Research of similar media products

In this front cover the model, Victoria Beckham, is looking directly into the camera which is a convention of Fashion magazines. She is wearing natural makeup with slight emphasis on the eyes and her hair is also in a natural style. She is wearing a blue jumper which opposes the stereotype of blue being a more masculine colour than a feminine colour. Furthermore, she is not wearing it in a revealing or provocative way or is being posed in a sexualised position. This close up shot portrays that she is a respectful and naturally beautiful woman who does not need to show off her body to be attractive, linking to Halls theory of representation as she is represented as feminine and beautiful. Overall the front cover is very simplistic and gentle, using pale colours that stand out against each other. The “Vogue” logo is in a pink colour and the other text on the cover is matching pink or white, standing out against the background image. However, as pink is a stereotypical girly colour it does make the magazine target women more directly and make it more feminine, whilst enhancing the engaging nature of the cover by making it more colourful and therefore eye catching. The text on the cover is placed carefully around the models face to draw focus to her face directly and not distract from the key area of the cover.

This magazine front cover uses bold contrasting colours throughout. As the model is wearing a bright red, dramatic outfit against a blue background it makes her stand out even more and draw the reader’s attention to her in this medium shot. The background seems to be a natural, real background such as the ocean that has been blurred out to keep the focus on the fashion. The font throughout is a bold, serif font in Black and White. The monotone colour of the text also stands out against the colourful image. Due to the colour and font of the text it portrays the theme of the magazine as being very full on and dramatic opposed to other magazines who tend to go for more subtle styles. The mise en scene of the models makeup is still quite plain for a magazine, although it is slightly heavier than the previous models makeup on the eyes as she is clearly wearing eyeshadow and eyeliner. Her costume is very high fashion as it is not something you would see someone wearing on the street, implying they are a high fashion magazine. The models hair is very natural and simplistic, being pulled away from her face to keep the focus on the models outfit. This again reinforces that it is a fashion magazine rather than a beauty magazine. Despite this the model, Emilia Clarke, is a well-known celebrity which the magazine have most likely used to draw in a wider audience. The masthead goes behind the models head where her head meets the text, implying that she is more important than the brand name itself.

This magazine features a male model instead of a female. The model portrays the stereotypical ideal of men’s bodies in this long shot and how society thinks that men should stereotypically look. He is also topless which sexualises the whole magazine front cover. The background of the front cover is very scenic and sets the scene/theme for the whole picture as naturally beautiful. The models makeup, if he is wearing any, is very minimal and natural to adhere to the standard that men do not wear makeup. His costume is simply a pair of dark jeans that are wet as he is walking out of a pool, sticking to his figure to emphasise how muscular and toned he is. This implies that the model is more important than the fashion that the magazine is all about. The models hair is short and slicked back, presumably from walking out of the pool, and his facial hair is clear but very precisely cut, again showing the beauty ideals for men today. The text on the front cover is a mixture of serif and sans serif font however all of it is in a slightly transparent, white font that does not draw too much attention, keeping the focus on the model. The amount of text on this magazine is much less than that on magazines that feature females, implying that the content of the magazine is less important. Furthermore, although the magazine features a male model it does not specifically target a male audience as the text states “easy to wear dresses, accessories and swimsuits” depicting that the magazine is still targeted towards women despite having a male on the cover. This also links to how a half-naked male would typically attract more women to buy the magazine rather than men.