Top Gear

1. Top Gear On the top left of the front cover, you’ll recognise that Top Gear carries the BBC logo. This is because the readership will instantly spot that the magazine is distributed by one of the major Media companies in the world which many audiences can rely and trust on products that are fair and impartial towards it’s audience. On the middle-right of the cover, there is a sub-title printed in quite a small font about how Chris Hoy can generate more torque on his bike than a Ferrari F12. You can see how Chris Hoy is pictured as large as the text being shown on the cover to give the indication to readers that a man can out-torque a supercar. This means when readers look at the cover, they’ll recognise that this statistic being put up is quite impressive. The masthead on the front cover of Top Gear has a massive font compared to the Jaguar and McLaren because the reader will recognise straight away that the magazine they’re reading is this one. By straying away from the traditional white font which is used on the logo of Top Gear for orange, this reflects that the edition is a lot more vibrant to reflect the supercars which are shown on the cover to make the audience think “These cars look cool!” At the bottom of Top Gear’s front cover, there is a sub-headline about new British cars that are being released for next year. By using a balance of small and large fonts, the use of the word “Beef” is used as a connotation to reflect the fact that there will be new cars made from Britain next year. The barcode on the magazine is situated at the bottom right of the front cover. This is usually the norm with most magazine covers. The price of the magazine is printed in a small font to not put ordinary Working class people off buying the magazine because by using the Jaguar and McLaren as the USP for this issue, the readers will be less deterred by the price and more focused on the content of the magazine.

2. Representations The Top Gear magazine front cover uses two British made supercars at the forefront of this issue. This may suggest that by putting the McLaren P1 along with the Jaguar F-Type front and behind respectively, then the readership who are strongly interested with supercars, will be drawn into the Top Gear magazine and are more likely to read through the whole issue. What I can also detect from this front cover is the cars are at the forefront of the magazine which is why although there is Chris Hoy standing next to the F-Type, he seems as if he’s placed posing on the front cover without any thought whatsoever. Top Gear uses the ideology of motoring at the very core of the magazine. Tone and Register The tone used in Top Gear magazine is very brash and flashy which is why this magazine is aimed at readers who love all things motoring. The language conveyed on the front cover of the magazine is quite powerful and technical which gives the indication that Top Gear is aimed at a upper-to-middle class readership that caters to both young and old people. “British Beef: Home-grown heroes here next year”. The language used in the magazine is quite informal although it does have some elements of formal language in there. “Sir Chris Hoy, The man who generates more torques than a Ferrari F12” is a perfect example of a sub-title that gets straight to the point of the subject and makes that statement meaningful to the whole front cover. Target Audience For the most part, Top Gear’s target readership is aimed at males because they’re most likely to be interested in all things motoring. This is because although a minority of women like motoring, for the majority of women, they may be disinterested with boys toys and may relate to another subject such as celebrities better than cars. Whereas with Men, they relate to motoring better than women so it works either way between either sex. You can see on the cover that there are exotic, expensive supercars dominating the front cover, this gives the impression that this front cover is aimed at an audience that loves motoring. Top Gear’s main audience is aimed at upper-to-middle class motorists because of it’s hefty price tag. At £3.99, individuals young and old who come from this socio-economic status are more likely to pick up this magazine weekly than individuals who come from Working Class backgrounds, who don’t earn a lot and may end up buying Top Gear once every 4 weeks. Considering that this magazine is all about cars, individuals who like motoring are more inclined to buy the magazine than watch the episodic series because the information explained on Top Gear is more in-depth and detailed than the show itself. Effect and Effectiveness This magazine achieves it’s purpose of motorists by using some well-known popular supercars that are dominating the whole magazine which will get motorists juices flowing with excitement. Although it’s website is not based on the front cover, the strength of the brand is well-known with readers because of the fact that it has the BBC logo on the top-left of the front cover which draws people who love reading Top Gear. As well as first-time readers, who have a passion for motoring but have never read a motoring magazine before.

3. Autosport Underneath the main logo, there is the date written quite small. As well as the price for the magazine itself which is also printed in a small font to deferrer readers from the price which usually turns people off from buying Autosport on a weekly basis. Compared to Top Gear’s front cover, the Autosport front cover masthead is more professional compared to the 1st cover. This is because with the Top Gear cover, the title was covering over the cars and Chris Hoy. However, with Autosport, you have the Guest Editor at the top of the cover with the title logo below it. The title typeface used is a sans-serif typeface as with all the texts written to give the front cover a slick look. What we can also identify on the masthead is there is a label titled “Collectors’ Issue”. This suggests that this edition of Autosport’s magazine is for an readership that loves to read and collect every Autosport issue that’s being published weekly. Also, there’s bulletpoints describing Hunt’s personality as a “playboy, maverick and misunderstood.” This describes the rock and roll personality James Hunt had when he was driving in the 70’s and distinguishes the fact that James Hunt wasn’t only a drinker, but an amazing driver. Most of the front cover is dominated by a MCU of deceased 1976 World Champion James Hunt who is the centre of attention on this weekly issue of Autosport. It explains briefly about how James Hunt was like as an individual and his comeback to the sport never happened. The barcode is placed on the bottom right of the page which is the norm with most, if not all magazines that are published daily or weekly. On the bottom left of Autosport’s front cover is a headline that’s covered in the same way as James Hunt. However, by using “Glock Shock”, this creates intrigue by using an exclamation mark as well as emotive language to make the reader think “I never saw this coming”.

4. Representation Autosport uses James Hunt as the main focus we readers will be reading on. This is because he’s our main focus in this edition of Autosport’s front cover which suggests that the whole issue will be dedicated to the older motorsport fan because they are more likely to have a lot more knowledge on what happened during that era with Hunt. So it means that by having James Hunt placed on the front cover and by ignoring the main news stories across motorsport, Autosport show bias towards Hunt although it’s a Collector’s Edition which does make sense to do a whole magazine dedicated to him. However, on the left bottom of the cover, there’s a small red circle explaining about another driver losing his F1 drive which seems to have less importance than the main subject which is Hunt himself. Tone and Register The tone Autosport used for their magazine is clinical and professional which is why this magazine must be aimed at a readership who are big motorsport fans. The language that’s used in Autosport is less humorous and more informative than Top Gear because the magazine wants to compel readers into reading the stories that matter across the sport. This suggests that Autosport is aimed more or less towards a readership that’s highly interested in motorsport and cars in general. “James Hunt” is printed in a bigger sans-serif typeface compared to the sub headings which add another level of formal language on the front cover because it seems that Autosport thought that if they used informal language, it would simply be a Top Gear clone magazine. The use of “Glock Shock” as a sub-title makes the headline seem as if it’s on the same level of importance as the James Hunt obituary but it seems as if the editors just placed it there without any thought whatsoever. Target Audience Autosport’s target readership is for the majority, males because they are more likely to be interested in motorsport compared to the average woman who is not at all interested with cars hurtling around at 200mph. You can see straight away on the front cover that James Hunt is the main centre of attention, this tells us that Autosport is aimed at a readership who not only love cars but racing as well. The main target readership for this magazine is mainly at upper-to-middle classes because they are more likely to be interested with this type of magazine. At £3.50, it’s slightly cheaper than Top Gear but there’s a catch, although upper-to-middle class people can buy the magazine weekly, the working class individual is unable to do so. Nonetheless, since Autosport is dedicated to all things motorsport which for people who don’t want to watch the news can pick up the magazine and get far more content than watching it off a TV screen. Effectiveness Autosport achieves it’s purpose by using a well-known personality such as James Hunt to convince racing fans that this issue is must-read material. Although it’s not as popular as Top Gear, Autosport is a widely respected motorsport magazine that’s well-respected to deliver news from the world of motorsport that’s fair and impartial. This means that Autosport are unlikely to draw casual readers due to the sheer amount of content in the magazine but the content in the magazine is vast enough to get hardcore motorsport fans reading in their masses.

5. On the top right of Autocar’s front cover, it explains briefly about the changes they’ve made so that the presentation remains slick and modern towards it’s motoring readership. “New look, more news, more drives, more features, more opinion”. The use of imperatives is so common with this section of the front cover because it’s trying to demand the reader to read through Autocar and feel as if they are getting every penny’s worth of content on this issue. Autocar As you can see, compared to the previous two front covers of Top Gear and Autosport. Autocar’s masthead is significantly different to the others because the price and the official website come first not the logo. This gives us the indication that the front cover of this magazine looks as if everything’s fit in so every single detail is on the front cover for readers to see. The barcode on the magazine like the other two is placed on the front cover which is very common with magazines. By using a MS of the new “Aston One-77” which is taking up most of the front cover, it uses a lot of positive language to describe the car in general. “200mph ride”. Autocar is trying to convey some excitement to motorists by saying briefly this is a fast car you would want to go “Flat out” in. Other than the Aston One-77, there’s a strap line at the bottom of the cover explaining briefly about the “Audi A1” and the “BMW 3-series”. This means that the motoring readership won’t only have to focus on the Aston Martin but other cars that Autocar highly recommend or are really bad. Then you have a little section that informs us about the latest new and used car bargains that consumers can pick up for a fraction of a price of a new car that’s being released on the day. This means motorists can read through this “30 page section and can make a decision on the car they want to have.

6. Representations Autocar uses a wide range of cars on it’s front cover to show us that this magazine appeals to a wider readership of motorists who do not only like supercars, but other everyday normal cars that the general public drive on the school run or to work. What I can also detect that there’s no inclusion of normal people standing next to any cars that are displayed on Autocar’s front cover which tells us that if they added people to the front cover, then it wouldn’t look as if it was a motoring magazine about cars. This tells us that Autocar is first and foremost a motoring magazine that’s only focused on cars and not on people. Tone and Register The tone used on Autocar is direct and informative which suggests that the magazine is aimed at an audience who like all things motoring. The language used on the front cover has a mixture of formal and informal language which is designed to appeal not only to an older readership, but young people as well. This gives the indication that Autocar’s readership is aimed at the upper-to-middle classes for young and old readers. “Flat out in sensational £1.4m hypercar” The language is very formal although it shows glimpses of informal language to give some humour towards the cars themselves. With the BMW 3-series “Brilliant, close to perfection”. This is a good example of how Autocar explain briefly about how great the car is without going overboard with the statement itself. Target Audience Autocar’s main target readership is largely dominated by males because they are the audience most likely to come across this magazine since cars appeal to this sex better than women. Although there is a small minority of women who do read Autocar, the large majority wouldn’t read the magazine because it doesn’t grab their attention because they can relate to celebrity culture better compared to men, who can relate to cars better than celebrities so it works either way between both sexes. On the front cover, you can see a wide range of cars dominating most of the front cover which suggests that Autocar widely appeals to an audience of motoring enthusiasts. At £3.50, it’s priced similar to Autosport. However, Autocar’s audience appeals to both young and old which Autosport does appeal to some degree but it’s magazine is for the racing fan. Whereas with Autocar, it’s a motoring dominated audience that appeals not only to upper-to-middle classes, but the Working Class person who doesn’t earn a lot and is looking for a bargain to buy. Considering that Autocar is all about cars, motorists are more likely to pick up the magazine as an alternative to Top Gear to get news and consumer advice on the cars themselves. Effectiveness Autocar achieves it’s purpose by putting a mixture of old and newly released cars so that motorists can enjoy looking and reading about the cars without being bombarded with one type of car. The website is placed on the masthead which if readers are fed up of reading what’s on the latest issue of Autocar, they can jump straight into the website and the reader can pick and choose what they would like to read on the Autocar website. This also draws in casual readers who have not read a motoring magazine before and are passionate about motoring, can jump straight in and make themselves at home by reading Autocarweekly.