Magazine Cover Review

     To begin, the article by Scherer states that, "No one can deny the visual sea change that has overtaken the magazine industry in the last three decades. Most magazines now resemble movie posters more closely than they do the dry pages of a book." Through analyzing, I can determine that there has been a shift in the amount of people who read magazines. This is because movies offer a better opportunity to attract viewers. Magazine creators can only somewhat include the things involved in a movie. For example, imagery, sound, music, mise en scene, camera edits, transitions, etc. 

    Also said in Scherer's article, "Despite such changes, the percentage of young readers for trademark titles has continued to erode. Media-Mark Research, which tracks magazine readership, has noted a steady decline over the last twenty-six years in the percentage--and number--of readers between the ages of eighteen and thirty-four for whole categories of magazines..." This is a direct continuation of the last quote. It shows that despite best efforts by magazine companies, the amount of younger readers is decreasing. This is because the attention span of the younger generations are getting shorter and shorter. The only way to fix this problem is by including transitions, like that in movies, that are quick and don't lose the focus. This is impossible to include in a magazine. 

    On the other hand, magazine covers illustrate differences between them and movies. Beginning with Cosmopolitan, you can tell by the masthead what the magazine is going to be about. Cosmo- meaning beauty and politan- meaning political. The front cover highlights this by having a nude young woman on the cover surrounded by the words sexy, beautiful, gorgeous, and more feminine products like sex toys, high heels, and manicure.  Also, some of the headlines bring up the political issues like wearing mask and racism. The target audience is obviously for women to express their beauty and voice. 

    Another magazine for women is the Better Homes and Gardens magazine's. These articles are for the crafty young and old women wanting to learn to improve their cooking, cleaning, and hosting. A selling point of the magazine is that it has a holiday theme. Cover titles include: ideas, tricks, and knowledge. Appealing topics make the magazine more unique. Appeal to food is shown through out as well. 

    Moving on, another magazine called GQ, has a famous person capitalized on the cover. The topics are vulgar with a background of a riot at a restaurant and what was left behind. The text is slick and mostly the same color. This is appealing towards the younger readers even though evidence shows younger people are reading magazines anymore. Sports Illustrated is targeted towards men, their way of doing it is more cynical. The cover is hot women with lively color and attractive clothes. The advertisements are for more wealthier men. These articles are for men who are looking for more then what is in the title. 

    To summarize, the movie can produce editing that magazines simply can't include. Although this is the case, magazines work really well with targeting a specific audience by including pristine photographs that draw in readers. New techniques have also been introduced to bring out style of font, and textual correspondence like the wrap around the text technique.