Analysis of magazine

Analysis of 'Closer' Magazine

The title of the magazine, ‘Closer’ is short, easy to remember and easily recognisable. The title ‘Closer’ has connotations of being closer to celebrity’s lives and the newest gossip and news about them. It also implies that the magazine gets closer to the latest news than other magazines.
‘Closer’ is published by EMAP Entertainment, a well known company which publishes other magazines such as ‘Nursing Times’ and ‘Heat’, one of the main competitors for ‘Closer’. EMAP entertainment also owns some UK radio stations and runs a portfolio of music channels including the Hits, Kerrang! and the Box.
‘Closer’ magazine is published weekly for £1 which is cheap and affordable to most people and encourages people to buy each issue to get constant updates on celebrities that week. The magazine also has a website, http://www.closermag.co.uk/ to advertise the magazine even more and encourage more people to buy it.
The target audience of ‘Closer’ is young women. We can tell this from the types of articles and adverts in the magazine, which are mostly gossip, celebrity news and fashion. There are many articles and comments on body shape and the latest diet plans, as looks are a concern for many young women who will read the magazine.
The adverts in the magazine are also aimed at women, as most of the adverts are for cosmetics such as make up, hair dye, fake tan which are particularly chosen as they would probably be purchased by young women readers who find looks important. There are also some adverts for food products such as Birds Eye vegetables and bolognese sauce, which may appeal to women who have a family and shop for food. All of the products advertised are relatively cheap and affordable to the people buying the magazine as they are generally around the price range of the magazine price. However, the adverts with models in are harder to relate to for the female target audience as they have been airbrushed to look 'perfect' which does not represent the readers of the magazine.
On the cover of the magazine, the main images are of Denise Van Outen and Kate Lawler in bikini's to show their body shapes. The text is commenting on their weight loss and gain which are both classed as 'body traumas'. Both women look unhappy in the photos which makes them seem 'sad' and 'lonely' as quoted on the front cover. This clearly shows what type of reader the magazine attacts as the main stories are about looks and weight, mainly in celebrities. It tells us that the target audience of young women are 'obsessed' with their looks and the lives of celebrities.
Also on the front cover of 'Closer' is previews of other articles and stories inside the magazine with eye-catching text such as 'shock new pics' and 'porn scandal'. The most interesting features are previewed to encourage people to buy the magazine to read the rest of the article.
The main colour of the front cover is pink, which is stereotypical of a 'girly' colour and so is clear that the magazine is aimed at women. The front cover looks very similar to other women's magazines such as 'heat' and 'new' with lots of photos and gossip about celebrities. The tag line, 'the only read you need!' tries to encourage women to buy 'Closer' rather than any of the very similar competitiors. Other titles in compeititon with 'Closer' include 'heat' 'new' 'love it' and many more. These magazines are also generally cheap and in the same price range as 'Closer', ranging from around 60p-£2. All of these magazines look quite cheap with eye-catching front covers, and pages of celebrity gossip which are all very similar.
However, there are some differences between the magazines, for example; 'Heat' contains more features and reviews on tv, films and music as well as many more interviews than 'Closer' rather than articles about the artist.
The presentation of the front cover is very eye-catching and bright, it is full of text and images with as many things as possible to stand out among other magazines. 'Closer' looks like a cheap magazine as it is quite small and the wide range of colours used also makes the magazine look cheap. The language of the magazine is quite colloquial which gives the whole magazine an informal feel which relates to its readers. The gossip creates a chatty address to the reader to encorage young women to read it. The main subjects covered in 'Closer' are body weight and looks, especialyl of celebrities, for example, gossip about celebrities such as Denise Van Outen, Jade Goody, Sinitta and their weight loss/gain. There are also many features on fashion and diets, which shows that looks are the main concern for young women readers. These articles are very stereotypical of young women and makes them seem quite shallow as the whole magazine centers on looks and the lives of celebrities.
The women in the magazine are also represented as quite shallow as the photos are mostly posed rather than natural. There are a limited range of representations of women in the magazine as they are mostly celebrities or are very stereotypical of young women, concerning looks and body shape.However, in the article about Denise Van Outen's weight gain, natural photos are used with the caption 'phew she's human' which relates to the worries of most of the target audience. There are also no men in 'Closer' as women can relate more to other women featuring in the magazine with problems similar to their own. Celebrites featuring in the magazine are well known, such as Jade Goody and Danni Minogue which attracts people to buy the magazine to get 'closer' to these celebrities. All of the celebrities chosen for the magazine are women so readers can relate to them.
Overall, we can tell a lot from the front cover of the magazine 'Closer' and the magazine is definately well targeted at an audience of young women who are interested in celebrites, fashion and looks.