"Frankie" Magazine
Publisher: independently produced
Genre: Lifestyle
Frankie is a national bi-monthly based in Australia. It describes itself as being aimed at women (and men) who are looking for a magazine that’s "smart, funny, sarcastic, friendly, cute, rude, arty, curious". Their themes include cover design, art, photography, fashion, travel, music, craft, interiors and real-life stories.
Text 1: Front cover
The front cover of this magazine is very different to your conventional lifestyle magazine. Whereas lifestyle magazine covers usually involve a female celebrity or well known public figure, this cover depicts an oil painting of a woman or girl wearing a flower crown. The painting is very minimalistic and definitely fits with with the publication's neutral toned and alternative theme. The masthead on the page is large and attention grabbing, typical of mastheads on most print publications. However, with 'frankie' only being sold online, the function of an eye catching title to draw in audiences is almost redundant, although does anchor the magazine cover. The purposely lowercase lettering of the title add a sense of aesthetic to the cover and, again, is very fitting with the minimalistic and alternative theme of the magazine.
Using Young and Rubicam' 4Cs model, the alternative elements of the magazine cover suggest that it would be best suited for a reformer audience. I say this because the reformer is described as being an independent thinker with freedom from restriction. Frankie fit with this audience as they don't seem to be restricted by what a stereotypical women's magazine is. The magazine could also target the Explorer as although Frankie is a women's lifestyle magazine, it does not stereotype women or expect them to fit with the stick thin stereotype. In terms of Barthes code, the simplistic theme of the cover could be seen as an enigma code as it encourages potential audiences to purchases or look inside the magazine to get more information. The lack of cover lines on the cover, to me, act as a symbolic code and refer to the overall non consumerist ideology of the publication. Tag lines usually serve the purpose of engaging the readers and drawing them in to the stories inside, however the lack of these may insinuate the Frankie places more importance on design imagery.
Moreover, David Hesmondhalgh's theory may say that the lack of tag lines and the fact that Frankie targets a niche audience suggests that it is in fact minimising audience and maximising risk.
Lisbet Van Zoonen argues that women's bodies are overly sexualised and objectified in the media. In terms of her theory, the painted image on the front cover being of non-conventional woman - no long hair, no tanned skin, not what we are used to seeing on the front cover of a woman's magazine - would be an indication of a positive ideology in regards to women.
Text 2: Double page spread
This double page spread is an interview with artist, Nabil Sabio. It talks about his new art project inspired by traveling. The article is very image focused and is laid out in a collage style. This fits with the creative and artistic feel that the front cover suggests the magazine holds. I really like how the images tie the two pages together and the text is just on one page. The imagery on the double page spread is very coherent and warm toned. The copy is very minimal and the magazine allows the imagery to do the talking. The page fits with the simplistic theme shown on the magazines front cover. An example of how it does this is in the absence of the striking headline, similar to on the cover. Instead the article is titled very small "for you, the traveller". Again, using Young and Rubicam' 4Cs model, the alternative elements of the magazine cover suggest that it would be best suited for a reformer or explorer audience.
Text 3: Website homepage
When looking at the website is is similar to what you would expect after seeing a physical copy. It is very simplistic yet enough to convey the key ideas of the magazine. Thinking of David Gauntlett and his idea that a modern audience will 'Pick & Mix' elements of a that are relevant to them, it is clear to see that 'frankie' magazine is a perfect tool to allow them to do that with the wide variety of topics and sections displayed on the menu bar. Moreover, the page is very image focused similar to the physical magazine.
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