Reveal CSP

  

General

1) Based on your research, what type of people read Reveal? Consider demographics and psychographics.

Reveal's target audience is lower, working-class people; Mainstreamers and Strugglers. In general, I think it is marketed more towards women, with a majority of the people on the front cover images being women. In addition to this, the target age of the audience is people in their late twenties to early thirties because Reveal tends to talk about things like motherhood and marriage, which is what most women this age are doing at this point in their lives. These magazines also use basic language, making it accessible to everyone, and for the struggler, the magazine offers them a quick escape from their lives to show them the lives of celebrities.

2) Look at the lesson slides: how does the editor introduce Reveal magazine?

The editor introduces Reveal as "the reader's best friend: fun, gossipy and full of advice on everything". This makes the magazine seem as if it is another person that is talking to the audience to give them gossip. This also makes the magazine seem very accessible and open because virtually everyone has friends, and by comparing this magazine to a friend makes it seem very approachable for the reader.


3) What is the difference between the Reveal and Tatler target audiences?


The main difference in the audiences of Reveal and Tatler is that Tatlers audience, generally, is more educated and wealthier, I know this because Tatler's magazines have much more sophisticated language in them and talk about more expensive themes, for example, Fashion and Parties, which highly contrasts the gossip-based magazine Reveal. In addition to this, the psychographic group that Tatler is aimed at is the Aspirers; Succeeders and the Resigned, whereas Reveal is aimed at the Mainstreamers and Strugglers. These psychographics' could be argued to be polar opposites to one another. Reveal's audience is mainly lower-class and Tatler's audience is higher-class; Reveal's audience prefers gossip whereas Tatler's audience prefers fashion; Reveal's audience is arguably less educated, unlike Tatler's audience which has a higher education.

4) What issues are Reveal readers interested in?

Reveal's readers are most likely interested in gossip since their target audience is relatively young and most people this age enjoy watching things like reality tv and the gossip that comes along with it. Also, most women this age are expecting or already mothers, so they also enjoy reading amount maternal things.


Media Language

1) How many of the 12 magazine cover key conventions feature on this edition of Reveal? 

Reveal uses about 7 of the 12 magazine cover key conventions. At the top of this edition of Reveal, the title of the publication can be found in the top third of the magazine. Reveal uses a sans-serif font in all of its magazines and since Reveal has such a strong brand identity, the title of the publication is covered by the faces of two celebrities featured in the magazine. Reveal does not use a slogan in their magazine covers nor do they have a single central image, but instead 7 smaller images scattered around the cover of the magazine. A majority of these photos are usually paparazzi shots and aren't posed for. This is to make their gossip seem more realistic, as they have photos to back up their point (even though these images are edited in a certain way to give audiences an inaccurate idea about the image). Reveal magazine has multiple flash lines in their magazine covers and they are normally placed alongside each image in the magazine. Although this edition of Reveal doesn't have any free offers, other editions tend to have free offers, since the psychographics of their audience is usually the Struggler, so anything free is automatically going to attract their attention. Reveal magazines do have a colour scheme, it's usually fuchsia, red and yellow often with light blue highlights lining the magazine cover. Reveal uses many name checks to attract an audience, in this edition, they mention multiple people by their first names in the magazine, further establishing reveal's representation as a friend, since friends use the first name when talking to one another too. Reveal magazine tends to use simplified English and abbreviations in their covers (carbs is an abbreviation of carbohydrates). They also only use one font on their cover, just in different sizes. Reveal magazine doesn't have any competitions or questions on their magazines, however, they do have the Date, Price and Bar-Code for the magazine on the cover.

2) What is the font choice used on the cover and what does this choice connote? 

The font on this cover is Sans-Serif which connotes modern and simplistic ideas. In addition to this, it makes it more accessible to the audience since it is easier to read.

3) How do the cover lines appeal to the Reveal target audience?

The cover lines appeal to the target audience of Reveal because they are quick and simple to read, so no matter their level of education, the audience will be capable of understanding the cover lines. Additionally, since the average audience of Reveal is 28-year-old women, by talking about maternity and gossip, they talk about things that most of that demographic enjoy.

4) What are the connotations of the Reveal colour scheme on this particular front cover?

Reveal uses fuschia, red and yellow in this magazine. Fuschia is a colour that is associated with femininity, confidence and maturity, indicating that the magazine is mature and confident in its information. Red connotes passion, enthusiasm and fun, suggesting that this magazine is passionate about its news and is fun at the same time. Yellow is a colour associated with joy and intellect, implying that the magazine is intelligent but joyous in its intellect.

5) How are images used to create interest in the magazine? Find three reasons for your answer. (E.g. mise-en-scene such as props, costume and make-up, body position, facial expression).

The image to the centre of the cover is edited in a way that makes it seem as if the two people are talking. This makes it seem like they are actually talking to one another rather than doing what they were originally doing, which also supports the flash line that accompanies it. At the bottom of the page, the two women are pictured with fast food, which is something that relates the psychographics of Reveal's since the Strugglers and Mainstreamers would eat junk food too, making the magazine relatable. In the bottom right corner of the cover, Beyoncé is pictured with her baby bump, which makes the magazine relateable to the audience, since a majority of them would be the at the age where they have children.

6) What differences can you find between the use of design and typography between Tatler and Reveal? List at least three and explain the effect on audiences.

 Tatler uses a Serif font to make it seem old and established to the audience, making it seem very civilised and opulent, highly contrasting Reveal, who uses a Sans-Serif font to make it seem modern and relatable to the audience. Tatler magazine uses a single image for its cover, which makes the magazine look neater which makes the magazine seem more elegant to its audience, contrasting Reveal, which uses multiple images in its front cover, which arguably causes the magazine seem messy and unorganised, like the lives of many of its readers. Finally, the colour scheme of Tatler (Black, White, Pink) creates a sense of sophistication (Explained in my other blog post) which attracts a more educated audience, unlike Reveal's colour scheme (Fuschia, Red, Yellow) which creates a sense of simplicity and contentment, which attracts an audience of possibly lower education.


Representation

1) What different groups of people are represented on the cover? (Look at the image and text/cover lines)

Many groups of people are represented on the poster: Women; Men; Mothers; People in Relationships; White People; Brazilians? 

2) What type of celebrities are represented on the front cover?

A majority of the stars on the cover (all but Beyoncé) are reality television stars or presenters.

3) Are there any stereotypes being reinforced or subverted? How? Why?

There aren't very many stereotypes being mentioned on this particular cover, however, it could be argued that the stereotype of women always dieting is being subverted because the cover mentions women cheating their diets, possibly to make the audience feel as if it acceptable to enjoy a snack every once in a while rather than dieting all the time.


4) What view of celebrities does Reveal want the reader to have?

Reveal wants its audience to view celebrities as secretive so that they can make their magazine seem as if it revealing (pun intended) the celebrities' secrets. This makes it more likely for the audience to buy a magazine since they feel as if they are exclusively getting this information.

5) What would be the preferred and oppositional readings to this cover of Reveal?

The preferred reading of this magazine would be that it is giving us exclusive gossip and it like our friend. This is because the magazine uses slang terminology to make it sound as if it is somebody who is talking to us, rather than just giving us information. In addition to this, they use a sans-serif font which makes the magazine seem more modern.

The oppositional reading of this magazine would be that it demeaning to the audience and exaggerated. This is because the magazine uses simplistic language, which may make the audience feel as if they are being treated like they aren't intelligent enough for sophisticated language, deterring them from the magazine. In addition to this, the magazine uses editing to create false circumstances, making the audience feel as if they're being lied to.


Social and Cultural Context

1) What aspects of British life are reflected in Reveal? How does this compare to Tatler?

In Reveal daily lives of the lower class of the British population and motherhood, relationships. This is a high contrast to Tatler, which tends to focus on the higher class' lives and beauty, which is something that Reveal's audience rarely experiences.


2) What do the cover lines in Reveal suggest about the issues and lifestyle of Reveal readers?

They suggest that their audience spend a lot of time on relationships and gossip since these seem to be the primary topic of the cover lines. It also suggests that a few of them are mothers since they mention motherhood in the magazine too.


3) Find three other front covers for Reveal. What issues or features regularly appear in Reveal? 

In Reveal magazines, common themes are relationship issues, dieting, maternity and general gossip. 

4) Do any celebrities appear on more than one front cover of Reveal? Why do you think they are particularly popular with Reveal readers?

Pete (unknown surname), and the women he's affiliated with. Reveal's audience tends to watch reality television, and he is a very famous reality television star, so Reveal's audience is always going to be interested in any news about him or other reality tv celebrities.

Written By Aishwarya Odedra