Teenage Magazines Essay.

Above are five magazines that have focused their attention on capturing the teenage girls as their audience. By looking at these magazines and recognizing that they all have the same target audience, we can assume that they will include the same or similar conventions to one another.

The first thing that we notice is the main image that is situated in the center of the page. Generally the pictures are of famous, beautiful and successful women. Some of these people on the front include Cheryl Cole, Taylor Swift and Emma Watson. This can also be used to prove the idea that their target audiences are all teenage girls as these celebrities make their music and series’ to suit their teenage audience. A reason this is a good selling point to female teenagers is because they see these people as their idols, so they are more likely to want to see what they are saying in their interviews, and they are more likely to want to read what they are advising their audiences to do. The color scheme on the page is also a reason for the automatic link to the teenage audience. This is because the colors are generally pinks and purples, or bright colors. This is very stereotypical towards the girls but works very well when they are selling the magazines.

Teenage magazines focus solely on representing and informing the audience of the perfect girl. They do this through giving make-up and fashion advice, allowing the reader access to “Beauty tips” from their idols. The idea of a “perfect girl” is also represented in the main image, as they are all beautiful and slim.

In each of the magazines they all include something about impressing boys, or getting a boyfriend. This is more proof that the target audience of teenage girls because they will probably been concerned about what boys think of them, and how they look. Usually this is highlighted in the left third in brighter colors. This information is also shown in a ‘starburst’, which is a star shape of color showing the information inside. This is usually positioned next to the main image, or close to the face of the subject so that you’re attention is automatically grasped not only by the starburst but then by the celebrity as well.

Although girl teenagers are seen as the highlighted audience for this genre of magazine, boys are addressed as well. This is not in as much detail but in the right third it usually includes a small piece about how boys can look for girls as well, suggesting that the boys are thought to read this magazine as a secondary audience. Teenage boys are only lightly represented and most of the time in these magazines, it is telling them how to look good for girls. It states usually that girls only like boys who have a toned stomach, which is very stereotypical, and makes the girl teenagers seem very picky, which is the same for how the magazines represent how girls “Should” be.

Analysing magazine covers

The magazine "Wedding" is obviously focused at the female audience who are arranging to be married, or are looking forward to that moment in their life. This is clear to me because of the masthead stating just the word wedding in the color of red, which could be there to symbolize the love that marriage includes. This will also stand out against other magazines, as the cover is mainly white so this title is very bold against the page. The font that has been used within the masthead is serif, which seems more feminine, which therefore backs-up the idea that the key audience for this magazine is the female.

It is also clear to me that the audience for this magazine is females who are getting married because there is a female wearing a wedding dress in the center of the page. Another reason that I was given the idea that the magazine is for people who are planning for a wedding because there is a banner at the very bottom of the page in grey and black, which is a contrast to the largely white theme of page, stating ways of planning for weddings. However, the groom is also brought to attention in small detail, declaring ways that a male could dress at a wedding. This shows the audience that the male is important, but proves that the curator of the magazine still believes that the bride will be the sole decision maker in the wedding process, including what the groom should wear, concluding that possibly the bride is the most important part of the wedding.

Number is also used once on this magazine cover to entice the reader. The number 539 is used which is quite an odd number, which can furthermore grasp the reader’s attention. It is also quite a high number and the number is associated with “Inspiring ideas” this would further intrigue the reader and make them want to read on, as it is a lot of ideas for them to look through.

The price of this magazine is in a very small font and says that it is £4.90, which can help us to conclude that this magazine has a very focused audience. It also tells us that it assumes it’s audience will be willing to pay a high amount for what is included in the issue, however, as the price is in such small print it may suggest that it is hoping people will just buy it because of the layout and what it includes. This is also suggests to us that the magazine authors believe that the audience that are looking at these magazines don’t mind spending this much money and perhaps have “rose tinted glasses” which means they are just focused on achieving the perfect wedding day, with the magazine using words like “fabulous”, “inspiring” and “dream” will entice the reader even more, giving them hope that it will give them their dream wedding.

This is another magazine called "VIBE". This is a music magazine and clearly is targeting teenagers, probably focusing more on older teens, but still trying to reach out to the younger ones swell. The first thing that we see when we look at this cover is a picture of the well-known Usher. His audience in his music is generally the teenage group as he compiles 'RnB' music, which can help to prove this as the audience for the magazine. He is wearing large dark glasses and a grey jacket. This is quite stereotypical to his genre of music, and will help the audience relate to this instantly, allowing the magazine to get more than their usual audience.

In contrast to this however, the cost of the magazine is shown to be £5.19, which is quite a high price for a magazine. This can suggest that it is either for major fans of the people and music included, or they are possibly of working age and can afford to buy this magazine every week. This age range then includes people aged 16 to 20, if you include the information gathered from looking at the main image.

There is a banner along the top of the magazine that is in Serif Sans. The words are in black and the key words are outlined in yellow, which is eye-catching. This however, is in contrast to the masthead, which is in a sky blue color. This, if looked at in a stereotypical manner could be shown to try and attract a male audience, this can also link to the left third of the magazine cover as it includes the word “sex” a lot. This is also quite stereotypical, as it shows that boys are probably the people who would be interested in reading stories about this. This is accentuated as “sex” is mention twice, once in blue and another time in yellow, which shows that the stereotype is carried out through the cover.

The word “Swagger” has also been used in the left third but this is in pink, suggesting that the magazine wants to attract all genders of the teenage audience. As this is slang used to show that you are “cool” or you “have swagger”. This word is also used in a lot of “RnB” music, meaning that it is still concentrating on the teenage audience throughout. Beneath the word “swagger” it states in white that it is “The Sexy issue”, the continually linking to connotations of sex, suggests that the main audience is male. Or perhaps it is mainly female, but the author believes that if they include the idea of sex in the magazine they will get a wider secondary audience.

Along the right hand side of the magazine cover there are small clips of information about what is included within the magazine, including gossip on well-known celebrities. This continually portrays the idea that the audience is teenagers.

Skills Audit

I am confident on a PC. I am able to insert text and images into a Word Document. I know how to find relevant documents and articles on the internet. I have used a Mac before and I know how to open an application successfully, I also know how to copy and paste images or text on a Mac. I am able to upload photographs to a Mac, but I don't know how to scan images onto a Mac. I know how to bluetooth files and I am confident in using powerpoint. Finally, I know how to burn data to a disk and upload files to an email or to a blog. Things that I don't know how to do include finding images that are different sizes. I have never had a blog before so I have had to learn how to use this from scratch.