Magazine Cover Review

While I don’t normally read magazines, I now realize how many factors go into the title cover and contents of the magazine. First thing that stood out to me the most about these magazines is how politically motivated they are. For example, the Rolling Stone magazine features the words, “Trump’s plot against America,” right on the cover. They also show the feature artist, Lil Baby, standing among scenes of rubble and vandalism. The magazine takes a clear stand for which side they support. Another example from the magazine is one of the feature articles being, “The 40 best protest songs.” This article is clearly playing into today's current events with Black Lives Matter movement, with liberals being a clear target audience. Furthermore, we can even see evidence of this through something as simple as the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. While on the surface the magazine may seem like just a bunch of swimsuit models, has in recent issues included a much more diverse cast of models, compared to previous years of predominantly Caucasian females. This goes to show how articles can integrate politics and current issues into their content. The magazine industry also heavily focuses on appeasing the masses. For example, the article, "Chances are you won't bother to read this article," talks about the decrease in attention span of younger readers and that, “The magazine-reading future, in other words, will be bite-sized"(Scherer, 2002). A perfect example of this would be the Southern Living Food Edition. All the articles are very short and sweet with lots of pictures. The purpose is to keep the reader’s attention, and appeal to the masses. Building on the previous idea, magazine companies love to build their brand through loyalty. A great example would be the Conde Nest Traveler. The feature images all appeal to the wealthy, and those who love to travel. Since the magazine consistently features these specific images, it shows how heavily they rely on the loyalty of their target audience to make profit off the magazine. Another great example of this would be Forbes Magazine. The magazine serves no purpose other than monetary issues. The only reason people buy this magazine is to see wealthy people and understand how they got his or her wealth. This is a very clear target audience of wealthy or aspiring businessmen. Personally, I am heavily considering doing a magazine for my AICE portfolio. I feel like I really understand the key elements that the magazine industry uses to convey its purpose and beliefs. I feel as if I could easily incorporate these elements into my magazine as well and I feel like a movie opener is just not a viable option for me. I feel much more capable making a tangible project rather than a movie.  

Rolling Stone Magazine: Lil Baby's Uprising

Southern Living: Food Edition