2. Genre characteristics
The cover image on these type of
magazines are of women that are seen to
be ‘normal’, not like high fashion models
that could seem pretentious or
intimidating, but these models are friendly,
happy, and women that you could just see
in the street. There are also other pictures
on the cover, these pictures are relating to
the stories that are inside the magazines.
These pictures are ones from the person
that has written in about the story, the
pictures either of the person who has
written the story or pictures of the people
involved.
With these 3 magazines they are all
different but all of the same genre.
The kind of fonts used on these
Their layout is very similar, they all
magazines have a re-occurring theme of
have pictures placed in similar places,
being bold and in caps-locks, this is so
certain sized words in the same places
the text stands out against the other
not just every issue, but every
magazines. The colours are also very
different product of the same genre.
bright and feminine to catch the
The words are in the same place to
attention of the magazine’s target
bring familiarity to the magazine, so
audience. The other thing the magazines
the readers feel more comfortable, so
do is try and use short and shocking
they know where to look to see if they
vocabulary, this really interests the
are interested in any of the stories that
reader, the more shocking, the more
are advertised on the front.
likely the reader is to buy it, because they
want to read about people worse off
than them.
3. Double page analysis
There is a certain set out for
the real life story articles. The
text is set out in thin
columns, that read from down
to up, left to right, this is
simple and the readers place
in the story cant be lost
easily, good for easy reading
that takes place over a lunch
hour.
Another thing to lure the reader
into reading this particular article
is the quotation boxes that stick
out. They stand out on purpose,
so the audience reads these
quotations, and then they will be
more interested and inclined to
read the whole thing.
The type of language used in this
magazine is very informal, the
vocabulary used is of a chatty kind of
style, as if the writer is actually
talking to you. It also relates to the
kind of working class audience’s
language that they would use.
This format is almost the same in a
different magazine of the same
genre. The same with the colour
scheme of red and white, there are
quotes in bubbles, there are pictures
that break up the text, the article is
in long columns going left to right.
In the article there are added bits to
break up the long writing and to make
it look more appealing to read. This
magazine has included pictures that
relate to the story, to give it more
colour and context. It also makes the
article more appealing to the readers,
so they will be flicking through the
pages, and stop and look at the most
colourful ones or the pages that catch
their eye. These pictures are also
appealing to the reader because they
are real life pictures, from the actual
situation that is being discussed, not
actors or models posing.
4. Representation of people in magazines.
Purposeful contrast
In these magazines the stories are real life stories that have
happened to real life people, so they are more of a subject
of interest rather than gossip or scandal. When a person
reads these magazines, the usual feel is that the people in
these stories are beneath the readers, that the readers are
better people because none of these terrible things have
happened. Representation is usually very
negative, especially around the male, as most stories are
about murdering boyfriends, dads beating up children
etc, as the target audience will be females that may have
been cheated on by a boyfriend. Also if the main audience
is female and the majority of stories were about evil
females then the audience may not want to read it as much.
They like to put females in a good light and males in a bad
light most of the time.
The kind of class these people are is the most obvious factor
when comparing to other higher class magazines, the
people featured in the magazine are lower-working class, as
is the audience, this also helps the audience to relate.
5. Changes over time
Over time society and trends change
and magazines need to keep up with
that to keep their readers interested
with fresh clean looks, but still at the
same time keep a similar format so the
readers still have a routine and are still
familiar with the set out.
Now in this modern version the set out is very similar,
In this older version of take a break, you can tell
with the fonts, pictures and boxes, but the colours are
it looks dated and older. The colours are a lot
a lot bolder and stand out with the bright pinks,
more toned down, with the yellow, blue, white
yellows, blues and reds. The logo in this is similar to
and reds, they are bold, but they don’t stand
the older one, but it just has sharper edges and
out. Then the logo, it is a lot more stringed out
cleaner. The stories on the front page are a lot more
and is not catchy. The stories on the front page
out there and exaggerated. The stories seem to
are a lot more toned down and not as out
concentrate more on love and sex stories, which are
there, especially with the subject of
more acceptable now, and are obviously more
sex, because in that time society wasn’t open to
popular with the audience. Using more shocking
talking about it, but now it is very normal.
language such as ‘rape’, ‘sex’ and ‘paralysed’.
6. Audience response
In these type of magazines the audience is encouraged to take part in the magazine, these
type of magazine’s audience is working class, so one of the techniques they use to get the
audience to respond is competitions that involve money prizes, items of high value,
holidays, shopping vouchers, and generally things that their audience would desire. They
win these prizes either sending in their details and get picked out at random, or submit a
puzzle or answer to a question .
Another way to get the audience to respond is by getting them to write in their own life
events into stories, so it could feature in the magazine, the more shocking and ridiculous
the better.
The persons story that gets a feature
in the magazine they also get a large
sum of money, to encourage them
to make the story exaggerated.
In these magazines they also carry
some fan culture, the audience are
mainly returning readers, who purchase the magazine in their routine, so they regularly
read it. There is also a fan section in the magazine, usually this would be expected to be
placed near the back. This section is where the readers send in letters asking for shout outs,
telling the editors which sections they enjoyed, what they found useful, sending in photos
of pets and family, and thanking the writers of the magazine in general. The magazine also
may be an aid for fan culture, people giving tips on costumes and make-up. Another part of
fan culture is the connection using social media, the social media that seems to be most
popular is facebook, getting people to keep updated with things that are changing,
facebook is also a good way for fans of the magazine to connect with each other, share
their opinions and discuss each issue of the magazine.
7. Stories inside
To compare each magazine from this
genre is very difficult as they are
very similar and are almost
impossible to tell which magazine is
which. This goes for layout, colour,
fonts, vocabulary, language, pictures
and subjects.
This story is from the
magazine ‘Chat’
This story is from ‘Take a Break’
This story is from ‘Pick me up’
When comparing the inside
of the magazines next to each
other there is actually a
notable difference, the thing
that stands out the most is
the colour and the fonts. The
one that stands out the least
is the story from take a
break, but I think this is on
purpose as it is a story about
a women who has died, so
they wanted the colours and
fonts to be more forgiving.
The other two stories are
advertised to be ‘top stories’.
These headings are a lot
bolder, they use a lot more
contrast, with the black and
yellow, white and dark
pink/purple. The quote boxes
in the pick me up magazine
do stand out compared to
chat because they are
actually in filled boxes, where
as the other quotes are just
in a different colour with the
