Teen Vogue" sends out an instant message about who the magazine is aimed at, which is obviously teenagers. By reading more in depth to the cover's story headlines and straplines, we can tell that the magazine is aimed at teenage girls. This is also made apparent because of the use of two fashionable celebrities as the backdrop for the magazine.
Through looking at other examples of the magazine's front cover, and from reading it myself in the past, it is made clear to me that the magazine's cover stars are celebrities and idols of around the same age as the magazine's readers. I think Teen Vogue aims to use only inspirational and positive role models on the front cover of the magazine, so as to give the best message possible to it's readers and to give the magazine a positive and healthy reputation. For example, the two girls on this particular cover are smiling, and are dressed appropriately but stylishly and colourful to give a positive message to the readers, but to also engage with the fact that the magazine is based around fashion as it is the daughter magazine of the famous Vogue magazine. It is also made apparent to the readers who the two girls are (Whitney and Lauren from The Hills), by the headline and strapline underneath the photo, "drama queens - WHITNEY & LAUREN RETURN TO THE HILLS". This makes it easier for the audience to know who is on the cover, and for them to make an easier assumption of whether to buy the magazine or not. Teen Vogue also uses well known young celebrities and idols on their covers and in their magazines, because they may be popular at the time, and the public will want to read about them. I think this makes the magazine seem exclusive, because they always have famous celebrities on the cover, so it gives a glamourous feel.
The most important headline is "Back to school style" as it has the biggest font and is in capital letters so it stands out on the page. The straplines to go with the main headline are also displayed across the page, so that more attention is focused on that headline, whereas the other headlines are smaller and only a few words long. The different headlines on the cover are in different colours, such as red, white and black, so that the reader is able to differentiate between the headlines, and so that they all stand out against each other.
