Dazed is an independent magazine founded in 1991 that covers fashion, music, art and literature. It began as black and white posters before becoming a full magazine, and also publishes international editions. The magazine focuses on indie and alternative music as well as fashion from brands like Gucci and Chanel. It is published by British company Waddell Ltd and has a readership of late teens to early thirties that works in fashion or creative fields. The magazine's style uses loose kerning on the masthead and large central images to appeal to its young, artistic audience interested in cutting-edge trends.

1. Institution Research
Emily Kennedy

2. Introduction
Dazed (formerly Dazed and Confused) was founded in 1991,
as a monthly independent magazine. It mainly covers
fashion, music, art and literature.
The first few issues were black and white folded posters,
randomly published. Dazed soon after turned into a fully
fledged magazine.
Dazed have issues in both Japan and Korea
Dazed Digital is the magazines newish website. Making
Dazed material much more accessible to todays generation
who are more technologically involved.
1st issue
Japanese issue
Korean issue
Latest issue

3. Overview of the content
Dazed magazine covers a variety of aspects of media;
including fashion, music, film, photography, art and literature.
The music artists that are featured are often indie alternative
like Grimes, CHVRCHES, Kate Bush etc. Some more well
known, mainstream pop artists are covered like Nicki Minaj,
Years and Years, and Ariana Grande.
The content on the website is categorised into: News, Video,
Fashion, Music, Art+Culture and Photography. There are lots
of advertisements on both the website and in the magazine -
often fashion related like Gucci, Chanel, Dior etc.
Social articles are another main feature. These often focus on
social struggles including sexuality, racism, gender inequality
etc.

4. Publishing Institution
The institution that publishes Dazed magazine is Waddell
ltd. This is a British, private company co-founded by John
Rankin Waddell and his father.
The bi-monthly print magazine is read by 80,000 people
globally, however Waddell ltd is a national company and not a
global one.
Rankin Waddell and Jefferson Hack are both active directors of
Waddell ltd. This is as well as being the co-founders of Dazed
and Confused magazine back in 1991.
Related companies to Waddell ltd. include: Rankin photography
ltd, Hunger publishing ltd (Hunger magazine), Another
publishing ltd and Another Man publishing ltd (AnOther and
Another man Magazine) and Dazed Group ltd (Dazed).

5. Reader profile
The typical reader profile are late teens to early thirties (18-30).
The readers are predominantly female, with about 1/3 being male.
Often fashion students, or perhaps have a job in fashion. If not they consider
themselves fashionable, and perhaps study some sort of art based subject.
They are able to afford £4.50 a month on a magazine, therefore suggesting
they have a job with a comfortable pay.
Most likely to be in the B, C1 or C2 social bracket.
The actual audience for Dazed are the target audience. This shows that
Dazed have managed to target their make effectively. Stylish, innovators,
media literate opinion formers. With knowledge of brands, styles and
products.
source:http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/dazeddigital.com

6. Layout trademarks of Dazed
The Dazed masthead is always the same font and in the same place. The tracking is very
loose in the masthead, also the kerning between the D and Z is often so close they touch.
The central image is often large and open, with minimal text on the front cover. This allows
the audience to study the cover and appreciate the photography without having to read
lots of articles trailed.
Dazed often has alternate covers, “changing the face of fashion” by changing the cover for
each issue. This gives the audience a choice, where they can buy the magazine they want
based on the cover they like. It also opens up the possibility of avid collectors buying all
versions.
The central image is often of an artist featured in the magazine. If not the central image is
always has a person as the subject, unlike competing magazines such as Vice which uses
all sorts of subjects.
Sometimes the masthead is brought forward over the central image, and sometimes the
central image partially covers up the masthead. This subtle interaction between the
masthead and central image is very effective artistically and therefore stands out to the
audience, making them more liekyl to buy the magazine.

7. Values
As most of the audience are young people then the content that is aimed
at youth reflects the values of the audience. The audience will also be
into very cutting edge material. Articles which are about upcoming new
artists, fashion trends and film are all relevant to the target audience.
Political views and social discussions are also included in the magazine
and these reflect the values of the audience as young people are
constantly interested in expanding their views and articles on sexuality,
gender inequality and race issues are all very relevant to the new age.
Especially as most of the readers will find these topics personal to them.
Most of the content is artistic and creative, with the majority of the
magazine being photographs. This appeals to the niche target audience
as most would be in some sort of creative job/study.
The style of the magazine also reflects the values of the target audience
as it’s simplistic yet artistic. To an art student this magazine would not
just about interesting articles, but the layout would also be important to
them as inspiration.