Thursday, October 5, 2023

Component 1: Magazine Research

 Here is the research for my magazine project.


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The whole magazine research included 2 detailed analysis and 4 unspecific analysis, which were 6 in total. To me, this was a lot of work to do which was remind by my Media Studies teacher to do it before the due-date of this blogpost, however I struggled to manage my time to complete this and had to rush through things 1/2 days before it was due because I was tired of writing at that time. Next time, I will manage my time when developing my magazine. Throughout the research, I was able to identify the features of magazines from terminologies provided by our teacher when he first introduced us to magazines. I quite enjoy to analyze magazines and their visual features which were effective to address audience. I learnt a lot regarding the effects of each features such as the masthead or fonts used and it appeal to the readers. I wish to master the terminologies by memorizing and learning them thoroughly to be able to use it when analyzing target audience of magazines. The research I did will also provided knowledge before-hand on generic features used on for conventions of a fashion and lifestyle magazine.

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Magazine 1: WEGO Magazine

WEGO YOUR FAN
March 3rd, 2020


WEGO Magazine is published by WEGO YOUR FAN, a Japanese clothing business, as a platform to promote their brand. The magazines are most likely catalog including the variety of clothes and prices along with promotional items and discounts in a specific time accordingly that would then be promoted by the business’ magazines.





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Magazine 2: VOGUE British/UK

Conde Nast
(Could not find the issue date)



Target Audience
The main picture of this magazine includes 4 women models with fancy clothes, by this statement we can identify that the genre of the magazine is women’s fashion. From the genre itself, women are primarily the targeted audience for this magazine along with the interests of garments/mode, entertainment, and culture.
The typography used throughout the magazine texts includes serifs which seems fancy and more adult-like as it looks professional, this attracts the attention towards adults.

Another identification of target audience may be pinpoint by the demographics and psychographics, here are the list:

Demographics:
1. Age: The primary target audience for this British Vogue magazine is women between the ages of 18 and 45, with a focus on the 25-35 age group as the star appeal appears to be more mature and senior, the lists of celebrity names below also may be recognised by them and therefore their interest.
2. Gender: The magazine is aimed predominantly at females.
3. Spending habits - Income: The target audience includes individuals with upper class income as they might be influenced by magazines they’ve read and kept purchasing garments as their interests are in fashion
5. Location: While the magazine caters to a national audience in the United Kingdom, it has an western readership. This is connotated from the pricelist in the left upper third that includes several countries besides the UK like the USA, Australia, and Canada. Moreover, the list of celebrity names are recognised by westerns.
6. Ethnicity/Race: Diverse Cultural Backgrounds - Given that the 4 models are from diverse cultural backgrounds, the readers are likely to be open-minded and appreciative of different cultures and styles.

Psychographics:
1. Interests: Fashion Enthusiasts - The audience is fashion-forward, with a keen interest in the latest trends, styles, and designers, this is implied by the fancy clothes worn by the models.
2. Values: Socially Conscious - The audience is socially aware and values diversity, inclusion, and representation in the fashion industry.
Career-Oriented: Many readers are career-focused and may be working in creative industries, such as fashion, media, or arts as the garments are fancy which connotes professionalism.
5. Lifestyle: Luxurious - The readers are interested in luxury products, travel, and experiences and may have a taste for the finer things in life.

Typography/font:
Headings and sub-headings are usually differentiated from the size of the text as headings are more bigger than sub-headings, although texts and heading are differentiated from the use of serifs in headings whereas regular texts uses sans-serif. This difference appeals to the readers eye as they may identify the title and the content of the article itself. The use of serif makes audience perceive the main title or coverline of this magazine is professional and formal which sounds intellectual.

Industry
Condรฉ Nast, the company behind Vogue, holds a lot of power in fashion. Vogue's global presence and reputation influence what's trendy and how people see fashion. Being in Vogue can make or break careers in fashion. It's not just about clothes, it also shapes ideas about beauty, sets trends, and talks about important issues like diversity and sustainability. Through Vogue, Condรฉ Nast has a big impact on how fashion evolves and what people care about in the fashion world.

        I personally like how the magazine includes a variety of models, because it may reach a wider and diverse audience and can promote the magazine more. As the publicity of the magazine increases, this may benefit the purpose of the magazine text, whether to discuss a topic and inform audiences, to influence them by using star appeals as role models, or to act as just entertainment for them. It may be an example of the Uses and Gratification theory from Blumler and Katz, which includes how media texts are used and understood by the audience. Hence, promoting usages of magazines to advertise products in the modern day, especially with technologies taking over a major section in the media world. It is also unlikely for magazines to be found in my country (Indonesia), so if magazines are trending, promotions of products may be derived from magazines as publishers of it spread throughout the world.
        Although the magazine may be using a simple and minimalistic concept to attract an older audience, I personally dislike this. I think younger generations would like to see more color as it may engage with them, contrasting to this magazine which looks plain.
        I would follow the capitalization of texts to attract the audience because they grab the reader’s attention as it appeals to be bigger than the others. I would also use topics and coverlines as an idea for my magazine content to follow the generic conventions of a fashion magazine.

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Magazine 3: Elle

PT Elia Mediatama Indonesia
February 2009

Genre: Women’s fashion and lifestyle

Likes: 
I admire ELLE Indonesia's magazine because it's stylish and grown-up. It mixes fashion, beauty, and important topics in a way that feels mature and interesting. The contents also displayed the generic conventions towards the fashion and lifestyle genre such as reviews of beauty products, and others. I like the visuals of the image and how uses of models are showcased to attract readers, such as the pose that are more attracting and alluring which looks them more mature and graceful which appeals to the eyes of grown-ups in 20s-30s.
Dislikes:
I am not fond of the color palette used in the magazine because it does not really showcase the maturity and content of the magazine. It uses yellow which is more symbolic to happiness and appeals to children more.
Steal:
I am considering to use the layout of the coverline which was near to the border of the magazine cover as it highlights the attention of the reader towards the model at the center of the page showcasing their visuals more.
Inspired by:
I'm not inspired greatly of this magazine as it does not appeal to my interests.

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Magazine 4: VOGUE

October 2023 Issue

Genre: Women's fashion and lifestyle

Likes: 
I like how the image and text are according to each of the page's color palette. The front page is more colorful and attracts the audience attention to grab the book as it is the cover, the text were all white so they can be seen but also not disrupt the harmony between the color and the visuals of Kate Winslet which is the star appeal. The double page spread was black and white themed which were displayed on point because it was complimenting the content hence the equality (model's skin tone wasn't differentiated) of representation of peoples (faces) in fashion. This was intellectually used and appears interesting visually.
Dislikes:
The magazine include less coverlines which does not give enough information towards the readers when reading and analyzing the cover page which may not peek their interest to open and read the whole magazine.
Steal:
I am considering to use the contrast between the color of text and visual to remain contrasting to each other but complimenting each other to keep the appeal of visual and text interesting for the readers but not make it "too much".
Inspired by:
I'm inspired by the double page as it covers a very deep controversies in fashion especially toward the models which subverts the generic conventions of how models should look like. It represents different bodies and faces of people throughout the whole world which may peek the interest of fashion enthusiast internationally and may reach a wider audience.

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Magazine 5:A-ONE


Likes: 
I like how the use of language directly targets the audience (Indonesian), and representation of the color red that appeals to Eastern Asian culture and traditions which means "luck" which evoke a positive connotations.
Dislikes:
I dislike the format and layout of this magazine especially on the cover because it looks too much and overcrowds the whole page. This overwhelms the feeling of readers when trying to consume the contents of the page.
Steal:
I don't consider stealing any features of this magazine as it doesn't peek my interest and fit to my personal likings as it is traditionally conventional but rather a poor display of the layout.
Inspired by:
I'm not inspired by this magazine at all, except for the use of dominant colors but I won't be using it for my magazine because this magazine was not appealing to my interests whatsoever.


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Magazine 6: VOGUE British/UK

Conde Nast
October 2023

Likes:
It includes a very well-known star appeal (Leonardo Dicaprio) whom I also admire which proves how audiences are targeted, in this case women. A medium shot was used as the star posed perfectly poised and still to capture visuals of the models (facial expressions, clothing, accessories, etc.) with them looking directly to the camera which implies a direct engagement to the audience. I like this because it appeals to the visuals of the front cover which evokes interests of consumers.
Dislikes:
The magazine include only one coverline which does not give enough information towards the readers when reading and analyzing the cover page which may not peek their interest to open and read the whole magazine.
Steal:
I want to use how the models are posed because it captures the elegance and beauty of the star while still engaging the audience, they also look very professional, calm, and charming which peeks audiences' interest. In the double page, a long shot was used to capture outfits and looks which is vital to the conventions to general fashion magazines.
Inspired by:
The images and pictures that showcase the fashion in star-appeals which were effective to address audience and peek their interest.


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