Contrasting Magazine Covers

The first reaction when viewing this cover is that it will be focussed at a male audience. This is made clear through the central image taking up the majority of the cover - A young woman in very little clothing standing provocatively. Also the woman in the central image has a direct mode of address which is also a very important hidden visual code. This woman is luring them into buying the magazine. Although the textual information such as the articles shown is not directed at the typical man's-man it illustrates just how much men have changed over the years and are now becoming a lot more focused on their appearance. The types of articles shown would imply the possible psychographics of a male aspirer, aiming to give off the best impression possible to create a 'Wealthy' and 'important' reputation. The central article represented on this cover is "America's most outspoken starlet Megan Fox will not be censored” is typical of a men's magazine. The male readers will hold fantasies of being in relations with women such as Megan Fox.

This magazine cover is clearly contrasted to the first magazine cover aiming to appeal to an alternative audience of women. The straplines shown on the cover are the expected for a women's magazine for example " get a flat tummy in 7 days" and "318 bags , shoes & love-your-body fashion buys" the word "fashion" immediately attracts the typical psychographic groups the aspirers- who will want to keep up with the latest trends to create a good reputation and fun-lovers. In contrast to the male focused cover Cosmopolitan also uses a female as their central image, however she is more sophisticated. The central image is cleverly used to attract the female audience as older women will aspire to be the woman on the front cover. The direct mode of address attracts the target audience as they feel as if the model is communicating with them, almost making the magazine feel personal to themselves.