Glossary of Magazine Terminology
Banner: The name of a publication as it is displayed on the cover, also known as the logo.
Barcode: A code that is on all magazines giving the price and tells the customer that it must be paid for.
Coverlines: The essential articles inside the magazine are stated through sell lines, these are usually seen along the left third of the cover.
In-House: ‘trademarks’ of the magazine, for example the colour scheme and house colours.
Issue Number/Date: The part of the magazine which refers to when the magazine issue has been released or which issue it is.
Left Third: The left third contains the main feature articles, as this is a core part of what may be inside the magazine.
Main Coverline: A larger coverline that goes across the magazine as the main feature article.
Main Image: Typically showing the person(s) or object directly associated with the main feature/article.
Masthead: The title used by known typography to make the readers become familiar with what magazine they are reading.
Puff: An incentive that is placed on the cover to make it stand out, it usually has a geometric shape surrounding the text.
Pug: Where a corner of the magazine will have a promotion or buzzword to attract the readers.
Pull Quotes: Enlarged quotes that have been taken from interview or text inside the magazine and emphasised on the cover.
San Serif Font: Font without ‘fancy feet’, usually rounded corners.
Selling line/Strapline: An introductory headline below the masthead giving an overview of the magazine.
Serif Font: Font with ‘fancy feet’.
Typography: An overall term used to describe the physical representation of text.
Magazine Analysis
The audience of this magazine cover is clearly identified by
the colour scheme, as the different shades of pink in the main coverlines,
masthead and typography are associated with woman therefore immediately
recognising the target audience as female. Also the use of small decorations
like love hearts strongly imply
The coverlines of the magazine cover also give a clear
indication to who the target audience is as by saying things such as ‘The 4
Things Guys Can’t Resist’ imply that the reader of the audience would be
unsettled in life without a boyfriend/husband or in their own home because the
quote implies that the reader should be impressing the opposite sex and are
still trying to find someone to settle with as later on in the coverline it
says ‘Get The Man’, also another part of the magazine reads ‘The Ultimate Date
Night Dress’ therefore the target audience will still be going out regularly on
dates and nights out attempting to find a man. Specifically the target audience
of this issue is towards females searching for a love life as it is clearly
labelled ‘The LOVE Issue’ via the main coverline.
The main model used for this magazine cover is Cheryl Cole,
which gives a clear indication to the age bracket of the target audience, as
she is a representation of the similar age bracket, therefore 20-30 is most
likely to be the main age bracket. The use of Cheryl Cole also is used as an
aspirational figure because Cheryl Cole is portrayed as being sexy and
beautiful which is something the woman reading the magazine would want to be
like because she is known for having an active love life and she is also known
for a lot men finding her attractive.
The class of the females the magazine is aimed at is
probably more towards middle and working class as the magazine cover is quite
busy in terms of text therefore lacks the sophistication many magazines that
are aimed at upper class people has. The plug/puff used in this magazine ‘The
A-List Hairstyle You Can Do At Home’ also implies that the magazine isn’t aimed
at those that are upper class because the hairstyle is clearly a cheap
alternative to going to the hairdressers therefore the working and middle class
would be more attracted to this plug/puff whereas the upper class would be much
more willing to pay for a hairdresser as they have got the money for it.
The Men’s Health magazine is has a very clear target
audience, straight away from the masthead of the magazine as ‘Men’s Health’
there is a clear association with the health magazine being aimed toward men as
it even says so in the masthead. The colour scheme of the magazine also may be
associated with men because men are stereotyped as being quite oblivious to
their surroundings, unobservant and very lazy therefore by making the text on
the magazine red which is portrayed as a very attention grabbing colour they
are assuming that having a more dull colour probably wouldn’t attract men whereas
a bright red would make them more likely to notice the magazine, it the
magazine were to be aimed at females red may also be used but stereotypically
they aren’t portrayed as being very unobservant, in fact, they are represented
quite the opposite.
The type of male this magazine is aimed at is very masculine
and manly men that are into things that stereotypically men are into such as
‘NEW TECH TOYS’ and fitness rather than quite feminine men or men with
completely different interests.
The age of the male this magazine is aimed at is probably
around the age bracket of 18-35 years old as around this age is when men are
quite conscious of their bodies and like to be very involved in fitness to get
‘GREAT ABS MADE EASY!’ as they like to attract the other sex in a similar way
to how woman like to be seen as sexy, men are similar too. This age bracket is
also focused on quite a lot as it is a very sexually active age bracket
therefore the magazine has focused on a lot about sex by coverlines such as
‘MAKE GOOD SEX GREAT’ and ‘2,646 COOL NEW HEALTH, FITNESS, SEX...’ therefore
those making the magazine are aware that their target audience is quite
sexually active.
The class that the men this magazine appears to be aimed at
is more working and middle class men, the sans serif font suggests that the men
are quite simple therefore maybe not as sophisticated as upper class people,
the layout of the magazine is also quite busy and lacks sophistication that
more upper class aimed magazines would have.
The model that is featured in this magazine front cover also
relates to the target audiences gender, interests and age as he is a clear
representation of someone who is fit, similar in terms of age and obviously
gender too, therefore giving the reader a kind of aspiration and goal for the
related articles through the magazine.
Young adolescent males
Music Enthusiasts
Magazine Conventions
Young adolescent males
- Often there is a clash of colours throughout the magazines to draw attention to the males which are stereotyped as being quite lazy and unobservant therefore they want to be attracted to these bright contrasting colours. Also the colours clashing is quite unsophisticated which gives an idea about the target age of the audience which are probably much younger as they are at an age where they lack sophistication which may be seen in older men.
- The font is san serif font which is a lot simpler font to use which, again lacks sophistication compared to if the font were to be serif font which is a lot 'fancier' and more sophisticated.
- The coverlines are encouraging of a very laddish lifestyle of sex, cars, sport and being very 'manly'.
- The main models throughout these magazines are mostly pictures of females in a degrading manner where they are showing off their body as often the target audience find pleasure in these kind of pictures as it is seemed as a very interesting topic and a very important subject of their lifestyles.
Music Enthusiasts
- Main models are always a music artist of a similar genre which could be rock, alternative or metal etc.
- Magazines often are dominated by a particular genre.
- The colours are often black, white and red to draw attention to the magazine as well as being simple and quite sophisticated.
- The text used is often San Serif Font which is considered to lack sophistication however the target audience is very broad in terms of class or education level therefore the font breaches out to a variety of audiences.
- Coverlines are very relevant to the main model and the main models genre of music, they often relate to gigs, other artists and musical news or stories which relates to the audience as the magazine is directly aimed towards people interested in music therefore the majority of the articles are about artists.
