Empire is a British film magazine that has been published monthly since 1989. It can be found in print in UK supermarkets and delivered to subscribers. Empire also has a digital version. The target audience is predominantly middle-class males aged 16-30 who are fans of film and television. Both the print and digital versions provide content about mainstream and popular films through reviews, news, and feature articles.

1. Print and Digital
magazines
Codes and conventions
Jack Willoughby

2. Empire
About the Magazine
Empire is a British Film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media of Hamburg based media group. Empire’s
first issue was in July 1989, until 2008 empire was published by Emap Consumer Media but Bauer purchased Emap and
thus took over the responsibility of publishing and distributing Empire Magazine.
You can find these Printed Magazines in supermarkets but the problem with having them in places like ASDA for example
means they cannot reach their full target audience and may reduce sales. Also there is printing costs along with the worry
that many magazines are under the possibility of being ruined when in distribution to these stores. But to save the hassle
you can get them delivered to your home every moth as soon as they come into circulation but this costs Empire loads
more money to do this. But Subscribers can pay for a years worth of the magazine for £41.50 which means they are
saving around £19 if they bought them in a years advance instead of monthly payments of £4.70.
It is not only distributed in the U.K but it is distributed in the United Sates, Australia, Turkey, Russia, Italy and Portugal.
Empire is seen as a populist magazine when it comes to approach and coverage, which means that its approach and
purpose is to deliver reviews, news ad articles on both mainstream films, but feature articles concentrating on the
former.
Using the uses and gratification theory I can see that the normal Empire magazine subscriber will use empire magazine
for Education, Entertainment and to enhance social interaction.
Empire has a target audience of both male and female readers. However the target audience is predominantly middle
class males, aged between 16-30. the magazine is priced around £4 an issue, which is quite expensive for a magazine.
Therefore the readers of this magazine will be lovers of film and TV and although Empire claim that they aren't gender
specific but sales dictate that males are the dominant purchaser of this magazine and the advertising in these Empire

3. Print
MASTHEAD
The masthead of this cover is very bold and is placed in the ”normal” place
on a cover. Which is dead centered at the top of the page, above the key
signifier who in this case is Ryan Gosling from the new movie Blade Runner
2049. it has its iconic Empire Serif style, this is very good font to use
because its Capital lettered block style give off the image of strong,
powerful and greatness, which all things that an Empire should. So this
conotates that the editors made this design specifically to link the idea that
their magazine is great and powerful. Its blue outline also can refer to movie
that this issue seems to be based around, because the blue can be imagery
for futuristic technology which is everything Blade Runner is about.
Dateline
August 2017, no specific date because
this magazine is released at a monthly
frequency.
Main Image
The main image of this magazine is
Ryan Gosling’s silhouette gazing into a
world full of bright neon lights to give
off the idea the idea that the movie
takes place in a very technological
place in time. But other than giving
context into a film it is very eye
catching and makes this magazine
definitely stand out to any individual
that would walk passed it which is
exactly what a magazine cover is
supposed to do because there is no
other way of really selling itslef.
COVERLINE
A cover line should give off some information but should never be
too distracting from the image of the cover. This magazine cover
understands this concept. There is only one cover line on this
cover and it is found at the Left Third of the page.
It states
“Blade Runner
Exclusive”
This is stating to anyone that doesn't know this franchise of film
very well can still get some insight on what the cover is
representing and the use of language like “exclusive” makes the
issue more attractive to the reader. Furthermore advertising itself
out to the world as a great film magazine.

4. Dominant Image
The dominant image of this
double page spread is one
taken from the scene of the
new movie, where a very
famous actor Harrison Ford
is having a fist fight. This
type of action shot is ver
appealing to the reader
because it is a very bold
shot, it adds more
character to the page. Plus
it is a further insight to the
new film and would attract
the reader.
Sublines
The sublines on this
Double page spread
are in a neon pink
colour to make
them stand out
more.
In this magazine
there is an
interactive part that
the reader can play
along with. This
makes the magazine
more interesting
and adds fun to the
page. Also its
background is black
compared to the
rest of the page,
where it is white
and this makes it
stand out even
more by using
colours in a binary
opposite way.
The elements of this page or in
black font and they stand out
even more, because the page
is again using binary
opposition in the design. Also
the elements take up most of
the pages so it makes the
reader at first glance feel like
they’re getting to read a good
article from these two pages.

5. Date
August 2017
Features
These break up the contents and make it
more easier to identify the specific contents
that someone that is reading the magazine
may want to access.
The overall look of this
contents page is very neat
and tidy, and isn't a cluster
of words to the reader. It
makes it more of an easier
experience of getting
information to the reader.
Dominant Image
The dominant image is Ryan
Gosling, which is furthermore
reminding the reader of the
importance of the Blade Runner
2049 film to this issue of the
magazine because he was the key
signifier on the cover.
Sell lines and sub
headings
The sell-lines on this page basically
are individually what this magazine
contains and it is partnered with the
page numbers so the reader can
easily identify where the articles
they are mainly interested are.
Masthead
CONTENTS is the title of this
page and this is instantly
made clearer by simply by the
size of the title.

6. DIGITAL The masthead
The masthead in the digital magazine is
in the exact same position and size as
the printed issue. But this time it is
behind the key signifiers and this is done
to show the importance of the two
actors on the cover. Also this one is in a
bright white colour to make it stand out
even more because other than two
other strap lines on the page it is white.
SKYLINE
The skyline on this magazine
cover is a very powerful
cluster of words
“The story of the maddest
action film ever”
Portrays the magazine as
such an epic and extremely
important insight into the
cinema world.
Main sell-line
The main sell line would be the
“Blade Runner 2049” which is
placed in front of the key image
of the two stars Ryan Gosling and
Harrison Ford. Plus it takes up a
lot of space from the cover so our
eyes are drawn towards it.
Key image
The main image is the two
actors and they're in direct
mode of address with the
reader/ viewer of the
magazine. It gives the
magazine a more personal and
intimate experience with the
magazine.

7. Masthead
The masthead of this
contents page has a
very unique compared
to the rest of the titles
in the page because it
has a completely
different style.
Images
There are many
images used in
this page but we
can clearly see
that the most
dominant image
on the screen is
the one central
of the two pages
of Ryan Gosling
and Harrison
Ford because et
again the
magazine wants
to remind us of
the importance
of this film.
Page
numbers
The page
numbers are
also placed in
the digital
one to help
the reader to
find their
specific
reading need.
Date of issue- month
Sell-lines
The sell lines on this contents page are very bold because there is a red bocx round them that
makes them pop out of the page and are more attractive to the eye. Plus it makes it easier to
distinguish them from the rest of the words on the page becsause of the red boxes , this helps
the reader and makes reading the magazine more of a pleasure than a hassle.

8. • Print publications tend to be more stable because their technology
doesn’t change at a fast pace.
• Is a more comfortable reading experience
• Taken more seriously by sources
• It’s portable
• Don’t have to wait for an article to download
• Don’t have to wait for pictures to download
• Print publications don’t have software that crashes
• Is touchable, and has “physical presence.”
• Print is superior to online when the online publication is unable to
reach their target audience due to them not being online.
PROS TO PRINT

9. CONS TO PRINT
• Hard time leveraging commerce. Can’t sell more than subscriptions, t-
shirts, books, etc.
• Magazines aim for one particular target, while online is able to reach
all
• Online publications can have up to 20 million visitors because it is free
and reaches everyone. Print depends on subscriptions, therefore
reaching far less customers.
• Online magazines that are not linked to print publications tend to
have 2-to-5 times more material than print magazines have on the
same topic.

10. PROS TO DIGITAL
• Much cheaper than printing.
• Digital distribution costs are a fraction of conventional media distribution.
• Greater circulation and subscription potential – global coverage.
• Huge advertising potential with capacity for interaction and web traffic
referrals for advertisers.
• Highly targeted – email direct to your target audience.
• High brand exposure potential throughout
• Ideal for any industry.
• No technical experience required to create and distribute.
• Bring your content to life with video, sound and interactive links.

11. CONS TO DIGITAL
• Not indexed for search or linkable; not cross-linked to older/newer
content
• Can be hard to read; requires zooming in and out
• May add layer of confusion for readers

12. In conclusion..
I've seen that both platforms of the magazine they both do their job in getting information, articles and content to the
reader. But it is more of the business side of it where I say I found a real difference.
Printing was more expensive to produce but most of its readers come from reading the print magazines so most of its
money is made back from people purchasing or subscribing to the magazine. Plus it’s the united kingdoms number 1 best
selling film magazine so I believe that to keep up the representation of them being the most dominant magazine on the
market they have to be able to compensate to a mass audience which means they will have to make it for both, regardless
of the money going out because its practically guaranteed they’l make it back.
But in this modern day in age it is easier to access something on the internet, or in this case www.empireonline.com because
it is free to access and many of the millennials of today will have no trouble getting onto the site.
But many people say that it is more of a pleasure to read something that has a physical presence
But now here's my opinion on the debate….
I would prefer to read soemthing that was tangible and that i could touch, something that i can leave on the side and come
back to it, not having to worry about whether or not im gonna lose internet connection or not. Now granted that the digital
magazines can have more interesting content like videos but you can easily access them through another site like youtube
so why would i pay for something that i coukd get on another site for free.