Task 3: Essay

To what extent should magazines be held responsable for the social ramifications of the representations they offer?

The five magazine covers I chose to analyse were all targeted at teenage girls. Comparing them all I saw that they all shared similar conventions and characteristics that may influence teenagers to act or think they have to look a certain way. I will explore whether or not the magazines should receive the blame for social ramifications (such as eating disorders, problems with relationships, sexuality and peer pressure) and how they may encourage these ideologies.
  A dominant characteristic in these teen magazines is the main image on the front page, a celebrity is used, under the age of 27 that the readers can relate too and idolise. The use of images of 'beautiful' or even 'sexy' stereotypes act as a role model to the teenagers, and they subconsciously see them as a figure of what they are meant to look like. This is especially reinforced when combined with the cover lines, some of my chosen examples included '4 moves to a strong, sexy body' and 'get pretty essentials' this relates to the celebrity image as the magazine has presented them as an 'ideal' to relate too. 
  The readers may read these cover lines and look at the image and then believe that if they follow the magazines steps they may achieve a body image similar to theirs. This can be seen as alarming as some of the readers of these magazines are as young as 10 or 11, and for the encouragement of looking 'sexy' would also persue younger girls to mature faster and they may fall into bad situations, maybe even stimulating health issues such as eating disorders as they strive to fit into the 'ideal skinny celebrity'. This point brings us to the essay question and shows that magazines can be seen as influential when it comes to body image, as the cover lines show clear encouragement to be seen as better looking. Furthermore they also imply that your body/looks are not okay as they are now, so they may result to lowering self esteem and creating paranoia in the teenagers subconscious. 
  Another frequent occurring topic appearing in the coverlines of these magazines is the subject of teenage relationships and boys. In my examples, there is '5 guys you'll date.. and why you'll dump them' and 'how to ditch your dating disaster.' These statements imply massively that girls are seen as high maintenance in relationships as they present female dominance. Maybe also suggesting that men are inferior to us. This also stereotypes teenage girls as the subject isn't raised (from my recent research) of sexuality. The reference to boys in relationships may make gay girls feel like they're different in negative manner and may feel like being straight is 'right'. 
 The magazines use the idea of 'fitting in' and popularity to entise readers. One cover line of a real story shockingly read 'pretending to have sex made me popular.' This is an extreme encouragement of negative behaviour and the use of being 'popular' suggests that it's something you should strive to do.The use of clothes and fashion is used on the covers of magazines to promote sales, the items are labelled as 'must haves' or 'the next trends' these uses of terminology also make teens believe they will not fit in to what is 'popular' if they are not on trend or have the newest fashions. 
  However, all of these arguments favour that these teen magazines have massive influence on their readers and how they choose to act because of their content. But obviously, on the other hand some readers may not be interested in what the magazines have to offer and not 100% of girls buy or read the magazines. So perhaps they cannot receive total blame for the social ramifications of today's society. 

 All in all i believe that teenage magazines are too specific, i think that they should open up their ideas and not be so drilling as to what their 'perfect image' is and why everyone should resemble it. It is obvious that some of the content is not intentional but it's having a massive impact on the youth as they promote what to wear, how to look, who to 'date' and degrade their readers into thinking they're not good enough. 
  

Task 3: Magazine Presentation

Magazine presentation from Bethsumecki

Task 2: Magazines & Audiences Essay

Task 2: Analyses On Target Audience Essay

   From looking at the cover of my chosen magazine I can tell that the target audience are upper working class or middle class women, maybe in an age range to 15 – 35. They will have an interest in celebrity news and fashion; they may even have confidence issues and are seeking advice.

  The magazine’s cover has succeeded in presenting the target audience with a product they will be interested in buying. The main colour scheme of the front page sticks to basic white and beige. The white attracts the target social group as it represents innocence and femininity, the beige however contrasts and stands for expenses and luxury as it resembles gold. The two colours contrast but however complement each other as they add class and elegance to the style of the magazine. Black and white is also used in the text on the cover, along with fluent san serif font. This combination also adds style, it’s extremely formal and classy as it’s simple and a trade mark font, this appeals to the upper class. 

    The cover lines on the magazine also show that the target audience may be women who are interested in fashion, and maybe seeking advice in relationships or dieting. For example, this issue has specifically been labelled ‘The Body Issue’ which appeals to those who are seeking weight loss guidance; this also links to the image on the cover of Megan Fox. Megan is a complete style icon and infamous for her figure and beauty, the fact that she has been placed on ‘The Body Issue’ implies to the reader that if they follow whatever advice the magazine offers, they may achieve a look resembling Megan’s and buy the magazine. Most of the cover lines however follow the theme of fashion as the biggest font on the page besides the masthead is ‘175+’ to advertise new stock of fashionable clothing. This appeals to the readers as in purchasing the magazine they will be buying into the newest trends and fashions. Also, the cover lines have shown clear links to the target audience of upper working class/middle class as saving money has been promoted in ‘Fix your hair for under $10,’ this also relates to the younger of the target audience, such as students who are not in full time employment yet. Furthermore, relationships and personal living as also been briefly addressed in a coverline ‘Don’t Break Up! The Science Behind Staying Together.’ This is extremely appealing for the members of the target audience who may be seeking relationship advice. The use of the worlds ‘Science Behind’ also makes the reader believe the contents will be on factual evidence and therefore will be reliable.

       The magazine cover as a whole contains many aspects that make it a recognisable female, celebrity gossip and fashion magazine. The masthead is the biggest font on the page and its intriguing, and an image of an extremely well known, beautiful and respected celebrity has been used. The fonts and colours have been thought about in detail and the magazine title ‘Elle’ represents femininity in itself as in French it simply means ‘she.’ The name is also extremely popular in America, and that Is most probably where a high percentage of the target audience are from. 

Task 2: Magazines & Audiances Cover Annotation

Task 2: Magazines & Audiences Glossery

Terminology glossary of magazine terms

Audience - The group of people of which the magazine is associated with and written to target. `
Connotation - images/words/colours that imply hidden meaning or may be suggesting something
Coverlines - Brief information given on the front page of the magazine about the major articles featured. 
Distraction - Used to break down the resistance of the customer. Often used to distract and relate products to other factors such as sex to sell. Used in advertisement 
Frequency (advertising) -  is the number of times the target market is reached.
Genre - The catogories or type of a piece of media
Left Third - the left half of a magazine cover, where most of the cover lines can be found, so that these are seen when the magazine is displayed on a shelf.
Market Penetration -This term refers to the percentage of potential readers who actually buy the publication.
Masthead - The title of the magazine/newspaper. Usually placed at the top of the page, sometimes to       the left

Puff - words or phrases used to associate with the magazine and boost status and create identity

Plug - Information about the contents of the magazine/newspaper that is shown on the front cover
Representation - How something is presented in the media. 
Serif Font - Font that has curls included, sometimes used in italics. Using these  fonts gives  a sense of class and fancy style to the magazine which may make it more consumable. This can also be used to give a sense of feminine theme. 

San Serif Font - Font that is very straight, blocked and bold. Used to give a more formal style. 

Tag Line - A short phrase or slogan tagged to the masthead giving more information about the magazine/newspaper. 

Task 1: Getting to know blogger

What i can do with blogger

* Post images * Post links* Add videos* Add and receive comments
* Add screen shots

This is a link i used to understand how to set my blog up: 

How will blogger be useful to my coursework?

* I can receive feedback to my work 

* Include images of students that i have taken to create my 'college magazine' and 'music magazine'

* Show rough designs and drafting before i start to plan final pieces 

* Add links to bands, gigs, examples of  music magazines to draft ideas for my final product. 

* Add final designs

 * I can compare designs to other existing magazines to ensure my ideas are presented realistically and professional. 

* Can show my own photography to prove i am using primary source

* Blogger is easily accessible so i will be able to add to my coursework from home as well as during lessons