Vogue Magazine Textual Analysis

Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine published in eighteen countries by Conde Nast Publications. Each month, Vogue publishes a magazine addressing topics of fashion, life and design. Vogue is most famous as a presenter of images of high fashion and high society, but it also publishes writings on art, culture, politics, and ideas. It has helped to enshrine the fashion model as celebrity.Vogue is regularly criticized, along with the fashion industry it writes about, for valuing wealth, social connections, and low body weight over more noble achievements. Vogue is widely published; today, it is published in eighteen countries: Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom and the United States. 

In 2005, Condé Nast launched Men's Vogue and announced plans for an American version of Vogue Living launching in late fall of 2006. Conde Naste Publications also publishes Teen Vogue, a version of the magazine for teen girls, the Seventeen demographic, in the United States. South Korea and Australia has a Vogue Girl magazine, in addition to Vogue living and Vogue Entertaining + Travel.

Vogue is a monthly published magazine currently selling at £3.70. Vogue magazine has a website which interacts further with the readers. The website includes Daily new, fashion shows, video, trends, beauty, jewellery, magazine and competitions. This gives the reader more of a chance to interact, by commenting on fashion shows and news and also by entering competitions which may give the reader a voice in running the magazine.

Vogue magazine is targeted at middle class young women/women. This is suggested in that it writes about valuing wealth and social connections. However as previously stated Vogue is often criticized for this.  The adverts represented in the magazine also suggest this as they are often advertising expensive designer brands for example Gucci and Louis Vuitton. 

The front cover of this particular issue of Vogue is photographed of Keira Knightley a famous, and extremely popular actress. The photograph is clearly posed, you can tell this by the position of her arm above her head and her facial expression. She is wearing what appears to be very expensive clothing and also obviously the outfit is fashion inspired. The fact that they have chosen to feature such a famous actress/model on the front page of the magazines, represents the idea that the magazine features models, fashion, the catwalk and celebrities. The colour of the fonts used is mainly pink and white, which create a contrast with the colour of her clothing, therefore making it stand out more. The articles advertised are all based on fashion topics which relates to the focus area of the magazine. The cover of Vogue does have some similarities to magazines like ELLE magazine and Tatler, as they are both targeted at similar audiences, and both follow the same topic throughout -  mainly fashion. The types of expensive designer wear adverts are also featured in all three of these magazines. 

I believe that the reasons for Vogues popularity is that it gives people a lot of inspiration towards being a part of the fashion world. It also inspires people on  how to dress correctly, and gives them an insight into the fashion industry. The magazine offers the readers inside information on supermodel interviews, beauty trends and celebrity party photos. 

OK! Magazine Textual Analysis

OK! is a British weekly magazine, specializing in celebrity news. Originally launched as a monthly, its first issue was published in April 1993. In September 2004, Ok! publishers Northern and Shell launched in Australia as a monthly title - the magazine then went weekly in October 2006. In 2005, a US version was launched, followed by an Indian edition, a Spanish-language version in Mexico, a Bulgarian-language version and a Spanish edition in 2008. OK! is the world's biggest celebrity lifestyle magazine, with more than 30 million readers worldwide, and now appears in 19 countries (Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, China, Germany, Greece, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Middle East, Philippines, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, UK and the US). 

OK! is one of the most popular celebrity gossip magazines in the UK. A new issue is released every Tuesday costing at £2.20. The magazine itself also has another inner magazine called 'Hot Stars', which it has been said is similar to rival magazine 'Heat'.

The magazine tends to feature exclusive interviews and personal revelations from celebrities including engagements and pregnancies. In 2005, celebrity pregnancies were revealed by Jordan and Peter, Steven Gerrard and Alex Curran. Starts such as Liberty X singer Michelle Heaton and Andy Scott-Lee announced their engagement with exclusive deals with OK! magazine. This represents what the magazine is focusing on, which is celebrity gossip and news. 

Northern and Shell is the publisher of  OK! magazine. In 1974 it started out as a small publishing company with limitless vision. Publishing a single music title with a few hundred thousand copies a year, determination, radical ideas and attention to detail were used to make the most of a specialized market. By the early Eighties the group had broadened its publishing base and also owned a fully recognised advertising agency. In 1982 Northern & Shell became the first company to put up its own building in London's burgeoning Docklands-a bold move affording opportunities for ever more rapid expansion. Through the eighties a range of specialist magazines were launched, licensed and acquired, a number of which were sold in the early nineties. Meanwhile successes in celebrity publishing and women's titles laid the groundwork for yet more ambitious undertakings. 

The launch of OK! magazine brought together all the Network's strengths. There were celebrity connections from the music magazines and a wide-ranging and technically innovative production base. Decision-making could be rapid, thanks to short lines of communication and there was tight control due to ownership of ancillary functions such as reproduction and distribution. There was commitment and stamina to invest and keep on investing until the title reached the status of market leader. 

I feel that OK! magazine is targeted at teenagers to middle age women. As both these age ranges are interested in celebrity gossip and lifestyles which is mainly what the magazine is based on. As every article in the magazine is interviewing an A list celebrity. The adverts shown in the magazine are for different perfumes etc, products that are affordable prices for most people. Whereas from previously looking at magazines like Vogue the advertisements are for more expensive products - which are perhaps less affordable.

The front cover shows pictures of Eva Longoria, Kate Price and Victoria Beckham who are all A List popular celebrities, by showing a variety of popular celebrities on the front cover it attracts a  wide variation of different readers, catering for peoples different tastes and needs. The main photograph of Eva Longoria and her husband is quite obviously posed, as it is one of their wedding pictures. This seems relevant to OK!'s needs as they cater for a large range of celebrity weddings. They both look very warm and welcoming, which attracts the reader to read the article and view the pictures of this special celebrity event. To the left of the main photograph is another photograph featuring Katie Price and Peter Andre, which is also posed. You can tell this by their facial expressions and body language. This also appears very posed as the article advertised next to it is not a very positive one as it is discussing 'dramatic weight loss' and 'postnatal depression'. The third photograph on the front cover is a photo of Victoria Beckham - One of the worlds most famous celebrities. Again this picture appears posed as she does not look very relaxed and appears to be smiling uncomfortably towards the camera. By showing these three extremely popular celebrities on the front cover, the magazine is appealing to a range of different people and fans. 

The magazine also has a website which allows the reader to interact more with the magazine. The OK! magazine website features News and photographs, videos, fashion & beauty, Living, shopping and weather. The presentation of the magazine is very eye catching as it uses a range of different colours and bold fonts to attract the readers eye.

HELLO! magazine is the main competitor with OK! magazine as both magazines cater for the same audience, both mainly featuring celebrity interviews and news. An example of the rivalry between these two magazines is that recently OK! was awarded £1,033,156 in a lawsuit. As OK! had exclusive right to the wedding of Catherine Zeta-Hones and Michael Douglas, but its rival Hello! Magazine, published pictures as well, so OK! sued.

Grazia Magazine Textual Analysis

Grazia magazine is an endless well of fashion tips and wardrobe overhauls, its up-to-the-minute with the latest looks and top trends - straight off the runway. It is an Italian, weekly women's glossy magazine. With international editions in Australia, United Kingdom, Greece, Portugal, The Netherlands, Bulgaria, Croatia and Serbia. Its British counterpart was started in 2005, to cover the market for a high class glossy magazine, but for a weekly edition rather than a monthly edition like other glossies like Vogue, ELLE and Marie Clare. Grazia magazines are styled as glossies, with a strong amount of influence of high-class celebrities, such as Angelina Jolie and supermodels like Kate Moss. Grazia is mainly a fashion inspired magazine.

The word 'Grazia' when translated means 'with grace' which relates well to the magazine as it is mainly fashion inspired. In that the aim of the magazine is obviously to encourage the readers to follow the latest trends and be up to date with the latest looks and top trends. Therefore they are encouraging you to look good - to look 'graceful'.

The publisher of Grazia is "EMAP". "EMAP" is a British media company specializing in the production of magazines, and the organization of business events and conferences. "EMAP" is an abbreviation of East Midland Allied Press- which was founded by Charles Winfrey in the late 1800's. "EMAP" also owned forty UK and Ireland local commercial radio stations. Twenty of "EMAP's" local contemporary music radio stations based across the United Kingdom were marketed as the "Big City Network". Selling more than 170,000 copies a week at £1.70 an issue, Grazia has the highest retail sales value of any womans glossy. The circulation of the title, published by EMAP, has risen by 10 per cent in the past six months. Grazia magazine has recently launched a new fashion news website. Grazia broke its first exclusive just a day after launching. Journalists at Grazia now work across both the magazine and website. The new website will give the readers the chance to interact with Grazia, adding that the team have fast become addicted to checking readers comments on news stories. Head Editor added: “We have always been frustrated we’ve never been able to share that with the readers and get into their heads. They’re very fashion savvy, articulate, intelligent women, so we trust them to go mad and tell us what they think.”

Grazia magazine is targeted at middle class fashion inspired women. The articles in Grazia are detailed and not just gossipy for example magazines like Heat and NOW are. The adverts included in the magazine are of expensive clothing, and more expensive brands than that of which would be shown in a weekly gossip magazine. Suggested it is targeted at more middle class women. 

The celebrity shown on the front cover of the magazine is Angelina Jolie. Who is an extremely well known high rated celebrity. The image used of her is a posed image suggesting her happiness, which obviously relates well to the article that the magazine is advertising as it is in relation to her being pregnant. The facial expression of Angelina is an over the top smile which again exaggerates the good news that the magazine is about to reveal inside. Angelina Jolie I feel has been chosen for the front cover as she relates to the target audience. As previously discovered that the target audience of Grazia is middle class woman, I feel that middle class women are able to relate to Angelina as she is not only a fashionable, A-listed celebrity but she is also a Mum. Angelina is around the age of the type of readers that read Grazia, therefore they can relate to her easier than they would perhaps a teenager being published on the front cover of the magazine. It makes the magazine more appealing to the audience.

The front cover also includes an preview of '45 figure fixing styles' one of the articles that is featured in the magazine. By advertising a fashion article on the front page this suggests to us as readers that the magazine is fashion inspired, and therefore will attract the correct target audience which is keen fashion followers.  The colours used on the front page of the magazine are mainly black, white and red. Which are frequently used by Grazia. I feel that these particular colours are used as they are eye catching yet classy colours. Grazia does not use bright colours like many other gossip magazines, as it is a more middle class magazine, and wants to give off a stylish classy look. The presentation of the magazine overall gives a more expensive effect. It does this by the use of colour, fonts, layout and images.

Heat Magazine Textual Analysis

Heat is a British entertainment magazine published by Bauer Consumer Media. As of 2004 it is one of the biggest selling magazines in the UK, with a regular circulation of over half a million. Its mix of celebrity news, gossip and fashion is primarily aimed at women. It also features movie and music reviews, TV listings and major celebrity interviews. 

Heat was launched in February 1999 as a general interest entertainment magazine. However, unlike EMAP launches before and after, it was not an immediate success, with a circulation below 100,000. A series of revamps quickly repositioned the magazine as a less serious, more gossip-oriented magazine aimed at women, and circulation quickly grew. A series of high-profile celebrity relationships, such as between David and Victoria Beckham and Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt provided more ample material, while reality shows such as Big Brother and Pop Idol grew popular at just the right time to help fill pages. The cost of the magazine is currently £1.65. A version of the magazine is also published in South Africa.

Heatworld.com was launched in May,2007 and is edited by Julian Linley who was deputy editor of Heat magazine for 5 and a half years. The site is an online interpretation of the magazine emulating the mix of celebrity news, gossip and fashion. However, heatworld.com does not replicate magazine content and bases itself more on video and audio content and breaking news.

After the launch of heatworld.com we were then introduced into Heat Radio. The station is owned by Bauer Radio, a division of the company, Bauer which owns the magazine. The station can be listened to through digital television and through DAB radio. It can also be listened to through a live steam on the website. Celebrities often present shows on a one week contract.

As Heat grew in popularity, spin off merchandise was released to cash in on its success. Current items carrying the Heat name are an exercise DVD titled Heat: Get That Celeb Look, an interactive DVD game featuring celebrity questions, an annual of the year for the year 2007 and in 2003 a set of mini books titled 'Say What' were released containing quotes from celebrities such as Gareth Gates.

The layout of the magazine is very eye catching. Through the use of bright font colours red, black, yellow and pink the readers attention is caught. The main photograph of Charley from Big Brother used is posed, she is staring directly at the camera with an angry/aggressive look on her face which represents what her character was like when she was in the big brother house. The language used is slang which represents the idea that the magazine inside is informal. 

I feel that the magazine is targeted at teenage to middle age women as it is mainly based on celebrity gossip and fashion. The adverts inside are for affordable products for example perfume and make-up which is what most teenagers are interested in. In comparison to magazines like Vogue which advertise more expensive designer labeled products.