The
evaluation of Glamour magazine
The title
of the magazine I chose to analyse is Glamour;
however, this is a special edition, called Glamour Beach. It was published in
2010 by the Axel Springer-Budapest Kiadói Kft., and it cost 495 forints. This
title usually connotes the notions of being glamorous; for instance, if you buy
this you become like that, attractive and aware of the current fashion trends.
The
title Glamour is partially covered by
the model on the front page. The
dominating colours are blue, yellow and violet. These are very harmonious
colours, ideal for having it on the front page. The colour blue shows elegance and wealth, because
only well-off people can afford a holiday by the sea or ocean and the blue represents
an ocean or sea coast. With this, the notion of being glamorous appears again,
because if you buy this magazine you will be as famous and well-off as the
people are in it, who can afford to go to the seashore for a vacation. Moreover, there is an eye-catching woman
wearing a violet swimsuit who has a perfect body, suggesting with this also
that if one buys this magazine then one can become as perfect as she is.
The photo that depicts the woman is relatively large
because it covers over half of the front page. The
proportion is probably 60-40. The title Glamour
is obviously the biggest
word with bold yellow typefaces. The capital letters Beach on the other hand is white, because it is a special edition. The
yellow of the title and the blue of the background are very practical because
blue and yellow are complementary colours. Yellow and white typefaces vary,
attracting the eye to the most important parts of the magazine: swimsuits, an
extra romantic novel and coupons. The leading story can be recognized from the
typeface and the colour. It is both bold and yellow and it is at the top of the
front page, obviously after the title. There are only three stories which
compared to other Glamour editions is very minimalist, but because it is
harmonious in colour and uses minimalism with the background, it suggests that
one can also be elegant with very few accessories. Even the model does not have
very many accessories on her, enhancing this minimalist image.
Looking
at the magazine I can only spot the most important things, which suggests that
if one buys this magazine it will be the only need for one’s summer holiday as
there is a romantic novel in it, which every woman supposedly likes and one can
read it while sunbathing and by this the time will fly.
The
magazine contains, with the extra novel, 248 pages. Throughout the paper, categories
of fashion, travelling, as it is summer, make-up, life and beauty vary. The
main idea is how to be contented with oneself, but this is totally ridiculous
because the whole magazine is stuffed with women with perfect bodies, which instead
of giving confidence, gives an inferiority complex. The contents are organized
totally randomly; however, in the table of contents it is organized in
sections. This section is for the people who only want to read what they bought
the magazine for.
The
magazine starts off with an editorial which already speaks to women as if they
were friends and this tone lingers through the magazine. It is more informal
than not, because they want to be “our” friends, and want to gain our attention
and absolute love and trust. The reader is addressed in this way which I think
is effective because I feel that they speak to me and not everyone else, only
me. Like any other women’s magazine, they say that they are here for women to
help and to give advice: firstly how to lose weight, and secondly, how to be
contented with yourself. The overall tone
of the publication by these methods becomes reader-centred.
The advertisements in the publication are mostly
there to sell products, mainly cosmetics and make-up; to have a perfect skin
and body; to sell fitness items and products to be healthy; and to advertise
trendy places, in this case hotels. There is a wide range of advertisements
which approximately take up 70% of the publication.
The
target audience is mainly rich people and mainly women aged between 20 and
30-35, who can afford the items they offer for women. Nonetheless, it is good
for not so rich people because they can dream about what they would do if they
were rich, and they can catch up with fashion and buy the products they see in
the magazine in another shop, but for a much cheaper price. I think all kind of
women can and would buy this magazine, because they want to keep up with
fashion and trends now and again. If someone has a secondary school final exam
she can very well understand the messages and advice. I myself buy these
magazines if I want to read something on a train or bus and want to have fun,
and obviously I will not buy all of the products, but it is good to know what
is trending nowadays.
