Analysing 3 front covers: who are the TA?

I have decided to take a look at a few different magazine star images and how they reflect on the specific audience that they are targeting to buy their magazine.


This star image is rather aggressive due to the facial expression, and the gestures, the type of tattoos automatically create a connotation (to me personally) of a rapper, maybe a member of a gang even.
The fact that the hand is so close to a camera and is showing a rude gesture implies that this person is trying to get to your face and almost grab your attention in a negative way.
I believe this star image attracts a young male audience, aged approximately 17/25, as that age is the most popular out of the whole to listen to rap/gangster style of music.
Overall the photo is very conventional of such a genre because of the choice of plain simple clothing which reveals tattoos, which are a connotation for being hardcore/metal, and that is exactly what I believe is trying to be achieved in this specific shot.
What I like about this photo is the angle, that it is a subtle low angle shot, even though it can be barely noticed, and the only thing that gives it away is that the model has to look slightly below to make eye contact with the camera.





This photo of Madonna is lovely, and the fact that she is wearing slightly revealing clothes automatically links it to Mulvey's male gaze theory, just as does the red lipstick with it's connotation for sex,lust and danger, however, I believe it would attract both of the genders. Her pose interestingly looks rather natural because of how she has her hand in her hair, as if she brushed it away softly in between the shots but someone managed to capture it.
Because of this and because I know how long she has been making music this photo targets a wide range of audience, which can be slightly older and modern because she still creates music which engages young audiences too.
The fact that it is a young, careless photo of her also makes her more appealing to the younger audiences.
Overall, I believe the ages can very from as much as from 16/35 or even above, because some of her first singles were released in the 1980's.


This photo is creative, and was taken in an interesting pose, avoiding eye contact, which makes the model appear as if she was in the middle of dancing, which makes the photo peculiar, and not conventional.
The photo is interesting because it is a medium/medium long shot which is not conventional of music magazines, as usually stars have their photos taken from closer.
But because of it's style, choice of clothing and makeup I believe this photo is aimed at a younger female audience.
I believe it would attract them because of how uncommon it looks which attracts the young audience in this day and age.
I believe that overall the age of the audience would be from 15/19, which is more narrow than either of the photos above.









How this research influenced my planning and creativity:

• I know that different poses, facial expressions and gestures will appeal to different ages and genders
• More brave/unusual poses will attract younger audiences which seek to stand out.