Textual analysis- Heat

The next magazine I chose to analysis was “Heat” magazine.

Heat is an entertainment magazine and as of 2004 it is one of the best selling magazines in the UK. Heat was launched in 1999 as a general interest entertainment magazine. It was not an immediate success, with a circulation below 100,000; however it now has a regular circulation of over half a million. It has a mix of celebrity news, gossip and fashion; it also features movie and music reviews, TV listings and celebrity interviews. Heat is primarily aimed at females, it doesn’t have a specific age range as most females like to read about gossip, fashion etc. However the women most likely to read it are probably aged 16-25, C2-E.

The front cover is very busy, this shows that there is a lot going on in the magazine. It draws peoples attention to the magazine because it is very busy and bright. The mast head is the largest text on the front cover and is in the colour red. This makes it stand out, moreover red is a warm colour and can clearly be associated with the title heat. Another thing that I notice about the mast head is that the H is written in lower case, this is incorrect grammer. Prehaps this suggests a more relaxed attitude towards the formalities of grammer, which the magazine publishers may consider to be unimportant to their readers. Whereas magazines such as Vouge pay more attention to the grammer and punctionation on their covers.

The main fature of the front cover is Big Brother, the photograph tells the readers what is going to be in the magainze. This addition of the magazine is about Alex, Big Brother’s “Wrost bully ever”. There is a headline to accompany the picture, the headline covers half the picutre therefore stands out and instantly grabs the readers attention. It is also written in capital letters as are all the other headlines on the front cover, this again avoids using grammer. The headlines that go with the picutre include words such as “new” and “exclusive” this gives the reader the feeling that they are privy to a secret, that they may or may not wish to pass on. At the top of the picture is the Big Brother symbol, this will be regocnised by Big Brother fans, and will draw them in to buy the magazine increasing circulation.

There are also some plugs at the top of the page, this gives the readers a taste of what else is to come in the magazine. It also says there is a free magazine inside, this will immediately get the readers attention as everyone likes something for nothing. The plugs also have pictures with them to acompany their headlines. Although these pictures may draw the readers attention they do not detract the attention from the main photograph as they are smaller. The plugs at the top will help attract audiences that may not watch or be interested in big brother, as they are showing that there is something else of interest inside the magazine.