Research of Existing Magazines
Real-Life Magazine - Chat
Real-Life Magazine - Take a Break
Both these real-life magazines are crowded with images and text as well as colour. This type of real-lie magazine is more preferred by middle-aged women or pensioners, rather than a young adult audience as all the topics and stories included are the cliché dramatic "woe is me" type stories about a bunch of strangers that nobody really knows. Most younger audiences aren't interested in this type of story, or the puzzles included - instead, they generally prefer more modern issues/hobbies/events and stores to be included that aren't so negative or dramatic.
Entertainment Weekly Magazine:
Image:
Image of the band together at the center of the page - celebrities and icons. However, this doesn't quite fit into the requirements of a real-life magazine as there need to be multiple images included on the front cover.
Brand identity:
'Entertainment Weekly' Masthead in the bold, yellow font that stands out against the blue background however, the 'Weekly' is in blue text and in a smaller font against the yellow text of the Entertainment.
Colours:
Blue, yellow, and white main colour scheme with black text for the extra text. "BTS" is in a 3D slanted font; bold, white text with black a 'shadow'.
Fonts/Typography:
The text is in Capital letters (except "Entertainment") and serif font. Some text sections are placed in a slant - matches the shape that the band is grouped together in. "BTS" is also typed in a very small, diagonal curve, again linking to the shape the band members are grouped together.
Graphics:
"Stage Preview" - It's in a yellow circle with a white outline. This matches the masthead and extra white text of the magazine. It includes the names of what else is included within the magazine that readers may want to read or find interesting. The magazine is rather simplistic in the sense that it doesn't have many shapes, images, or banners. However, the credit of the magazine cover has a red underline and yellow text.
Features:
Informal register - younger audiences rather than older audiences. Less information-based and more name-based - assumes readers already know who or what is being written about in the magazine. In the image of the band, one of the singers; J-Hope, is making a heart symbol as he poses for the image. [Barthes] Hearts is generally used to symbolize love and this could create several meanings behind the image i.e. J-Hope loves his fellow band members or that he loves his fans etc.
Institutional Details:
The brand name is within the masthead and stands out against the rest of the magazine cover. However, the "By Lean Greenblatt" is assumably a credit to the person who has taken the photo and/or made the magazine cover but this isn't specified for the reader. In the bottom right corner, the magazine names the members of the band - providing information for readers who may not be familiar with the band and have no knowledge about who they are.
In the left corner just above the masthead, there is also the date that the edition was distributed and the issue number of the magazine.
Appeal to Social Groups?:
Age: Older teenagers to young adults that are fans of the BTS band however, older audiences may be targeted through the Broadway shows in the yellow circle.
Gender: The magazine brand is aimed at all genders as it normally covers topics of entertainment (i.e. gaming, music, film, and tv shows, etc.). This edition though will have a more female-orientated audience as BTS has an audience demographic where 76% is female.
Race/Ethnicity: Western fans will read the magazine however more Koreans will also read it as the band is from South Korea and Seoul is also mentioned
Class: Older teenagers and younger adults
Sexuality:
Not specified - romance and sexuality is not a specific topic of the magazine company, However, during the 50th anniversary of gay pride, the company release special magazines that cover stories and thoughts from LGBTQIA+ actors and their experiences around that:
Religion:
Not specified
Closer Magazine
Image:
There is a larger amount of images for the front cover - meeting the requirements of a real-life magazine - that highlights the main focus is "Celebs...and so much more". Most of the images include cheerful faces rather than the usual sad faces that most people have on real-life magazine covers. The image of Harry and Megan however, creates a sense of tension within the royal family as if the two do not want to participate or at the least, communicate with the members of the family. It creates a sense of drama
Most mid-shot images of the celebrities/people featured in the magazine.
Brand identity:
The name "Closer" indicates that the magazine will bring its audience closer to their favourite celebrities - almost as if it creates a relationship between them. The masthead has a pink background with a goldish colour as an outline
Colours:
Pink, light blue and an almost goldish colour are the main colours of the magazine, as well as white. This creates a more feminine aspect to the magazine brand - suggesting that it is more targeted towards females specifically.
Fonts/Typography:
Graphics:
The images, although set out in a collage/montage type of layout, each has borders around them to make them look like photographs in a journal
Features:
'TV you'll love' could be considered as call-to-action as it suggests that the magazine will include TV shows suggestions - however, it could just be to highlight that the magazine covers stories from actors of popular TV shows.
Bar code included in the bottom right corner of the magazine
Institutional Details:
No institutional details are included on the front cover of the magazine - neither is a release date or issue number of the magazine
Appeal to Social Groups?:
It is more specific to one social group rather than a diverse range of social groups because it is a concentrated area of interest where the focus has been condensed towards one gender/social group
Age:
This magazine is probably more aimed towards adults aged from the mid-30s or older, maybe late 20s, but most likely aimed towards audiences that would be more interested in marriage and weight loss, etc.
Gender:
Female orientated due to the topics and the number of female celebrities
Race/Ethnicity:
Not culturally diverse - large white representation - traditional
Class:
Upper class/middle class - generally richer people would probably be more interested in the magazine, the topics, and the celebrities that are covered.
Sexuality:
There is no LGBTQIA+ representation on the front cover of the magazine, there just seems to be the stereotypical heterosexual representation suggesting that the company brand may have traditional views on relationships
Religion:
Mojo Magazine
Image:
Medium Close-Up Shot of Joni Mitchell (when she was younger) used as the background of the cover.
Brand identity:
MOJO; the Music Magazine - highlights what the target audience demographic is (music fans) as well as the general content of this brand.
Colours:
The background image is edited to be coloured blue to match "The real story of blue" - referring to the context and inspiration for the singer's album 'Blue'.
The general colour palette
Fonts/Typography:
Graphics:
Regarding images, there are only three images on this magazine cover, one for the making background; one enlarged in the bottom left corner; and one in the right corner. These are used to highlight the more important stories/features included within the magazine content.
Meanwhile, the other graphics included are simple shapes to highlight any other important/special information such as the reviews and the anniversary of the brand. Arguably these could be considered as call-to-action as it compels customers to read the magazine because of these 'special aspects' - especially if they want the "15-track CD".
Features:
Masthead for the brand name.
There are also other stories listed on the front cover of the magazine with very small stand firsts or rather simple phrases to give an idea of what they are about.
There is a barcode on the bottom right corner of the magazine.
Institutional Details:
There doesn't seem to be any details specifically included in the magazine other than it is a 'music magazine' and the reviews/anniversary of the brand.
Appeal to Social Groups?:
The magazine content is more concentrated and specific to appeal to one or two small social groups rather than a wide variety (like entertainment) - in this case, older adults and music fans.
Age:
Due to the Musicians and music bands mentioned not being familiar to younger audiences (or not listened to by them) then the targeted age demographic is middle-aged to older adults rather than teenagers/young adults
Gender:
Gender-neutral representations as well as the targeted audience
Race/Ethnicity:
There isn't any diverse representation of ethnicity
Class:
Sexuality:
Religion:
The magazine has little to none religious representation
