Amelia Ollis-Olds

Text Analysis – Elle front cover

Audience and Purpose, The target audience based on this

front cover are females in the age bracket of 18-35, this is because of the elegant and sophisticated style (black and white text) and the mature picture of Lily Allen. It is also aimed at this audience because of the content, this is shown through interpellation of the cover lines.

The purpose of this front cover is to attract the target audience into buying this magazine, this is done thorough many things such as title and typography, design and layout, cover lines and style of model image.

Elle Magazine Front Cover

Mast Head,• The typography is very elegant and

sophisticated, although it is opaque white there is a definite contrast between that and the baby pink background.

• The mast head is very large and takes up nearly a quarter of the page. Although you cannot see the whole word you can tell what it says as the mast head is iconic and highly recognisable.

• The mast head is so big and eye catching because the name of the magazine is one of the main selling points. Consumers buy the product because it has built up a reputation and a name for itself .

Elle Magazine Front Cover

Main Image, The main image on this page is the well known

singer/songwriter Lilly Allen, she has recently become a style icon and has made a name for herself in the fashion industry as she has her own vintage boutique.

The photograph follows Winship’s theory as she is a young, white, perfectly groomed and she is has a ‘seductive’ look on her face.

Her gesture codes draw attention to her face and expression and her wedding ring (as she is a newly wed) . She is also looking directly down the camera , breaking the forth wall to engage with the audience and draw them in.

Her dress codes are very high end fashion , she is wearing a very recognisable Dolce and Gabbana dress which attracts the target audience because after all it is a fashion magazine and its a very fashionable dress.

The main image also follows male and female Gaze theory, as Lily Allen has been made to look as attractive as she can she is attracting men to want to be with her an women to look like her.

Elle Magazine Front Cover

Cover lines, The cover lines on this front cover use interpellation

to entice the audience and show them what is to come. All cover lines are no longer than 10 words each and use carefully selected words to draw in the target audience.

‘Love..could you do better?’ this cover line uses direct mode of address to grab the audience and make them feel as it the cover line is taking to them personally. This creates a enigma for the reader and encourages them to consume the product.

The different cover lines all cover different selling points of the magazine, e.g. Beauty, love, fashion, life style and celebrity.

Typography, each cover line is in a different font size and colour (black or white). This keeps the style of the magazine without it being boring. It also draws your attention to each one.

The main sell line is ‘the new mood what to buy, wear, see & experience right now’ this is because it is the biggest on the page and is in front of the main image making it more important. It also creates enigma as “the new mood” is quite interesting and makes the audience want to buy the magazine and read on.

Elle Magazine Front Cover

Cover Lines ‘free manicure or pedicure, look great for less’ this cover line

is really cleaver because in he current economical climate many women would sacrifice their weekly mani/pedi to save money therefore having a voucher in the magazine is a great selling point for both the magazine and the beauty industry.

‘Lily Allen, in pursuit oh happiness’ this cover line is immediately grabbing because it is positioned at the top on the left (which is naturally where our eye goes). It is also a selling point of the magazine because using social integration theory the audience want to know about Lily’s life so that they feel closer to her. It also corresponds to the main image of her.

‘The beauty break through the beat surgery’ this headline creates enigma for the audience as they want to know that the breakthrough is. It is also a strong selling point because the beauty and fashion industry share very similar audiences so therefore the magazine is broadening its target audience.

Again the cover line ‘the jumper of the season, its £40, be quick’ has the same sort of idea behind it as the one above. It is attracting the audience because women want cheap/affordable fashion.

In every text we read left to right, this structures the way that we read the cover lines. We read the top right one first through to the bottom left, this determines the importance of each cover line. Although the “Lily Allen” cover line may not be the biggest it is one of the most important because of where it is positioned and the fact we read it first.

Elle Magazine Front Cover

Small print, ‘ELLEUK.COM’ this is found in the ‘E’ of the

‘Elle’ mast head, it is put there to inform and make the audience aware of the Elle website without them actually having to buy the magazine. It also makes the magazine accessible on more media platforms e.g. The internet, smart phones and tablets. This is a great way of marketing the magazine and company as the majority of the target audience have access to one or more of these things.

Date line, this is there to inform what issue of the magazine it is. The magazine is produced monthly and comes out in the month before its due date. The date is small and discrete because the audience can generally tell by the main image, cover lines and content which issue it is.

The price is again small and discrete under the dateline this is done so that you make a decision on whether or not you want to buy the magazine or not before you see the price.

Elle Magazine Front Cover

Elle is a worldwide magazine of French origin that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. Elle is also the world's largest fashion magazine. It was founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Hélène Gordon in 1945. The title, in French, means she.

Subscriptions account for 73 percent of readers. With the remaining 27 percent purchasing single issues, Elle is the only fashion magazine to have increased its newsstand sales in the past five years, most notably with an 18 percent increase in the first half of 2006. There are 27 Elle websites globally, which collectively attract over 1 million visitors and 26 million page views per month Elle reaches over 4.8 million readers. The vast majority (82 percent) of Elle's audience are women between the ages of 18 and 49. Elle readers have a median age of 34.7 years.Forty percent of readers are single, and the median household income is $69,973."Our readers are young enough to think about life as an adventure and old enough to have the means to live it," said Robbie Myers, editor in chief. Elle owes its graphic signature to Art director Peter Knapp

Elle Magazine Industry research

Amelia Ollis-Olds

Text Analysis – Elle Edit

What is it? Elle Edits are a key part of the

magazine, they are designed to keep you up to date with all the latest trends by showing various designers and snap shots from their catwalk shows. The inspire readers to follow the trends and inform them on what has been on the catwalk.

There are a total of 9 pages in Elle Edits, some only focus on one trend and have one main image where as others (such as opposite) have up to three.

Each edit is numbered and has a brief description of background information on that trend, e.g. Where it originated and what to wear it with.

Elle Edits

Layout, Each trend has a number and heading,

the trend number and heading both use different typography, for example the trend number “Trend N 13” uses the same typography as the channel n5 perfume, this is done as the target audience for the magazine are probably familiar with the perfume and there for associate them to have the same level of sophistication.

The heading for each trend is in elegant, formal black writing. Again like the front cover, it keeps the style of the magazine throughout.

Each picture uses a different format, some have been photo shopped so there is no background to them whereas others haven’t, they are all overlapping and going of the page, I think this is really visual for the eye and creates good depth.

Elle Edits

Layout, The page is split into three different

sections for each different look, this is effective because you can easily tell which pictures and text boxes belong to each trend.

Each individual picture has the name of the designer or design house reading vertically upwards, again the typography is black or white (depending on colour of picture) and in sophisticated/formal writing. This is done so that the reader associates each picture to a designer.

Each heading is carefully worded so that it is memorable, e.g. “The super sportswear” this is memorable because it uses alliteration . “the shining” this heading is memorable because it is the name of a very famous film.

Elle Edits

Amelia Ollis-Olds

Text Analysis – Vogue front cover

Mast Head, The “vogue” mast head is so

recognisable there is no need for the whole world. This is because (like Elle magazine) Vogue is one of the most famous magazines in the industry and so even though you can only partly see the word, it is one of the main selling points of the front cover.

The typography is formal and white, contrasting to background. It uses a chic font that connotes power and wealth.

The main image is shown through the mast head but not through the cover lines. This is because the main image of Rihannah is more important than the mast head.

Vogue Front Cover

Cover Lines, These cover lines show what is to

come, they are all under 12 words each and give brief description of the story’s, features and headlines within.

They are carefully selected and are all in black and white which adds to the brand image and reputation. The different cover lines are all have different typography . They use different fonts, shapes and sizes to attract the eye and create depth.

Vogue Front Cover

Main Sell Line ‘Rihannah Rocks’ is in bold

capital white writing, it immediately attracts the eye and entices the audience in. The alliteration is used so it is a memorable headline and the writing underneath connects to the main line creating a sentence as well as two separate statements.

This cover line in the main cell line because it is the main selling point of the cover. It also connects to the model image.

Vogue Front Cover

Date Line and Price Line, This is small and vague, this is

because the magazine comes out monthly and the change in cover is more recognisable then the change in date as the target audience buy it monthly.

The price is also small, this is because they do not want to draw attention to the very high price.

Vogue Front Cover

Main Image, The main image is of Rihanna the famous

singer. It is a very powerful picture of Rihannah as she is looking down at the camera creating direct mode of address and making her look “God” like.

Her gesture codes also connote power and status because she is looking down at the reader from a higher position with only the sky behind her suggesting she is the only thing above everything.

This image both follows and challenges Winship’s model image theory. As she is young, perfectly groomed and has a ‘seductive’ expression she follows the theory. However she is mixed raced and therefore challenges the part of Winship’s theory that says all cover girls are white. Although it is known that generally most cover girls are white, the ones who are black or mixed race are usually very well known and high up in the fashion, beauty are music industry.

Vogue Front Cover

Questionnaire:

1. What gender are you ? Female Male

2. How old are you ? 10-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 51+

3. How often do you buy magazines ? Never Occasionally Sometimes All The time

Research into my target Audience

4. If so, which magazines do you buy ?• Vogue• Elle • Company• Glamour• Look• Grazia• O.K.• Other

5. What attracts you to this magazine ?• The cover image• The cover lines and stories• The name/ reputation• The style of the cover

Questionnaire:

For my audience research I did a questionnaire into audiences and magazines they buy and read. The results were as follows:

Research into my target Audience

Females aged 16-20 buy:

Vogue ElleCompanyGlamourLookGraziaO.Kother

Questionnaire:

Research into my target Audience

What Attracts you most to the magazine?

Cover ImageName/ Repu-tationCover lines/ StoriesStyle of front cover