A variety of smaller images is eye catching and highlights different storylines/characters from different soaps in order to attract a wider audience. These images consist of mostly female characters, identifying the target audience as being female. This also highlights the dominance that female characters convey in soaps, which is important because it is usually the male role that is dominant in TV drama.
MASTHEAD- Red has connotations of love, anger, lust, danger-all the conventions of soap storylines. This highlights the fact that it is a soap magazine. This colour also catches the audience’s attention and makes the magazine stand out.
PLUG -The alternating colours are eye catching for the reader and make the cover stand out. Repetition of the word “every” is a very persuasive use of the power 3 technique showing that nothing in the magazine has been left out- everything you want to read is included which attracts the reader because their wants and needs have been addressed throughout the magazine. The white also has connotations of purity and honesty, showing the reader that the magazine gives information on true storylines and yellow has connotations of happiness which is controversial because soap storylines are usually based around conflict.
SELL LINES are all quite sensationalist, featuring tabloid language to immediately grab the target audience’s attention. They also feature specific character names to make the soaps easily identifiable and attract all fans of different soaps. Every copy also ends with some form of punctuation, namely an exclamation mark to make it seem almost as though the magazine is shouting at you to read it. This adds mystery to the storylines being highlighted and makes the audience want to know more and therefore buy the magazine.
Buzz word- “Plus!” works as a buzz word to create excitement and catch the readers attention, it makes them interested in the sell lines and want to know more.
STRIP- The white/red and Blue/yellow colours tie in with the overall colour scheme, seen again in the sell lines at the top of the cover and in the plug. This tones it down a little and makes the magazine more recognisable and controlled. It also refers to a soap storyline using the location rather than the soap title which is important because it highlights the idea that the target audience are familiar with soaps and should therefore know exactly which soap this is referring to. The colours and techniques used (rhetorical question, upper case text, punctuation, etc) makes the strip stand out and catch the target audience’s attention.
ANCHORAGE TEXT- Ties in with the main image and highlights the storyline that is associated with the character in the image. This is important because it tells the audience exactly who is involved in the storyline and makes them want to read on because it is left almost on a cliffhanger- you can only know what happens in the story if you buy the magazine. The orange and black colours used and the central positioning also stand out and catch the readers attention, adding to the busy overall feel to the magazine
Price&Date (circulation figure)- soap magazines tend to be issued weekly because they include tv listings. This price is also good because its under £1.50, a price I know from previous research to be seen as “affordable” by my target audience.
SLOGAN- The black text and yellow background work as a substitute for the WOB effect which makes it stand out against the busy magazine cover. The use of red to highlight the word “big” draws even more attention and makes you want to know more-persuading you to buy the magazine.
MAIN IMAGE- The pose of the subjects is important because it shows how they’re feeling and emphasises just how dramatic the storyline will be. For example, Stacey’s sad face (second left) indicates that something bad is going to happen to her and this ties in with the language used in the additional anchorage text; “agony”. The characters and soap names haven’t been included here because the editor is assuming that the target audience will know exactly who they are and what soap they are from because the magazine has been designed to specifically attract soap fans. Subjects also highlight a direct mode of address because they are looking directly at the camera, making it seem more personal to the reader.
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