C1 Magazines

 What is Representation?

Lo. To explore the concept of representation and stereotypes.

Representation is the way the media shows something in their own way so it can be bended to fit whatever they want.

Positive representations

These both represent teenager groups where they all work together to work out their problems and they always support and believe in each other, their friendships can't be broken and they are not stereotypical.

Stereotypes

A stereotype is a generalised representation of a person, place or thing.

Do Now 

Friday, 20th September 2024.

1. Representation - the way the media shows something in their own way so it can be bended to fit whatever they want.

2. If its bias or stereotypical. Whether its positive or negative.

3. A stereotype is a generalised representation of a person, place or thing.

4. 3 2

5. Media Audiences, Media language, Industries, Representations and contexts.

Stereotypes

Teenager : boy, Moody, messy, hoodie, always on phone, introverted, tall, rude, lazy.

Private School Boy : Posh, High voice, Really smart, Rich family, probably lives in a mansion, side parted blonde slicked hair, very short.

Grandmother : Old and very frail, rocking chair, curly white short hair, cat obsession, short and stubby.

Students : messy, loud, disruptive, not paying attention, stereotype negative

Teachers : stressed, trying to help, working hard, stereotype positive, saying they're proud of their students

Stereotypes spotted : messy and disruptive students, teachers telling off the children, students not being serious and acting like children. 

Representations in Magazines

LO : to explore the representations found in magazines.

Masthead - Name of the magazine brand. 

Cover lines - smaller pieces of text around the outside about the magazine

Main image - very big background image either the product or the model/person.

Main cover line -  the title/what the magazines about, this will me bigger than the smaller cover lines.

Puff - shapes of the front cover of a magazine which look like stickers.

Colour palette - colours used in the magazine. ( the main 2-4 colours)

Direct address - "you'' talking directly to audience or an image looking directly at you.

Star vehicle - the celebrity/ main character/ the model.

Do Now.

Friday 27th September 2024

1. Title of magazine ✔

2. Cover Lines ✔

3. Shapers of the front over of a magazine which look like stickers. ✔

4. Whether it positive or negative. ✔

5. Stereotypes. ✔

Representations in Magazines

Hows is Carrie Underwood represented in different magazines.

Cover 1 : Motherly, Farmer, Casual

Cover 2 :Pop-star, diva, popular

Cover 3: Fancy, Rich, Party

Why are there different? : For different audiences, Genre Conventions.

Happy, Glamorous, Cute

Differences : Colours, Audience, Topics.

Challenge : 

Colours - As pink is more associated with women and blue is more associated with men. Its to fit the genre and the audience.

Topics - what the magazines about and what the different gender/audience want.

In the the Cosmopolitan magazine magazine women are represented on it because of the colour pallet - Its pink and purple, The model itself is a woman wearing a dress and the cover lines state different things. For example "all her confidence secrets revealed" and "Flatter abs" are more associated with women and women's beauty expectations. However, in the GQ one the colour pallet - its blue, grey. The model its self is a man with a suit on. The cover lines also state different things like "how one day changed football forever" and "get the coolest shoes on the planet". Football is a male dominated sports and shoes are popular amongst men.

Do Now

Friday 4th October

1. Big and bold, bigger than the cover lines, over the main image. ✔

2. When the person on the magazine is looking directly at you, or using 'you'. ✔

3. Puff ✔

4. Blue ✔

5. Objectification is when a human gets treated like an object or an item for somebody. ✔

Representation Task 

Lo : To create magazine covers showing an understanding of representation.

DO NOW

Friday, 11th October

1. If its positive/negative, bias/misinformation, stereotypes. ✔ ( also Gender, age, sexuality, ethnicity, disability)

2. Sexualising and making a human seem like a sexual object and not giving them human qualities and free speech. ✔

3. " Inside Game of Thrones" ✔

4. Pink ✔

5. Moody and lazy. ✔ 

How do you compare Representations?

Lo ; To write and structure an effective exam style answer.

Compare the representation of gender in the cosmopolitan front cover and GQ front cover.

In your answer you must consider,  

- the choices the producers have made about how to represent gender

- how far the representation of gender is similar in the 2 front covers

- How far the representation of gender is different in the two front covers.

PLAN (5 mins)

1. List similarities & differences.

2. Use lists to make my judgement.

3. Introduction - start with judgement.

4. Use 25 mark structure to write essay and make sure i include my judgement.

Try using DEL to help structure your ideas.

DESCRIBE - the technique/element/representation used

EXPLAIN - the connotations/meanings constructed support with specific evidence

LINK - to the overall context/meaning/question

Example : In the GQ cover, men are represented as older and sophisticated. The tuxedo has connotation of wealth and elegance and the use of David Beckham as a star vehicle suggests an older audience. This is different to the cosmo cover where Carrie Underwood is represented as younger, fun and sexy.

Cosmopolitan : Male on female lifestyle magazine challenges stereotypical, he's wearing"feminine" clothes, Posed almost like a woman, shot type, still looks physically strong, sexual cover lines, relationship related cover lines

GQ : Fearless, powerful with all the snakes on her, Sexual objectification, Medusa. Direct address, making woman seem scary and deadly, Sexual pose, Low angle to make her seem powerful, cover lines are stereotypical.

Similarities : different gendered star vehicles than normal, cover lines both represent their gender target audience, colour pallets are both gender target audience, Young star vehicles, direct address

Differences : sexualised woman, shot types, gay man (sexuality), woman seen as powerful but man seen as softer, man wearing feminine clothing, cosmopolitan has relationship related cover lines.

Judgement : more differences, gender has been represented as 2 different things.

These covers represent gender in different ways. 

How far the representation of gender is different in the two front covers.

The representation of gender is different because : in the Cosmopolitan the man has a medium long shot showing more of his body however in the GQ one the woman has a mid shot showing less of her body. Theres more of a low angle and her facial expression shows power, to make Rihanna seem more powerful or fearless but in the Cosmo one Tom Daley is smiling and looks quite soft. The use of colour pallets is also different. The cosmo one uses colours like pink and yellow to represent women however the GQ uses more dull or simple colours which stereotypically represent men.

Industry Research 

Lo : to research companies linked to set products. 

Circulation - A magazine's circulation is the number of copies it usually distributes.

Advertising revenue - Ad revenue is income you earn specifically from placing advertisements for products or services on behalf of others.

cover price - The Basic Cover Price is the standard published price for an issue.

Subscription model - A subscription business model is one in which customers are charged a recurring fee for access to a product instead of a one-time expense.

multi-platform - means that you publish your content into different mediums, massively maximising your reach.

Readership - Readership is an estimate of how many readers a publication has.

Ideology - A set of  ideas or thoughts that someone, or a group of people, believe in.

Brand Identity - the image a company creates for itself through marketing tools, such as logos and slogans, as well as ideology

Target Audience - A group of people to whom the magazine addresses it's content.

The magazine was launched in? -1892

the original genre/target audience?- Affluent, fashion and style conscious females aged 30-45.

Has it changed, rebranded at all over the years?- In 1932, for example, Vogue became one of the first magazines to print a colour photo on its cover. In the 1960s Diana Vreeland (editor in chief from 1963 to 1971) redefined the look of female models, eschewing shapely figures to highlight thin gender-neutral physiques.

Who publishes it?- Conde Nast 

Is it print only or multi-platform?- multi-platform, through print a website and subscriptions

Whats its average  circulation & readership? 

- total circulation 2023- 1,250,850

- readership - 2.7 million
who is the target audience? females aged 35-40, ABC1 fashion and style conscious women who are educated, sophisticated and wealthy.

Summarise the brand image, tagline, values, ideologies, types of topics covered, style. - In summary, Vogue is a fashion and culture institution that is at the intersection of luxury, style, and social relevance, maintaining a reputation for sophistication while evolving with the changing global conversation around diversity, sustainability, and activism.

The magazine was launched in? - 1931

the original genre/target audience? - made specifically for male fashion industry insiders

Has it changed, rebranded at all over the years? - with its increase in customer in 1967 cased them to rebrand to high class 20-45.

Who publishes it - Conde Nast.

Is is only print of multi-platform? - its multi-platform but its more popular in print. digitally and its got a website and app.

Whats its average  circulation & readership? 

circulation - 85,080 monthly

readership - 213,000 monthly.

who is the target audience? - high class men between 20-45. again aimed at ABC1 men.

Summarise the brand image, tagline, values, ideologies, types of topics covered, style. 

GQ is a men lifestyle magazine that covers a variety of topic, including fashion, culture and entertainment. forward- looking, progressive and cutting-edge.

The magazine for men with an IQ.

Do Now

Friday, 15th November

1. Conde Nast ✔

2. ABC1 ✔

3. 20-45 ✔

4. Masthead ✔ 

5. The 5 or so main colours used in something. The main 2-3 colours used in the design of a media product.

CASE STUDY 1.

LO : To explore the context & layout design for GQ magazine.

GQ Context

- Has a history of objectifying women

- Women shot far less than fully clothed

- Even present GQ magazines frequently depict women very differently to how they depict men.

- Some women on the cover are nude and the GQ Website had an ENTIRE SECTION targeted to men of women.

- They have a yearly list of 'sexiest women', but on a women's magazine they have 'men of the year'.

GQ targets its audience by using sophisticated, wealthy men who focus on lifestyle and fashion (including celebrities)

GQ represents gender through colour pallets, cover lines and using different gendered models. 

Cover Analysis

Media Language

Typography 

• Block capitals
• white/grey colour theme
• Name is bigger than all the other text
• Sans Serif 
• Bold
• Capital letters
• White which pops out from the dull background
• Masthead (GQ) - up-to date, san serif font, masculinity, block letters, capitals.

Colour Palette

• Black
• Grey
• Dark Red 
• White
• Dark
• Scary
• Eerie
• Gangsta
• Intimidating
• Accent colour of the pink is anti-stereotypical offering that the magazine isn't what it appears or it challenges conventions

Layout

• 'z' pattern - convention for magazine covers.
• Imagine right in the middle.
• 
  

Anchorage text

• "The Relentless Jeremy Strong"
  Famous actor - people know him
• Powerful "relentless". - intense.
• looks like he's been boxing
• his name is "strong"
• direct adress.

DO NOW

1. the text thats next to an image to give it a meaning. ✔

2. Serif, Colour, Font, Size, Bold capitals, Bold. ✔

3. Cover lines ✔

4. Sans Serif ✔

5. Mid Shot or Medium long shot. ✔

📷Case study - Raheem Sterling GQ⚽

Raheem Sterling

• He was born in Jamaica. 
• He started off early!
• He's won lots of awards. 
• He's great at attacking.
• His dad was murdered when he was 2

Raheem Sterling is an english professional footballer. Born in Jamaica and moved to London at the age of 5. Fifth youngest player to represent England when he played against Sweden in 2012. Nations most expensive when he was bought by Manchester city.

Whilst its easy to be sidetracked by the fact sterling is a 'football star'. he is on the cover and in this issue to represent a serious issue in both national and international football including racism towards him and other footballers.

Image 

• he's got wings - guardian angel (inspired by Travis Scott's album cover)
• long shot - powerful
• looking down on us - on top of everyone  
• direct adress
• masculinity - showing dominance (wide stance and head title shows confidence.
• 'strong'

DO NOW

Friday, 29th November.

1. He's a footballer ✔

2. Bold, Serif, Colour, Capitals. ✔

3. Racism in football. ✔

4. Serif. ✔

5. Anchorage text. ✔

📷Case study - Raheem Sterling GQ⚽

Masthead - Sans Serif font, modern font, block capitals which show masculinity (links to target audience), Gold colour shows wealth and also religion (links to target audience), Gold colour also is in juxtaposition to the black wings.

Cover line - interested in fashion, Subverting stereotypes of bags being for women, now men can own and enjoy them too.

Anchorage Text - Guardian angel - a multitude of meanings for example : He is a winger in football, He protects other black players from further racial incidents, He was seen as an 'evil' person, but in reality he seems on the whole to be a good one.

Cover lines - Politics (target audience, like rich, smart men), Self promotion for their own events, economics, politics, acting are common themes, popular culture.

Image - direct address, angle shows dominance (taken from low angle), wide stance for confidence and his head tilted, connotations of black colour show power, confidence and dominance, swagger. 

In the main image Raheem Sterling is presented as confident. This is because he's in a wide stance with a tilted head showing his dominance and how poised he is. The connotations of him being topless also shows his masculinity, power and control. This relates to him being a 'guardian angel'.

The anchorage text saying 'Guardian angel' shows multiple meanings. He is a winger in football which means he's on the wings and he protects black players from further racial incidents in football. The Gold colour of the text also presents the target audience. Golds connotations are wealth and money, which GQ's audience are smart and rich. The gold also juxtaposes the black wings which represent him as the angel.

The typography is masculine and powerful. The text is in mostly sans serif and in a modern font including block capitals. The masculinity also shows this protectiveness of him being a 'guardian angel' and the fact he 'saved football'. The fact his name in the cover line is bigger than the other text shows how important he was to spreading awareness about racism in football.

The lexis has been exaggerated to be eye catching to the target audience. For example 'a living nightmare'. The use common interests like fashion, subverting stereotypes of bags being for women meaning now men can own and enjoy them too makes this more eye catching towards the audience who are rich, smart men interested in fashion and life style.

Do Now

Friday 13th December

1. Tell you what informations in the magazine. ✔

2. To give you a preview the magazine. Get the attention of a potential reader/buyer.

3. racism in Football. ✔

4. At the bottom, below the person. ✔

5. Convention -  The way in which something is usually done.

Assessment Improvement

Do Now

Friday 20th December

1. Shows. ✔

2. Angel, birds, free. ✔

3. Intelligent, Smart, wealthy men. ✔ ABC1 male, 20-44.

4. to interest the audience. ✔

5. The way in which something is usually done.

GQ Representation.

Gender 

1. Thats men are strong and masculine. Stereotype of that to be a man you need to be strong and fit, serious facial expression as masculine man are more serious.

2. His tops off, muscles, wide confident position

3. Him being a guardian angel, they're all quite extreme since men are more stereotypically dangerous, loads of male topics like football, politics, music and comedy.

4. Strong, tattoos, Black clothes, powerful.

5. Wearing jewellery which usually women wear jewellery, Him as an angel as wings are represented as female. He's a male angel.

Ethnicity
1. that he's strong and standing up to racism, a role model to his reader as he's very dominant,

2. that its a British Jamaican man as the front cover which is unusual, he's being shown in a positive way.

3. "Guardian angel"

4.diverse range of ethnicity on the cover ad unusual for GQ.

5. that he is a guardian angel and protective.