Representation
Throughout my magazines pages, i have represented the stereotypical teenage girl. One way i have done this, is by including cover lines on the front cover, which talk about the latest news regarding the most popular bands, and singers.
Cover lines from my magazine cover
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A cover line taken from a Kerrang Magazine front cover.
These cover lines show that teenage girls, which are the target audience of my magazine, want to know the latest gossip around famous bands, and as most of the bands featured in my cover lines are male, it also portrays the image that all teenage girls are interested in male band members more than female band members This is seen in the bottom image especially, as the lead singer of the band is only given is first name as the term of address. 'Gerard', this shows that the target audience should know immediately who he is, and what he does. This can also be seen in the cover line from a Kerrang Magazine front cover, Kerrang is aimed for a younger teenage audience like my magazine, and like with mine, the lead singer of the band is only referred to as his first name, 'Ozzy'. Therefore making it almost seem normal that the young target audience should know who the cover is talking about, and giving the impression that young girls become so, almost obsessed, with these male band members that they can tell who they are from just their first name. This also makes them feel as if they are more friendly with the band members.
The representation of the young female target audience being more interested in the male band members is also shown in my contents page, where one of the pages featured in the regulars section is entitled 'Ask All Time Low' and the description says 'We ask Alex Gaskarth your burning questions'. This again shows that the target audience would have to know who Alex Gaskarth is, and also shows that they would want to be able to get noticed by him, and want to get a chance to ask him something. The people that would know these sorts of things about the band members, would have to be fans of that sort of music, which is heavy metal/pop-punk.
Section taken from my contents page.
I have also represented the perfect punk-rock look that would appeal to my target audience. To do this, i have used a female model for my main images, such as the front cover image, cover story image on my contents page, and the images withing my double page spread. To make the female model appeal to the teenage girls that would be interested in my magazine, i made it so that the clothes, and poses within the images fitted with the pop-punk/rock theme of my magazine. I have dressed the model up in punk/alternative clothing, which is the kind of look i imagine the intended audience would try and achieve. Creating this ideal "perfect" look within models is used a lot in magazines with a majority female audience. This is so they will be drawn into the magazine from the image of someone that they want to aspire to be like. An example i have found is the font cover of the music magazine NME. Here they have used an image of popular pop-star Taylor Swift, and she has been airbrushed and edited in order to make her look "perfect" to the teenage audience. She is also wearing the typical clothing for this genre of music, and she is recreating what every teenage fan of hers wants to be like within the one image.
The Polaroid style images of my model, taken from my DPS. Here she is wearing typical punk-rock colours and styles to fit with the theme of the magazine, and to appeal to a young female audience who will also dress like this.
Taylor Swift on the front cover of NME. She is wearing the typical perfect makeup, and clothes, and is made so that this front cover will appeal to girls who aspire to be like her.
However one thing that strays away from the typical representation of female teenagers within my magazine is the pose of my model in the main DPS image.
Main image taken from my Double Page Spread
In this image, the model is striking quite a load, violent looking pose, and this differs from the girly, innocent looking poses that you would perhaps see in other music magazines, such as the Billboard cover showing Ariana Grande below. This is because the genera of music depicted in my magazine is known for being quite loud, and rebellious, therefore i have recreated the style of music through the image shown. This could also appeal to my target audience, as from the music they would have to like in order to enjoy my magazine, they would probably want to feel rebellious as well.
Billboard front cover showing pop artist Ariana Grande. This image shows a very girly, flirty pose and persona, which is common for female model images in magazines.
Another thing which i have incorporated into my magazine to represent both male and female teenagers, is online, and social media sites. On my front cover, i have included a website address for the magazine, which is located under the masthead so it is easy to see. This is because it is steriotypical for teenagers to use online forms as well as the actual magazine, and this would generate more of an audience. Using a website address on the front cover is widely used among magazines which are aimed at a teenage audience, like the Rocksound magazine example that i have given.
The website address for my magazine taken from the front cover
The website address for Rocksound Magazine taken from one of their front covers
I have also included the popular social media website 'Twitter' in the contents page, as this is commonly used by teenagers, and by using social media jargon such as 'Tweet' which is a word that someone who doesn't use twitter, typically seen to be the older person, wouldn't perhaps know. Therefore it becomes more relatable to the ages of the target audience, which is teenagers between the ages of 13-18. Using social media jargon can commonly be seen within magazines, which are aimed towards a younger audience. One magazine which is known for getting involved in many social media websites is Kerrang, and therefore a lot of social media slang can also be seen within the magazine, and here i have a section from the magazine which focuses on twitter, like i have included in my own magazine.
Section of the music magazine Kerrang, which often features a 'Tweet' article.
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