1. Anais Nzeza
Evaluation of ‘Essence’ and ‘love it’ magazine
The two magazines I chose are ‘Essence’ (October 2011) and ‘love it’ (13 th October
2011).The magazines are very different and have very different audiences. I will discuss; the
pictures and images, colours used, the layout, the font used, the stories, the language used
and headlines. I will also be analysing the impact on individuals and society; looking at
stereotyping and impact. Finally, I will compare the pricing and history of the magazines.
In the ‘Essence’ magazine, the picture shows Michelle Obama looking very elegantly
dressed. Her facial expression shows happiness which gives a good image for women and
encourages them to have the same positive feeling. I think that this magazine has chosen
her as she is well known for the president’s wife. In the ‘love it’ magazine, there are six
different pictures for different stories of some known artists and some who talk about real
life stories and naked men. Some facial expressions show cheerfulness and some are
serious. This magazine gives the image of ‘gossip’ which a lot of teenagers, 13-18 years
would like.
The common colours used in the ‘Essence’ magazine are light purple, white and light
orange. The purple is used in the master head and headlines, the white is used in some
texts and ½ of the background, and orange is used on the word ‘POWER’ and on the other
½ of the background. I have realised that these 3 main colours are the only colours used on
the dress of Michelle. Some texts are written in black because it shows that it is informal
and not important as the other texts. These colours are used to show the quality of this
magazine and how it cannot be messed up easily which gives us an idea that the audience is
aimed at higher class women. The colours in the ‘love it’ magazine are very colourful and
eye-catching, especially for teenage girls as it is bright and also as it shows male images. I
can tell because the colours show a female image (pink especially)as we know that boys are
not convinced in bright objects as much as girls.
Layout: In the ‘Essence’ magazine, we can see one picture that takes the whole page
withthe different texts surrounding this image. The picture of Michelle is in front of the
master head to show that she is more important, whereas in the ‘love it’ magazine, Tulisa
(picture that takes up the right side of page/front cover) is shown behind the master head
which shows that these kind of people are not as important. It also shows 6 sections of
different stories, showing the audience the most important story on top of the page in big,
down to the least important in small.
The font in the Essence magazine are shown neatly. The master head is slim, simple and
takes up the whole width on top of the page in capital letters. Some texts are written in
capitals too but some have capital letters on the first letter of each word in the
sentences.The font sizes are a bit different but the word ‘POWER’ is written as the biggest
font after the master head to show that this word is very important as it links with the
image and it contrasts very well with her dress that she is wearing. However, the master
head ‘love it! ’is written in white with no capital letters and the price is written slightly
above it to show that it’s worth it for working-class people. There are different fonts for

2. Anais Nzeza
different sections of the front cover just to make it look busy and interesting rather than less
boring text.
The ‘Essence’ magazine doesn’t publish any stories because higher-class women who read
this magazine don’t have time to read gossip, so instead, it advertises much more benefits
for what women can do for themselves and their family such as beauty and education. Most
of the language is formal which makes it sound much more sensible but there are words
used that would be said for middle-class women such as ‘Sexy’ and ’Hot’ – these are written
in black which doesn’t fit with the scene of the page just to show that it is not important;
the whole phrase, “Get Sexy Lashes, Hot Nails& Flawless Skin” is written in a list of 3.The
headlines are to encourage women to be themselves and to show that they can be free too.
For example, “Just For Us” elaborates on meaning that this magazine is only made for
women and no-one else.
On the other hand, ‘love it’ publishes different gossip stories and 1 advertisement talking
about ‘Tummy Tuck’ (it is free and doesn’t meet higher-class standards) which is all written
in informal language. It shows real life stories which show its middle-class audience that
they are able to write and publish their stories freely and easily if they want to. There are
probably more than two techniques of language used but what I found was alliteration such
as ‘Tummy Tuck’ and ‘Broke Builders’, and a rhetorical question, ‘Is It Time They Split?’.
The page is covered with headlines with no brief of the stories for suspense because they
want their audience to literally open the magazine and read more.
The price of the ‘Essence’ magazine is £3.50. You can feel that the material of the paper has
good, solid quality whereas the ‘love it’ magazine has very cheap material of paper that can
rip easily and their price is only 60p.
I couldn’t find the history of ‘love it’ magazine mostly probably because there is no
background to it. The history for Essence magazine- Essence is a monthly magazine for
African-American women between the ages of 18 and 49. The magazine covers fashion,
lifestyle and beauty. There are sections such as Work and Wealth, Healthy Living, and Looks
We Love that cover topics that focus on career, finance, health, lifestyle, fashion, and
beauty which share an intimate connection with readers.
The magazine was founded in 1968 by Edward Lewis, Clarence O. Smith, Cecil
Hollingsworth, Jonathan Blount, and Denise M. Clark. Essence Communications Inc. (ECI)
began publishing in May 1970. Its circulation began at approximately 50,000 copies per
month, subsequently growing to roughly 1.6 million. Gordon Parks served as its editorial
director during the first three years of its circulation.In 2000, Time Inc. purchased 49% of the
magazine, buying the remaining 51% in a deal reported to be worth $170 million in US
dollars. In 2008, Essence won 12 New York Association of Black Journalists awards in the
Investigative, General Feature, International, Business/Technology, Science/Health, Arts and
Entertainment, Personal Commentary, Public Affairs and Online categories.
In conclusion, I have discussed and understood the comparisons that I have made with the
two magazines that I have chosen. The only similarities I can say is that both magazines
include text and pictures.