At the top of the website there is a large, moving image
banner that contains the magazine masthead. By using a colourful and moving
image it engages the audience immediately and draws all of their attention to
the website. The moving image itself of models wearing fashionable clothing and
having fun promotes the brand and everything that they have to offer as well as
portraying the brand as fun and care-free rather than serious like some other
fashion magazines. The masthead itself is in a serif, white font which makes it
stand out against the colourful moving image as it is much simpler.
Below the banner there is a navigation bar across the page,
allowing the audience to use the page with ease and target what they are
looking for on the website. It allows the brand to advertise the other aspects
of their content rather than just fashion, for example. The first option on the
navigation bar is for “fashion” clearly suggesting that this is the most important
aspect of the brand and is what they are focused on rather than beauty or news.
The following options are “beauty” and “celebrity” which are topics that women stereotypically
find interesting, depicting them as a more traditionally feminine brand rather
than a magazine targeting a more modern audience that rebel against traditional
representations. However, beauty and celebrity are still very relevant topics
for women whether that are traditional or not, suggesting they know how to
target their audience effectively. The next option is a very interactive and
modern option, “shopBAZAAR”. This is a page where Harpers Bazaar editors sell a
variety of products such as clothing and jewellery, using their brand name.
This combines newer technology through online shopping and targeting their audience
correctly as more and more people are using online shopping rather than going
out to real shops to buy products. The last option revolves purely around
marriage and planning your wedding day. This clearly depicts how the brand
think that women should prioritise their wedding day over many other things and
how the brand follows stereotypical expectation for women to obsess over their
wedding day.
At the end of the navigation bar there is an option for the audience
to subscribe to the magazine and follow the brand on other social media
websites. This displays how they are fully committed to targeting a young and
modern audience who will use social media sites on a regular basis. It also
encourages the audience to be interactive with the brand on more than just
their website, increasing the likeliness of them contributing money/time
towards the brand overall. There is also a small image of the earth, implying
that they are a brand with international resonance.
Underneath the navigation bar is a selection of articles for
the audience to choose from to read/look at. The first article, “#TheLIST best
dressed” is clearly all about clothes and what famous people have been seen
wearing/fashionable clothing overall. This again highlights that fashion is at
the core of their content despite also advertising the other aspects of the
brand. It also states that it from “August 17, 2018”, implying that these “lists”
are posted regularly so the audience can keep up to date with fashionable
clothing and changing trends. This again follows their seemingly traditional
and stereotypical representation of what women are interested in.
The second article is also purely about fashion, “The best
animal prints to shop for fall”, however this one is purely about fashion
rather than celebrities as well. This makes it more relevant to their audience as
they can relate to and copy the advice/fashion tips given, such as wear they
can buy fashionable animal prints, rather than trying to copy a celebrities
fashion that would not suit their lifestyle.
The third article relates to news and celebrities, “Aretha
Franklins iconic life in photos”. This provides a more factual article for the audience
to read however it is still based upon a celebrity, implying that is what their
audience is concerned about. As Aretha Franklin was a woman of colour, however,
it suggests that they are very multicultural and open to portraying women from
a variety of backgrounds rather than just middle-upper class white women. This
depicts that their target audience are also a very diverse range of people.
The fourth article follows the more serious and factual
theme set by the previous one, with “Signs for hope”. The title itself does not
give away much about the article however with the image above it containing
models promoting “equality” it explicitly shows that it could relate to
politics and the way different people are treated, whether that relate to
gender, age, race or religion. This represents a more modern woman as more and
more women are becoming socially aware and trying to make changes for equality
for women. This would link to a theorist such as Bell Hooks who also promotes
quality for women, especially those of colour. The last story links news and
celebrities once more, “Ariana Grande pays tribute to Aretha Franklin”. This would
engage the audience fully as it relates to a legendary music icon as well as a
modern musician.
All of these articles have clear titles in a black sans serif
font and are numbered, implying they are ordered in term of the brands priority
of what they want the audience to read. However, the title is rather small for
all of the articles in comparison to the images paired with them; this portrays
that the brand thinks their audience will pay more attention to images than
text. Having these articles at the top of the page makes it more convenient for
the audience to find what they could be looking for.
Below the list of articles is a large image of heeled shoes.
At first, it seems as though the topic of this article is again fashion,
however the title “when feminism is white supremacy in heels” clearly shows
that the article is about hard news such as white supremacy and feminism,
however they have used heels to make the headline more interesting and
controversial. This completely contrasts the earlier theme of stereotypical
interests for women being what this brand focuses on, as this is a very
political and socially aware topic to write an article about. It also
represents Harpers Bazaars target audience as politically/socially involved as
they “respond to the concerns of their readers”, linking it to Curran and
Seatons theory. As this is also a controversial topic to address, especially on
a fashion website that has a diverse audience, it also portrays the brand as
daring and confident, yet willing to address what readers are really concerned
about. Furthermore, as the writer of the article is a female it suggests the
brand wants to empower women and allow them to convey their opinions and
beliefs through the articles they write. It also suggests that they think that
by having female writers work on their articles they believe it will help them
to target their own audience more effectively.