Task 3: Essay (research)

The first magazine cover is Bliss. The magazines main picture of the celebrity Rihanna, who is a very popular female singer amongst teenage girls, shes smiling and looks very glamorous giving the feeling of being cheerful. The background colour is pink which again adds the appeal to the female market. The masthead is yellow which co-ordinates with the puffs and headlines, such as 'Rihanna' and 'Is your pet psychic' this straight away makes us come to the conclusion that Rihanna also features inside the magazine and draws our attention to other cover stories. They have true stories features on the front such as 'hospitalised by horrific hair dye' the use of alliteration and again the colour yellow used on a black background makes teenage girls really want to read this shocking story and find out what its about. All the cover stories are things that teenage girls can relate and what they would want to read about which boosts the  want for this magazine. 

The second cover is Cosmo Girl. The image of the female celebrity Vanessa Hudgens fills the background of the cover, shes an actress that stars in the film 'high school musical' which is aimed at teenagers and mainly girls, this reflects the target audience of this magazine and will make them want to buy it because its a celebrity on the cover who they like and who they want to know more about. The background colour is white and the text used is red and black which is also the colour of the masthead, the use of dark colours on the white background really make the text eye catching and easily noticeable from a distance, attracting potential buyers. Theres headlines such as 'how to be a good kisser' which is a typical fear of a teenage girl, so this is something they can relate to. On the masthead the word girl is in front of Cosmo which again makes it clear to us that this is a girl magazine and because of that word they think that every girl has it and will want to buy it, adding appeal to teenage girls. Theres alot of mention of school, even in the real lift story ' my mom married my high school classmate' this adds a theme to the whole front cover and the movie that the star Vanessa Hudgens stars in. 

The third magazine cover is Mizz. The main image is of the celebrity Miley Cyrus who again like the other covers is a celebrity who is a teenage girl herself so is very popular amongst teenage girls, they will again want to read this magazine because its a celebrity who is very popular. Unlike the other magazines , the picture is smaller and other pictures of celebrities are scattered around the cover, this will widen appeal which is attract other potential buyers. The image of Miley Cyrus actually overlaps the masthead which shows really makes it stand out and makes us realise she is the main focus of the magazine and gives us a clue that it may reflect on the articles inside. Theres a lot of different bright colours and a very busy theme throughout the cover, this gives the impression there's a lot inside the magazine, making it a must read for teenage girls. 

The fourth magazine cover is shout. There is a reduced palette of colours of white, black and pink. The background image is of the female celebrity Taylor Momson. Her name is in pink which matches the masthead, underneath her name is ' the coolest teen in the world' this makes teenage girls think if I read this then I will be the coolest teen in the world as well. All the cover stories are ones which will relate to teenage girls such as '8 ways to kissable lips' which similarly to Cosmo Girl is something a teenage girl would want to read about because they can relate to it. Theres a lot of symbols used on the cover such as a love heart and lips, this makes it very young, and uses almost uses text language which is very popular with teenage girls. 

The fifth magazine cover is Sugar. The image of  'girls aloud' Nicola fills the background. She looks fresh faced and pretty, making her easily relate able to teenage girls. The girly colours of purple, pink and black used for the text stand out on top of the white background. Again like the other magazines there are shocking true stories like 'she shot her parents before our sleepover' which again is makes us intrigued and want to know more about this story. The cover line 'fashion overload' is in a bold and bright pink font drawing our attention to it, fashion is what every teenage girl talks about so this really adds appeal. A white puff overlapping Nicola's black dress which the line 'are you snogging enough?' draws our attention to it, this is an example of language which teenagers use. 

These 5 magazines Bliss, Cosmo Girl, Mizz, Shout and Sugar are all targeted at teenage girls. All of these magazines have many similarities. One thing they all have in common is there's a well known female celebrity on the front cover, this makes girls want to read the magazine because its a celebrity who they know about and can maybe relate too,adding appealing to their target audience of teenage girls. They all use bright colours to stand out and most co-ordinate there colours using a reduced palette in order to link the masthead to the headline. 3/5 have the word 'kiss' or 'snog' on their cover, these are examples of the type of language that teenage girls use themselves and 2/5 have the word 'dating' on their front cover. They use cover lines which will relate to young girls such as fashion by using cover lines such as 'get the look' and all have 'real life stories' advertised on the cover. They all use puffs to make cover lines stand out , so you can see them from a a far distance.

There are only small differences between the magazines because they all seem to be pretty similar on the exterior. Only one seems to have over pictures of celebrities on the front cover so it will appeal to a wider audience. By studying these magazine cover its quite clear that they include the same subjects such as fashion, celebrities, dating or kissing tips.