2. All of the cosmopolitan magazines have
the word ‘sex’ in the top left corner,
typically this where the eye first reads.
This is to attract attention as this is
what females want to read about and
know the gossip of celebrities.
On each right side of the front cover, there is a continuous
pattern of the coloured circle with the main words of a big
article or something they think the audience will find
interesting and want to read more about. This is effective
because if they want to read it just from reading that, they
then have to buy the magazine. The coloured circle stands
out to the reader, and contains a story headline.
Cosmo have a continuous house-style of the colour pink. In
every issue on the front cover there is a heavy use of the
colour pink, whether it’s the main title, font background or
clothing that’s used. The colour pink attracts the audience
as it’s a girly colour for a girly magazine. The other colours
they tend to use are pale ones such as cream, yellow and
different shades of purple. The colours are mainly pastel
colours which are more feminine than bright colours.
Cosmo always have either
a really attractive female
or male on the front
cover. It’s always a
celebrity, and they include
their name next to them
to show who it is, so if the
buyer doesn’t recognize
them. They could
recognize their name. It
also gives you a little in
sight on what the article
about them is on, making
you want to read on. It is
always a young, sexually
attractive person, never
someone old.
They also manage to attract their target
audience by making the headline some
thing relating to sex, losing weight or
fashion. All the things women are
stereotypically likely to want to read about.
With it being on the front cover, people
look at it and buy it to read more about it.
3. Like on all Cosmopolitan
front covers, there is a
picture of usually a female,
but sometimes a male or
boy band. In this case it is
Nicole Scherzinger, in most
cases it is also a medium
shot of the person, so you
can see their full body and
the top of their legs to
make them more
attractive. She has
airbrushed skin to make it
look perfect, her hair looks
shiny, soft and healthy. Her
make up is subtle, making
her look more natural
although she is probably
wearing a lot. Her dress is
pink, matching the colours
of the house style of the
magazine. She is wearing
jewelry which is probably
expensive, as is her dress.
She is posing and smiling,
being made to look very
happy to be on a photo
shoot for the Cosmopolitan
magazine. Her dress is
revealing and she is even
pulling the bottom of it up
herself.
Overall, Nicole is made to
look very happy and
healthy, just like what the
target audience want to be.
The stereotypes in this magazine give
off both positive and negative sides.
The positive is that it portrays a
healthy life style with women having
a good figure, healthy skin and hair,
nice clothes and how to be better at
things. This is positive as it inspires
women to be better and have role
models however it is also negative as
it makes women think they they have
to be like that rather than it being a
choice. It can give a negative
impression as celebrities are forcing
young women to lose weight and
wear more make up.
The presence of a lot of young women and men in this magazine
is high. The people who are shown in this magazine are the
people who women aspire to be and look like. They are all
sexually attractive with a good figure and in nice clothes. The
males are all young and good looking too with big muscles and
most of the time topless. This helps target the target audience as
it is who they want to be like or who they want to read about.
Women are attracted to men, especially if they are good looking
with muscles. The people shown are in the age range of 18-30.
This is because this is also the age range that the audience varies
from. Other age groups such as younger people or older people
are not shown in this magazine. This is because the target
audience of young women don’t want to read about children or
older people, just about what celebrities their age are doing. The
dominant gender are the females in this magazine, this is clear
because it is clear throughout that it is written by females and
most of the pictures are of well known females in the magazine.
The representation of social groups is the adverts shown in the
magazine. It shows adverts that are of fashion and what to buy.
Middle class people want to see things that they can buy and
the high fashion clothes that the celebrities are wearing. They
will look at the brands that are shown, like make up and hair
brands. They want to read all about celebrities and how to look
good rather than things that are going on in the world like news
stories.
The pictures in this magazine are of clothes, hair and make up.
Usually on celebrities, but on models too. This makes the reader
want to look more like them. The articles are about what
celebrities are doing, make up and hair tutorials, real life stories,
funny yet rude confessions and articles on sex. This is what the
typical women wants to read about because they can relate it to
real life. This connects to the Uses and Gratifications Theory-
they seek their own entertainment and escape.
4. The style of Cosmo, and other celebrity/fashion magazines all have
a similar style. They have the title at the top, with a picture of a
male or female, often with revealing clothes who is an attractive
celebrity. They have some from of sex article advertised, in Cosmo
it is the top right corner. Stories are advertised around the image
and they are usually on diet, real life stories and celebrities. There
are symbolic representations in the Cosmo magazine. The font of
the title is symbolic as it has become well known. To a new Cosmo
reader, they may pick up the magazine as they like the clothes that
the celebrity is wearing, high in fashion clothes. The stories are
placed around the celebrity, making the celebrity the most
important thing on the page and making them stand out more.
The cultural codes and conventions that Cosmo use are the way
they speak to the reader. They use the word ‘you’ and ‘yours’ so
the reader believes they are talking directly to them and giving
them the latest information on things that they have. They believe
that they have the inside information on the latest fashion, make
up, hair styles, celebrity gossip and are the first to know which are
the best diets to be on. Women are drawn to this as all of it is a big
thing in their life, so by being better at it or becoming more like a
celebrity is, they believe it will make them better and better as a
woman. Overall, the reader thinks that by reading Cosmo, they are
learning how to become a better women.
As the audience are young women, the editor uses more imagery than text. As you
can see in the article on the next page, the image and title is one and a half pages,
where as the actual article is just half a single page on a double page spread. This is
because the reader is attracted to the smaller paragraphs as the audience spend a
short time reading. There are short sentences and paragraphs to show that it has
been made for its audience. The tone is informal and chatty, this makes the reader
feel more involved and it is what they like to read so they want to feel part of it.
This makes the reader think that everything is directed at them and keeps them
reading on. The subject matter is real life and the articles are emotive rather than
politics and higher educational publications like stories in a broadsheet newspaper
which may require a higher educational level to read.
Cosmo does another edition of Cosmo which is smaller, and has no packaging. The
normal sized magazine comes in a plastic wallet with a free gift in it such as sunglasses
or nail varnish and it has lots of booklets in the back. The smaller one just comes on its
own. The larger one has more advertising as the booklets in the back are just
advertising booklets. Apart from that, the rest is the same like the text to image ratio
and the amount of information.
5. The image in the article takes up
three quarters of the page. This is
because the audience are drawn to
the image rather than a lot of text.
The article its self is only half of a
single page and the paragraphs are
short. This is because smaller
paragraphs are easier to read and
the are split up with headings to
make it look like even less to read.
The people in the image are
attractive models and the girls dress
is even reveling her leg at the
bottom. The caption on the image
makes it easier to understand what
the article is about.
The colour scheme is blue and
white, keeping the colours pastel
so it is still girly. The pink remains
in the colour scheme discreetly
with it being the background
colour in the image. The font in the
title stands out and the title is big
so peoples eyes are drawn to it to
read it. There are things in the
article which are different and
creative, like the sad face as it is
about texting and the big W at the
beginning of the article.
The old Cosmo front cover had the
celebrity behind the title
Cosmopolitan. She is very
revealing and attractive but they
are not quite in the centre of the
page, they are more to the right.
The stories are mainly down the
left side and the colours and font
size are all the same.
The bar code remains in the same
place on the magazines. The
stories are on the same subjects,
sex and love. The pink and white
colour scheme remains the same.
The new Cosmo magazine cover
has the celebrity in the centre of
the page. She is very revealing
and sexualized still. The stories
are spread out around her and
there is now always a big title at
the bottom of the page. The
colour scheme is white and pink
and the celebrity is now placed in
front of the Cosmopolitan title, to
make them the priority on the
page. There are more blobs and
stars on the new pages and a lot
more colour.
6. The first thing I noticed about the
Glamour mags is that there are numbers
on the front covers. This is because
statistics are facts and when people are
aware that there are statistics and facts
they are more likely to read on as it is
true.
The stories are very similar to Cosmo,
with dieting, love, sex and men. Women
are stereotypically wanting to read things
on these subjects, all to become the
better woman that they can be.
The celebrity is portrayed as very happy, slim,
attractive and healthy. They are in the centre
and in front of the title so they are the main
attraction.
There is a theme of circles with tips or
a story headline in, they area different
colour so your eyes get drawn to them
and makes you want to read the story
in side.
Even if you do not recognize the
celebrity, their name is published on
the page next to them in a bright, big
font so you can’t miss it.
The technical codes and convents Glamour mag uses are the
magazine size, it is a standard size magazine with full page
advertisements of just one clothing item. This is a good technique as
they are so aware of what their audience like and buy they can show
one dress and the audience will visit the website to look for more
similar things on it. Both magazines have hundreds of pages and are
filled with advertisements on girly things that all young women
want or need. Both magazines use a text to image ratio or a lot
more images than text. This is because the audiences are so similar,
they are both after the same things. They are interested in reading
short articles and flicking through a magazine rather than reading
long articles that involve having to think too much.
7. In the Glamour mags, the celebrities on the
front cover are portrayed the same as the
ones in Cosmo. Rihanna in this image is
smiling so she looks very happy, her skin looks
perfectly smooth and bronze, she is slim like
all of the other celebrities that get on the
covers, her hair looks thick and healthy and
her dress is small therefore very revealing. It
is a medium shot just like the Cosmo covers,
so that they have the main features and still
manage to make it look revealing. Her dress
matches the colour scheme of the black fonts
against the black background. She has lots of
bracelets on which are all silver with
diamonds on so they look expensive. There
are no imperfections with this image which
makes other women like the audience aspire
to be like her.
The stereotypes in the Glamour mags are
similar to Cosmos, the negative stereotypes are
that the magazines are only showing a young
and beautiful side to women, giving women
the impression that they should all be like that.
This causes a bad effect as people have
become ill from eating disorders from wanting
to look like a celebrity and young girls wearing
make up when they are too young. The positive
is that they are showing happy and healthy
women so it portrays a healthy life style. It
gives people role models and people to look up
too. The stereotypes are the celebrities and
models, people who always look good, so the
representation is that people should always
look like that if the celebrities do.
The target audience is a little higher than Cosmos, the average age of the reader is 31. Most of
the readers aren’t in a job role of professionalism or management, as they are the higher
educated people who would be more interested in reading educational articles. The stories on the
front of the magazine above are about diet, fashion and real life stories. There are no sex story
headlines on this front cover, maybe as they have an older target audience they are aware it is the
younger people who are more interested in reading that, like the Cosmo readers. Older women
are not represented in this magazine as they don’t include any of them in it. Men are represented
as sexually attractive with big muscles. This is both a positive and negative representation as not
all men are like that and women will think that they should be, yet positive because it shows if
you are healthy and exercise men could achieve a body like the ones in the magazines.
The way both of the magazines address the reader is how they speak. They both use the word ‘you’
directing everything they say to the person reading it in particular. They use high fashion, which is
interesting to a specific group of people, usually young women like the target audience for both
magazines. As the magazines address the reader, the reader believes that they should do as they
are being told to by the magazine, like buy a certain item of clothing that a celebrity has worn.
8. There are similar social issues in both of the magazines for
example new places opening like shops but nothing to do
with real world social issues. This is because the magazine is
for entertainment and women choose this magazine to read
about what they find interesting. The uses and Gratifications
theory shows this as if they wanted to learn about social
issues they would pick up a newspaper rather than a life
style magazine.
There is a very common absence in both of the magazines.
The absence of someone unattractive is because they want
their magazine to look good and people are more likely to
buy it if it looks good. There are also no old people in the
magazines, this creates a representation because older
people may find the magazine interesting and want to read
it but they don’t feel involved enough. There are also no
children in the magazines, this could be because people
want to escape the real world like their children and it is
their time without them or people haven’t started thinking
about children yet so have no interest in it. The presence in
both magazines is just young good looking people. This can
create a bad representation as it could mean that they are
the ones who are important rather than the other people
too.
This is an advertisement in a recent Glamour mag. It is of an
attractive model wearing a new item of the Express clothing line. This
is advertised because the middle class people want clothes from
brands that are classy and a bit pricey as it is what they are willing to
spend their money on, just like the Cosmo audience. The articles are
on diet, love, sex and fashion. This shows that the magazines are
similar as they have the same content type. The audience are similar
and interested in the same things. Young women have an interest in
men and love as it is a key time for them to feel that way and want to
read about it. The pictures in the magazines are of models and
celebrities, fashion, make up and hair tutorials and perfumes.
Glamour and Cosmopolitan have a very similar style. This is because they are
both women's life style and gossip magazines. The main image is a celebrity,
with the title Glamour or Cosmopolitan behind them, with the stories
published around them. They are advertising what you can read in the
magazines and both have an occurring house theme of pink and white.
Cosmo’s have different fonts like serif fonts where as the Glamour mags just
have san serif fonts. The headlines are similar and the style of the magazines
are too, but Glamour has more story headlines on the front page. Glamour
magazines have an older target audience and most of their headlines are on
health tips, where as most of Cosmo’s are on sex.
Symbolism is represented in both
magazines as feminine, the celebrities on
the front covers are in summery dresses
with a bit of the legs showing however
they are not portrayed as how women
would be in lads mags. They look girly and
are happy, the constant theme of pink
makes it look more famine and the way
they are posing in Glamour they come
across as innocent, where as in Cosmo
they look more confident and a bit more
sexualized.
9. This double page article from Glamour
mag is a bit more adult like than the
Cosmo one. This one is about a job and
a career where as the one in Cosmo
was about texting, showing that they
have a slightly younger audience. They
have lots of different colours in the
article, where as Cosmo only had blue
and white. There are 4 images all
together, which are different shapes
and different sizes making it look more
interesting. They portray the job as
good as they claim that they want it,
and the girl looks more than happy to
be doing that as a job in the picture.
Just like in Cosmo, the text to
image ratio is a lot more image
than the article its self. There are
four images, which take up more
than half of the double page
spread and there is a lot of white
space too. The headings of the
article are in colour like in Cosmo’s
mags and they use serif and san
serif fonts in their title. The article
isn’t very long and is cut into short
paragraphs, making it easier to
read for the audience.
The old Glamour mags have the
same old features of the old
Cosmo ones. The celebrity
picture is placed behind the
Glamour title and the title has
gone from italic to normal. Red
seemed to be the colour
scheme rather than pink and the
celebrity is still slightly revealing.
There are big and bold story
headlines on the celebrity, in
different colours. There is a lot
of white space and not many
stories on the front of the
magazine. The stories feature on
men, fashion and happiness.
The new Glamour mags are
like the new Cosmo mags.
The celebrity is the main
feature rather than the title
now and is placed in front of
it, there are a lot more stories
surrounding the celebrity
rather than a lot of white
space. The fonts are mainly
pink and purple, rather than a
set of all different colours.
The stories feature on real life
stories, how to lose weight,
men, sex and fashion. Overall
both of the new magazines
look better and are filled with
more stories and headlines on
the front page.
