Media Research

1. Media Research This is the front cover of ‘Mizz’, a young girls gossip magazine aimed at roughly the same age group as my product. The cover uses around four to five colours, all of which are bright and stereotypically feminine. The cover is not extensively busy; it makes use of cover lines that anchor the pictures, and not much text is present. The text that is used is of a fairly large font and is spaced out, making it easier on the young eye. The magazine features tips on how to be a brilliant mate, which will help the reader develop a sound self-esteem and become confident in themselves, which are important at a young age.

2. Media Research Another front cover of ‘Mizz’ shows that the house style of the magazine is consistent; again, bright colours are used and there is not a lot of text, meaning that it is easy on the eye. The use of a female idol on the front page is a recurring feature, as these are the people that young girls aspire to and want to be like. Interviews with such people make the reader feel as if they know them personally, again another feature that would help build confidence. Innocent male ‘crushes’ are often included, as these make the audience feel more mature, like the female celebrities they idolise. Freebies and incentives are also commonly used on such magazines, such as free make-up or Internet content.

3. Media Research This is a cover of ‘Smash Hits!’, a music magazine for young girls that was at its height during the 90’s. This can be denoted from the attire of the girls on the cover. Similar to the gossip magazines, it uses a lot of bright colours. However, these colours clash (such as red and blue). Furthermore, it makes use of busy patterns and the layout (although it does not contain an awful lot of content), is not as easy on the eye. It seems that the artists that are featured are mainstream, as they all appear to be of the pop genre. All of the main pictures are those of female artists, again using idols to sell the magazine.

4. Media Research ‘NME’, a music magazine aimed at teenagers, shows significant differences compared to the previous covers. For example, the use of colour is not as varied and most definitely not as bright. This may be due to the type of music it addresses; the artists featured in ‘NME’ are usually rock or indie bands that are not mainstream.In other words, they are most definitely not the sort of musical talent that would be associated with the colours pink and yellow. The only obvious similarity is that of the busy cover, a characteristic shared by the music magazine, ‘Smash Hits!’.

5. Media Research This is an example of a contents page taken from ‘Mizz’ magazine. It is much more detailed than the cover page, but still continues to use a variety of bright colours. It separates the magazine into categories, which makes it easier for the reader to look through and decide what they want to read. Similar to the cover page, it uses pictures to anchor the text. These pictures will further entice the reader to turn to a certain page, as younger children respond more to pictures rather than text. The contrast between the gossip magazines and the music magazines is very evident. I assume that, in order to appeal to my audience, I will need to incorporate more features commonly used for the gossip magazines, as I believe these will be more suitable to a younger audience.