Codes and conventions of fashion magazine covers.
Masthead - this is the title of the magazine or newspaper. It is often bold and stands out, drawing more attention to it. The masthead always stays the same on each magazine.
The cover image - in fashion magazines the model is normally young, or a celebrity.
MOA (Mode of address) - the model is normally looking directly towards the camera, which is called a direct mode of address. However if the model is looking away from the camera then it is called an indirect mode of address.
House style - each magazine will have its own house style. This means that the magazine will follow a set of editing conventions followed by writers and editors to ensure stylistic consistency in a magazine.
Skyline - a band of text that appears above the masthead and is used for advertising space. Magazines often advertise special offers or sales with the skyline. The skyline is used more on down-market and middle market magazines.
Barcode - the barcode is a necessary part of the magazine. However if you order it online or subscribe to the magazine then the covers don't have the barcode on as there is no need.
Price - the price tells you how expensive the magazine is. On expensive magazines (which are more upmarket) the price is often higher, therefore the text showing the price is small (often in the corner). However on less expensive and down market magazines the price is printed in larger text, because the low price of the magazine is a selling point.
VOGUE
To help expand my knowledge of fashion based magazines I decided to look at another giant in the fashion magazine world. This time I chose the Vogue magazine. As I found out, there are many different versions of Vogue, and I based the majority of my research around the British version.
Key facts/figures about Vogue
Over 81% of readers are female
Frequency - monthly
Basic cover price - £3.99
Basic UK annual subscription rate (print) - £47.88
Basic UK annual subscription rate (online) - £35.88
Publishing house - Condé Nast Publications
Website - vogue.co.uk
Editor in chief - Edward Enninfu
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine, (which has now branched out into other sub genres including fashion, beauty, culture, living and runway). The magazine started in America back in 1892 as a weekly newspaper publication, before becoming a monthly magazine publication. Today Vogue continues the tradition of being a monthly magazine publication.
History of publication. In 1892, Arthur Baldwin Turnure, an American businessman founded Vogue. At first it was a weekly newspaper in the United States. The first issue was published on December 17 1892 and cost 10 cents.
The magazine targeted the New York upper class, and so was often bought by people who were either already in that upper class, or aspired to enter that social group. The magazine mostly covered fashion and lifestyle, however it also included sports and big social events (for its male readers).
In 1988, Vogue began to lose popularity to Elle (a rival fashion magazine). Anna Wintour became the new editor-in-chief of Vogue, and changed its style, making it younger and more approachable, therefore attracting a larger target audience. Since she became editor-in-chief the magazine has grown hugely, and is now one of the most popular magazines in the fashion world.
Global readership (and circulation).
The first international edition of Vogue was launched in Britain in 1916. The new branch of the magazine was called British Vogue. British Vogue is the most profitable magazine in the UK, as well as the third most profitable edition of Vogue.
List of branch magazines across the world -
United States (1892–present)
United Kingdom (1916–presen)
France (1920–present)
Australia (1959–present)
Italy (1964–present)
Brazil (1975–present)
Germany (1979–present)
Spain (1988–present)
South Korea (1996–present)
Taiwan (1996–present)
Russia (1998–present)
Japan (1999–present)
Mexico & Latin America (1980–present)
Portugal (2002–present)
China (2005–present)
India (2007–present)
Turkey (2010–present)
Netherlands (2012–present)
Thailand (2013–present)
Ukraine (2013–present)
Arabia (2016–present)
Poland (planned for March 2018)
To get the most accurate figures for the circulation I went to the ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) site. I believe this is more accurate than any claim the publishers may make because it is an independent, audited account of the figures submitted by the publishers.
This shows the average circulation for one particular month of Vogue. As you can see the British edition is by far the most popular as it sold approx 81% of the total circulation of Vogue. As Vogue is most popular in Britain I decided to focus my research on the British circulation of the magazine. Another reason I chose the British edition to do further research on is that I can access more information of a reliable, audited nature regarding the circulation figures compared to that of other countries.
The second table shows the breakdown of digital and printed copies - showing that the British edition sells many more printed copies compared to digital copies than the rest of the world (approx 52 times more for the British edition compared to the substantially lower 8.5 times for the rest of the world combined).
Cross media convergence
Vogue has a wide range of cross media convergence which I will explore below. This ranges from books which have been published, to more modern forms such as Apps and social media platforms. What is cross media? Cross media is a form of advertising which includes using cross-media. This means that they use more than one form of media coverage to promote their product. For example, on television, radio, newspapers and the internet. Within the internet alone there are many ways to use cross media, for example, social media (eg Facebook, Twitter), but also websites and YouTube channels. These all work together to create a wider audience, as well as creating wider public knowledge from increased brand awareness. This widens the brand image in the public eye hence increasing sales.
This website contains a lot of information about Vogue. It lets the reader access everything from the Vogue archives, to the latest subscription rate for buying the magazine. (side note - while doing my research I found this website very useful. It was a main source of information).
Social Media Vogue uses a wide range of social media accounts, each aimed at a slightly different target audience. Using social media is quite a new concept, as back when Vogue's first issue came out in 1892 the internet was not even invented.
Some of the social media platforms that Vogue uses are - - Facebook - (@Vogue) - Pinterest - (www.pinterest.com/voguemagazine/) - Twitter - (@voguemagazine) - YouTube - (@VogueYouTube) or the link is (www.youtube.com/channel/UCRXiA3h1no_PFkb1JCP0yMA) - Instagram - (@voguemagazine) - Snapchat - (voguemagazine)
Podcasts: Vogue launched the teaser for their podcast series on September 10, 2015. The first issue was about episode 1. Each week a new guest comes on and engages in interviews with the host.
Apps: The Vogue app is available on the Google play store for Android devices and on the Apple store for Apple devices. There are a lot of different variations of the Vogue app, often each one will focus on a different magazine or aspect of Vogue. For example, British Vogue, Vogue Runway and Vogue Italia. Although each issue of the magazine is cheaper from the app, (as you do not have to factor in printing costs), you do have to pay a monthly subcription. There are also other in-app purchases - for example, the Vogue sticker app for your phone which costs 0.99 US Dollar.
Books Throughout Vogue's long history a number of books have been published. Some of the best selling books published by Vogue include -
Nostalgia in Vogue (2011)
Vogue: The Covers, Vogue: The Editor's Eye
The World in Vogue
Vogue Living: House, Gardens, People
Vogue Weddings: Brides, Dresses, Designers
In Vogue: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Fashion Magazine
This slide show shows all of the different forms of cross media; note the similarity and brand styling which is shown throughout, which gives Vogue the unique house style.
VOGUE contents page deconstruction.
Page Deconstruction
Layout The layout is in great detail. This ensures that the magazine covers all the articles which are in the paper, thus encouraging the consumer to buy it. The captions have the page number next to the title, so that people can easily find and flick to the intended article that they want to read. This stops them from having the to look through the whole magazine, which is time consuming and potentially a turnoff point, which will lead to them not reading the magazine or buying it in the future. Another effective feature of the magazine is the caption below each subheading. This informs the reader in further detail of what the article is about, which in turn helps them to decide whether they want to read it, or not.
Masthead Vogue is the masthead at the top of the page. This tells the reader what magazine they are reading. It also adds consistency to the magazine and is part of Vogue's house style.
Sub headings / categories The magazine is split up into categories, depending what the article is on. They are highlighted on the page by being printed in bright red, which makes them stand out to the reader's eye. The subsections are VOGUE STARS, BEAUTY, REGULARS and COVERLOOK. Under each heading is the list of articles relating to that subsection.
Colour scheme The colour scheme for the text is black, white and red. This is simple, stylish and effective at conveying the text that is on the page. The colour scheme also makes the page look sophisticated and mature and upper class.
The connotations of each of the colours, and what they represent -
Black is associated with elegance, formality and power. This leads the readers to associate the magazine with all of these qualities.
Red is seen a very strong colour that symbolises passion, danger and dominance. Red also stands out on the page, and is very eye grabbing, which pulls in the reader's attention.
White is considered to be the colour of perfection, and is associated with safety, purity and has a positive connotation.
The issue number Small line of text on the bottom of the page is the issue number and the volume number of that magazine. This is so that the magazine can be identified.
House style The house style is the layout of the magazine. For each copy of the magazine the house style stays the same. In big magazine brands such as Vogue, the house style is instantly recognizable, and has become iconic of the brand. For each issue of Vogue the contents page follows the same layout and colour scheme.
Page numbers Another advertising technique that is used, is to put the majority of articles towards the end of the magazine. In this way the page numbers are higher (for example, page 262), which makes the reader feel like they are getting more value for money. Another reason they put the articles starting in the middle of the magazine is the first 50 or so pages are all advertising. This means that the magazine can get hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of advertising, even before the contents page.
Date This is so that the readers know when the magazine was published. It also helps the reader know if the magazine they are reading is the latest issue. The fact that it is in red makes it stand out, as well as fitting with the colour scheme and look of the magazine .
Main image The main image shows a woman in a old fashioned diving suit. The main image links to the main article or story of the magazine. The model has a strong, sexy and mysterious pose which invites the reader to buy the magazine, to find out more about what the article is about.
FASHION
To help me create my magazine, I decided it would be best to do research on similar magazines. This way I could further develop my understanding, as well as develop a larger background knowledge, which would help me in bringing my own magazine to life. The second magazine I chose to look at was Fashion.
About the magazine
Editor - Bernadette Morra
Categories - Fashion
Frequency - Monthly (10 issues per year)
Year founded - 1977
Country of origin - Canada
Language - English
Total circulation (December 2011) - 142,016
Total readership - 1.85 million (PMB Oct 2010) - (since this pole was taken, the readership has increased as Fashion magazine continues to become more popular every year).
Psychographic and demographic audience The magazine covers local fashion, as well as national fashion across Canada. The magazine also covers international fashion, following fashion shows in other fashion capitals of the world (for example London, New York, Paris). The magazine aims to appear to women who are interested in fashion, both in Canada and world wide. The demographic that the magazine aims to reach is affluent, style-conscious women, who live in urban areas.
Here is a magazine front cover (of Fashion) that I have analysed by using the codes and conventions that I have learnt about.
Article page deconstruction.
Analysing the article page
It was hard to find a typical article page, as there is a huge variety of different designs in fashion alone.
This was the page that I deconstructed as I hoped to create something with similar features.
Title
The name of the star NICKI MINAJ is the biggest text of the page. This is so it will stand out to the audience. The page also uses star appeal. The end part of her name is covered, however the target audience for the magazine will already know who she is.
Colour scheme
The colour scheme consists of pink, black and white. The black and white of the model's outfit stands out.
Her lipstick is the same colour as the title and stand out text.
The background is plain.
The model
Her pose is informal yet fun, which fits in with the gossip style of the magazine.
She is wearing a funky black and white zebra top, which is trendy as well as eye catching.
Here, accessories such as her ring and necklace add to the casual gossip theme.
Audience profiling
Demographic group
Audience profiling-
Definition - An audience profile is a way for companies to determine their ideal target market of consumers. It looks at the demographic and psychographic of their target group.
The audience can be separated into two main categories, the demographic group and the psychographic group.
Demographic group - Measurable characteristics of media consumers such as age, gender, race, education and income level. For example - you are a female teenager (13-19). The boundaries in demographic groups are much more clearly defined than the boundaries of the psychographic group.
Psychographic group
Psychographic group - Divides the market into groups based on social class, lifestyle and personality characteristics. It is based on the assumption that the types of products and brands an individual purchases will reflect that person's characteristics and patterns of living.
Things to consider when audience profiling:
Age
Gender
Race
Sexuality
Education
Occupation
Annual Income
Disposable Income
Current Lifestyle
Culture
Media Interests
Audience Targeting
Stuart Hall
Audience Positioning and Response
What is audience positioning -
Audience positioning is a theory which was created by Stuart Hall, (who was a cultural theorist and a professor of sociology).
He investigated the role of audience positioning in the interpretation of mass media texts by social groups.
In the audience theory, the audiences have different responses based on their backgrounds.
There are three ways that we read and respond to a piece of media -
Dominant reading
The reader fully accepts the preferred reading, thus reading it the way the author intended, making the code natural and transparent.
For example, they correctly decode the piece of media and enjoy it, therefore becoming fans of the magazine.
Negotiated reading
The reader partly believes the code and broadly accepts the preferred reading, but they will interpret them in a way which reflects their own position, experiences and interests.
For example, the readership partially agree with the piece of text or piece of media. They are fans of the magazine, however they may not hold an annual subscription.
Oppositional reading
The reader's social position is placed in an oppositional relation to the dominant code, thus they reject the reading.
For example, they are not fans of the magazine or the magazine genre and therefore do not buy or read the magazine.
Audience Theories
Uses and gratifications theory About the theory -
It was devised by Blumler and Katz
Looks at the audience as an active audience.
It assumes that the audience chooses the media that they want to watch for different reasons. These reasons can be summarized into five different categories.
Information and education -
eg - the news and documentaries
Entertainment
think deeply, laugh, cry
Identity
identify with certain characters.
Integration and social interaction -
people take the films that they see then chat about them later
Escapism
you can escape into somebody's life and be them for a bit.
Hypodermic needle theory - This is the theory that believes that the mass media injects thoughts and theories into the general audience, which changes their outlook. It suggests that the media is very powerful and in control. In this theory it assumes that the audience is passive.
You don't necessarily say anything about the product, however you show what lifestyle it offers. Therefore by buying that product you are therefore cool by association. Today this model is widely criticised. The main criticism is that the audience is sitting there passively being influenced by the media in which they are watching.
Peer and self assessment.
The peer and self assessment was an ongoing process throughout the whole assignment. Here was the assessment, for the Research page, with explanations for the changes and improvements that happened.
Finn Duffy - your research page is insane, actually struggled to find anything wrong with it other than the occasional spelling mistake. All of your deconstructions are well detailed and you obviously have a solid grasp on grammar and such.
Myself- I personally feel like I could add more to this. I feel that I could widen the field of my research. Also my spelling and grammar will be double checked and improved upon.