critical analysis

1. Critical Analysis
From lookingatVogue,Elle andMarie Claire magazine andanalysingthe frontcoversandlooking
intothe articleswithineachmagazine andthe waythe pagesare laidout.From analysingthe front
coversI foundthat the all 3 magazineshave alotin commoninthe way of the layoutandcolour
schemesforeachissue.The firstthingthatI noticedthat wassimilaracrossall three magazineswas
that the mastheadisalwaysinthe same place on all three magazinesandalsoyoucan see that the
mastheadfitseitheroverthe celebrityonthe coverorbehindandthe modelsheadisplacedover
the mastheadandthis helpstoaddsome varietyvetstill keepingfluidityacrosseachissue of the
magazine.AnotherthingthatInoticed aboutthe coversof these fashionmagazineswasthatevery
magazine hascertainelementthatisfeaturedineveryissue andisgenerallyplacedinthe same area
of the magazine forexample withVogue it’stodowiththe seasonsnew trendsandwithElle
magazine itsalwaysrelatingtobeautyhacksandthisis inthe same place each time bydoingthisit
helpsbringunitytothe issuesandgivesitthe characteristicsof the genre of fashionmagazines.Also
whatis noticeable aboutthese threefashionmagazinesisthattheyeachhave a colourscheme
whichisrelative tothe seasonandthiscolourscheme thenfollowsthroughthe entire issuesandis
reflectedinthe imageswhichare includedinthe magazine,byhavingthese colourschemesithelps
to reflectwhatthe seasonisandwhat fashiontrendsthe magazine ispromotingforthe seasonand
the coloursthat theyare sayingare in trendforthat issue.Alsofromlookingatthe coversof these
magazinesyoucan see howthe colourscheme of the textisbrought in to the imagesof the people
on the coversfor example inalotof the Marie Claire issuesthe colourscheme isbroughtfromthe
textto the image bythe lipstickcolourthatthe celebrityormodel iswearinghoweverinthe other
twomagazinesthe colourscheme ismore oftenbroughtinthroughthe clothingof the model.From
the coversthe imagesonall three magazinesare fromposedphotoshootswithheadonshotsand
thishelpstomake the audience feel asif the models/celebritiesare lookingdirectly atthemand
helpsthe imagestranslate betterintoprintproductwithoutlookingtooflatandboring.
What I have learntfromlookingatthe inside pagesof these three magazinesisthattheyall followa
similarmoodboard/scrapbooktheme astheyall have pageswhere the imagesall lookverycutout
and scrap booklike withthe textof an article overthe topwitha white box behindthe textsothatit
isstill clearand easyto read.Aswell asthisthe magazine doall still feature amore genericlooking
article withstrictcolumnsandmore polishedlookandbydoingthisithelpsthe magazine tohave
some varietyandhelpstomake the interestingarticleslookmore seriousandeasytofollow rather
than beingmuchmore creative withthe layoutsothatit doesn’tdistractfromthe article itself.Also
inside these magazinestheyare predominantlymade upof advertsfrombothhighenddesigner
brandsbut alsofrom more highstreetbrandssuchas Topshopand H&M, byhavingthisrange of
differentbrandsadvertisingithelpstonothave the targetaudience tobe verylimitedandalsohelps
to ensure thatall classescan findsomethingenjoyableinthe magazine.Anotherthingwhichall
these magazineshave incommonisthattheyall feature large pull quotestohelpbreakupthe text
and these are eitherinthe middle of acolumnor inbetweentwocolumns.Alsowhatthese three
magazineshave incommonisthat none of the magazineshave a strictlayoutwhenitcomesto the
gutterand the lookof a more formal magazine theyall have amore creative lookwhichisslightly
differenttonormal more strictmagazineslayout.The waythese three magazinesare writtenisa
combinationof formal andinformal astheyall feature more chattyandinformal articlesbutalso

2. have the more seriousinterviewstylearticlesandbydoingthisithelpsthemtohave a wide target
audience asthere issomething there foreveryone.Anotherthingthatthese three magazinesall
have incommon isthat theyall have a glossyfeel andaren’tstapledtogetherthe pagesare bound
togetherwhichmakesitfeel more likeabookand somethingtokeepwhichagainmakesitfeel likea
much more luxuriousandelegantmagazine.
Alsofromlookingatthese three magazinesIhave foundthatthere isa specificlookforthe people
on the coversof the magazines,all the imagesonthe coverhave beenhighlyeditedandphoto
shopped togive themmore of a perfectand idealisticlooksothatpeople aspire tolooklike them. By
havingthese aspirationalimagesof modelsandcelebritiesonthe coveritmakesthe people whobuy
the magazine thinkthat’swhattheyshouldlooklike andmaybe there’llbe somethinginthe
magazine thatwill helpthemtolooklike the people onthe cover of the magazine. Aswell asthisthe
images,theyputonthe coverof these magazinesare verymuchhow the audience andreadersof
the magazine aimto looksoit’sas if justby lookingatthe covertheygivingthe readersunrealistic
expectationsdue tothe amountof editingthatthese photosgothroughbefore theyare onthe
coverof a magazine. Therefore Ifeelthatthe imagesusedonthe coversof these magazinesare
usedto try and reflectthe audiencesaspirationstolooklike the modelsandcelebritiesonthe cover
of the magazine.