Target audience, Ideology and Representation

Every magazine has a specific target audience. The design, colour scheme and imagery helps inform the target audience that it’s aimed at them and it also helps to draw them into buying the magazine. The fonts, graphics and colours all reflect the ideology of the genre of a magazine.


Ideology is a set of beliefs a single person or a group hold, different genres of music all have different ideologies and this can have an affect on how people represent themselves.


I am making a pop magazine which are very social and positive throughout, they don’t and would never include any references to sex, drugs, politics, violence and they do not use offensive language. The design of a magazine is highly affected by the ideology of the certain music, pop magazines use direct mode of address and always use bright girly colours. The music they tend to feature is not too abrasive and the layout of the magazines are usually glamorous and girly. The purpose of pop magazines is to entertain the target audience and sell and make money.


In contrast to pop magazines, rock and hip-hop magazines are more anti-social and have a completely different ideology to pop magazines, in fact their features are opposite to those of a pop magazine. Again, the ideology of the music affects the design, rock/hip-hop magazines use aggressive and dark fonts/colours and the main cover image tends to be of grimacing bands/solo artists occasionally making rude gestures. Rock and hip-hop magazines always refer to sex, drugs, violence, politics and they normally use offensive language. They layout and look of the magazine is not prioritised as they are not made to just sell, they prefer to get the true feelings of the artist out to the audience.