Woman magazine: Facts
Published weekly by IPC, 1937 to present
Set edition: 23-29 August 1964
Price: 7d (7 old pennies, approx 80p in today's money)
Became popular in the post-war period and, in the 1960s, sales of women's magazine reached 12 million copies per week. Woman's sales alone were around 3 million copies per week in the 1960s.
How does the combination of elements of media language:
- Communicate messages, values, and ideological perspectives?
- Reflect the social/cultural context?
- Establish the brand identity of the magazine?
- Appeal to the target audience?
I think the "Woman" magazine communicates messages, values and ideological perspectives through the use of layout and design. This is because there is a main image of a woman looking up at the camera whilst smiling. This helps to communicate their ideology because it makes the target audience "women" think that if they read the magazine they can be as happy and content as the woman on the front cover. This is also because the fact that the woman is looking at the camera it means that there is direct address as it seems as if she is looking at the audience directly. This helps to build a relationship between the magazine and the target audience.
I would say that the magazine effectively appeals to the target audience because of the fact that it includes cover lines throughout the magazine cover that would attract the type of person they are trying to sell to. This is evident because the magazine appears to be from around the 1960s which is when women were seen to be more 'domestic' and their jobs were mainly to stay at home and do the washing and cooking. This means that the cover lines effectively sell the project to that audience because of quotes such as "seven star improvements for your kitchen". I would also say that the magazine appeals to their target audience because of the use of sans serif font in the title. This gives the magazine a more informal feel and make it seems more friendly which appeals to the audience because it helps to build a relationship with them. The magazine uses mise-en-scene with the model pictured in the main image because she is dressed in a similar way to the audience they are trying to appeal to. This is also evident with the woman's make-up. The reasoning for this is to make the woman on the cover of the magazine look as much like the people who are buying the magazine as possible to try and appeal to them because they identify with the product. There is also a pull quote on the front of the magazine from a celebrity that the audience at the time would have know of and would probably like. This helps to appeal to the target audience because most people who would buy the magazine would want to read more about the celebrity who's quote is featured on the front of the magazine because they would like to see what they have to say.
I think that the magazine develops a brand identity with the iconic look of the magazine. This is because the title "Woman" that is in a sans serif font makes the magazine instantly recognisable as their brand. The lighter background that uses the colour pink also helps to appeal to the target audience and, therefore, promotes brand identity because when you see a magazine with feminine colours you associate that with "woman" magazine.
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