It is clear to see what the primary target audience for Cosmo is, due to the fact that whencetargeting audiences, stereotypes are used to widen the variety of readers. Rather than catering to individual women’s wants and needs, the general stereotype that all females like pink, fashion, makeup and sex has been applied to this page. And as the contents page only features those of white ethnicity, this is also the primary race targeted. The white female wearing the nude dress is a representation of these white females, or at the very least what they aspire to be. I have realize that a necessary factor to ensuring success within my own magazine would be to represent my target audience to an extent in order to attract the correct specified audience. The social grade of Cosmopolitan’s readers is A-C2, as it is classy enough for the likes of an A and B grade social audience demographic, with their disposable income to spend on a fashion magazine. It ranges down to C2, as in a way, it gives this class something to aspire to.
Surprisingly, the magazines’ masthead has not been incorporated into the contents page as a title. This is quite uncommon in the magazine industry, as on the vast majority of contents pages you will find the masthead used within the cover. Instead of this, the lexis ‘December’ has been used. Not even ‘contents’, as the producers have presumed that their audience is far too intelligent and educated to need the obvious pointed out. ‘December’ is in a black font, contrasting harshly with a white background in order for it to stand above the rest of the text. It is simplistic, yet elegantly feminine; its curves almost imitating the way in which the female body moves. There is obvious reasoning behind the decision to incorporate a fancy, feminine font into the contents page as a sort of masthead, to appeal to the target audience. They need something that is going to represent them in the way in which they aspire to be portrayed: elegant and classy.
In terms of imagery, the magazine succeeds in fulfilling its purpose of attracting the correct target audience. The main image is stereotypically of a model, a perfect portrayal of the fashion world. I have noticed on social networking sites that young females, around the ages of 13-20, often place their hand upon their head in the manner of which the model is placing her hand, almost as to imitate models due to their desire and aspiration to be just like them. The long sleeves on the mid-shot are a portrayal of how it is winter, but suggest to the reader that although it might be freezing outside, they can still have fun partying, as nothing can stop them. In general, fashion photography is serious, and most targeted towards such a high demographic is full of elegance, as to portray their aspirations. The medium close-up of the male and female in bed has been incorporated to ensure that the audience do not think that they are solely about professionalism and money, but also about having a good time and a general optimistic outlook on life. It entices the readers into wanting to indulge themselves in the article, particularly in consideration of the fact that the most prominent audience is single women, at the median age of 31, where their sex lives are said to die down more. The pictures also connote how this is the stereotypical ideology concerning female views towards themselves; they wish to be like this, and think that if they buy the magazine, they can get an insight to how. As the female is on top, pinning the male down, I believe that this image is a connotation of how the magazine wants females to be more powerful, and not allow men to control them. Jewelry, baubles and sex are also featured in the contents, almost as a statement made by the magazine to convey how they are not purely about fashion, but are bring forward so much more than this. Each of the images are referred to an article, all have a number telling the audience which page to find them on, ensuring that the readers are able to swiftly find what they want from the magazine with ease and no difficulty.
The pictures from the feature article have not been included in the contents, which is a portrayal of how Cosmo is not solely about promoting their feature article, but would rather allow focus from the audience to spread across more than one aspect of the magazine, as these are just as important to them. It is almost standard for a magazine to incorporate some sort of imagery relating to the feature article on a contents page, so Cosmo have represented themselves as non-conformist. A lot of makeup imagery is on this page in order to demonstrate to the audience that by purchasing the magazine, they are able to easily take on the same aesthetics as the models. Fashion and beauty go hand in hand, and most fashion magazines do feature makeup, as makeup almost has a fashion of its own. The image of foundation is very similar in terms of colouring to the dress that the model is wearing in the picture beside it, linking the model and foundation together, further conveying to the audience how they can be just as beautiful as the model.
Typographically, the font and colour palette is successful in attracting and representing the specific target audience chosen to pitch this particular magazine at. They have ensured the text is suitable for the target audience and their interests; females interested in fashion are going to want something classy and stylish, hence the fancy typography for ‘December’, and standard black font that seems to be used in every fashion magazine for the majority of the writing. Capitals, such as ‘LIVE BIG & GO FOR IT’ shout out to the audience, grasping their attention for different sections. This is blue, and is a header, so stands above the majority of text and out to the reader. Through both choice of lexis and typography, ‘LOVE, SEX & SUCCESS’ stands out to the reader, who is stereotyped to take any opportunity to succeed in this economical crisis. It is in blue to ensure the readers see it above other features, this works especially well as the majority of text on the contents page is in black. The page numbers have been separated from the lexis through the pink colour to ensure they do not blend together.
Directly at the top of the page is ‘December’, ensuring this is the first piece of typography that the reader can see, as often eyes scan from the top to the bottom of the page, and the reader must immediately know what is going on with the page. Though it is not direct in telling the audience that it is a contents page, it does not need to be, as ‘December’ itself signifies the intentions and purpose of the page, almost saying to the reader ‘this is what is in the December issue’. This is almost a mandatory feature that should be included, as the magazine must ensure that the readers understand where each page is and what they are about. Above this is ‘2012’, as it is a long-running magazine, so there are a lot of December issues, this just makes sure that the issues are not confused, especially for collectors. It is a lot smaller and in pink, which separates it from the black of ‘December’, ensuring both are easy to read. The picture of the shoe curves around the image of foundation, relating back to when I speculated about how the curves in the typography imitated the curves of a woman, linking a stereotypical woman’s aspirations to have a slender, hourglass figure; it almost subconsciously conveys to the reader that the magazine is able to assist them in their quest to find said figure. Under the masthead is the main image, the first aspect of the text that draws the audience in, and so it is vital that this is placed in such a way that the features surrounding will be seen next. It also connotes that the image represents the masthead and target audience, or what they aspire to be. The layout of the imagery is rather fun and bold, and they have clearly avoided being formal, which is clear to see as the imagery overlaps in an enjoyable manner. There is a description directly below each image to ensure that the audience knows which article and picture are related. Just above the image of the man and woman is a kiss, effectively linking the imagery, suggesting to the reader that their ‘lippy’ will assist them in getting sex. Columns have been incorporated as they are both a standard feature of magazines, and easy to navigate. This is what the audience are familiar with, so the readers recognise this feature, though it is laid out differently in different magazines.
To conclude, I believe that this particular contents page is rather sophisticated, yet fun and bold. It is precisely what I want from a contents page, and I believe that this would be a good style model to base my own contents page around. I admire the use of headings, this is something I would love to do on my own page. Also, the imagery all seems to correlate in colours, allowing the season to shine through as a portrayal of their festivity.
No comments:
Post a Comment