Front Page
Kerrang magazine is targeted at people in their teens to early twenties who enjoy guitar based music and are predominantly white. Most magazines share the convention of having a colour scheme of mainly three colours, in Kerrang these three main colours are yellow, black and white. These colours are seen on warning signs which gives the impression this magazine is so full of content you need to be warned about it. Vibe magazine is known for changing its colour scheme which suggests they are constantly changing to keep up with the times. They are aimed at a predominantly black audience aged 13-20 who enjoy urban music.
The main image on the front cover of Kerrang is of a female rock star who is also wearing yellow as part of the brand identity. She has her head canted which is consistent with the male gaze. The way her head is canted makes her seem vulnerable to the reader, giving the reader a sense of control as they read the magazine. This is reinforced as the largest typography states ‘Hayley answers YOUR questions’. Vibe magazine has a main image of a famous rapper whose career started to deteriorate after he was arrested earlier last year. It shows him standing up looking upwards in a regal way. The reflection in his glasses show the American flag which suggests he has pursued the American dream and gained a respectable status however his hat is disorientated which may represent his careers disorientation. The largest typography has the tagline ‘Weezy, still hip hops leading man?’ which reinforces the idea his status may be under threat.
Kerrang has pictures on the front cover to highlight the inside stories. This may be because the audience is more appealed by pictures than writing. We know this because it is aimed at a younger audience. It also advertises a ‘gig guide’ which tells us that the audience of this magazine are the type to go to concerts. Vibe feature a smart phone scan code near the barcode which tells us the audience of this magazine are likely to own smartphones.
Contents Page
‘Sugar’ magazine is aimed at teenage girls who enjoy mainstream pop music. ‘Sugar’ is seen as something sweet which may be what this audience think of themselves. ‘NME’ sounds like the word ‘enemy’ which gives connotations of rebellion which is associated with the target demographic as the magazine is about indie music and indie music is quite a rebellious genre of music.
Sugar uses the colours pink, black and white to appeal to their target demographic, although pink is quite a girly colour which you would expect in a younger demographics magazine, the use of it along with black and white is representative of how these girls are going through a transition from being little girls to mature women. NME uses the colours red, white and black which have a range of connotations including danger and violence which is how people perceive guitar based music.
The title typography used in ‘Sugar’ is iconic of the type of lettering you would see on a sign outside a club. This may be because the girls who read this magazine aspire to have a club lifestyle similar to their older peers. The title typography for the NME is capitalised and thick in order to alert the reader to the importance of the issue.
The main image in sugar magazine is of a woman ‘saluting’ although this is typical of men working in some sort of armed forces e.g. the army; this may be seen as a way of making the model seem confident and assertive however her head is canted which means she is in line with the male gaze theory proposed by Laura Mulvey.
‘The Teenagers’ article is predominantly aimed at teenagers aged 14-19. It reflects the stereotype that teenagers are rebellious and lazy. This representation is in line with common ideology.
The main image shows three boys lying in bed. The mise en scene gives the impression they are lazy. Also, behind them is a wall that has been decorated as if by an old person as its quite old fashioned, however, this wall has been covered with posters that are representative of the boys thoughts. This is symbolic of the boys rebelling against their parents.
The magazine is about predominantly ‘indie’ music. Listeners of indie music like to believe they are averting from the mainstream and are ‘hipsters’. Editors of the magazine know this and use the 'notepaper shaped info box' to make the readers feel like they are getting this information first hand, which is something they appeal to.
'How perfect is pixie' is an article aimed at a demographic slightly older than my demographic, the image shows a medium close up of the artist with her hand on her face in a childish way. This is in line with the male gaze and this appeals to their audience as it is apparent that young girls have internalised the male gaze. The use of shape and space is quite sophisticated and abstract which shows us that the readers like to think of themselves as quite sophisticated and older than they really are.
Both designs use the colours blue white and black but have different audiences. The first magazine uses blocks of colour and the typography is straight and capitalized which gives a sense of masculinity wheras in the 'How Perfect is Pixie' article the letters are softer and the colours overlap eachother to give a more feminine effect.
Something shocking I learnt in the progression of my magazines is the impact of the media on young girls. I did a lot of research into my target demographic and found their idea of beauty is a direct reflection of what the medias idea of beauty is. Young girls from the age of 8/9 worry that they are not attractive enough to be recognised. They considered anything above a UK size 8/10 as fat and imperfect and were shocked when i informed them that Marilyn Monroe who had been considered the most beautiful woman alive was a generous size 16. This shows how over time peoples perception of beauty has changed as a result of the media. One of the things they considered made a woman 'beautiful' was clear, smooth skin. This is obviously something they have subconsciously learnt through the media. Often in magazines they airbrush skin to make it appear flawless. This is an example of hyper reality. In reality no woman has perfect skin. One thing my focus group said about the woman who they chose as the 2nd least attractive was that her skin was 'ugly'. In actual fact the model had freckles which are not normally regarded as ugly but the media does not recognise freckles as a sign of beauty and therefore neither do young impressionable girls that are exposed to this farce day after day. 
When I manipulated the photos i had taken i used Serif Photo Plus. I was not familiar with this software and it took many attempts to get the right result. Using this software i whitened the models eyes to make them seem brighter like they do in other magazines, I also whitened her teeth in the same way using the 'dodge' tool. On my first attempt i over did the whitening and it didn't look right. I had three more attempts before i finally achieved the result i wanted.
On my contents page i included a page that gve readers the 'chance to meet Zayn Malik' since One Directions' success on the X-factor he is one of young girls favorite male stars. This is because he presents a non-threatening slightly feminine looking role model. Wheras older girls would prefer someone like Danielle Radcliffe who seems more grown up and masculine.
Another thing i learnt about my audience through research is that they prefer men who present a feminine or softer look. e.g. Justin Bieber because they present a non-threatening look about them and girls feel comortable and equal to them. This shows us that even though these girls have been raised in a patriachal society which has been reflected in the media they consume. They still strive for equality.
Self-Publishing as an option, may be considered as a risk as without the help of a publishing house as I may not be able to reach a large audience due to my lack of resources. However, many self-published magazines do well e.g. Sniffing glue which was one of the first examples of a self-published magazine. Also, due to the impact of the internet I could possibly publish an E-zine which would be read online and I could gain a profit from advertisement if my magazine does well. Also I could promote my magazine using social media which would be relatively cheap and probably free. 
My magazine aims to reflect a positive representation of women within the media, the character i used 'Millie' is pictured as happy and friendly. The clothes she is wearing do not emphasise her figure or draw attention to her body, this is because i tried to oppose the male gaze within my magazine however i understand that my magazine is a business and will have to incorporate some features of the male gaze in order to make a profit. This is why i shot my model wearing some make up with her head slightly canted. The use of make up may be an example of hyper reality within the media however she is not wearing anything which is an example of hyper reality to the extreme e.g false eyelashes or breast enhancement. My model is not typical of a model you would find in a magazine such as cosmopolitan. She is not a size zero and i have not edited her to look so, she is a UK size 10 and hopefully this will inflict upon my readers a more realistic idea of what girls look like and should look like. 
Magazines generally share a range of conventions e.g a masthead, bar code, issue number, date of release and a main image, however, these conventions are coded in a way that appeals to a target demographic as different audiences are attracted to different things. Some magazines may even twist these conventions to attract their target demographic. Magazines use Maslows hierarchy of needs' idea of 'self-actualization' which is the idea as humans we wish to better our selves and reach our full potential. Magazine companies know this and use it to their advantage meaning they know how to attract their target audience by selling their magazine as a 'dream' rather than a product. 
For example in a magazine such as Vibe they already have a vast knowledge of their target demographic and use this to their advantage in the construction of their magazine, their main image shows a reflection of their audiences aspirations which is an example of the use of the idea of self-actualisation. The model is looking up with the American flag reflected in his sunglasses, this has connotations of patriotism which is consistent with the demographic as they are mainly American, as well as giving the impression of looking up at the future which also is applicable to their target demographic as they are young (18-25) and they have their whole future ahead of them. It could also be said that by using the reflection of the American flag is representative of the fact he is pursuing the American dream. This also taps into the audiences aspirations.
This man is looking up at the camera in almost the same way as the woman who was put fifth yet my focus group rated him 8/10 in attractiveness. This result shocked me as young girls at the age of 11 had already internalised the male gaze.These findings shocked me and encouraged me to represent women in a positive way in my magazine. Although i will have to use some aspects of the male gaze to attract my audience, e.g. using photo shop to edit my model. I am determined not to sexualise my model or make her seem submissive in anyway.The picture they rated least attractive was of a woman who was wearing no make up. This tells me that the women they see in the media who have their make up done have had a big impact on the views of young girls and also explain why more and more young girls wear make up and try to look older than they really are. This is an example of hyper reality. Due to the impact of the media real life is becoming a reflection of what we see in the media, essentially, they want to look like the stars on t.v. This is worrying as the gap between reality and the stimulation of reality we see in the media is closing, with makeup acting as a mask to create a hyper real representation of the person underneath. 
I used many different types of typography on my front page so that it seems bursting with content. Many magazines do this because they know that magazine sales are declining due to audience fragmentation so they try to make it appear that their reader is getting alot for their money. Also, like other magazines i included synergy in my magazine by creating a 'vote online' section meaning readers can access content on the lolpop website as well as in the magazine. The magazine and website would work together in a mutually beneficial relationship in order to create synergy.
My preliminary contents page was not too bad, i included my own pictures as well as page numbers and a slogan. The title is another example of image manipulation gone wrong, by this point i had decided i would not use 'Paint' as a way of manipulating images for my final magazine. I got my background from gooogle images.
