Research and Planning: Textual Analysis of a Magazine Front Cover

I have decided to evaluate and analyse the connotations of the popular celebrity/fashion magazine Bliss. Its front cover  is targeted at the teen female audience. This will help  me distinguish the similarities and differences between this and a college magazine. This will also help me with my final ideas when coming to make my college magazine front cover.

The masthead is the title of the brand featured at the top of the front cover which identifies the brands identity and is used to distingish the brand from other magazines. The word Bliss connotes that it is something good and appealing, and you want to get a piece of like the information is something tasteful and worth getting hold of.

Magazines like this one will often include on their front cover the date the issue was released for each week. The price will be shown, the date and the a tag line is usually placed just below it. This is a way of informing the audience of the information which is shown within the magazine which is a lure to grab the audiences attention. Small sections of information is revealed where the full story will be covered inside.

The magazine has a main image which is the main attraction for the magazine, which is addressed to the viewer as a exclusive headline. In this case it is Taylor Swift who is popular within the media who would if been a high interest to teenagers within  that time of release within the media. Certain celebrities are used to also influence its mass audience which helps promotes the magazine and is a key influence in the selling point. The magazine sets out to grab its mass markets attention more than a rival magazine. The main image which is of Taylor swift is a medium shot, this is shot reveals to the audience of what she is wearing, her body language given and her facial expressions. Which connotes a sense of glamour which would appeal to the target audiences of young people which they might aspire to be like her. Overall the front cover is very colourful which is also used to attract its audience; the backround or colour title is based within the colour pink which is a way of highlighting the key details of the magazines information which links to the main colour of the masthead this connotes a sense of femininity.

There are various plugs on the front of this magazine which show bits of information which can be found in further detail within the magazine. Coverlines are placed in a bold font and in a bright coloured font to grab the viewers attention, the use of graphics helps draw the audience in like by leaving behind rhetorical questions, like ‘ how far would you go for perfection?’ This is a direct mode of address.

There are many other plugs used on the front of this magazine including a section of hot lads which is done purposely to appeal to the target audience. Including some of the hottest names in the media at the moment, which the target audiences are obsessed over. There is also a plug advertising fashion essentials which would be very appealing to the target market as again its connotes femininity in what girls typically like and steroptypically outlines the target audience in how they like to be seen and staying within the latest fashion era.