As I am considering designing a layout for a magazine for my media product for this module I think it would be useful to research the market for and the content and layout of some popular magazines.
Grazia is a full colour, glossy magazine aimed at women aged 18 - 35 with major competitors in Cosmopolitan, Glamour and Elle, as such there isn't a niche in the market for this type of magazine due to heavy popularity in what is already available.
It is assumed that the readership, of working women, has a generous amount of disposable income due to its large focus on designer goods, expensive perfume and makeup through articles on latest fashion trends, hair and makeup tips and the many, many adverts for high end products. The magazine is very image heavy with the bulk of the text within the main story, this may be a result of the notion that the audience is easily distracted and images are used to attract and retain attention.
This particular issue has incorporated augmented reality technology, allowing the reader to interact with the front cover, the fashion editors and a collection of clothes. This is a very innovative, interesting idea which extends the life of the magazine after it has been read and allows the reader to be more involved with the magazine which is a very attractive prospect for the audience.
Like most magazines the first page holds a letter from the editor which adds an element of personalisation, a friendly, chatty atmosphere is created which will persuade the audience to read future issues as well.
A main focus throughout the magazine is on celebrity culture, the main stroy for instance is about the singer Florence Welch which is a vehicle for advertisiment of her album and her tours. With this comes a very predictable sob-story of how her parents split up and her boyfriend broke up with her, in an attempt to portray the album as something all the more special for it. Accompanied with stories of Cheryl Cole, Kate Winslet, Sandra Bullock and Mark Owen involving affairs, divorce, the supernatural and arguments it is clear a certain amount of tabloid laundering has occurred which means stories reported by the tabloids have been taken and investigated further. Hermes (1999) suggests that the pleasure of celebrity news operates via two approaches: "The extended family repertoire" the sense that news gossip brings the powerful down to the level of the ordinary and "the repertoire of melodrama" brining a deep sense that the world is unjust and enjoying it when things go wrong for the rich and famous.
Celebrity problems may seem very distant from the lives of the public however the magazine creates associations with features on real life stories, such as "my husband cheated on me while I was pregnant". This sort of story appeals to a mass audience as people enjoy the fact their lives are not as bad as others.
Along with this theme of celebrity, some relatively serious stories such as compensation for 9/11 rescue workers and "do we really want to hear from the wives of party leaders" , however it is debateable if this is valuable as there are far more serious issues that could be considered.
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