Similar Product Research - Representations

VOGUE
Earlier on this morning I went to my local Supermarket and I thought that I should go and have a look at a few of the magazines to get some inspiration for my own. This Vogue magazine cover instantly grabbed my attention with its bright masthead and shapely font. A cover like this would definitely appeal to my target audience as its headings are straight to the point (which teenagers tend to appreciate since they won't have to waste lot of time finding out what is actually in the contents of the magazine), as well as focusing on the more appareling topics highlighted with larger font. It features a Victoria Beckham, a beautiful and very famous fashion designer. I love the way she is presented, as a modern, independent woman with her eyes staring directly into the camera and her leg slightly showing. The position of her hands also struck me and I automatically assumed this magazine was high fashion even though Vogue is well renowned for their style columns.

AMERICAN SONGWRITER

Since Country Music is my favourite genre it would be ridiculous if I didn't at least analyze one magazine cover from that style of music! Here is an example from American Songwriter that helped me create a great idea of what I'm considering to use in my own cover. It features Tim McGraw who is wearing his classic cowboy hat (a stereotype of the genre) however with a modern twist since he is also wearing a matching leather jacket. In both this cover and the one for Vogue the backgrounds are blurred out and I think that's one reason why I like them so much, I've realized that most of the other magazines have solid backgrounds either with photoshop or through the use of a green screen. As a convention for magazines it has a barcode at the bottom as well as the month it was issued. Using a phrase as strong and patriotic as "earns his freedom" would get its target audience interested in the magazines content so in order to engage my readers my cover must do the same. A free sample advertisement is also viable at the top of the page to lure in potential buyers.

VOGUE
I really wanted to analyze another type of magazine besides one of the two I had already used, but when I saw this cover I had to write about it.  This is definitely my favourite, from the full body shot, showing off her decorative gown, to the way the masthead is in the background making it appear almost 3D. Since this was an online edition of the magazine there is no barcode, instead they have a click to shop button. I think its brilliant that they put a pun in one of the cover lines where it says "Fashion's new wave" as Rihanna is stepping out of a lake. Her dress is covered top to toe in sequins and in my opinion is almost mermaid like. The dress is of similar color and style to the one in the music video for her hit song Work symbolizing her own sense of style and image showing though in her photo shoots. Each of the cover lines are shown in bold with a short description of what that article is about and I think that this is a great idea since there isn't too much writing so that readers won't look at it but there is just enough to give them an insight into what they would read about.

How this has influenced my ideas and learning:

• The clever language used in the titles of the stories are fun and make it more interesting to read.
• I like how there are a lot of things going on within all three magazines.
• The colour schemes make them look nicely presented.