Magazine Covers. The case study I had chosen to provide as my research is from the magazine Garage. This is because unlike the other 2 magazines, this magazine has an image of both genders, male and female.
Knowledge and Understanding of magazines
The use of connotations comes under the key concepts of media language. This is very important because images are used as signs to add meaning. For example, an image of a model means it has something to do with Fashion. Images of "make-up" could have something to do with womens magazines, these are known as connotations. Also, the actual language used is very important which helps along with choosing your audience. Formal writing is used for the older generation and informal writing or slang is used for teenagers as they are so familiar with slang meaning it is more appealing to that audience. Even slanting writing is more informal and more appealing to teenagers. Denotations and connotations are also very help. Denotations are what there are and connotation is what there might be, almost like suspense.
Key concepts are very important and should be used in magazines for many reasons. For example one major key concept is the "audience". This is very important for magazines as they need to know who they are trying to sell their product to. If they know who their audience is then the contents in the magazine will be suitable for that certain audience. Also, if you know your audience from the start, colours and images will help you to represent it for example: if the magazine was for females, the colour used would most likely be pink or red as these are mainly colours aimed at the female audience. Images also help with the audience. For example, people who are really into their football, most probably there will be an image of a football indicating what the magazine could be about and this is an example of connotation.
A lot of this has linked in with representation such as use of colours, images and genders. Other aspects include of are religions and young people being represented unfairly. Firstly the use of colours can represent genders such as pink for females as this is more of a feminine colour and blue for males as this is more masculine. This gives us the audience it is aimed for. An example of this is not many males pick up pink coloured magazines as it seems to be for the female audience just like blue is a masculine colour and not preferred by women.
The magazines which I have analysed are:
. Garage
2. Vanity Fair
3. Sharp
I had decided to analyse these three magazines because my magazine is about fashionable and a high-end clothing. I had decided to analyse these three different magazine covers because I then have a wider range of ideas which I can then combine to create the magazine. The case study I had chosen to provide as my research is from the magazine 'Garage. This is because unlike the other 2 magazines, this magazine has an image of both genders, male and female. On the 'Men's Fashion' magazine, the image given only had a female on the front which indicated that it is mainly aimed for women. A similar issue was with the magazine 'Men's Magazine' which was an issue because it clearly shows that it is aimed for the male audience.
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Peer Reviews
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Quality of writing
Unfortunately, there are frequent grammatical errors in this piece of work, which is something that really needs to be improved in order to achieve the higher marks. I would advise all students to proof-read their work, and if possible get a friend to proof read too, this will ensure there are no unnecessary mistakes and you can be 100 percent sure what you have written makes sense to the reader (not just you!).
Level of analysis
At times good analytical skills are demonstrated, although these are not consistent throughout. For example, it is nice to see terms identified and then further explained with examples (e.g. “This is very important because images are used as signs to add meaning. For example, an image of a model means it has something to do with Fashion.â€Â), but these are not always thorough enough. For example, the sentence “From my research I understood the reason to why some magazines survive in the magazine industry and some don’t†nicely makes reference to the student’s own research, however, there is no additional explanation to back up this point. I would suggest supplying one or two clear examples explaining exactly what their research taught them about why some magazine’s may fail – this would demonstrate their ability to coherently discuss such examples with the reader to improve rationale for their own decisions. One concern I have comes from the following: “My chosen target audience was 16-24 year olds; this is because the model which I will intend on using will attract this age group†– my advice would be to ensure that the target audience is selected first, and the use of models/imagery then chosen to fit with the target audience, not vice versa – as this is generally how the magazine industry would work. Overall however, the student provides an image of their created magazine front cover, which does successfully relate back to their discussion (in most places) and demonstrates their knowledge of how to create a successful magazine cover. A longer concluding statement would benefit the student here, as it will bring the discussion to a clear end rather than just tailing off as it seems to currently.
Response to question
Overall this piece of work covers the topic reasonably well; key areas such as planning, research, and production of the student’s magazine are written about, alongside visual and textual examples and rationale for various decisions (e.g. “This is because unlike the other 2 magazines, this magazine has an image of both genders, male and female.â€Â) Whilst the student successfully includes all these areas, their answers are not always concise and explicit enough, for example there is frequent repetition of the same topics (in particular the use of colour and the target audience), and no clear, continuous structure (despite the subheadings used). I would suggest a structure that follows these points: 1) Background research. 2) Planning/Initial Ideas. 3) Production: a. genre, b. target audience, c. generic conventions (e.g. colour schemes, images), d. advertisements. 4) Evaluation. Of course this is only a rough guideline (and will depend on the exact requirements of the essay), but it allows the reader to follow the structure clearly without getting confused due to repetition.
