Annotation Of A Magazine Front Cover

 Written Up Response

I annotated the magazine called Glamour. The magazine is designed for younger woman aged 15-30’s who care about fashion, what’s hot and a little bit of the latest gossip, however mostly their appearance. This is shown through the connotations on the front cover. It shows an ideology of woman as only caring about ‘shoes’, ‘bags’, ‘men’, ‘sex’, as these are a few of the biggest words on the front cover from the cover lines, they are also coloured so they stand out and catch people’s eyes. However this is not always true and not only what women are interested in. It is a stereotype that the media have designed, and shaped us into. The media offers us a representation of reality rather than reality itself.

            The masthead is printed in sans serif font which looks more modern – which reflects the age of people the magazine company are trying to attract, it is also sharp, clear and bold so it is easily recognisable. In the photograph of Nicole Richie, she is all dressed up and therefore herself looks ‘glamorous’ reflecting the magazine name. The pose catches the viewers eyes as she is looking into the camera which makes her look like she is looking at us. Her name is also written in a cover line making the photo directly relate to the feature article.

            The colour scheme used reflects the month of publish, April being when the flowers are at their best and therefore their brightest hence why they used bright colours. The colour in the text of the cover lines is also alternate so it is clear and continuous throughout the front cover. The text colour is another ideology of women, that all woman like pinks and bright colours, because they are ‘girly’. The main photograph is white, so they have chosen black for the text so it will stand out really well against the background and be clear to read.

            Most of the information is on the left third because this is the part that is seen most when on newsagent’s shelves. The more advertisement there is on this side, the more likely they are too sell more issues.

            They’ve used puffs and plugs to also catch the attention of the audience and passer bys. Inside these puffs and plugs are pieces of information that are most likely to entice the audience. They also often sell the ‘freebies’ you receive in magazines. However this time they are trying to sell the price of the glossy mag. The use of the word ‘glossy’ makes it seem expensive but by them saying it is ‘only £2’ makes it sound like a bargain!

The biggest number on the front cover is 826 by making a big number big on the page it makes the buyer seem as though they are getting a lot for their money, when really they aren’t getting as much as they thought. Another connotation used that makes the magazine seem desirable are the ‘pull quotes’. They select the most interesting quote to also entice the reader, so they think they want to read the whole story. This could also be another ideology of woman and that we are all nosey and interested in everyone’s business.