Tuesday, 23 October 2012

This cover is from well known lads mag "FHM" showing reality TV star and pin up girl Kim Kardashian sporting an all white bikini. The target audience for this magazines would be males aged around 18-30 who would be drawn in by the main images strong sexuality and lack of clothing that is being portrayed as Kim looks provocatively out to the consumer. In modern society it can be argued that males pamper themselves more and have more insecurities than they did 30 years ago. The magazine and various other kinds of products can benefit from this by feeding off them, for example directly under the masthead is a cover line which would catch the readers attention by using the word "sex". It has been deliberately made bolder and highlighted in the colour red to stand out off the page to make the self conscious reader buy it.    

This magazine cover is from women's magazine Vogue and is the March issue. The price is just below the date line showing that this particular magazine is priced at £4.10 suggesting that the target audience would range from B's-C2's around the age of 20-40. As I stated before the magazine is aimed directly at women  and our subconsciousness would recognise this as there is a strong use of the colour pink which in our society holds connotations of femininity. The magazines main image is that of rising star Lana Del Ray who is rapidly gaining a larger fan base due to her originality in music. This image will be very effective as it would draw in an audience who are her fans and possibly people who are intrigued over her recent success. The puff at the top right hand side of the magazine also re-enforces this as it promotes her to a wider audience who may not know of her "The fascinating Lana Del Ray".  The main image of Lana shows that she has a strong sexuality through her eyes (which always are making direct eye contact) but also respectable as she very well covered up which again would draw in the target audience as they feel that if they read about this star they have a greater insight into becoming her. The mast head is the most prominent part of the text as it is enlarged and is coloured in pink striking the eye as well as missing the "G" out of the word "Vogue". This is done as the magazine is so well known and is embedded in most of the populations mind we ultimately recognise what magazine it is by looking at the first "V" of the title. The lay out of this magazine is fairly simple compared to other magazines again portraying style and class which would appeal to a higher class audience.    What, why and how words are used in magazines is no coincidence, for example one of the puffs in this magazine shows that "Essential international collections issue". The word that is most notable is the first word "Essential" as it is in a different font and colour again inticing the audience by making them thinking they if it's essential then they must have it. 

Friday, 19 October 2012

This magazine cover is from the mens fitness magazine "Men's Health" which typically uses a main image of a male with a strong sexuality and desirable aesthetics. The male in the main image is making direct eye contact with the consumer of the magazine ultimately drawing the potential reader in along with the ideal "beach bod". The main image is almost always in black and white contrasting with the eye catching red bold print used in the Mast Head. The puffs that are presented could be argued that they feed into peoples insecurities as can be seen by "Land your dream job" suggesting that the reader does not already have that, too add to that the other puff states "6 quick ways to turbocharge your sex drive" again feeding on peoples insecurities to be sexually desired by women. The main cover line "Build a beach body" can relate to the audience as the reader would purchase the magazine to understand how to lead a healthy lifestyle and be more like the male on the front cover, to add to this the stylized bold black font instantly draws the attention of the reader as it is a predominant part of the text. The three "B's" in the main cover line have also been purposely placed so that they are in a vertical line giving it a air of style but to also again intise the consumer more so.  The audience for this magazine would range from the age of 25-45 mostly male and single. I would say that the  Socio-economical grouping will range from B's-C2's. This particular issue shows that it is a September issue in an Australian magazine preparing the reader for the forthcoming summer season.