The Big Issue, Dazed etc

1. Textual Analysis -
The Big Issue
Zoe Olawore
1

2. The Big Issue
• Hybrid current affairs and entertainment magazine
• They describe their audience as young at heart, educated and loyal- 60% aged
18-49
• `Non-mainstream magazine- they do not have one consistent house style
because they aren’t sold by retailers, they don’t have to recognise on being
reliable
• Sold to vendors for £1.25
• Will often reflect the social context/zeitgeist in order to appear timely and appeal
to audiences
• This issue was a special edition as it was centred around youth, unusual for their
target audience- also centred around the urgency of climate change which
revealed a left-leaning stance
2

3. Front cover
The masthead of white text
on a black background is
quite conventional for ‘The
Big Issue- there is no
example of convergence
with a website link,
however- details of the date
and slogan and when it is
printed is on the front cover
Price of £2.50 reflects their
desire to be accessible to a
large audience to raise
money for vendors
The monotonous black and white provides a visual
contrast to the bright neon colour palette- to reflect
the representation of vibrant, active youth
Graphic with sans-serif font to
have younger appeal- the front
looks quite childish reflecting a
relaxed tone of the magazine-
perhaps meant to match the
writing on the placard. The font
of ‘takeover’ mirrors graffiti, thus
suggesting freedom
This graphic is used to replace
any coverlines
Yellow border to ‘neaten’
the aesthetic and
reinforce the bright
colour palette
Cover image of a placard
connotes urgency and famous
social movement’s e.g. the
suffragettes- the cover isn’t
centred on an individual, thus
suggesting that climate
change is not a one-person
problem or one-person
solution
The tone of the front cover is
energetic, vibrant, hopefully
optimistic and youth centred
through the selection of cover
image and colour palette
The background is slightly
blurred and out-of-focus -
creates a sense of aesthetic-
the presence of the emoji
anchors the representation of
youth
3

4. Contents page
The same graphic is repeated
on the contents page to create a
sense of coherent branding for the
edition
Over half of the contents page is
devoted to a profile on a vendor-
relevant to edition because she is a
mother with kids growing up during
the climate crisis
The contents section is quite thin
and it includes a title, page
number and a brief summary
Not every page of the magazine is
written about, only eight articles
are mentioned out of approx 14-
topics include:
1. Notre Dame Burning- opinion
piece
2. Their regular segment, ‘Letter
to My Younger Self’
3. An interview with Michael
Gove - the environment
secretary- critical questioning
4. An article about four girls who
campaigned for putting climate
change in curriculums- youth-
centred
5. A boy who has aspergers and
is an activist
6. More focus on politicians-
making the magazine high-
brow with a quality-focus
7. Film-review of a coming-of-
age drama
The numbers are red in a white
block, reflecting the house style of
The Big Issue (which can be seen
on Lavina’s jacket) and the
‘blockiness’ seems to be a big
feature of The Big Issue’s aesthetic
style
Only two of the articles are about entertainment, one is a regular
segment, one article is more centred around culture- Notre Dame 4

5. ‘The Big List’
The website is placed by the page
number, examples of digital
convergence and synergy
Layout is sophisticatedly neat, but
quite packed and the sans-serif
font reinforces the youthfulness of
the brand
Although it’s to advertise events
for that week, the layout of photos,
blocks and writing would make a
good aesthetic for a contents
page too
The representation of the black,
victim of racism, Stephen
Lawrence which has great
prominence on the page reflects
their anti-racist ideology and their
commitment to an equal society-
“white youth”- they don’t shy away
from racial issues- they put an
inspirational twist on the story
however
This page is dedicated to
events- this would appeal to a
young, liberal demographic who
enjoy social events and
educating themselves- I could
make this an online feature on
my website
There is also a sense of self-
promotion with merchandise and
more digitalisation as they refer
to Netflix and other websites
The fourth, refers to both a mix
of culture and social issues. By
mentioning pop sensation,
Beyonce, they are likely to
engage a large audience onto a
niche subject - female
empowerment and black identity
Subject of race is not too
controversial for current affair
magazines and can be made
mainstream, to have wide appeal
5

6. ‘The Big List’
Further synergy- the promotion of their
online website and featured articles-
there’s brand promotion, a quirky
approach to The Game of Thrones and
special needs provision- intersectional-
disability-focused- good element for
contents page
6

7. More
Evidence of audience participation and
audience interactivity- The Big Issue has
asked the audience for their view on an
informal/ chatty subject related to climate
change- seeing stars
Most of the responses are from Facebook-
social media for older demographics- reflects
the readers of The Big Issue
The heading of this column ‘platform.’ with the
combination of the lowercases as well as the
full stop reflects a quirky aesthetic that has
become quite common for young people- the
magazine also used this sentence formatting
for ‘contents.’ and ‘the big list.’
‘Get in touch’- phrase which has connotations
of unity and collaboration- there is no
inferiority of the audience or the assumption of
a passive audience
They’ve included twitter, Facebook and
instagram- highlights digital convergence and
their existence as a wider brand, but also
post- perhaps more suitable for the older
demographic 7

8. Adverts in ‘The Big Issue’
Advert for ethical
investing- appealing to the
audience’s desire to make
money- investing has
become a middle/upper
class hobby-suitable for
the affluent demographic
Meanwhile typing to the
theme of the issue and
appealing to the
audience’s sense of social
responsibility
The adjective “herbal”
connotes all things natural
and this is anchored with
the phrase “in harmony with
nature” suggesting a pro-
environmentalist ideology
of the product which would
appeal to an audience who
cares about their health
Advert for theatre
further reflects the
high-brow culture
of the audience
Also perhaps
appealing to a
younger TA who
would like to save
money- ‘theatre
geeks’
Partnership
between The Big
Issue and M&S-
creative
advertisement of
M&S’ sustainable,
environment-
friendly methods of
production- eco-
fashion- relates to
the theme of issue
8

9. Sample article
The article is bordered- reflecting the
style of the front cover and a few
other articles inside
The light and dark blue stripes
perhaps connotes water and the
links to flooding and heavy rain as a
consequence of global warming
“These protests seem to be the only
way our voices can be heard”- the
collective pronoun “our” suggests
this article has been written by Alex
White, the young activist himself -
connotations of unity and one
movement
Through referencing the Paris
Agreement 2015 and politcians e.g.
AOC- a formal tone is created which
gives the paper a sense quality-
however, by referring to AOC, a left-
leaning politician as a “hotshot”,
they’re revealing the paper’s left
stance and address to a younger
audience
The bubbly, quirky typography connotes freedom/rebellion but tempered with the
light blue colour palette, there is a sense of calmness
9

10. **The website for ‘The Big Issue’ functions more so as a charity with an
additional blog rather than an actual current affairs magazine, hence
why this was not analysed

11. Conclusions
Features I would like to emulate include-
1. The grafitti-type font
2. Not necessarily having to have a ‘model’ or cover star on the front cover
3. The lowercase letter and full stop aesthetic
4. Website link beside the page number
5. ‘This week on bigissue.com' to promote synergy
6. The block layout for a contents page
7. Representation of racial issues but making this to have mainstream appeal
8. Asking the audiences for their views on issues- make this a little column
9. ‘Get In Touch’ box with social medias
10. Advert for theatre and eco-fashion
11.Coverage of issues with talking about politicians and laws- making the magazine quality and informative through
a ‘younger’ aesthetic
11

12. Textual Analysis-
Dazed Magazine
Zoe Olawore
12

13. ‘Dazed and Confused’ Magazine
• Dazed Magazine refers to themselves as ‘youth and pop culture provocateurs -
they are an independent youth culture magazine
• They cover a variety of topics such as; fashion, film, art, music, literature and
politics
• Celebrities they have featured; Billie Eilish, Adwoa Adboah, Amandla Stenberg,
Frank Ocean, Timothee Chalamet, Solange, Lana Del Rey
• They have a reputation for publishing stories which use creativity to empower
young people
• Dazed have championed several humanitarian causes such as AIDS, breast cancer
awareness, the refugee crisis, islamophobia, LGBT rights, women’s rights and
climate change
13

14. ‘Dazed and Confused’ Magazine pt2
• Examples of their past covers:
• As a way of promoting giving blood, they convinced five supermodels to give blood
on camera. To celebrate feminism they showed Milla Jocovich with unshaved
armpits, with copy saying ‘because she’s worth it’
• They’ve partnered with Amnesty International and did a ‘Know Your Rights’ issue to
highlight the ever-present issue of human rights around the world. ‘The Money
Issue’ explored capitalism and the creative industries. They’ve also been the first
leading magazine to feature a drag queen + Jazz Jennings
• The reason why I think Dazed is appropriate for case study is due to the simplistic
layout which my target audience like (findings from my survey). Their work is
centred around youth culture which is suitable for my 16-25 demographic and like
my magazine, they are left-leaning. They feature celebrities on front covers which I
may do but also very political front covers— see next slide
• I am looking at Dazed, however, predominantly to research their aesthetic 14

15. Examples of political covers
15

16. Analysing front cover
The masthead is in a bold, white
sans-serif font, standard for the
magazine- the font is enlarged thus
creating an eye-capturing front
cover- cannot ignore- connotes
boldness and a refusal to ‘blend in’-
perhaps reflecting the engaged
youths which they represent
Their slogan ‘declare
independence’ is placed slightly
under the masthead- reminder of
their creative manifesto- to remain
free thinkers, independent from the
‘status quo’- free to act as they
wish- niche and different
There is a series of these front
covers all with the theme ‘A Young
American’- thus connoting the
uprise of GenZers - the layout of a
title and then cover star’s name is
only used when featuring
celebrities
Representation of a young, black
woman as a ‘young american’-
validates her identity despite the
history of white supremacy in
America
The short, dyed hair can be
interpreted as a stand for freedom-
Stenberg declaring her
independence from gender roles
and standards of femininity
perpetuated in a capitalist society
The rainbow-coloured background
is likely to be interpreted- preferred
reading- as an intertextual
reference to the lgbt movement as
stenberg is a gay, non-binary
person
Code of colour, black, connotes
her boldness and rebellion against
tradition while anchoring her racial
identity perhaps
The direct mode of address is quite
gentle - like an unspoken power
Despite being a fashion magazine, Dazed have chosen to represent a politically vocal celebrity who is an ethnic minority
and member of the lgbt movement 16

17. Other elements of front covers
- The barcode positioning with the writing on top consisting
of UK/US price, ‘Vol IV Winter 2017’, Rihanna and then
the name of the photographer
- For other variations of this front cover, the positioning of
the copy changes e.g. beside Rihanna’s face
When the front cover does not feature a celebrity, I’ve
noticed that Dazed uses larger copies with a theme e.g.
‘youth in power’ and then a more detailed description

18. Contents Page
• The contents page is very simple
with a high ratio of text to image-
this may be because Dazed leans
towards a fashion magazine,
rather than a current affairs
magazine
• On the left hand side there is
images of variations of the issue-
the writing on the right says the
photography, stylist and clothes-
conventions of a fashion
magazine
• I’m not likely to borrow this style of
contents page as it lacks the form
of a current affairs magazine
18

19. Inside the magazine
The editors letter- she addresses the social
context of the time, briefly talks about some
pieces of culture e.g. Moonlight, some features
of what will be inside the issue and then they say
who the issue is dedicated to
Interview with Cosmo Pyke-
he is an alternative artist born
in Peckham who writes about
unrequited love. The artist
challenges stereotypes of
‘macho’, unemotional
masculinity
Even the flowers can be
interpreted as symbols of his
fragility and delicateness
Coverage of a political art movement to counter
the rise of fascism post-trump and all
intolerances that accompany this- this coverage
of art where it intersects with politics may be
good for an upmarket audience of mine
Coverage of
American news
and american
cover stars
despite
originating in
London

20. Inside the magazine pt2
• As the title of the issue is ‘A Young American’, in the latter half of the magazine they looked at ‘The
Activists’- young Americans speaking out
• They looked at: people advocating for the protection of rights within the prison system, individuals
standing in the way of the Dakota Access pipeline, these two women who began a skate collective
and sell clothing to benefit people targeted by the prison system- they also look at digital activism
through Instagram
20
I like the pose and
uniqueness of the activist-
the first impression is one of
strength and defiance- good
front cover
The mise-en-scene would
make for a good front cover-
especially for armchair
protesting
The representation of women from two
different races lying down against vintage
background- nice aesthetic- connotes
togetherness- damsel in distress code of
gesture, however

21. Website textual analysis
Common convention of having the logo at the top is fulfilled and the top
appears very sleek due to the lack of content, compared to The
Spectator
Very large photo to connote the main article- focusing on Billie Eilish, a
young but mainstream audience who would captivate a young
audience- the neon colours further connote youthfulness- this
combined with the mysteriousness of her gaze
On the RHS is the ‘News’ section and Dazed has selected an article
from each sub-section e.g. Life and culture to showcase- visually,
there’s a very clear aesthetic
Topics such as pornhub and ASMR are covered- reflects the
provocative nature of the magazine- they also reflect the zeitgeist
The title of articles is written on top of images with a blur in the
background- quite unconventional- only for this section- their mode
of address is quirky and informal, hinted by the lexicon, “just try out”
and “thunberging”- reflecting the zeitgeist
Sections which they have are ‘Latest’ ‘Beauty News’ and ‘Most
Read’ on the homepage- furthermore, the articles are quite
raunchy and provocative- reflects the rebellion of youth- there are
still subheadings underneath each article e.g. ‘life & culture’

22. Website textual analysis pt2
The layout of the menu bar has an unconventional, slightly futuristic aesthetic- topics such as ‘Film &
TV’, ‘Life and culture’ ‘Science & Tech’ and ‘Politics’ are covered- social media links- examples of
digital convergence
‘Magazine’ section- examples of synergy- promotion of print
This is the politics section- the subheading placed under the logo
and the layout is similar to the homepage with the primary article
the biggest- topics such as tampon tax, extinction rebellion being
provocative, greta thunberg are all eye-catching topics - the topic of
Chelsea Manning relates to her unfair imprisonment after leaking
info
The rest of the articles are grouped under the ‘Latest’
section although there’s subheadings e.g. ‘Opinion’, ‘Q&A’
‘Feature’ etc.- topics reflect the zeitgeist e.g. gender
inequality, the rise of the extreme right online, the gender
discrimination female politicians receive etc.

23. Conclusions
Features I would like to emulate:
• The bold, large masthead with the slogan underneath
• Could look at a woman with unshaved armpits for a feminist cover or within the magazine/online
• Take into consideration how front covers can cover a wide variety of current affairs issues creatively e.g. capitalism,
HIV, sickle cell- tying into Black History month etc
• Bold representations of young people as powerful and independent
• Do an issue focused on young activists- ‘the freedom fighters’- intertextual reference although the front cover may be
of a singular women (like in the last slide) or group photos- could the activists issue be specific to black women? as a
black history month edition
• Take inspiration from the arty, home mise-en-scene from the last slide
• Look at doing coverage of a political art movement e.g. ‘Hands Off Our Revolution’ or Barbara Kruger’s art style and
links to Trump
• Bold, empowering, confrontational yet positive, intellectual, free-thinking, empathetic, seeing the bigger
picture- words to describe my magazine

24. Textual Analysis-
Time Magazine
Zoe Olawore

25. Example front covers of TIME Magazine
Close-up of a vocal celebrity
The edition focuses on ‘young
trailblazers’- seems to be a
common convention of current
affairs magazines + Teen
Vogue
The low-angled shot with
minimal text centred in the
middle provides for a nice
aesthetic with a good use of
space
Greta Thunberg
represented as heroic-
same with stormzy- could
mimic this- mise-en-scene
reflects the issues of climate
change- where you have a
celebrity their name is
always mentioned- ‘the
power of youth’

26. Analysing front cover
The red border is tradition for the
magazine, the code of colour
perhaps connoting the urgency and
ever-changing nature of politics- but
also the passion of their cover
models within politics- the big issue
included a yellow border
The contrast between the
monotonous black and white filter
with the stark red typography
provides visual pleasure- a sense of
voyeurism is created
The use of a plain white
background draws attention to
Stormy. The medium close-up shot
further does this. His code of
gesture creates a representation of
Stormzy as heroic and powerful
The tilted gesture, however,
connotes hope- this being anchored
by his smile. This optimism however
is subdued by the monotonous
colours
By producers allowing Stormzy’s
head to cover the ‘TIME’ logo, they
are representing themselves as
iconic and easily recognisable-
perhaps reflects their established
brand
The magazine features a title,
‘NEXT GENERATION LEADERS’
and his name is also in bold
typography- done for all celebrities-
the paragraph of writing is slim, but
long however
Stormzy’s fist is foregrounded- a
symbol of violence however by
putting his other hand on top
arguably creates the image of a
butterfly- suggesting freedom-
freedom of power, freedom of
speech
Details such as the date of the
issue is written in small font within
the border and the website link at
the bottom corner- reflecting
convergence and synergy

27. Contents page
The upper half of the contents
page is dominated by a
seemingly unrelated, melancholic
photo
On the photo is the logo (creating
a sense of coherent branding)
along with the volume number
and year
The photo establishes quite a
pessimistic, realist tone for the
magazine which juxtaposes the
front cover. They’ve depicted a
woman at her husband’s grave
The black background creates
this negative version of the
sublime- suggests that she’s
overwhelmed by her grief
however the stark lighting on her
left face suggests hope
The layout for the contents page
is very succinct and simple-
connotes sophistication and
perhaps reflects the high-class
taste of an upmarket
demographic
There are five columns within the
contents page, all given titles
which describe the similarities
within the articles e.g. ‘Time Off’-
what to watch out of work-
reflects older demographic
A unique feature of this contents
page is that they’ve categorised
each article within the paper but
this is done at the expense of
featuring smaller images
A unique feature of this contents
page is that they’ve categorised
each article within the paper but
this is done at the expense of
featuring smaller images
For some of the articles e.g.
under ‘The Brief’ and The View-
there is simply a summary of the
article with some words in bold-
for ‘Features’- there are larger
headlines- perhaps because
these are the focuses of the issue

28. Adverts
Advert for bags - shopping with an
aspect of social responsibility - brands
representing themselves as socially
conscious would be good for adverts
Advertisation of a charity- the gender
equality aspect of the UN- replicate this-
would fit into the left-wing views of a
young, egalitarian audience
The photo, connecting
broccoli to trees reflects the
connection between our
reality and nature- done to
promote the nature
conservancy

29. Topics covered
• - Impeachment politics and the fight for 2020 (the election)- I could perhaps look at Bernie
Sanders and republicans using ageism as a way to vote against him - they took a fairly balanced
approach e.g. ‘Democrats are presenting the issue as a moral one…about preserving the rule of
law…republicans are framing it as an unconstitutional attempt to pre-empt the will of the voters *
• Section of tributes to the dead e.g. Diahann Carroll- raising the audience’s cultural competency-
african american actress in the 1960s- received an oscar nomination
• Hong Kong protests and the government’s recent attempts to put in anti-masks bans but this led
to a wave of protestors wearing masks *
• Melinda Gates pledging 1 billion to boosting gender
• The MeToo movement and it’s links to the presidential campaigns- how no politician has properly
addressed the issue
• Fashion and racist ‘accidents’ e.g Gucci’s blackface sweater and other brands- how it seemed to
be a playbook move but also led to employing minorities in high positions- diversity has become a
booming business although still some underrepresentation *

30. TIME - Online website
Pop-up with an offer- relating to print and digital access to TIME
magazine- synergy and digital convergence- I could perhaps do a
pop-up of a magazine edition and offer it for free when they sign up
Video in an informal, vlog style following young nurses on the front
lines of COVID-19- providing audio-visual content ‘behind the
scenes’ gives TIME a unique, competitive edge to other magazines
who would also be writing articles about COVID-19
Their articles are categorised in sections under headings such as
tech, entertainment, health, ideas, world, politics etc. making the
website more accessible and easy to navigate
Below, there is also a section of articles under the ‘most popular’
heading with rankings 1.2.3.4.5. - simply semi-long headlines with no
images

31. Conclusions
• Features I would like to emulate:
• A border which perhaps changes according to the colour scheme of the photo
• The contents page layout where half of one page is a striking photo
• Think of splitting the contents into columns
• Do an advert for a charity organisation my audience would be aware of, or at the least a
cause that they would favour e.g. #heforshe using a guy as a model

32. Other examples of textual website analysis

33. The Spectator

34. The Spectator pt2

35. The Spectator pt3

36. The Week

37. The Week pt2