The magazine that I have chosen to analyse in depth is ‘X’ magazine. The reason I have chosen to analyse this magazine is because I believe it is a magazine that will be most like the one I want to create as it promotes new talent. I have never read this magazine so I feel it would be beneficial to create an in depth analysis about its content. This will lead to me understanding about what I would like to include in my magazine and can help me to get a clearer judgement about why the magazine publishes what it does. My first impressions is that the magazine will be about X factor contestants and their stories behind the show.
Page 1- Front CoverOn the front cover there is the X factor logo which automatically makes the reader associate the magazine with the X factor and ITV. ITV is a well known institution and therefore the magazine gains respect from the reader as we know that it has a history of producing media to the masses. The main photograph on the cover is of Diana Vickers who is a former X factor Contestant. The headline reads ‘people think im sweet and innocent’. The text is in pink which has the connotations of ‘girly’ and ‘sweet’ which work well with the headline. To contrast , under the headline in black boxes it says ‘Not likely’ and ‘Meet the real’ Diana Vickers!. This is the magazine showing that celebrities may not be what they seem. By using the colour black (to back the shock headline on)gives the effect of darkness , as if it is a secret she has had to keep about herself. The pose in which she is pulling does not represent a ‘sweet’ , ‘dolly’ type girl. To explain , she is wearing a leopard print dress with a smoky eye and her hair is not all straight and perfect. This represents her as not being the girl which everyone thinks she is. As Diana Vickers found fame on the X factor she has not always been famous and was once just like us! Therefore by saying meet the ‘real’ Diana Vickers , we as the reader feel as if there is still we need to know about her and we will read on to find out. The photograph shows her standing clenching her fist which again goes against the description of ‘sweet’. I get the impression that they want to show Diana as now being grown up and not the young girl that we saw on the X factor. Its as if she wants to break away from the girl and say ‘look at me , I am my own artist now’.
The photograph of Diana has the label ‘Exclusive 2’ over it. This to me was slightly confusing , if she is Exclusive 2 then why have they decided to use her photograph as the main feature of the page and the headline of her being the focus? Then I realise who is Exclusive 1 , “the nations sweetheart“, Cheryl Cole. Cheryl is currently one of the most famous women in Britain and for all aspects of her life. Whether it be fashion, music or the latest affairs which her football husband has had, we all know her and are talking about her. She is also a judge on the X factor so by including her on the front page , it makes the reader want to know more about Cheryl Cole. The photograph used of her overlaps the ’Magazine’ under the X on the Masthead. I believe this is because the magazine wants to promote Cheryl’s new hair colour and also show that she is X factor royalty who is of importance and should only be covered slightly by the promotion of the magazine label ’Only £1.65’.
Also on the cover is the photograph of judge Louis Walsh being clung on to by latest evictee ’Storm’. This represents Louis is a caring way as he is comforting his act. However they have not used a photograph of storm showing his face or a picture of ’Diva Fever’ (who the inside story is actually about). This suggests that they wanted to capture the moment of storms heartbreak exit of the competition and perhaps that they believe the reader would want to read more about storm than they would diva fever as they have not used a photograph of ’Diva Fever’. In brackets they have put ’and an amazing photo of Wagner’. This encourages the reader to open the magazine as they want to see the photograph.
The fourth exclusive is about Justin Timberlake and ’why he is giving up music’. When I first saw JT on the front of this magazine I was slightly confused as I could not find a connection between him and the X factor - except that he is a music artist. However by putting a famous face such as JT the magazine will attract a wider audience as he is a popular music artist with many people. Although this magazine is about the X factor the talent of the contestants is not a main exclusive. In the top right hand corner there is the first real sign that we will get to learn more about them. ’Aiden , Cher , Katie , Their Toughest Week Yet’. So even when we think we will learn more about their musical talents we are corrected that it will be about their struggle on the show rather than the talent they bring.
Although we associate the X factor with Music , this magazine also focuses on ’Stars’ and ’Style’. By using the three ideas as the mast head the magazine gains effect by using the power of three. The small stars in between the words also relate to the content of the magazine and compliment the word ’stars’. From looking at the cover of this magazine I would say that it is targeted at Females. The colour scheme of the cover is pink, yellow, white and black with the red X factor logo. These colours I would generally associate with females. I really like the layout of the front page however I am not too keen on the labelling of Exclusives. I don’t think it works as there are five stories featured on the front page and yet they only label four of them exclusives which leaves the last story about the contestants looking bare as it is the only one to be missing a label. However this could have an under meaning that the label they are missing represents the title of being famous and deserving a label. This bring the reader back to reality that the contestants have not made something of themselves quite yet and it could all be taken away.
Page 2-3 Opening Double Page Advertisement When I opened the magazine the first double page spread is an advertisement of a new ’reality’ programme - The only way is Essex. It is a television programme that is also shown on ITV and therefore by advertising another programme within this magazine ITV can raise their profile and awareness. The three people featured on the advertisement are stereotypically good looking. The girls look like models and are both in nice dresses and the man looks handsome and is dressed in a suit. Next to the models are the words ’Gorgeous’ ,’Fast Cars’ ’Short Skirts’ Etc. These are what the show want to present Essex as being like and they believe will appeal to the reader to watch the show. This advertisement reinforces my idea that the magazine is targeted at teenage girls as I believe they are most likely to watch a show about how to get the ‘designer label’ lifestyle described within the advertisement. There is only the black and white text and then the two models colour dresses stand out. The green circle is used to inform about when the show is on. From my research so far I have noticed a common theme which is using shapes to make things on the page stand out. Important information is often placed in a star or a circle which makes it stand out to the reader - it is especially effective when the rest of the page has no other shapes.
Page 4- Advertisement -Very Another Advertisement is used - this time to do with fashion. This again makes me believe that this magazine is targeted at females because a fashion store has decided to advertise within the magazine. The advertisement shows another female style icon - Fearne Cotton , modelling a black dress looking happy and confident. This would appeal to the reader as they want to look like her and wear that smile.
This is where I will learn if the magazine is really what I thought it would be. From reading the contents page I know that there will be interviews from ‘James Blunt’ who I would never have associated the X factor with, Russell Howard who is a comedian and again I would never associate with music and I will learn about Brightons style! There seems to be little focus on the X factor itself and I believe that you could take away the name and logo X factor mag and happily replace with Heat or New. The reason for this is that I am not getting the impression they are trying to promote the musical talent - which is what I wish my music magazine to do , instead they are looking around the talent at what they will become and how they can look. On the side of the page it says ‘Each week, a team member fills you in on life at pops most exciting mag’. This is their chance to promote how great it is to be in the presences of Cheryl Cole and let the reader know what they have been doing. I like the look of the contents page and the use of another photograph of Diana Vickers standing on a star reminds the reader that she has hit celebrity status. Her standing on the star reminded me of America when the celebrities have their name engraved on a star , the magazine have chose Diana to stand on in which could be reinforcing the idea that she is not sweet and in fact a rebel by killing the star. I also like the use of colours as the head labels. They capture the readers eye and make the white text stand out.
Page 6-7 First Article - Katie and Cher Finally I reach a story about two of this years contestants but is it about their musical origins and the greatness they aspire to achieve in the industry - Of course it isn’t. Im faced with a huge photograph taking up most of the double page spread of the girls sticking the middle finger to each other. With the headline Katie and Cher ‘Feud Latest’. As I read the piece I learn that there is not actually a feud between the two of them and then a smaller photograph of them is used hugging and embracing each other. I really like the use of the photograph and again the use of the white background makes the two of them stand out. This is another concept that I have learnt from my research so far. Although there is not a huge amount of writing on these two pages the two photographs tell the story itself so I have learnt that photographs express a lot. I also really like the 110% blue label at the top of the page which is featured on many of the pages within the magazine. This links them all together and gives the magazine structure which I think works really well.
Page 8-9 -Exclusive 2 - Storm and Diva Fever.This part of the magazine interviews the latest evictees from the show and the photographs tell the story of their departure. Each act is given a page however Diva Fevers interview is shorter - leaving room for the advertisement to download the acts performances. One thing that I really like about this magazine is their use of interviews. The questions they ask are short and to the point but still are inquisitive enough for an in-depth answer. The positing of the photographs across the double page works really well. To explain the photograph of Storm on the left hand side takes up a large amount of space then on the right hand side of the page there is the photograph of Diva Fever below it with more space for the interview above. I believe using this convential layout makes it look as if there is more room on the page less cramped. This magazine definitely uses colour well and the pages show continuity.
Page 10 - Louis Walsh Interview All of the pages that are a part of the 110% collection have a white background and a dramatic photograph. This page has three photographs layered on top each other with the interview to the side of the photographs. I believe that although the white background brings effect to whets on the page - it can begin to look boring if there is not some surrounding colour.
Page 11 - Make Up Advertisement Another female targeted advertisement is used. If my magazine is going to be targeted at women I am sure that beauty products , reality TV programmes and cosmetics would benefit most from advertising in my magazine as this is a continuous theme that I have seen throughout this magazine.
Again these two pages are photograph based. As I begin to read this magazine more I am noticing that they use more photographs than they do text. This could tell me something about their target audience. To explain, the magazine is not formal and there are more photographs which may suggest that the readers are not extremely literate or that they prefer to speak through the photographs. On page 12 there is the photograph of boy band ‘one direction’ preparing for their performance. The photograph shows that one of the band members is missing and a choreographer had to stand in his place during the rehearsal. By using this photograph the magazine could be trying to make the reader take sympathy on the band as they had to rehearse without a member. By using the heading ‘One Direction -1’ there is a play on words which adds effect to the name and makes the reader want to know why a member is missing. Also on page 12 there is a photograph of Eliza Doolittle. The photograph of her used shows her smiling and looking straight at the camera , as if she is personally talking to the reader. The phrase ‘I’m backing Mary’ compliments the photograph as it tells you what she is thinking as she directly looks at you. On the bottom of the page there is a blue box (which continues the blue colour scheme) that contains ‘weekend tweets’. In media other peoples perspectives are often important therefore by having a box on the bottom of the page , the reader can find out what other celebrities liked and see if their shared the same opinion. This is effective as it links the reader to the celebrity and brings them closer together, which the reader would like.
On page thirteen a photograph of the contestant Aiden Grimshaw is used. His posture in the photograph shows his hands by his side and his eyes looking worried. This compliments the quote used other his photograph that says ‘I hate to think ive destroyed an amazing song’. Again the magazine could be trying to gain sympathy for Aiden. The photograph they use is powerful because Aiden is dressed like a music artist but he looks frail and concerned about what they public may think. Next to the photograph they have used a smaller photograph of his performance. This reminds the reader of how things went so they can relate to what he is saying. The photograph of his performance looks really effective. Many of the other photographs within the magazine only have a plain background. The strobe lights behind him give the impression of magical and awe inspiring. The small quote within the photograph that reads ‘does anyone know the Heimlich Manoeuvre’ relates to how aiden looks as if he is struggling to breathe. On this page there is an interview with the contestant which allows the reader to learn more about them. The questions asked are mainly about the show rather than their individual music taste. I now believe that the target reader of this magazine are perhaps middle aged women who stay in on a Saturday night and watch the X factor. At first I presumed the magazine was targeted at teenage girls but the more I read into the magazine, my opinion is changing.
Page 14-15 Cheryl and Louis at war This next double page spread is dedicated to Cheryl Cole and her opinion on Louis Walsh. As I mentions previously , Cheryl Cole is known as the ‘nations sweet heart’ as is respected by many of the public. Therefore it would be surprising for a magazine to represent her in a bad way. The huge photograph takes up most of the page and as usual she looks glamorous and innocent. Before even reading the article many people will side with Cheryl as she is seen as being vulnerable and sweet. The other two photographs used show her next to Louis Walsh with a big gap between them , this adds to the meaning of the article , that they are not getting on. The other photograph shows Louis arguing with Cheryl and raising his hands which again makes Cheryl look as if she is being targeted. This part of the magazine follows many traditional codes and conventions that are found in many magazines. For example the first three words of the article are highlighted to add an introduction to what you are about to read. Towards the right hand of page 15 there is a column wrote by Matt Edmundson. Columns are a way of hearing journalists points of view about a subject. However after reading the column I do not think that they have placed it in the correct place , the column is about Wagner and Mary and does not relate to anything else on the page. I believe that this column could have been placed somewhere else in the magazine for more effect.
Page 16-17 Paije - I want to prove I deserve this This double page spread is an interview with one of contestants about his performance on the show. The background of the page is the photograph of Paije performing. It shows him looking very attached and involved in the song. This represents him as being passionate and shows that he wants to be in the competition. By using the photograph as the background we as the reader feel more involved. The other photographs used are placed on top of the background to show how far he has already come. The photographs capture the moment Danii told him he was coming through and this shows his excitement. The scrap book look makes the magazine look more personal as if it is a chapter in their life , which it is. At the side of the interview there is the ‘Six degrees of Simon Cowell’ which shows how he relates to different celebrities. This represents Simon as being an almost God when it comes to showbiz as he is positioned at the top of the page with other famous celebrities such as Mariah Carey below him.
Page 18- What’s a Wagner made of? This page in some ways ‘takes the mick’ out of the X factor contestant as they use a photograph of him trying to look ‘macho’ and then label his body parts saying why he makes such a ‘great’ man. I believe this represents him as being a joke and over looks the fact that he is on the X factor because he believes he has talent. The short paragraph below the picture explains how Wagner is not a man he is ‘the man. Again this is a humorous description of the contestant which represents him as being a joke to the competition and the novelty act.
Page 19 and 21 Advertisement starts on one page and continues 2 pages later This often happens in magazine advertisements where the advert begins on one page and then continues a couple of pages later. This creates an almost story effect. For example on page 19 we see a picture of a beautiful women with writing across her face to create the graffiti effect. The quote says ‘Could your moisturiser do more to respect your skin?’. By using the word respect it relates to the idea of having the graffiti looking cream across her face. We do not know what the product is or who it is made by so we are intrigued to find out more. Then on page 21 we see the same photograph but with a clear face and the Johnsons product next to it. This makes the reader believe that the product can clear your skin and encourages them to buy it.
Double Page Spread Of Advertising
The businesses advertising on these pages are Jewellers , Cosmetics , Love advice, Make up artists Etc. The only other type of advertisement used is for music phones. This tells us that the readers of this magazine are expected to be interested in these kind of products. For example it is unlikely that you would see an Addidas product being advertised in a Nike Catalogue as they are competitors. To contrast you would see Niva being advertised in a women’s health magazine as they both target the same market of women. Both Institutions can work together to promote each others products , they can find out whether they are a like by looking at each others rate cards which I have previously studied in my research.
Style Page 60-61
Within this music magazine there are pages that look at the artists image. Image is a huge part of the music industry however I did not expect to see a style page in a magazine about new talent. This shows how we judge people when we first see them. Cher Lloyd is already being praised on her style which in some ways over looks her musical talents. She is being commented on how she looks as if she is advertising Nike when if I was reading a new acts magazine I would want to know who most inspires her. This is where I believe the magazine I want to create works. I accept that image plays apart to an artist. However I want to get to know the musical talent and what makes them who they are. I suppose you could argue that image represents a person in itself. However this magazine contains a lot of image and style which makes me think that this is what the audience wants to read. In my questionnaire I could further this idea and see if men are just as interested in what their musical icons wear as much as women are.
