Case Study: Magazine Analysis

'Closer'

The closer magazine is a magazine for young women looking to keep up to date about the latest fashion trends, celebrity gossip, self-improvement and crazy real life stories.

Front Cover

On the front cover of the ‘Closer’ magazine there is presented a series of smaller photos of famous faces. these images are placed in a very casual, relaxed, playful way giving the impression that the magazine is not formal. it gives the reader a feel of a friend telling them about the latest 'must- know' news. The photos on the front of the magazine are associated with what the magazine articles are about. On top of the pictures is either a quote from the article or a brief description of what the article is about. The cover is covered in pink and green highlights that are quite eye catching to the readers’ eye when the magazine is hanging on a stall making the reader more inclined to buying the magazine. The colouring of the magazine and the saturation of the images is quite dense and exiting, then again catching the readers eye. The use of the colour pink is quite stereotypical seeing as pink is a colour commonly associated with girls or women and may have a negative connotation in an extremist feminist point of view. It gives the magazine a sense of girly-ness which may not be easily associated with most people. The cover is also mostly covered with faces of women (other than in the cover where there is a young boy standing next to his little sister).

Price

On the front of the magazine is also the price and barcode of the magazine. the magazine costs £2.85. this price is quite affordable considering the target audience is 14-25 y/o. the price of the magazine also helps tell the quality of the magazine, evidently the magazine is quite flimsy and easily bendable, the pages are quite thin nut covered in colour. the magazine is efficient in delivering its message and doesn't cost too much making it more likely for more people looking for a 'quick fix'.

Colour in Magazine

Throughout the magazine, a range of pastel colours are used. There is quite a large range of colour that all seems to be changed into pastel to make it more feminine. This may make some readers feel excluded as they may not relate or feel these colours or even the overall look of the magazine, they may not feel in any way associated to the magazine. The magazine is quite feminine and girly. The magazine seems like it was made for women only but only the type of women that is interested in fashion, celebrity gossip and good- health and may make more masculine women feel secluded or feel like this magazine may not benefit them, this means that a whole group of people will probably not be reading or buying this magazine meaning the magazine brand has lost a large audience.

In the articles, colour is used to catch the readers eye as mostly the title is written in colour. The colour chosen for the title also was chosen to go together with the picture so that they don’t clash and they call the readers eye making them want to read on.

The fact that so much pink is used it this magazine really makes it clear what the target audience is for this magazine. it’s very explicitly 14-25 y/o. people of this age are very worried about keeping up to date and being in style and current. this may be the reason the editor chose to make it so girly and easy to read in the sense that it’s not too formal. the target audience might identify better with a magazine of this sense as they may be feeling a lot of pressure from society to be very feminine and this magazine is especially perfect for that.

Title of Magazine

On the top centre of the magazine is placed the name of the magazine. the name of the magazine is quite vague in the sense that it doesn't really describe explicitly what the magazine covers for the reader but in its vagueness, may attract an audience that is curious to find out what is so vague and mysterious that is in tis magazine that I need to see. the title also has a pink shadow as its 3D effect. this goes well with the colour of the cover. I also notice that the name of the magazine stands in front of the images. this is significant because this can show that the magazine is not famous enough to be recognised easily therefore they must have it stand out and easy to read but it may also mean that is they had put the title in the background we probably would not have been able to read it since the images would have completely covered it up.

Language

The language used in this magazine is quite relaxed and