Media Studies Signs and Signifiers

2. The iconic sign of this magazine is
Katy Perry, because the magazine
cover is all about her. This is because
she is the only person/image to
feature on the cover and therefore
she represents the magazine. This is
also known because the image of her
overlaps that of the masthead of the
magazine. The way she acts, looks
and poses gives the impression to the
readers and buyers that not only is
she quite confident, happy beautiful
and not modest as she is covered in
flowers which also can represent
happiness and have not many bad
connation's towards them. She helps
represent the magazine in quite a
sensual way because of the way she
is posing such as her body language
and facial expression as she is
looking straight into the
readers/buyers eyes.

3. The masthead of the magazine is iconic as it is a well known brand and
therefore they can afford to have the main image blocking the masthead as
the readers/buyers know exactly what magazine it is. The masthead is also
symbolic as it the font is in black which can represent darkness and dullness
but it has pops of colour inside some of the letters which could represent
that the magazine is not dull instead there is exciting elements in the
magazine. Also the background is a pale pink colour which makes the main
image of Katy Perry stand out. The colour also has connotation's towards
passion and love which reflects the image of Katy Perry.
One of the cover lines read ‘can Taylor Swift’s Q4 album debut with over a
million sold?’ This questions makes it seem like Katy Perry has no problem
in being able to sell over a million copies for her album but it makes it seem
that Taylor Swift is having more of a struggle to sell hers as she is not as
popular as Katy Perry. This makes Katy Perry seem more iconic as she
appears to be more famous than another other famous pop star.
Another cover line reads ‘Beyond Farmville Making Money From Facebook
Social Games’ This will attract readers/buyers because a lot of the readers
would be connected to social media for e.g. Facebook, and for them to be
able to make money from it would encourage people to buy the magazine
and read the article.

4. The iconic sign of this magazine is
Ariana Grande, because the
magazine cover is all about her. This
is because she is the only
person/image to feature on the cover
and therefore she represents the
magazine. The way she acts, looks
and poses gives the impression to the
readers and buyers that not only is
she quite confident, happy beautiful
and not modest it also shows her off
in alternative fashion, which shows
that she can still look perfect even in
the most weird costumes. She helps
represent the magazine in quite a
sensual way because of the way she
is posing such as her body language
and facial expression as she is
looking straight into the
readers/buyers eyes.

5. The masthead of the magazine is iconic as it is a well known brand and
therefore they can afford to have the main image as being in the centre
rather than the masthead as the readers/buyers know exactly what
magazine it is. The masthead is also symbolic as it the font is in black which
reflects what Ariana Grande is wearing, this makes it seem like she
represents Billboard. Also the background is a pale colour which makes the
main image of Ariana Grande stand out.
One of the cover lines read ‘The Science Behind A Summer Hit’ This makes
it seem like Ariana Grande has mastered the science of being able to make
a summer hit as her summer single went to number one in the charts. This
makes it seem that she is superior to the other pop stars as she is granted
to get a hit song and all the other famous singers are beneath her as they
have yet to master the science behind a summer hit.
The main cover line reads ‘Ariana Grande’s Double Life’ This attracts the
audience as fans of Ariana Grande will want to know what she is like outside
of the limelight. This gives the impression that she is trustworthy and truthful,
which also increases her fan base but also makes readers/buyers actually
purchase the magazine so they can see the celebrity when they are most
vulnerable.

6. I believe one of the main sign of the
contents page is the top charts list. It
takes up a fair section of the page which
suggests that the magazine has a lot to
do with the top chart singles. This signifies
that the magazine is up to date and
current with its chosen demographic and
that different types of music are featured
in this magazine which tells you that
people who listen to different genres of
music can all read the same magazine.
This is also seen by the images of
different genres shown underneath the
contents masthead.

7. The background is of the contents page is plain white, this enables every bit of
detail on the contents page to stand out and to easily be seen. This makes the
readers know exactly what to be excepting when they read the magazine. It
also enhances the images as the majority of the images are colour and
automatically attract the buyers eyes. However the main image is in black and
white which is a contrast to the rest of the images on the contents page, even
though it is not in colour it stands out from the rest of them because it is bigger
than all of them. This signifies that this artist is more important or more well
known then the rest of them featured on the contents page.
Also the magazine is split into three sections: Upfront, Features and Home
Front. This makes the magazine have a broader demographic as it can target
more groups. This also allows the readers to go straight to the sections that
they prefer so they don't get bored of reading things that don't interest them.

8. The biggest sign that stands out is the
masthead ‘WE LOVE THIS...’ it is
almost signifying to the reader that we
love this magazine so you are going to
have to love it too. It almost seems to
be including all audiences by saying this
even though it is aimed at the pop
genre demographic.
Also the house style is white and pink.
Having the white as the background
really makes the pink and yellow stand
out. This colour indicates that this
magazine is aimed at females between
the ages of 14 – 25.

9. One of the iconic signs is the main image of The Saturdays, this also
stands out because it is larger than the rest of the images on the page
and it is in the centre of the contents page. This makes it seem like
they are the centre of this magazine and the main story is going to be
about them. Also the poses they are doing are quite sensual this
signifies that this magazine is not just entirely aimed at females,
although they might be trying to be role models to younger girls in a
different way.
Another interesting section on this contents page is the contents
section because it is titled ‘INSIDE THIS MONTH’ this signifies that the
magazine is up to date with everything that has happened in that
month and makes the readers want to catch with everything that they
have missed during this time.

10. On of the most obvious signs is the iconic sign that the main image is of
Nicki Minaj, which is shot at a medium close-up. This sign is clearly seen
by the fact that she is wearing a ring that says icon on it. This signifies that
she knows she is an icon and she is not afraid to say it or show it off. This
is also seen by the way is holding her self because she is hold her ring up
to her face as if she is saying “look at it, I am an icon.” she is also featured
in the centre of the magazine double page spread, this indicates that she
is important.

11. There is also a symbolic sign which is the main title ‘The Gospel According
To Nicki Minaj’ this may symbolise that Nicki Minaj is like God or Jesus
because it is almost say that you should listen to her words and follow her
like people do for God or Jesus. This could also symbolise that she is
rewriting the bible and this is the new version about her, showing how she
is iconic again.
In addition the background of the double page spread is a pale colour and
the words Nicki Minaj is in a bright pink colour and in a bold sans serif font ,
this really makes her name pop of the page which makes her seem very
important in the music industry.

12. The main sign of this magazine double page spread is the iconic sign
which is the main image of Ariana Grande. This is iconic because she
is a famous singer, dancer, model and actress. The way she is posed
is rather sensual this indicate that she is mature and provocative but
she is modest about it because she is not looking straight into the
readers eyes. Also she is wearing white which is symbolic to being
pure and innocent which is not what her body position is indicating.

13. On the other hand the main image takes up a lot of room up on the
double page spread, this may mean that she is very important and
quite big in the music industry, which we know is true. This also
shown by them having images of other female artists in the article,
however them are vastly smaller than the main image of Ariana
Grande this indicates that she is the centre of this article and is
higher/above (in a popular pop singer way) thwen the rest of these
artists.
The background is a plain white, which gives this magazine a rather
simplistic view, in spite of this the main image is in colour which
makes it stand out, however it does still reflect the magazines
classiness as she is wearing white.