The document analyzes how different magazines cater to their target audiences through design and content choices. Heat magazine targets a female audience interested in relationships, gossip and women's culture. It uses words like "flirting" and sexualized images to grab attention. Men's Health targets health-conscious males with words like "testosterone" and images of muscular models. Kerrang targets a young alternative audience interested in rock/metal music. It features prominent band images and uses an aggressive font and wording like "crushes" to represent its audience.

1. Analysing magazines and their
audiences
CHANGES MADE ARE HIGHIGHTED IN RED

2. Heat

3. Their media pack http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/brands/heat

4. ‘flirting’ has been used as a trigger
word in order to grab the audience’s
attention. The word ‘flirting’ is a
word which this audience will
connect with due to their interest in
sex, gossip and women’s culture.
‘Heat’, similarly is a
word which insinuates
action, excitement
and drama. For the
same reason that the
word ‘flirting’ is an
effective choice of
vocabulary, so is
‘heat’. To add the
masthead’s
effectiveness, red
colours give it a bold
look that stands out in
contrast with the
white and pink
background.
Pink is a colour which
caters for their 86%
female audience
(backed up by their
media pack’s statistics.
By making sure
aesthetically the cover
of the magazine
appeals to the female
audience, they are able
to entice consumers
into buying the
product.
Another example of
heat magazine using a
man as a sex symbol in
order to attract the
largely female
audience, and
essentially objectifying
a man in the same way
that many other media
outlets are critiqued
for objectifying
women.
The magazine’s title had been made bold and red, making it stand out
on the page. It is positioned near the top leftof the page (as is typical
in magazines), and this is because the reader’s eye naturally goes from
the top left, meaning that the title is the first thing to be seen by the
audience. They’ve also left the title with not much covering it, as to
make it easier for the audience to know what it is they are picking up.
Kim Kardashian has been
used as the central and focal
image of the magazine cover.
This was probably done in
order to represent
femininity, and appeal to the
largely female audience of
the magazine.
There are high levels of contrast between the
text and surrounding areas, making pull quotes
and text stand out and look more bold on the
page.
Another example of where
highly feminine themes
have been used in order
to make the magazine
appealing to this
audience. Themes of
marriage and pregnancy
are often ones which are
exclusively enjoyed
conversationally amongst
women.

5. ‘Wet’ is a word with
sexual connotations
attached to it, which
is yet another way of
adding sex factor to
the article, thus
instantly grabbing the
attention of women.
To add to this, the
pink colour has been
used again for the
same purpose, and
this adds aesthetic
continuity and
matches well with the
cover page. After
reading the media
pack, I discovered
that less than half of
Heat’s audience are
married, which might
be an indication as to
why they choose to
market their
magazine in such a
sexual way.
The woman featured in the article is wearing not a great
deal in the way of clothing, furthermore reinforcing the fact
that the creator of this article is attempting to push sexual
themes onto the viewer. It might seem strange at first that
a woman has been used rather than a man, but women
often take pleasure in finding other attractive women to
use as role models for a ‘perfect body.
‘Flirty’, ‘feminine’, ‘fun’ and
‘stylish’ are all words used
by heat magazine within
their media pack, and the
column in this double page
spread called ‘this week’s
bite trends’ is an indication
of the magazine’s effort to
cater for this stylish
audience. They will want to
keep up to date with the
latest fads and stories in
order to feel fulfilled as a
consumer. By using words
like ‘trends’ they instantly
are able to cater for this
audience.
By listing data in bite sized
chunks as has been done here,
the magazine is able to appeal
to those who perhaps have
lightly less time on their
hands. For example, a woman
who might have a 10 minute
snack break whilst at work
won’t have time to read the
whole article, but can quickly
enjoy the ‘bite trends’.
Multiple images have been used in order to
illustrate the article, rather than just one.
This brings the article alive in many ways,
and makes it much easier for those who
might be less into reading to enjoy. Many
members of the audience will benefit from
this, and it allows the audience to feel more
connected to the story.

6. Men’s Health

7. Their media pack
http://assets.menshealth.co.uk/main/assets/
Media_Pack/MH_MEDIA_PACK_V15_FINAL.pd
f?mtime=1432746860

8. The word ‘testosterone’ is one
which is associated with
masculinity due to it being
regard as the male sex
hormone. For this reason, the
magazine instantly grabs the
attention of it’s almost entirely
male audience. The fact that the
men who buy this magazine
aspire to be more masculine
means that they associate this
word with success and their
ideal self image. The use of the
exclamation mark at the end of
the sentence further helps the
word to stand out on the page
and make it feel more exiting for
the audience.
Fairly bland and masculine colour
schemes have been used, with reds,
greys and black all being colours
which can be certainly more
associated with male preferences.
Furthermore, the colour red often
indicates danger, which is something
that this audience will feel
empowerment in, adding to the
masculine feel.
Jamie Foxx has been used on the cover as
an image, and takes up a large deal of
space on the cover. The angle at which
the photo has been taken shows off his
muscular physique, which again will
appeal to this audience as a role model.
Arms are often deemed a central point in
a man’s masculinity. This can be backed
up by the fact that the media pack states
that 16% of the magazine’s readers
regularly go to the gym and play some
form of team sport. Half a million of the
magazine’s audience participate in team
sports. Although his physique may not be
a realistic goal for all men, the magazine
instils false hope in it’s audience that they
too could look this good.
High levels of
testosterone are often
associated with a high
sex drive, so it seems
more than fitting to
use trigger words like
this in order to pull in
this audience.
Again, highly contrasting colours have been used in order to make the text
stand out, and give it a bolder look. This in turn makes it much easier for the
reader to quickly gain interest in the topic and want to open the magazine
up in order to read into it. The sports theme is continued using terminology
relevant to the topic, in this case the word ‘cardio’. While some may not fully
understand what this means, it creates a sense of identity for the audience
who all share the common connection of knowing this terminology, thus
making them feel more at home while they read.
A sexually themed play on words has been
used here, and one which uses relevant
terminology. This works well to appeal to this
audience, who will likely be more sexually
charged than your average male due to their
obsession with health and fitness.
Exclamation marks have been
used on this pull quote in order to
make it feel more exiting for it’s
audience. A health obsessed
audience will often look for thrills
and adrenaline, and this is
something which exclamation
marks often connote.

9. The model hear is pictured
in rowing gear with a rowing
paddle in his hand. This
takes me back to my point
about the activeness of this
magazine’s audience. By
using a model in which they
can associate their own
hobbies and pastimes with,
they can help the reader to
create a sense of identity
with the magazine, thus
wanting them to become
part of Men’s Health
community and buy more
issues. Again, a very fit and
healthy looking model has
been used, which in some
ways tricks the reader into
believing they too can look
like this, when the reality
probably is that they will
never be able to have this
physique without extensive
amounts of work.
This use of alliteration draws the audience’s eye into the article and
makes it seem more light hearted and less like it takes itself too
seriously. This is something that the majority of the audience will
likely appreciate, as most readers will be looking to have a healthy
lifestyle without having to go all out and dedicate their life to
fitness.
This small green box in
the corner is titled
‘Breaking Down
Discipline’, and discipline
is of course something
required both for team
sports and for fitness in
general. By addressing
this issue which many of
the readers will struggle
with, they are creating a
bond of trust with the
reader, and giving them
tips on how to succeed.
Again no feminine colours have
been used on this double page
spread, which adds to the idea
that this magazine is solely
aimed at satisfying the needs of
men rather than women.
Although in the media pack
there aren’t any specific
references to choices of colours
used or the justifications behind
using them, it’s fairly obvious
that this use of manly colours
was intentional.
The media pack states that the magazine
has readers in 65 countries. Rowing is a
sport which people do all over the world,
so by choosing to cover an article on it,
rather than a more niche sport, they are
addressing this multinational audience.
This quote taken from the article helps to give the reader a sense of
hope that they too could be successful like him, and essentially
suggests that you don’t actually have to be the best at what you do
to be the best at something (which of course is a load of rubbish).
Not only this, but it helps the audience feel connected to the athlete
on a more personal level, adding to the sense of unity created
within the Men’s Health magazine.
Military style use of physical stats has
been adopted here when describing the
rower, such as age, weight and height.
This works well with the audience, as
they are all very physical elements, and
make the audience feel a sense of
competitiveness that many health
enthusiasts will get a kick from.

10. Kerrang

11. Their media pack

12. ‘Special Price £1.99’ is used in
order to reinforce what the
magazine’s media pack has
stated about ‘solidarity’, and
their tones of respect and
support for their audience. By
offering the special price, they
are able to live up to this
supposed trait, and cater for
their audience in this way.
In the media pack, Kerrang talk about
how their audience can use the
magazine as a platform in order to
‘aspire’ to be like the artists featured
and maybe one day even be in the
magazine themselves. By making the
famous ‘Metallica’ name stand out as
a large heading on the cover, they can
make their audience see it quickly,
and think ‘wow! I’d love to be like
Metallica!’ This suggests that
Kerrang’s audience are a fairly
outgoing and ambitious audience,
who want fame and success like their
favorite artists have. The addition of a
large band image covering the front
cover helps to add to this, and make it
even clearer than Metallica are a big
deal.
The band are positioned aggressively on
the front cover, and a striking very
energetic and aggressive poses, rather
than more passive and relaxed poses.
This was likely used in order to
represent the sort of audience who read
the magazine, being people who like
excitement and energy, as well as
partying, thus making this image adhere
to the magazine’s audience. This also
feeds back to what the media pack says
about the magazine aiming to me loud
and exiting. ‘If you live life loud, there’s
only one brand for you’.
The audience for this magazine is a young one, and for this reason, the inclusion of
‘free posters’ is likely something that was considered by the company in order to
cater for their audience. Young people generally don’t have as much money on their
hands, meaning that little freebies are a great way to entice them.
The colours red, black and white have been
used on the front cover, and there’s pretty
much an absence of any other colour but these.
This works well to cater for the predominantly
male audience, but also the metal and rock
themes associated with the magazine are
generally associated with these colours as
opposed to more bright, cheery or gentle
colours such as blue or pink.
Use of the word ‘crushes’ on the front cover
can again, be related back to the audience and
genre. Metal and Rock fans tend to (or
stereotypically) enjoy a bit of violence and
excitement involved in their life or the media
they consume, and words such as ‘crush’ help
to connote this type of lifestyle. This again links
back to the ‘loud’ section of Kerrang’s media
pack.

13. The font used within the title of Kerrang’s double paged spread is fairly quirky
looking, and isn’t something you’d normally see on the title of an article. This feeds
back into how Kerrang’s media pack states that they have an ‘alternative’ audience,
that challenges the normal boundaries set by society. By using this kind of font,
they’re able to represent this alternative aspect and value of their audience, when
contrasted against a more boring and neat looking font .
The same colour scheme has been used on the double
page as was used on the front cover. This reinforces what
was said in the previous slide about the colour scheme
matching the audience and the genre they choose to be a
part of by picking up the magazine and choosing to buy it.
‘Patrick punched me in
the face…’. This pull
quote used is of an
aggressive nature,
something often
associated with metal
and rock as a genre,
dating back to it’s roots
and anti-establishment
values. This in turn,
helps the magazine to
cater for the audience,
who largely take an
interest in these
themes, and helps to
feed into what I’ve
already mentioned
about the front cover.
This is a great example
of how choice of words
can be used in order to
cater to an audience.
Again, a large image of the artist featured within the article has been used,
dressed up in a very ‘rockstaresque’ style, with tattoos out, and a hat and vest.
This gives the ‘aspiring’ audience something to model themselves off of, feeding
back into the idea proposed by the media pack, which suggests that their
readers are aspiring people who are heavily influenced by their genre music and
the artists. To add to this, the aggressive and exiting pose that the artist is sitting
in, with a clenched fist and angry facial expression, feeds back into the ‘loud’
category of the media pack, and how it suggests that Kerrang is suited to those
who a like loud, aggressive and fast paced lifestyle.
By referring to the artist in the pull quote using his first name
(Patrick) rather than his full name, it helps the audience to feel
connected to the music and artist in a more personal way due to
first names being informal. This is a great way to create a sense
of unity amongst readers of a magazine and help them to feel like
they’re actually connected to the genre a little bit more. It’s just
a bit more relaxed and friendly sounding, and reinforces what the
media pack states about creating ‘solidarity’ and ‘respect’
amongst readers.
The play on words
within the title, which
features song lyrics
(‘this aint just a fall
out boy feature, it’s
the goddamn’) works
well as it gives the
audience something
to laugh about and
relate to. In a way, by
incorporating the
artist’s lyrics they are
creating an inside joke
for the audience to
appreciate, and this
has value in itself in
the fact that it makes
it feel a bit more
exclusive to rock fans.
If a jazz fan for
example was to pick
up the magazine and
read that title, they
wouldn’t pick up on
the play on words.
This creates a sense of
exclusivity and unity
for fans of the artist.