ANALYSIS OF EXISTING MEDIA TEXT Nº 1

I have chosen to analyze the front cover of Vogue magazine, as I find the treatment of women quite similar to the way they will be treated in my magazine.

The size of the masthead dominates the page, providing a bold accent to the cover. The use of Serif style font and uppercase letters gives an elegant touch, and at the same time makes the cover assertive. The use of black, red, and dark blue colors transmits a classy, exquisite and elegant magazine. The colors combine well together and emit an overall professional look. The masthead ‘Vogue’ suits the genre of the magazine because the term ‘Vogue’ literally means fashion in French.

As a well-established magazine with a recognized layout the actress on the cover can boldly block part of the masthead. The readership will easily recognize the familiar layout.

Moving on to the image: the camera angle used, is known as a medium shot, whereby everything from the waist upwards, is in view of the shot. We have a clear picture of the woman’s face, which is conventional for a magazine’s front cover. The use of a simple green floral environment in the background transmits the purity, innocence and elegance of the magazine.

‘Blake Lively,’ the cover star in this case, wears a black dress, tied with a gold belt around her waist. She poses confidently, yet modestly and unostentatiously by placing her hand on her hip. The 80’s inspired her wavy hair, along with her burgundy lipstick (make-up). Her apparel allow her to appear feminine and ladylike, and the use of a subdued color scheme does not distract attention from the model.

Furthermore, the use of direct mode of address, with her looking at the camera, makes the magazine appeal even more and makes the reader feel more involved and drawn into the magazine.

Sell lines and headlines: One of the magazine’s headlines states ‘BLAKE LIVELY. The Gossip Girl starts new look…’ This sell line refers to the woman on the front cover. The magazine places emphasis on her name, ‘Blake Lively,’ as the use of celebrities helps the magazine appeal to certain target audiences. The American, teen, drama, television series, named “Gossip Girl” made her famous as an actress.

The main headline stands out amongst the other headlines, sell-lines and features, because it is the second most important content after the masthead and the reason for buying the magazine.

Most sell lines are allocated on the left hand third because it’s the first area of the page that grabs the readership’s attention. The front cover is not cluttered with too much information. It is strategically organized and tidy. The layout suggests and indicates the traits of the TA, whom are also likely to be neat and tidy.

The issue features sell lines, such as, ‘Daring jumpsuits,’ ‘Smoldering makeup,’ and ‘Plunging necklines.’ The use of these adjectives gives the magazine a sense of sophistication and composure. They are complex and dazzling adjectives, which catch the reader’s attention and draw the reader to purchase the magazine.

Serif font, the font style used for the majority of the sell-lines and conventionally used for formal writings and records, suggests a demure, decent and somewhat prudish fashion magazine.

The use of distinct types of font, such as ‘Sans-serif,’ within the sell-lines, differentiates parts of the text and makes the content stand out. On top of that, the diversified use of colors on the sell-lines creates an attention grabbing effect. For instance, some of the sub headings of the sell-lines juxtapose blue and red font to catch the reader’s eye.

Finally, the date and the barcode are very significant and conventional of these media texts. The date, keeps people on track of which monthly or weekly issue they are reading. The barcode is an essential convention for technical reasons.

Vogue magazine doesn’t vary its layout. It always follows the conventional layout. It maintains the same masthead and font. However, sometimes the color may vary, depending on the issue. By maintaining the same features in all issues, it creates a positive and consistent brand identity.