Convention 4

Publication: FHM

Issue: February 2005

The standard model “guy” is a pretty straightforward being. When we tell our lady to shut her trap so we can watch some footie, it means just that. There are no hidden messages whatsoever. And it certainly does not mean, “Honey, now is the best time to talk about where this relationship is going.” But as we’ve stressed oh-so-many times in the pages of this very magazine, women on the other hand, are not so much into this business of being straightforward. The word “fine” for example, could mean a million and one things, and it is way better to have all your limbs chopped off by a mega-powered chainsaw than have a woman say the dreaded word to you.

So this month if your girl mutters, “We don’t really need to celebrate Valentine’s Day if you don’t want to,” don’t take it as your cue to jump for joy and spend all the cash on Star Wars Lego. Why? Because there is simply no chance in hell that she actually means it, plus it will take you forever to build one stupid Millennium Falcon.

If anything, it’s simply a test to see if you’re really the sensitive and caring dreamboat that you’ve been pretending to be, or if you’re just, well, a guy. So what do you do? If you really dig the chick – and third base is a great possibility – we recommend you sell all your worldly possessions and spend it all on that one special day. And to help your cause, we’ve got some pretty good V-Day gift ideas on pages 98 and 99. After all, third base is a pretty damn good thing.

Read the above Editor’s Letter and highlight all of the examples of the editor being chatty and informal, as well as examples of the editor using a direct mode of address (using “you” or “your”)

Convention 3

Find examples of direct mode of address in the above magazine. Why is this used? What effect does it have on the target audience?

An example of direct mode is ‘You lost him at hello’ this is implying that it is to you personally this makes you want to read it. This is saying that YOU lost him at hello and YOU need tips how to be more smooth.

Convention 2

Why does the magazine use a model or celebrity on the cover? Why are they looking directly at the camera?

Explain the effect on the target audience.

A celebrity is used on the front cover because it draws attention and will make people view it. The people on the cover are looking at the camera so it looks like they are looking at you the reader so you will buy the magazine. The celebrity makes the magazine look more successful also.

Lifestyle magazines introduction

Identify the different types of content in the magazine i.e. health.
In the magazines the different types of content are On the cover, in this part is stories that are important of interesting to read. Features, This is fashion and things that are personal to you, and agenda, this is things that are going top happen in the future. All of these topics are based too females and are overall things that females would enjoy reading.

discuss the layout of the page. From the analysis what gender and type of person is this magazine for?
This magazine is for females, this is shown by the colours for example they are very light and contain pink and those sort of colours. The magazine features gossip and fashion. On the front page their is no males nor anything that males would enjoy reading  or looking at.

How would someone hope to benefit from buying this magazine?
Somebody would benefit from this magazine because they would enjoy catching up with the latest gossip or wearing the newest most in fashion. It would also be enjoyable for somebody to read this magazine such as the stories and Agenda section.