For inspiration and ideas for my magazine, I have decided to look at a broader range of magazines, instead of college/school magazines such as “Secondary Teachers”. I have decided to analyse the cover of the November 2007 issue of the fashion and lifestyle magazine “CosmoGirl”. The main image of the cover is of Blake Lively who known for her role on the hit US show “Gossip Girl”, which is known for it’s style and fashion – she herself is known for her beauty and fashion. Using Blake Lively on the cover goes with the ideology of the magazine – beauty, fashion and glamorous lifestyle, and if the reader sees someone such as Blake Lively on the cover, they’re much more likely to buy it since the target audience aspires to be someone such as her – beautiful, successful, fashionable and enjoy the lifestyle someone like Blake Lively does. The image itself is very warm, with a light glow to her skin and a wide smile on her face; this invites the reader into the magazine. A wind machine has been used to blow back Blake Lively’s hair; this has been used to allow the reader to see all her physical features on her face and so they can concentrate on her appearance and beauty, which is what a large portion of the magazine’s ideology is.
The dominate colour scheme of the cover is orange, yellow and white (with a pink background) , these colours all harmonize, giving the cover a natural and professional look, if it were a random mix of colours for example grey, yellow and aqua the cover would look messy and it would affect the whole design of the cover in a negative way. The colours used are an example of mode of address, with the designer choosing these colours because they're are feminine and since the targeted audience is females, these colours will appeal to them. These three colours together also give the cover a warm, calm and happy feeling, which compliments the image of Blake Lively, and this warm feeling invites the reader into the magazine making them feel welcome. There are numerous plugs on the magazine cover, this is to show the reader the numerous content of the magazine, and that it features many articles on how to obtain the beauty and style of such celebrities like Blake Lively. Since they is so many plugs on the cover, each one has some kinda effect on it, to attract the reader's eye too it, for example "YOUR GUIDE TO GORGEOUS" is in capitals and place on an orange circle. These are used to get the reader to look at the magazine cover for an extended period of time, making them much more likely to become interested in the magazine, and more willing to buy it with the knowledge of what the magazine features. A feminine script typeface is used for the "girl" part of "ComsoGirl" this is to create they effect this has been written by a female in a cosmetic such as lipstick, these suggests to the reader this magazine is written and produced by females for females, so the reader can trust that the producers of this magazine know what they're talking about when it comes to fashion, beauty and lifestyle, since they're the same as the audience. This effect also tells the reader this magazine has a huge emphasise on fashion and beauty, and it's made for fashion and beauty. This effect also directly tells who the targeted audience is - females with an interest for fashion, beauty and the glamorous lifestyle. The plug "Quiz: DO YOU FALL IN LOVE TOO FAST?" is used to make the reader think about this question, making them want to do know what the article the magazine features has to say on the issue, making them much more interested in buying the magazine.
The analyse of this magazine cover has greatly helped me in my research, and has taught me that it is crucial the cover targets your audience specificly through stylistic choices and the design of the cover.
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