Generic Research - Dazed

1. Charlotte Graham
Generic Research - DAZED

2. • Owned by Dazed Media
I will base my own magazine on Dazed, as I like the minimalist style,
and the artistic approach to fashion. I like how the magazine also
features articles about music, art, photography and culture as well as
fashion.

3. TOPOGRAPHY AND USE OF LANGUAGE

4. The front cover of Dazed is very minimalistic, with only two main
cover lines, which are just the name of the model, “Kiernan Shipka”, an actress,
and a phrase which will relate to some of the contents of the issue, “Pure
Spirit”. The front cover of Dazed is never crowded with cover lines.
The minimalism goes hand in hand with the artistic approach to fashion, as it
does not have the same look as many high end fashion magazines such as Elle
and Vogue which have seriff fonts, and many more cover lines to clearly show
what is covered inside. The models also have different looks, the covers of
magazines such as Elle and Vogue focus more on the fashion and style of the
model, wheras Dazed focuses more on the model themselves.
The colour of the masthead will vary with the general colour scheme of the
front cover. Here it is a pale pink colour to compliment the pink hue of the
image. Pink connotes femininity, and the rest of the text on the front cover is in
white font, which adds to the simplicity of the cover. White also connotes
purity, which could reflect the model’s young age.
The font of the masthead is very bold, and the selling line is smaller and less
obvious which accentuates the minimalist look of the cover. The fonts that are
used tend to be rather simplistic, and sans seriff which adhere to the minimalist
style of the magazine.

5. LAYOUT AND USE OF IMAGES

6. This image was taken on location rather than in a studio, and there is
very soft, low key lighting on the model’s face. This makes her look
young and vulnerable, especially along with her facial expression.
Some high end fashion magazines have models posing in studios with
very serious facial expressions making them look strong and
representing them as an inspiration to the target audience.
The model is presented as very young, pure and the soft pink light
helps to do this rather than bright, high key lighting.
The people featured on Dazed are supposed to appeal to British
youth and they would know Kiernan Shipka through her role in “Mad
Men”, an American drama series which is shown on Netflix. As the
model is only 18 years old, the audience can easily identify with her
and therefore this cover really appeals to the target audience.
The background is out of focus, with a few blurred red lights seen.
This helps the model to stand out, and draw the readers eyes to her
eyes, which are making direct eye contact. This is a strong mode of
address which engages the reader.