"Courier Magazine"
Publisher: Self published via Courier Media
Genre: Business
Courier magazine is based in London and was founded in 2013. It reports on "progressive business culture" across a range of industries from including tech, fashion, media, design, finance and craft. Originally, the magazine was a free newsletter distributed throughout London however now it is a glossy magazine produced alongside a free letter. Since its launch, the magazine has grown rapidly and is now stocked in over 350 stockists worldwide.
Text 1: Front Cover
From initial glance, the front cover of Courier magazine is the most similar to a mainstream magazine than any of the other independant publications that I have researched. The masthead is large and attention grabbing and there is plenty of other copy on the page. Unlike many other independently produced magazines, Courier magazine is stocked in many physical stores globally. This means that, like other magazines on the shelves, they must be attention grabbing to catch the eye of potential buyers. In essence, they are in competition with every other publication on the shelf. Therefore, the magazine has bold, colourful strap lines such as "The Design Issue" and "WORK!". David Hesmondhalgh's theory may suggest that the tag lines suggests that it is in maximising audience and minimising risk. Moreover, Roland Barthes may say that the tag lines act as an enigma code and they encourage the reader to open and buy the magazine to read the article that they represent.
The main image on the cover is also similar to that of a mainstream magazine; a portrait of multiple men who's bodies take up the majority of the image. bell hooks may argue that the male dominance in the front cover contributes towards patriarchy, female oppression and female underrepresentation.
In terms of Young and Rubicam' 4Cs model, the cluttered and typical looking nature of the front cover could suggest that the magazine could target a mainstream audience, however the business aspect of the magazine and the fact that it is not as broad of a subject area as say simply "lifestyle" or "fashion" suggests to me that the target audience of the publication is reformer audience.
Text 2: Double page spread
This double page spread is very loud, bubbly but also not too much. There is a theme of bright colours, fun, handwritten style fonts, and imagery. All of this set on a plain white background so that it's not too in the readers face. The fun, artsy design in a way contrasts from the core theme of the publication; business. And I think that has been done purposefully, and cleverly. This makes me believe that the magazine is trying to bring the fun, creative and innovative side out of the business world. This specific spread is entitled, "World Wide Book Tour" and appears to document what they believe to be the "worlds best bookshops". The pages talk about a handful of the worlds bookshops, with each piece of copy accompanied by an image of the shop in question.
Although fun and playful, the theme of the article being books may be considered as not typical of a magazine feature. Therefore using Young and Rubicam' 4Cs model we could say that this reinforces the view that this magazine is suited and targeted toward a reformer audience.
Text 3: Website home page
When looking at the website is is a very simplistic version of what is presented in the physical copy.
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