1. GENRE & REPRESENTATIONS

2. FASHION MAGAZINES
The target audience of these three magazines in particular show that
the typical buyer and viewer will be mostly female, aged 20+ and will
be interested in fashion, beauty and lifestyle articles. They all also
include that their readers usually have a “disposable income”, this
shows that their readers may read the magazine to see the different
items they could then purchase for themselves.

3. TARGET AUDIENCE - GLAMOUR

4. TARGET AUDIENCE – MARIE CLAIRE

5. TARGET AUDIENCE - COSMOPOLITAN

6. NEGATIVE REPRESENTATIONS
I feel that the negative representations that these magazines could possibly show would be that they
are very overcrowded and busy which may show disorganization and a lack for structure for some
people. They also speak a lot of about how to look your best by including lines such as, “your guide to
gorgeous” and “your body just got hotter! Look fab naked”. Statements of this nature could be found
as pressurizing to some people as they are telling their readers all the ways to improve themselves. All
these magazines always chose to include a well known model or celebrity on their cover so it is very
eye catching to the readers that know these people. Using these models could be seen as a negative
as to some people it could become their aspiration even though the majority of the time the models
have been airbrushed to create an unrealistic version of beauty and possibly something they could
never achieve. It could also be seen as them using these models to get the attention of more potential
readers and using them to increate their sales. A lot of their contents also involves sex, which some
people may find inappropriate as lots of younger people are able to purchase the magazine and it is
available for them to see in shops. The description of the typical reader of these magazines includes
possibly a higher class reader and someone with a “high disposable income”, this could be seen as
quite arrogant and also closing off the possibility for other people to read it.
From looking at this two page spread we can
see that they are advertising spray tans and
other ways to tan, this could be very
controversial as people may disagree with using
tanning beds and other ways to tan as It can
cause health problems. This could be seen as
promoting tan to some people and this magazine
can be seen by young girls which could offend
some people. It also shows the quite cluttered
and relaxed style of the magazine as it takes up
one whole page with an image and then puts
some of the images randomly on the other page.

7. POSITIVE REPRESENTATIONS
I think that these magazines do show many positive representations as they are advertising to their
readers way to make money, improve their wardrobe and how to improve relationships. For example
they include in all of the magazines different ways and tips to improve their appearance “ amazing
body tips”, “bright skin tips” and “fashion steals”. All of these captions are featured on the cover and
could show that they are helping their audience as they are giving them tips on how to look their
best, they also aren't saying that they need to change which will be seen as a definite positive. The
colours that have been used on all these magazines are very bright and would be seen as feminine
by many people as they have used lots of pinks and reds. These bright colours could show that the
magazine isn't going to be very heavy and factual, it also looks very inviting and gives the impression
that it has a friendly, lighthearted feel. This also shows contrast to other magazines as the magazine
colour scheme usually links with the genre of the product. For example stereotypically heavy metal
magazines would use very dark colours with maybe a few bright colours to highlight key things.
However fashion magazines are typically very bright, eye-catching and bold with their striking bright
colours. They also include lots of captions involving „money as they discuss ways to gain money and
how their readers can get their hands on “free beauty treats”. Lines such as “Jessica Alba can make
you rich” are very striking and bold, because they have used their cover model as the basis of a
caption and an article in highlights her more and also shows a positive light to the magazine as they
are helping their readers gain money.
From looking at this two page spread I think
this could have many positive
representations as it is an interview from
Emma Watson who is seen as a role model
to many girls. This article could also be seen
as very positive as she gives advice and
speaks about many different things that
people may want to know. This article
shows some contrast from other pages as
it‟s quite organised and has been separated
from any other images, it has also been put
in to columns which makes it easier to read
for the audience.

8. REPRESENTATIONS OF SOCIAL GROUPS
The social groups of these magazines start fairly young as the youngest age of the average readers
is 18 and goes up from there. This shows that the magazines appeal to a wide range of
people, therefore they have to ensure that the contents of the magazines have to intrigue many
people. All of the models also represent the age that they expect their readers to be as Jessica Alba
is 32, Scarlett Johansson is 29 and Kimberly Walsh is 32. This shows that they use their cover
models as an example and expectation of the age they want their readers to be, it also shows that
the contents will then continue with linking with the age and will include articles and advertisements
that would interest this age range. I think the social groups of these magazines also shows a fairly
negative representation as from looking at each magazines media pack I have found that they
expect their readers to be quite wealthy “intelligent”, “stylish” and “ambitious”. Describing the
expectations of their readers could push some people away form purchasing the magazine as it
sounds as though you wouldn‟t understand the magazine if you didn‟t fit these categories. It could
also push people away as they may feel that they „aren‟t good enough‟ or feel intimidated by this
description. However there are positives to the social groups as I feel that it clearly describes who
they are aiming at which means that if you don‟t understand what they have included, then the
magazine clearly isn't something you are interested in.
This two page spread features “glamour party
tricks”, I feel that this shows that the type of
people and the social groups that they would
expect to read their magazine would be
sociable, stylish and wealthy women and this
page shows this as it‟s telling them what they
should buy for the events that they go to. I think
this shows that their audience would have a
disposable income as they wouldn‟t mind
spending hundreds of pounds on a dress for one
of the events or parties they have planned.

9. REPRESENTATIONS OF SOCIAL ISSUES
I feel that these three magazines do show some social issues as they don‟t fit in with the
perception of a „normal‟ life and to many people the kind of lifestyle these people have would be
seen as impossible for them as they are celebrities. These magazines also may be seen as a
social issue as they are targeted at a specific group of people that will be mainly wealthy
females, this will be unrealistic to some people as they may not be in a position where they earn a
lot of money. However this magazine to some people will be their monthly choice and will be
purchased as they see themselves as equal with the expected readers and live the life of the
people in the magazines. In these type of magazines there aren‟t many social issues involved in
the articles as they focus mainly on fashion and beauty, this could show that they try and stay
away from the more controversial subjects and just stick with the more neutral subjects and things
that will entertain and interest their target audience. However some magazines including and
similar to these three can involve articles that could be found as a social issue as they can
sometimes speak about whether it‟s ok to wear fur, or if the models they use should be airbrushed
or not. This would make the magazine and their articles have more controversial and social issues
as many people would have opinions on it and discuss whether they think it‟s right or wrong.
This article featured inside the magazine
could potentially be seen as a social issue
as they discuss and advertise tanning. Many
people would disagree with this and would
argue that the magazine is advertising
something that is potentially dangerous and
could be giving people health problems as
they talk about sunbathing and using tanning
beds and products. This is much like many
other topics that can be discussed in
magazines such as whether people should
wear real leather.

10. STEREOTYPING
There is a lot of stereotyping that is made regarding all magazines as they all have a typical
audience and style of writing that gives them a look and „stereotype‟ that people think of when they
are mentioned. The stereotype for these three magazines and the people that read it would be
„rich women‟, „business women‟, „fashionable‟ and possibly „snobby‟ or „arrogant‟. All of these
stereotypes catergorise the people who would read it and the actual magazine itself, they
generalize and allow people to cast broad statements about people even if they aren‟t factual.
People would automatically stereotype these magazines as „for women‟ as they are pink which is
typically a feminine colour and the contents includes fashion, beauty and lifestyle which are topics
that people would link with women. The stereotype of the models used on the cover may be “rich”
and “powerful”, people would place the models in these sort of catergorise as they are celebrities
and may also be seen as role models and someone to aspire to be like. This whole magazine will
have the stereotype as being for „rich people‟ and for being „non factual‟ and only including „fashion
and beauty‟, although some of these stereotypes will be accurate as they are aimed at wealth
women and are writing about fashion, some can be incorrect and inaccurate as people will
assume with all magazines from just looking at the cover.
This kind of article could be seen as very
stereotypical of this genre of magazine as
they have done an interview with a well know
actress. This would be seen as stereotypical
as it‟s a celebrity interview being carried out
in a fashion magazine, she is also
advertising clothes which further proves the
stereotype of it not really being very factual
or informative and only including fashion.
This could also be seen as a stereotype as
they are using a celebrity that many girls and
women will look up to which this type of
magazine will commonly do.

11. PRESENCE & ABSENCE
These three magazines all include the presence of famous celebrities that can be easily
recognized by their readers and will interest and appeal to them directly. The use of these models
also represents that the magazine is going to include articles regarding celebrities and could relate
to the fashion and beauty aspect of the magazine also. However there are also groups that are
missing such as, men and the elderly. This represents that this magazine is very direct in it‟s target
audience as they are aiming at mostly women, men would also rather prefer to read a magazine
more suited to them that would stereotypically involve some sort of sport. Also the more elderly
generation wouldn‟t be in the target audience for these magazines as they include topics that
wouldn‟t usually appeal to the older generation, this age range may prefer a magazine that is
based more on facts and includes a lot more detailed articles instead of the fashion photography
that it commonly used in these three magazines. I feel that the absence of these groups highlights
that these magazines are for young and middle aged women who‟s prime interest is fashion and
beauty. These magazines show this by including lots of bright, feminine colours, a cluttered layout
and lots of captions involving „style‟.
From looking at this two page spread I
can see that the groups elderly and
men wouldn‟t be interested by this
article and it wouldn‟t be aimed at
them either as this is an interview and
article on Leighton Meester who is an
actress and is on the TV series Gossip
Girl. This wouldn‟t be aimed at these
two groups as the programme is also
aimed at young girls and women and
the number of men and elderly people
that would watch it is very low.

12. CONTENT
The content of these three magazines is all about fashion, beauty and lifestyle. This shows
that fashion magazines always have the same general idea of what content to include in
each issue, they all have the same typical content due to the audiences being nearly all the
same, the only difference being that in one of these three they have their youngest age as
18 and in the others their average age starts from 25. The images are also all very similar
as they include lots of images of models, runways and beauty products to show the reader
what they are discussing and also to advertise the product and show where they can
purchase it from. Having similar images shows that the readers will all have the same
interests and the same kind of things will appeal to them. These magazines also do
„specials‟ which is when they can make that issue specialized to one specific topic, for
example “big beauty issue” has been the main focus point of „Marie Claire‟ magazine. In
two of these magazines in particular (glamour and cosmopolitan) they have done a big
feature on “fashion” or “style steals” that will involve lots of fashion items that can be
bought at a cheaper price than you would think, this will draw in more readers as many
people will want designer items but at half the price. Inside Glamour magazine we see that
they have used photography that covers both the pages, this draws attention to the clothes
which is the main focus of this page, they have also put a small amount of text due to
people purchasing this magazine because of the fashion and not for the lengthy writing and
they have also put the prices and where you can purchase the items in the corners of the
images. Glamour have also included several pages featuring the model they has used on
the cover, in this article they have shown their relaxed style and feel towards the magazine
and have also
shown a difference in the magazine as they have
written a big article including lots of text instead of
their usual photography.

13. STYLE
All magazines have a particular style, these three are all about fashion, beauty and lifestyle meaning
they have a very feminine theme running throughout. GLAMOUR magazine shows a very girly and
feminine look and style as they have used the typical colours of pink and red, this shows that the
magazine would not be stereotypically be classed for a man and also from the captions being
placed in a disorganized fashion they have also shown that the magazine isn‟t going to be overly
structured and will be relaxed for the audience to read. MARIE CLAIRE have shown quite a lot of
sophistication by the front cover as they have made it quite cluttered however by not choosing
really bright colours it gives it a more classy and perhaps more high-end look which shows what
type of audience it is aimed at. They also haven't used lots of different fonts for the front cover
which shows consistency and that it may be slightly more structured inside than the others.
COSMOPOLITAN magazine has used very bright coloured fonts for the cover and have varied the
font styles, this shows it‟s going to be written in an informal style and have a relaxed feel to it also.
By dressing the model in a black dress it shows that this magazine isn‟t as childlike as you would
maybe guess by the bright pinks as it adds a classy edge to the magazine and shows that the
magazine is aimed at women. Overall these three magazines have shown many similarities as
they have all got the same sort of colour scheme and fonts used on their covers, this shows that
this genre of „fashion magazines‟ shares many similarities and are done in the same sort of style
and fit in to the majority of stereotypes given to them.
As you can see from this two page spread they
have continued with the „pink‟ theme and kept it
looking very bright and bold throughout. They
have also used a bold title including the words
„get happy‟ which will automatically draw
attention from the reader and make them want to
read it. They have also kept the theme of fashion
and beauty linked in with the lifestyle article and
speak about „smiley eyes‟. The fonts and the
layout of the page shows that they have a really
relaxed attitude and style to the magazine whilst
still keeping it sophisticated looking.

14. SYMBOLS
Fashion magazines use symbolism as a main focus point for the reader as it makes it easier to
understand who the product is aimed at, fashion is an easy way to show everyone what kind of
magazine they are. GLAMOUR magazine have used a famous actress on their cover showing
power and wealth, they have also styled her in a long red dress also showing wealth and „glamour‟
which links to their whole magazine. I feel that using this dress links with the magazine perfectly
and also shows what kind of people should be reading it as it shows that in order to purchase the
clothes featured in the magazine you have to have „disposable income‟. MARIE CLAIRE have also
used a red dress which I feel gives a really sophisticated look to the magazine and shows just
from the cover that the magazine symbolizes power and wealth much like many other fashion
magazines. The colour red is also very bold, yet the lace dress makes it a lot more feminine and
links with their target audience as they are reaching out to women. COSMOPOLITAN have also
used a celebrity as this symbolizes power and also that the magazine is mainly aimed at women,
she has been styled in a black dress which is a difference from the stereotypical „pink‟ look that is
commonly used in magazines. This dress could also symbolize that the contents is going to be
focusing purely on fashion and beauty as they have purposely used a dress that their readers
would like and maybe want to purchase. This shows contrast to other magazines using fashion as
a symbol to represent something, for example a rock music magazine‟s stereotypical outfit of
choice would include leather and dark colours to show rebellion and power.
In this two page spread you can see that they
have tried to represent and symbolise a strong
and powerful woman making it in
Manhattan, New York. It also brings fashion and
„glamour‟ in to the article and talks about the
clothes that you should wear to symbolise
power. The background is showing the location
of new York by the iconic yellow cabs and the
model shows power by walking over the word
„Manhattan‟ and by including „glamour takes‟
shows that she is very strong in her work and
fashion.

15. CULTURAL
Culture can be essential at some times as some magazines require you to have a good knowledge
of many different cultures as they may include different symbols and signs that would only make
sense if the culture is understood by the reader. However fashion magazines don‟t usually include
too many signs or symbols that wouldn‟t be understood as the are so popular and are bought all
over the world. GLAMOUR is published in 14 different countries, MARIE CLAIRE is published in
36 countries and COSMOPOLITAN is published in nearly 100 different countries.
Printing the magazine in all of these countries means that the language is translated so everyone
can understand everything that it said. However some of the language can‟t be translated leaving
it in English which may result in people struggling to understand what is being said as they are
English terms that only people from in certain countries would actually understand. With fashion
magazines there isn‟t too many cultural issues as in many of them they include lots of
photography and not too much writing that could get easily confused by people. However these
type of magazines can sometimes include articles that discuss things that may not even exist in
other countries or if they are discussing a product that you can‟t actually buy in other countries.

16. TECHNICAL
Fashion magazines include a lot of technical conventions as they have to decide how they want the
magazine to look, what size and what to include. All of these things are extremely important as the reader
has to like the way a magazine is and looks otherwise they will no longer purchase it. All three of these
magazines in particular print two different sized copies as one of them is the average size and the other is
a much smaller edition to make it easier to take out with you. Printing two different sizes opens up a
bigger market as it allows people to easily grab the magazines on the go and put it in their bag, it also
shows efficiency with the magazine. Glamour, Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan magazine all have 200
pages + in their issues which shows that because they don‟t print a weekly issue they do have a lot of
content in each of their issues which adds up to a month. The number of pages can also show a lot about
a magazine as this shows that a lot of effort and content is included within so you are getting a lot from
them.
GLAMOUR magazine uses a lot of
photography throughout the product, however
they don‟t balance it out with the same amount
of text as they will put an image across the
whole page and sometimes not even cover
half of a page with text. This shows that their
readers are more interested in the fashion and
photography side to the magazine rather than
the articles.
MARIE CLAIRE magazine
varies the ratio of text and image
as they have used large and
detailed photography, however
they also include lots of text to
describe what they are saying in
more depth. However in other
pages they can use a lot more
imagery rather than making it
equal to ensure that the reader
can clearly see the products
they are talking about.
COSMOPOLITAN magazine is fairly
similar to glamour as it has around
the same kind of ratio. They make
sure to use lots of images of the
products they‟re describing to avoid
confusion. They also add small
boxes describing what the product is
and big parts of text speaking more
in depth.

17. CHANGES OVER TIME

18. CHANGES OVER TIME
From looking at the three magazines and seeing what they looked like when they were first published I can see that..
MARIE CLAIRE – this magazine started off as not very colourful or eye catching as even though they have styled the
model in bright clothing the quality of the magazine wasn‟t good enough to show the bright and vivid colours.
However they have still kept the huge picture taking up the page as they have done a really zoomed in picture of a
model that was possibly well known at that time, this shows consistency as they still take up lots of space with the
images and they regularly zoom in on the models. A major change they have made would be that they only had a few
captions on the cover meaning that you didn‟t know everything that was going to be said inside, whereas now they
cover the page in captions making it really busy and exciting and also meaning that the audience knows exactly what
they are going to be reading.
GLAMOUR – this magazine has shown even more of a change throughout the years as it has developed and first
started with a very animated looking image of a model, it also looks like it‟s been painted or done by hand as it‟s not
very developed. As we see the more recent issues you can see that the colour is much brighter and bolder as they
have experimented with more colour showing their knowledge with fashion and beauty. Now the images of the
models are very developed and even airbrushed to enhance and correct imperfections, this shows the advances they
have had when it comes to technology. We can also see the increase in the number of captions used as they started
with only a few and have gradually added more, this makes it easier for the reader as they can see the contents
without having to look thought the magazine before.
COSMOPOLITAN – this magazine has had the most change between the three of them in my opinion as it started as
the image looking very hand drawn and animated and had started in 1886 which shows the changes they have had.
On the first issue you can see that there was no captions and only a little section of text at the bottom of the
page, this is a major change from the many captions that are used on the cover now. We then see that the image
gets more and more developed over time as it becomes more life like as technology has changed and improved. We
can also see that on the first few issues they used a lot of close ups of the models and as they have progressed we
can now see more zoomed out, full body shots revealing the new and latest fashions.