Magazines are a very widespread and popular media - read by hundreds of thousands of people across the world. Why are they so well liked universally? This could be for a number of reasons; firstly magazines cover a broad spectrum of topics- there is something for everyone. (This spectrum can be split up into two different categories; 'Special Interest' e.g. film or music publications, or 'General Interest' magazines, e.g. FHM.) People may read them therefore, in order to obtain relatively up to date knowledge on a subject of their choice. The second reason why could be the way they are displayed/marketed specifically for a pre-determined target audience. The first main focus point of magazine is always the front cover. So it is not really too surprising that they are designed to attract and create expectations in the consumer.

I have decided to examine a collection of different covers, which are targeted at people of differing age and/or gender, in order to see how each creates the expectation in the buyer that makes them purchase it. The first on my list is 'Empire' a magazine. Published by Emap Elan Limited, one of the biggest publishing companies i

When you first see this cover the thing that catches your eye is probably Nicola Charles, next would be the bold, yellow title. Then you see the name of the woman; Nicola Charles - which is written in yellow and bold like the title, the caption above it says 'Underclad Naughty Neighbour' (she used to act in the soap Neighbours). After that your eyes come across the sub-heading 'SEX ISSUE', this is written in a bold, red capital font and next you look at the column underneath (all about various sex issues). Lastly you gaze over the right hand side columns.

The cover on the whole does not use much in the way of fancy fonts or other attractants, however it uses the star or "big name" to sell copies. This can be clearly seen in this case as David Bowie, wife and child take up 3/4 of the front cover. This is a convention now in star-gossip magazines because it is the showbiz personality that the audience wants to read about, so it does not matter so much what the cover looks like as who is on the cover (-more expectations). This could a key to Hello!'s success - it seems that they always get exclusives with "the stars" and have lots of coverage in the daytime television media. This media coverage crates popularity and therefore raises certain expectations of the magazine.

Alliteration is used in the top of the left column, 'Bigger! Better! Bouncier!' The expectation this is here to create is something sexual, as the three words could be used to describe breasts. This also gives an insight to the views of either the writers or the target audience of the mag, as the statement can be described as 'laddish'.

The lines of construction in Hello! make you look immediately to the centre of the page, which focuses on David Bowie, his wife and his new baby. You are then drawn to the title, which is comparatively small in the top left corner. Next your gaze is positioned towards the top right caption which explains the picture; 'WORLD EXCLUSIVE - DAVID BOWIE AND WIFE IMAN PRESENT THEIR FIRST CHILD ALEXANDRIA ZAHRA'. Then you notice the articles at the bottom and their corresponding pictures (which are neatly positioned opposite and symmetrical).

The last few bullet-points are less expected though; 'Three Way Lav Love' and 'Eleven Way Bath Bonk'. In both cases alliteration is used. These phonological features make the text 'catchy' and make it attractive to the reader. The more attractive it seems the more likely he is going to buy it. Also in the cases above the situations are (most probably) new and interesting which again make the target want to buy the mag and read it.

Some common words found in the essay are:
David Bowie, Nicola Charles, Special Report, ALEXANDRIA ZAHRA', Jennifer Lopez, LOPEZ Heavenly, Naughty Neighbour', FHM People, Bath Bonk', Covers Magazines, nicola charles, bold red, bowie wife, text cover, david bowie, male audience, raises expectations, top left, david bowie wife, bold capitals, published emap elan, colour scheme, sub-heading 'jennifer lopez, 'jennifer lopez heavenly, lopez heavenly creature',
Approximate Word count = 1964
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)