1) Save your finished Photoshop magazine cover as a JPEG image and upload it to your evaluation blogpost.
2) Write an evaluation of your work: have you succeeded in your brief to create a new, original edition of an existing magazine?
I believe that I succeeded in my brief, the new edition of the magazine I choose, 502 Bad Gateway, that I created is quite an accurate and realistic looking edition.
3) Put your cover alongside a couple of genuine covers of your chosen magazine. How professional is your work alongside genuine examples?
I believe that my edition looks quite professional
4) What is the strongest aspect of your work?
The sizing and colour work of my magazine
5) What is the weakest aspect of your Photoshop magazine cover?
The fonts are not accurate, mainly since I couldn't a font that was similar
6) What would you do differently if you completed this assignment again?
I would try to find a more accurate font
1) What examples does Gauntlett provide of the "decline of tradition"? How can we link our advertising CSPs (Score hair cream and Maybelline 'That Boss Life') to this idea?
Traditional gender identity used to be an important factor to include in advertising 20-30 years ago, mainly due to the significance of gender and what it meant in society in that time period; as society progresses, as society continues to adopt liberal ideas
2) How does Gauntlett suggest the media influences the way we construct our own identities?
Gauntlett states that the media gives us room to create our identities and that media texts like magazines help to promote and encourage the idea of self-identity by providing information on a range of topics etc
3) How do the two CSPs reflect the generational differences that Gauntlett discusses? Is it a good thing that the media seems to promote modern liberal values?
The idea of what being masculine means has changed; it went from complete disregard of emotion and to constantly assert dominance to embracing femininity and the normalization of multiple sexualities for men
4) Why might Manny and Shayla be a good example of the role models that Gauntlett discusses - and also demonstrate how those role models have changed in recent years?
They act as navigation points, people that help to guide others with their own life decisions.
5) Why does the Score hair cream advert provide such a good example of traditional masculinity? How can you link this to Gauntlett's discussion of whether masculinity is in crisis?
The score hair cream plays into typical ideas of toxic masculinity ideas of dominance and over sexualisation of women
6) Gauntlett consistently argues that masculinity is not in crisis. Can the Maybelline 'That Boss Life' advert be used as evidence of this?
The maybelline That Boss Life advert can be seen as evidence to evolution of masculinity, Gauntlett believes that masculinity is not in crisis, instead it's in a process of evolution, the advert shoes that the ideals of what makes a man masculine have changed over time
7) Does advertising still reinforce the "conventionally rugged, super-independent, extra-strong macho man" that Gauntlett discusses? Offer examples for both sides of the argument from the wider advertising industry.
I don't believe it does entirely, I believe it does both by having an advert that stars an actor that meets all the traditional stereotypes that makes a man good looking while also having a meaning/message behind it that supports the idea of being more open and emotional, it does both
8) Gauntlett discusses the idea of 'girl power' and offers examples from music and film. Does advertising provide evidence to support the idea of 'girl power' or is the industry still reinforcing traditional representations of men and women?
Adverts reflect the views of the public, that's how they're seen as relatable, whether or not the public sees if the advert represents them is he determining factor for the adverts success; due to this, not supporting "girl power" would be commercial suicide for most businesses, this shows a changing mentality to gender ideals.
9) Do you agree with Gauntlett's argument under 'Popular feminism, women and men' where he suggests that younger generations are not threatened by traditional gender roles and are comfortable with social changes? Does advertising (and our CSPs in particular) provide examples either reinforcing or challenging this idea that younger generations are more comfortable with changing gender roles?
I agree with the idea that younger generations are more open to liberal ideas such as popular feminism due to the fact we were raised with these ideas being common, it's not something that we've had to adapt to, instead they're ideas that we grew up with.
10) How do the two advertising CSPs show the changing 'diversity of sexualities' that Gauntlett suggests?
heterosexuality was the only legal route for men and women in 1967, years later, a gay man is front lining the advertising campaign for a large company. That in itself shows that diversity and different sexualualities have become normal, showing the changing mentalities of society
11) What examples from advertising does Gauntlett provide for the changing nature of gender in society (from the section on Judith Butler's Gender trouble)?
His main example was from fragrance companies and their choice of using androgynous models for their advertisements trying to show that the product is for both men and women
12) How can the Maybelline 'That Boss Life' advert be applied to Judith Butler's work on 'gender trouble'? ("The binary division of 'male' and 'female' identities should be shattered, Butler suggested, and replaced with multiple forms of identity...")
Their use of a male lead for their makeup advertisement shows that Maybelline trying to change and subvert the binary outlook on gender and sexuality, it's slowly destroying social norms, showing the audience that anyone can wear their makeup
13) How can our two advertising CSPs be used to argue that power has shifted from media institutions to audiences? (Clue: how did Manny and Shayler from the Maybelline advert first become famous?)
Manny and Mua are both online personalities with millions of followers and possibly hundreds of thousands accounts of engagement between them both, this along with the fact that they're probably both cheaper to hire than traditional celebrities shows that theyre the future. Mainstream celebrities and media corporations are shifting to social media due to this growing influence it has over the media landscape
14) Why is advertising such a good example of the 'contradictory elements' that Gauntlett discusses with regards to the mass media? In other words, how does advertising continue to both reinforce and challenge gender stereotypes?
Advertisements are constantly changing their marketing methods in order to try and relate to their audience, this can sometimes backfire and contradict itself e.g. an advert could try and subvert stereotypes by showing the women as a the dominant figure, but does so using her sexuality- something that enforces the stereotype that women are sex objects
15) Finally, Gauntlett makes a clear case that things change and modern identities are increasingly fluid. How do our advertising CSPs demonstrate the changing attitudes towards gender and sexuality in society?
The most apparent example of change are the views on sexuality and gender dominance in society, Score hair cream and maybelliene are two products within the same industry but from two different periods in time. The views on liberal issues are clearly contrasting and thats due to the constant liberal progression within society
Research
Create a blogpost called 'Magazine practical task research' and complete the following tasks:
1) Use your lesson notes on magazine genres and conventions to view a range of potential magazine covers. Create a shortlist of three potential magazines and embed an example front cover from each one.
502 BAD GATEWAY
Thrasher
i-D
2) Select your chosen magazine to create a new edition for and explain the thinking behind your choice.
I like the urban aesthetic of the 502 BAD GATEWAY issue #1, due to this I want to make a new edition for it.
3) Find three different front covers for your chosen magazine and embed them in your blogpost. Analyse the fonts, colours and typical design. What is the language or writing style? How are the cover lines presented? You need to become an expert in the design and construction of this magazine and its branding.
This is the only issue that 502 BAD GATEWAY have, due to this I will only analyse this cover.
- Three colours were used for the cover, red, black and white; all of which are very contrasting colours.
- Very urban colours, and urban fonts are used, some could say retro due to the 90's like look it has
- There are not many cover lines for this magazine cover, below the main image although there is some extra information that hints towards the idea that this is a fashion magazine (chest, length measurements etc)
1) What does John Berger suggest about advertising in ‘Ways of Seeing’?
John Berger stated that "All publicity works on anxiety", what this means is that audiences are constantly trying to improve themselves, and when a product comes around and promises that their product can improve them, our urges make us want to purchase that product.
2) What is it psychologists refer to as referencing? Which persuasive techniques could you link this idea to?
Psychologists states that we refer, either knowingly or subconscious that we refer ourselves to an idea that a product or service will improve your life
3) How was Marmite discovered?
It was discovered by Justus von Liebig, a German scientist that found that concentrated brewed yeast can be made into an edible product.
4) Who owns the Marmite brand now?
It is now owned by unilever
5) How has Marmite marketing used intertextuality? Which of the persuasive techniques we’ve learned can this be linked to?
Two noticeable examples of intertextuality are marmites Paddington bear advertising campaign; a £3 Million project that appealed to older audiences. And their Zippy advertising campaign that featured zippy, a loveable cartoon character showed viewers that Marmite is also a family-friendly product.
6) What is the difference between popular culture and high culture? How does Marmite play on this?
Pop culture is the culture adopted by major society, while high culture are beliefs, mannerisms, hobbies etc that "elite" society has adopted
7) Why does Marmite position the audience as ‘enlightened, superior, knowing insiders’?
It has two effects, one being that the audience will have a boost of ego, making them more inclined to purchase from Marmite, second, it helps the audience ignore the fact that they're being advertised to.
8) What examples does the writer provide of why Marmite advertising is a good example of postmodernism?
Hyperreality is when reality and fiction are fused to form a new reality. The Marmite advertisement uses hyperreality by showing that marmite is used (when in actuality it's barely used as much). Then through the narrative that bases itself on social neglect, it has the audience questioning their social values.
1) How does Mistry suggest advertising has changed since the mid-1990s?
Mistry suggested that since the mid-1990's advertisers have employed an increasing amount of gender ambiguous models, with this, there has been a growing amount of homosexual images.
2) What kinds of female stereotypes were found in advertising in the 1940s and 1950s?
women were suffering their own identity crisis. Prior to the war, feminists had been articulating the
idea of women having their own plans and careers; but soon after 1945, women were made to feel
guilty by warnings of the 'dangerous consequences to the home' that had begun to circulate
3) How did the increasing influence of clothes and make-up change representations of women in advertising?
It led to women being increasingly portrayed as objects, an example of this would be perfume advertisements where the model would be shown as a fair maiden and any rude contact could harm her innocence
4) Which theorist came up with the idea of the 'male gaze' and what does it refer to?
Laura Maulvey came up with the theory; what it refers to is the idea of women being used purely to gain the attention and observation from men, making them nothing but objects.
5) How did the representation of women change in the 1970s?
from passivity to independence, the 1970's saw the rise of a new representation of power for women, showing them in a new light, thinking for themselves and getting jobs.
6) Why does van Zoonen suggest the 'new' representations of women in the 1970s and 1980s were only marginally different from the sexist representations of earlier years?
Zoonen state that the new representations of women are only marginally different from previous years after dissecting an advertisement with the following tag line " A woman should look forward to dressing for the office"; showing that physical appearance is still the main importance for women.
7) What does Barthel suggest regarding advertising and male power?
Barthel suggests that while there is an innocent and pure representation of women, there is also a dark lady representation of knowledge and sexuality for their own pleasure.
8) What does Richard Dyer suggest about the 'femme fatale' representation of women in adverts such as Christian Dior make-up?
Dyer suggests that femme fatale representation often mistake sexuality with liberation. And with that female viewers often conform to that over sexualisation mistaking it for liberation.
1) What was the Protein World 'Beach Bodies' campaign?
It was a campaign for a weight loss product that featured a slim model with that tag line "are you beach body ready?"
2) Why was it controversial?
People thought that the model and her figure was not a realistic representation of what real women look like; it also implied that with Protein Worlds products would transform users to the same extent shown in the advert
3) What did the adverts suggest to audiences?
The advert suggested that in order to go to the beach and to be comfortable with your body, it has to look like that, otherwise you're below average.
4) How did some audiences react?
Most audiences decided to stand up against the advert by both creating a campaign to battle the advert and to also pose in their own swimwear to show protein world what a real woman's body looks like
5) What was the Dove Real Beauty campaign?
The dove real beauty campaign was a viral campaign that revolved around real women showing what real female bodies look like by showcasing different women of different ages and backgrounds.
6) How has social media changed the way audiences can interact with advertising campaigns?
Due to the social aspect of social media, audiences have more power due to the ability to share and react to adverts rapidly. Gives audiences the ability to protest or promote content quickly.
7) How can we apply van Zoonen's feminist theory and Stuart Hall's reception theory to these case studies?
I think that a combination of zoonen's negotiated gender and stuart halls reception theory can be used together to understand and explain the difference of opinion and how audiences react to media texts.
8) Through studying the social and historical context of women in advertising, do you think representations of women in advertising have changed in the last 60 years?
I believe that there has been a combination of both changed and retained stereotypes. While independence and power for women have become mainstream in advertisements, sexualisation of women is still a selling point for many adverts made today.
1) How does the advert use narrative? Apply at least three narrative theories to the text, making specific reference to specific shots or key scenes in the advert.
Todorov theory of equilibrium:
Disequilibrium - daily London specific issues that they have to deal with
Equilibrium - through Nikes products, the individuals manage to over come their issues
Barthes Enigma and Action codes:
The action code is when the girl is being recorded which leads to her getting viral and furthering the plot.
2) Read this BBC feature on some of the people in the advert. How does the advert use celebrities and less well-known people to create stories in the advert?
The celebrities are used to help give the advert more traction and attracting audiences who like those celeb's, the lesser known actors are used to not only make the advert seem more relatable; but to also help remove stereotypes of London.
3) Read this AdWeek feature and interview on the Nike London advert. How did the advert use technical codes (camerawork, mise-en-scene, editing etc.) to help create narratives that could connect with the audience?
mentioned in the interview, the ad "is from London for London", this is made quite apparent with the costume, location, props and subject matter within the advertisement. Through the technical codes within the advert, Nike successfully managed to make the video seem like it was aimed at Londoners
4) What representation of London does the advert offer?
The advert represents the London population as both culturally diverse, but also depicts Londoners as hard working individuals that get what they want.
5) Why might this advert appeal to an audience?
This advert would especially appeal to London audiences as it shows the London population in a good light. The advert also does a good job of being relatable to a specific target audience.
