Task 2: Magazines & Audiences

Part 1: Terminology 

Text:Any media product e.g magazine,adverts,movies ect
Niche:Specific
Code & Convention:What you expect to see in the magazines
Semiotics:Reading and understanding of signs
Cultural Psyche:What you connotate and what you signify
Masthead:Title
Denotation:The literal meaning of a word in contrast to feelings or ideas that the word might suggest.
Connotation:Concept/ idea through signifier
Signifier:Object e.g a cross, love heart ect
Signified:What you think when you see it
Plugs:Information about the contents of a magazine
Puffs:A word or a phrase on the front cover used to engage the audience
Cover line:Information about the articles to be featured
Number: Used to draw audience attention
Bar Code: Found on the magazine


Part 2: 500 word analysis

The cover from Vogue magazine issued in March 2011 has a predominant powder blue background, which contrasts well with the additional pink thats in the font. The colours enhance the hair and the outfit that lady gaga is wearing. It all links making it look a bit more interesting. There is a mixture of serif and sans serif copy.The background and colours within the magazine connotate that it is targeted to a female audience.
               The title Vogue is large and takes up the top of the magazine.It is the iconic font that is used on every Vogue magazine. The masthead is slightly covered by Lady Gaga, making the reader focus more on the contents of the magazine.An image of Lady Gaga takes up most of the image,this could be because she is the main selling point of the magazine. It also shows that she is dominating the magazine, with the text'Born this way Lady Gaga' aligned to the right.
               There is quiet a lot of detail but the mixture of colours within the text makes it seem as though there is less writing, therefore making the reader not feel as though they are being swapped with a lot of information. The coverline aligned to the left '574 pages of show stopping spring fashion' followed by 'the must have looks' shows that the magazine knows exactly what the target audience want, and what they are expecting to see.The number 574 is roughly the same size as the masthead even though it is not in bold it shows that there is a great importance to it, showing that the editor wants it to be seen and paid attention to.
                The words placed ontop of the masthead 'the power issue'sells the magazine to the reader as it connotates that the magazine has an advantage over others and may have great influence.
                Under the text Born this way there also appears to be a cross which is a semiotic. Crosses seem to be particularly in trend nowadays especially in the fashion industry.