Magazine Genres

Key Terms

Genre- A style or group of art, media or literature

Magazine- a text that is periodically released, it contains articles and illustrations and typically focuses on a subject or aims at a specific readership

Print magazines are mass produced physical copies of media text, an old fashioned way of keeping up with topics of the time. They usually focus on a variety of subjects at once. Since print magazines are physical copies, they are typically low quality in images and contain website names or codes to digital content in relation to the magazine. Digital magazines on the other hand, are magazines that can be accessed online or have been downloaded via app or computer, these are more modern than print magazines. These magazines have higher resolution pictures as they originate on digital devices.They contain hyperlinks instead of codes or website names making them quicker and easier access for users.

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Types of magazine

Cooking magazines

Cooking magazines typically contain information on foods and their nutritional value, on top of this they might contain recipes and famous or national restaurants based on the country where the magazine is based. From my two examples, you can denote a piece of cake in one and mid shot of a woman holding food. From the denotation you can connote that they are both targeting food lovers with medium or high levels of income. The first poster is more targeted towards women and families, this is proven through the magazines title, inform us they care about families and mothers/women as it is a stereotype that women should cook within the household. The second image, is less specific with their target audience and seems to target whoever is intrigued in food.

Fashion magazines

Fashion magazines contain the latest trends and shows taking place in the fashion industry. As seen through these images, There are two women in a close up, staring at the camera. This connotes that their audience is women as women are stereotyped but also targeted to those with a high or sustainable income, adults and potentially adolescence as they would be more.

Children magazines

Children magazines are more creative than other magazines. They have interactable activities in which their audience can participate and also advertise tv channels with relevance to children of ages 5-9. If the magazine is well-known, it may also have company sponsored events for children where they can win prizes. My chosen examples denote this well through the image of two children-like animals. Children magazines use any images of animals instead of humans, as children are more interested in wildlife due to their imagination. As their intended purpose is to entertain children, children magazines target child ages from 3+.

Entertainment magazines

Entertainment magazines typically focus on new movies, celebrities, songs or shows being released or popularized within the current media. They target mainstream audiences of adolescent age and above not focusing on specific genders or ethnicities but appealing to them through a wider cultural range. This can span from any celebrity of a specific race or gender to movies and songs based or performed on a specific ethnic background

Sports magazines

Sports magazines detail achievements of the variety of sports and competitions taking place within the sector. Most sports magazines either have a specific sport or event to which they report about but always give specific detail on players within the category regardless of the sport they are recording. From the two examples i have chosen, i denote long shot images showing them participating in a physical activity, from These magazines it's clear that their target audience is men as it is a stereotype that women are not interested in sports. However, many of these modern magazines are gender inclusive and target sports lovers of all genders and races.

Platform Conditions

Digital vs Print

Digital magazines, are magazines accessible from any digital device. They often come on applications or websites. Print magazines, however, are physical magazines that are only accessible through purchase in any store or delivery online. Digital magazines are less expensive than print magazines, whilst both magazines offer the option of a monthly or weekly subscription for their customers, Print magazine subscription have an average cost of more than £100 per year depending on the magazine, in comparison to Digital magazines which range from £30-£70 on average per year.

Print magazines are more targeted towards older generations from ages 30 and above, to gain their audiences interest they tend to include games such as sudoku or word games.

Learning Aim A

Within the print magazine's front page, I can denote the main image of a young black male that takes up the majority of the page, behind him is a bold, vibrant red title 'VIBE'. The print magazine also includes writing on both sides in bold white with a gradient blue background to outline the white writing.

The denotation of the man as the main image primarily connotes him being the main focus of the print magazine, his 'LA' hat costume also connotes him representing urban culture as it is predominantly seen within the urban fashion, further so by his race of black as it is often stereotyped

by the name of 'VIBE'; The title in itself is short and snappy making it more appealing, with its bold red font, to their targeted audience. The gradient dark blue background gives the magazine a mysterious look and creates an air of mystery and intrigue in the male model used for the main image. This will make the audience more inclined to read the print magazine as it is not only aesthetically pleasing but also enigmatic. The male model's leaning arms and stern-faced NVC connote his confidence and focus, this could impact the audience to find interest in the content of the print.

The main goal of any print magazine cover is to catch the targeted audience's attention, magazine does so through its colour scheme which consists of blue, red and white. The red is used on titles such as the masthead and the white is used for the important information in the cover lines, this variation between the use of white and red in the text makes the print magazine appear bold as a whole as they are both bold colours, but it also makes the writing stand out and catch the audience's attention. Not font colour effective, but the font itself. The print magazine uses a bold san serif font which connotes dominance and power, linking to their chosen confident NVC for their male model's image.

The print magazine puts a considerable amount of focus on the male model, presenting him in key lighting that contrasts to the gradient blue background. As this is the device that will be used to catch the audiences attention, it is safe to assume the target audience is teenagers. The costume worn by the man is more towards modern fashion styles that are popular with the adolence of today, more specifically boys as they are more inclined to wear hats, jerseys and chains to appear cool or fashionable.

The magazine uses a combination of print and digital magazine techniques, using a print magazine layout and adding a barcode to their digital platforms. This allows the audience to interact further with the magazine and access the information needed on both a digital and print level. However, due to the cover being print there is still room for error. For example the barcode being printed incorrectly, leading users to an error page. To avoid this its best to have a websitelink as backup in case of any editing flaws or to thoroughly check editing to ensure these flaws are deterred.

'black people are urban or streetwise'. The bold 'VIBE' title connotes the print magazine being catered towards a younger more modern audience as they would be more inclined to read a print magazine with a title

On the print magazine's front page, there is the main image of a young black woman, smiling. The background of the print magazine is a gradient of greys, the colour scheme follows through with this background by having the text in bright colours such as yellow, white and pink. The composition of the print magazine is conventional with the masthead at the top of the cover, the main image at the centre of the page with key lighting and cover lines and the selling point at the side and bottom of the page in bold, large text.

The women's gentle smiling NVC makes her appealing to the audience as she seems aesthetic and conventional to society's views on how a woman should be presented. The key lighting placed on her frontal profile outlines her features and creates an illusion of her being a goddess, connoting to the targeted audience that reading this beauty magazine can allow them to look similar to her. The centre image placement and close up frame also zones in on her looks, displaying them to the audience and focusing on them, giving the audience a better view of her hair and makeup. The magazine purposefully does this as it centralizes its content focus and easily grabs its audience's attention in comparison to other magazines. The grey gradient background aids in this mission as it contrasts with her dark skin complexion, making her stand out from the text and background composition.

The main goal of this magazine cover is to catch the targeted audience's attention. The targeted audience is women, more exactly black women as the model is black and would appeal more to an audience that she represents. The main image is aided by the masthead to grab the audience as it is titled 'Black Beauty; it emphasizes the magazine's focus and target of attracting black women and showing them how to manage their hair and face to look like the model in the main image. The magazine keeps a colour scheme of white, coral pink and yellow within its coverlines and masthead. The masthead is framed at the top of the page in the white, bold san-serif text. The colour white has connotations of importance and confidence, which is why it is a good colour to use when attempting to make something of importance stand out. The same is done for the coverlines and selling point of the cover page but with serif text instead, using serif text connotes the difference between the masthead and coverings. Barcodes and a website link are positioned at the side of the page, adding modernism to the print magazine, This attracts younger audiences as they are more inclined to do their research online rather than by print.

The magazine uses a combination of print and digital magazine techniques, using a print magazine layout and adding a barcode and website link to their digital platforms. This allows the audience to interact further with the magazine and access the information needed on both a digital and print level. However, due to the cover being print there is still room for error. For example, the barcodes or web link could be incorrect, interfering with the digital platform of the magazine. To ensure these errors do not occur the magazine would have to thoroughly edit the cover to prevent any avoidable mistakes.

The main image of the digital double-page spread is placed as the background of the magazine. The image contains a piano with a female model faded in on top. the Woman is dressed in a black and white button up with headphones on her head and a mic on her left. The columns are placed on the right of the spread in a black square box, the black box makes the white text of the spread more visible when read than it would have been if placed on the main image background. As it is one of the only things in a black box, it connotes its vital to the page and contains useful information to the reader 'Albums of 2022', the title of the page is written in serif writing and placed in multiple boxes with vibrant colours

Picture taken from DIY, February 2022 by DIY Magazine - Issuu

to catch the reader's attention, as vibrant colors connote importance or urgency. The colour scheme of the magazine consists of a range of binary colours in different shades. There are less than five colours used in the spread, which makes it easier to keep the reader's attention instead of confusing them. Furthermore, the headline for the magazine 'Albums of 2022' is constructed in serif at the top right of the page. This gives the magazine a look of elegance and links back to their genre of art & entertainment; the font used is used more in the music industry for genres such as jazz or hip-hop as it is unique but sophisticated.

The main image of the page links to the magazine main content focus of arts & entertainment, seeing this image instantly catches the reader's attention and creates an image for the text within the columns, the black and white dress shirt costume of the character connotes to them being professional and focused on their musical career, alluring readers who wish to work hard or get tips on the business side of the music genre. The denotation of This connotes a possibility of the target audience being of the adolescence and above as they would be more interested in events of the music genre and successes of the musicians.

The double page spread is very good at keeping to the conventions of a digital magazine, it contains all the conventions of a typical digital magazine, making it easier and efficient for the audience to read and use for reference. However, with the magazine being digital it has more opportunities than print magazines that they have neglected such as embedding videos or hyperlinks to other sites. In favor of the magazine, it is free unlike print magazine which cost a considerable price, for purchase per magazine. The magazine appears in a print magazine format but functions as a digital magazine as it can only be sourced online, this eliminates their opportunity for gaining older audiences as they are less comfortable with modern technology, but also targets younger audiences of middle class and above as they would be able to afford the technology to access the magazine.

Picture taken from The Music Issue featuring AGNEZ MO by The House of Perez - Issuu

The main image of the digital double-page spread is placed on the left of the spread. The image contains white background with a woman sitting on a stool, frowning with a cello next to her. the Woman is dressed in a all egg white suit costume. The columns are placed on the right of the spread in a box format with a quote in the middle. The headline is placed in serif writing at the top of the page, with the stand first directly underneath it. The colour scheme of the spread is mostly white and black, the cello contrasts this colour scheme denoting its presence and standing out in the spread. This connotes back to the magazines title and genre of a classical music magazine as cellos are commonly used within the genre of classical music.

The spread page connotes sophistication and elegance, through the costume of the character and the placement of the digital magazine features. The costume worn by the character signifies her wealthy upper class background and presents her as educated and mannered as the colour white is often used to connote wealth. The colour scheme of black and white further connotes the wealth and sophistication, as the two colours contrast each other but also compliment, creating a sophisticated aesthetic, that is often accompanied by classical music.

Through the colour scheme it is clear that the target audience for this magazine is upper class seniors, as they would appreciate the simplistic sophistication of the magazine. Furthermore, the headline for the magazine 'Adi Myerson' is constructed in serif at the top right of the page. The headline of the magazine is also the subjects (the woman in the main image) name, using the subjects name as the headline connotes towards the spread being a biography for the character within the image. Upper class citizens are known to stereotypically be 'literate and well', which is why they are more likely to enjoy biographical entries, appealing to their audience.

Learning Aim B

Learning Aim C

Location recce

Final result

Front cover

Double page spread

Evaluation

For my music magazine, i chose to study and evaluate the genre of RnB and its targeted audience. I found that RnB is more mellow and euphoric genre that uses calming tunes to lull their audience into a state of calm and rest. For the brief, i was assigned to target an audience of 16-35; for this reason i have chosen a younger artist who would appeal to this audience as she is around their age, and shares a common mind set to that audience.

For the front cover, I positioned the artist sitting with her arms on either side of the arm rest. This pose, connotes the artist to be confident and intimidating, artist within RnB magazines usually portray these connotations through the poses to show the audience that they are healthy and prosperous, this is usually done to promote a product or the magazine itself. The sun-glasses worn by the artist as part of their costume also connotes towards their confidence, but is stereotypically symbolic of fame and status in society, this relates to Barthes 'semiotics' where he states under ideology that certain words or objects, make us look at the idea that they support. In this case, i chose to make the artist wear the sunglasses to support the idea that they are an important and famous person, this causes the target audience to wonder and gain intrigue on what the magazine is covering in regards to the artist.

For the Double page spread, i chose a cathedral setting, displaying the verses of the bible . This choice was made based on the heritage and symbolism behind the RnB, a hybrid genre that originated from gospel music. The bible verses connoted the origins of the artist and how they began within the genre and how the genre itself started, i found this concept to be quite elevated as it showed the levels of complexity behind the genre and the artist to the audience. RnB is a genre that is complex and discusses emotions and situations through the lyrics and musical composition. i wanted this to be clear to the audience and to be expressed not only by the artist but by the setting choice.

For the front cover, I placed the main image of my artist in large at the centre of the page. This took up the majority of the magazines front cover, and emphasised the artist, i did this with the intention of getting the audience attention and addressing that the magazine issue was on the artist. i placed the coverlines on the sides of the magazine, this was due to the fact that magazines tend to place coverlines on the left and right hand as they are still readable and also do not disturb the main image as seen in my magazine front cover. For my double page spread, I placed the main image of my artist on the left hand side of the page, giving the audience a clear image of the artist. This enabled me to write the artists details on the right hand side, with more space for quote and the headline, this also put emphasis on the artist and their features. The columns will be placed on the right of the magazine, this way more information will be conveyed to the targeted audience about the featured artist and content that will interest them.

When displaying the typography on both the front cover and double page spread, i chose to use block text with designs such as dots that make an illusion of looking like sequins. For the mast head of the front cover, i chose to display two layers of the title and edited the words to appear as though they were coming off the page. Within RnB magazines they tend to make the mastheads and headlines bold and exaggerated to catch the attention of their audience, this method works well which is why i decided to adapt it into my magazine and use it on important texts such as the headlines and titles.