Cosmopolitan Cover Analysis

Though Cosmopolitan is not a regional magazine, I feel as though it is necessary to ensure that I have thoroughly analysed fashion magazines to ensure I know all that is necessary to produce a successful product of this genre myself. Cosmopolitan is a magazine that I actually purchase and enjoy, allowing familiarity with the product to guide this analysis. The purpose of the magazine cover is to portray women in an optimistic, uplifting manner; allowing an outlook full of power on females. In terms of the masthead, 'Cosmopolitan', they have been very clever in choosing a word of which connotes diversity, welcoming all races and a variety of different people into their audience. Though, they primarily target white women, they have ensured that any secondary audiences feel welcome; maximising potential audience, therefore money. This cover targets people of white origin, as the female used in a positive manner is white; this would not primarily attract people of other diversities, as they cannot relate to the cover star. The social grade is A-C2, as the audience need to have a disposable income to indulge in luxuries such as this magazine. The feature represents the target audience in a positive way, of which they are pleased with and feel as though  the magazine represents them correctly; therefore the features are able to attract the correct audience demographic. It is clear to see what the primary target audience for Cosmo is, due to the fact that whence targeting 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. 

Usually, the masthead is located in the top 1/8 of the cover, but this is just over 1/7 of the page, presumably because it is quite a lengthy word, so they would not want to squash the title up. It does not make that much of difference, only it means that there is slightly less of a chance of the masthead actually being seen on shelves that are stacked with a lot of magazines, especially in newsagents/ newsstands, where often the masthead is the only thing that can be seen unless the magazine is at the front of the display. 

A Cosmopolitan is also a cocktail made with vodka, cranberry juice, an orange-flavored liqueur, and lime juice; often consumed by elegant ladies who are of a high class. An aspect that also suggests high class is the percentage of people who attended/graduated college (62.6%), so it is unlikely that these people would have jobs which are not high paid or do not bring a lot of class to their lifestyles. After researching and gathering information from the Cosmopolitan media kit, I discovered that the most prominent audience who purchased the magazine is of the age group of 18-34. This is quite a wide range of age, so I looked at the median age of the audience, and found that it is 31 years old, meaning that the magazine will predominantly target this age group whence in the process and creation of the magazine. 

The table above helps me to understand the reasoning for just how much sex is the primary topic for Cosmopolitan. They have taken advantage of the fact that the majority of their audience (approx 62%) are single or not involved with anyone. It is almost as though they are trying to ignite thoughts of sexual relationships in order for the audience to, perhaps, crave sex, therefore feel as though they need the latest advice to impress males; resulting in them purchasing the magazine. 'Love, sex, break-ups and bad behavior', clearly they have attempted to appeal to those of the audience who have had to deal with break-ups, and want them to make themselves feel better with 'bad behavior'.
The other 38% are married, which connotes how they might not be particularly active, and they seek advice on how to re-ingnite their sex lives.

The yellow dress has been used as mise-en-scene in order to portray the fashion choices and appearance of the people who enjoy this genre. Through this, a large number of the audience will see themselves in the magazine and what they desire, and so they will purchase it. The cover, in a way, mimics a sunset, as the colour palette is full of warm yellows and oranges, conveying the season to the reader and effectively getting them excited about it. Often with magazines that use the masthead to head the magazine like so, they will overlap the picture so it anchors the title, allowing attention to be focused on the subject of the magazine, as the magazine itself must already be quite well known to use this technique. Due to the fact that this magazine is respected and high up in the magazine industry, it can afford to splash out in terms of its feature article. Isla Fisher is the star vehicle in the article, very appropriate seeing as she is most well-known for playing the protagonist in 'Confessions of a Shopaholic,' a film predominantly about fashion and its role in the magazine industry. She is a fashion icon, and so the magazine would appeal to the audience who are looking for fashion to effectively copy. The image chosen for the cover is not the usual shot type that would be used, it is a mid-shot, whereas magazines commonly include medium-close-ups as to focus on the star vehicle. My presumption is that the producers not only wanted the focus on Isla, but wanted to focus on the dress, as it is a fashion magazine. Because she is hunched over there is some cleavage is visible. Mulvey's theory 'The Male Gaze' states that women in the media are sexualised, and only put there for the viewing pleasure of men.

Typical concerning layout, the main image of the female has nothing interfering with the face. This ensures that the readers know exactly who it is, and that the model can easily be viewed, rather than the face being covered by writing. The barcode is horizontal and magazines commonly have this feature located to the right; Cosmopolitan has conformed to this common convention. Text lines the side of her arm, again not interfering with the model too much. I noticed that the lexis 'You're beautiful' draws the eye of the viewer towards the models' curves, conveying to potential readers that if they purchase the magazine, this is what they could be. 

In conclusion, I feel as though this magazine cover would be a brilliant style model for my own magazine, as I believe that it contains features which would both be more than suitable to adapt and incorporate into my cover. Though I will obviously not be able to hire a real star vehicle, I could ensure my feature is more article-based rather than person-based. The elegance and happiness portrayed through Isla is something that I would like to imitate, as Bentley said, 'the creative process is the rearranging of the old and making of the new'.