Media homework

The magazine i am looking at is Easy Living. It's a magazine for women, i can tell this because the content used in the cover lines is content that is stereotypical of women's magazines for example:  "what to wear when you get there" and "beauty news" are generally things that women would be more concerned about and men wouldn't be. Also the words "you" and "you're" are examples of direct address, these words can make the story's more personal to the reader and make the reader want to read it more.

The magazine i am looking at cover is asymmetric, this is because the main image , in particular the colours of the main image, in the middle dose not balance with the colour of the cover lines because the colour of the right side cover lines are black which do not fit in with the white and one black cover lines on the left third, let alone the main image.Also the mastheads colours do not fit with the cover lines but the title does fit with the colour of the main image. The colours used to categorise the topics of the cover lines show the atmosphere of the topic really well, the green on the word food is a great example because food, much like the colour green is healing, it's healthy and it brings stability. Again another example is the "cover star " section, it has a red highlight this could show joy,that the star is here, or the success of the star.

The text used in the writing is mainly sans serif, this could be to set the tone of the stories topics, for example "Easy Elegant Summer Dressing" can be about casual dress as sans serif fonts is for a casual tone, whereas "loose, sexy hair " is in serif font which is a more formal style of writing, this sets the tone for a more formal story. The colours used in the cover lines seem to show two different things. The white text showing social stories "What your friends really think of you" proves this. The black text is more personal stories  which the reader would be interested to read about "Easy Elegant Summer Dressing" yet agin proves this as this is something that the reader will want to read about for them selfs, making it more personal.

The use of italics on the word really puts emphasis on a hidden point in the statement. The brackets after the previous sentence show a sort of 'whispering' this is basically a little thing that can be read and it show what a reader may be thinking after seeing that statement.

"Easy Elegant Summer Dressing" this is an example of poor representation of women. Not all women want to be glamours and elegant but with this cover line it is basically that all women do. Much like the word easy it suggests that women do not like hard work, this is obviously a lie as, especially because in this day and age women make up a considerable amount of the work force. This magazine is obviously aimed at middle class, middle age women but by the time you have read it all you may consider yourself below if your of that description and don't like any of those things.

 

Homework

Cosmopolitan is a magazine for women very much based on beauty and other things women would be interested in.  The word "your" is used to grab the readers attention to make them notice the story then possibly they could read it. Also Nicole's eyes looking straight at the reader accompanied by the story next to her makes the story more personal to the reader. Also the content inn the cover lines is more stereotypical of that genre for example "7 Glowing Skin Secrets"  is something women would be more concerned about than men, and "Style Alert" the stereotypical man is not interested in style were as a woman would be.

Half term homework questions

The link for the magazine cover I will be using.

1) On the front cover of the magazine there are many different genres of story's. For example there are story's about sex and dating tips and articles about weight loss and how to loose weight. These articles, along with the picture of Adele, who is a aspirational woman that people aspire to be like, strongly suggest that this is a magazine aimed at women. Also the use of the word you and Adele looking at the camera is direct address and grabs the readers attention and would make he. Want to read the story.

2) The main image is very bright, bold and colourful this is something that will grab the readers eye. On the left third the cover lines are in a big and bold. This is because when shelved the reader will be able to see these and if the title is what the reader wants to read they can easily see it and possibly want to read it. The title is, unlike the main image, is dull and not very bright this could be either suggesting that the magazine in General is quite chilled and mellow or it's suggesting that just that particular issue is chilled and mellow.

3) Some of the cover lines used can be seen as something that pressures women. For example there is a cover line that is talking about hot looks 24/7 this could pressure women into believing that they have to look hot 24/7 and is therefore an unfair representation on women

Easter Homework

1.What two conventions have I used & Why?

A lot of direct address has been used such as the woman looking at you and the word "your" makes it more personal and makes the reader more wanting to read that article. The articles in the magazine move themselves towards parties and people who are setting up parties and going to them, this is proven by the titles "gift guide" and "your party dress code". The model on the front has a story, this makes the story more personal to the reader. There is also a story about how a woman got through her time in prison and how she got through it, this is not something to aspire to but could prevent the reader from doing something and if the reader is going through a rough patch they could read it because it could be help as it is a similar event.

2.What are the effects of my Layout, Typography, Colour choice and Language Choice

The layout is asymmetrical by colour as there is a big red block on the left and a blue on the right. The key words of each story is highlighted in bold, for example in the title "Your party dress code" the word party is highlighted in a red font, possibly to show the passion or the increased physical activity that often happens at a party, also the font used for the word party is serif, this could suggest the opposite to what the font colour suggests but as the article is about choosing the parties dress code so it nicely links in with the article. 

3.What issues of representation have I presented?

The article about dresses for any occasion and about sexy low key may put pressure on women to wear dresses or that women are expected to wear dresses. 

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