There are
two types of signs which create meanings:
-Signifier
-Signified
The
signifier is the physical form of the sign which is simply seen from the
audience.
The
signified is the meaning from a physical sign and there are two parts:
-Denotation
-Connotation
A denotation
is the obvious meaning from a sign, in which there are no hidden meanings and
it is simply what it seems. The denotative meaning is it is a dove.
A
connotation is a deeper meaning which is not fixed. People can come up with a connotation
themselves. The connotative meaning of a dove is peace.
GQ magazine is another competitor for my magazine. They are a men’s magazine which focuses on their lifestyle involving music, sex, food, fitness and other things which will entertain and appeal to younger men. Just as my magazine aims to do they are appealing to fairly young men, just a few years older than my average target age.
I feel they would be a competitor for my magazine as they are covering the same kind of subjects as me, however I cover music in my magazine in more depth. They have a vast range of different things in their magazine to read and many people buy it. However I feel my magazine would appeal to younger people more than older people as it is made for their age and the pictures and articles are based on a fairly young perspective.
FHM is a men’s magazine a bit like mine, ‘UP’, in the sense that they appeal to men and use the tool of sexual women to draw men into buying their magazine. The magazine was a magazine which I tried to imitate in a sense, they issue their magazine every month just as I have chosen to do and their price is around the same price as mine.
The encoder of FHM has made sure that the magazine appeals to men just like I have tried to do. They have a year FHM hottest woman of the contest, and if my magazine were to go into publish I would most likely try and do something along these lines.
They go for men who are around 18-25 such as I have done, and they are for the approach of guys who ‘work hard, play harder’ which is what I was going for but with a music magazine. They are eager to invest in upper class products and like expensive treats, with resembles the entity I was trying to get.
If my magazine were to go into publish I believe that magazines such as FHM would be competition as they appeal to men too, however 'UP' offers music as well as women and other things!
Due to my magazine being aimed at young men and being done in the theme of the sexuality of woman and the type of men being players, I have been conducting some research into a magazine which kind of relates to my magazine however in a more hardcore sense. I am researching Playboy magazine which is a soft porn magazine which is also fairly upper market due to the price of it.
The Playboy magazine and what it has become.
The magazine was founded in 1953 by a young ambitious man called Hugh Hefner, he founded it through $1000 dollars he received from his mother. The magazine started off as just that, however in the years up to now it has become one of the best known brands with not only a magazine but different products coming off it such as clothing, TV series, nightclubs and websites. All of this falls under the name Playboy Enterprises INC. The circulation of Playboy magazine is around 4.5 million each month worldwide which is a lot considering the price of the magazine. The circulation varies because although it is 4.5 million usually, in some additions it has gone up to 7.1 million with different people who are on the front.
The magazine is not going down, they have however recently adapted their magazine to an app which could suggest their sales are becoming higher through technology. The magazine still however does sell 4.5 million on average every month, however other magazine such as Loaded which is another men’s magazine has dropped in sales leaving them selling 49,000 copies a month which is a 30.8% drop since it started in the 1990’s. Playboy has not had a drop so big, however they have obviously overcome the need for an app or online interaction for their magazine. Although this is a clear indicator that Playboy are managing to keep high sales figures throughout the world.
Playboy magazine did not have a rate card for it anywhere online, however they did have one in South African currency but that was not appropriate for what I was looking for. However I did find out some of the other information about it.
Magazine publisher and size of the company
The magazine is published from within its own company which is Playboy Enterprise which is all under the founder of the magazine, Hugh Hefner. He owns the company and publishes it too. The company is a large company and owns a lot of media such as magazine, TV shows/channels, Radio channels and websites. The company owns a lot of media and is well broadcast throughout the world, you can access most of their products in the UK as they work within the UK as well as America. The company is a global company and I broadcast throughout the world with different versions for different countries.
Convergence and Synergy
Playboy magazine uses convergence to interlink it magazine with things such as the internet, apps and radio. They promote it all and link the ideas and theme throughout all these. They have their company in many different industries, their magazine being prodominantly their main industry though. They use synergy by making nightclubs and resorts which are coming off of the magazine ideas, they have used the idea to make it an experience you can actually do.
Technology convergence
Playboy have an online presence where you can view the things in the magazine online, you can also view multimedia online too such as videos. They also have an app. The relationship between the magazine and the internet it quite strong because as it is a mens soft porn magazine they are more enclined to possibly want more than pictures, i.e. videos. The online website gives you a chance to look at more than just the magazine, and offer more things. If you go onto the magazine section you’re able to view the articles that have been in the magazine and videos which may have been advertised in the magazine.
The magazine is promoted online with options to subscribe to the magazine and become a member of it. They offer you the chance to subscribe with links to click on which is in the view of the reader, they are given it so that the magazine gets more buyers. There seems to be a direct link between the internet and the magazine as they both promote each other.
Relationship between encoder and decoder
The relationship between the encoder and decoder is very much based on the decoder. The encoder has a clear view on the general type of reader and what he would like to read about or view. The pictures and articles are aimed at young men who have a want for the ‘jet set’ lifestyle with articles talking about fast cars and beautiful women.
The website also allows the user to comment and offer their opinion on certain articles which allows them to feel part of it. They are able to comment which can help the encoder get ideas or advance on their original idea.
Content
The magazine is aimed at the target audience who like women, the finer things in life, exhilarating and fun things and the things that stereotype young guys like. The magazine and internet have the theme of sexual things which are fun and nice throughout the magazine and internet. The design with the colours is actually fairly similar to how I am doing my magazine with the colours of red, white and black. The magazine does not offer videos but online you’re able to view videos of interviews, photo shoots, etc.
The magazine cover, Vibe, offers a great cover with bright colours, which not only excites the reader but entices them too. The visual elements of the magazine are a sign that the magazine is aimed at younger people who are interested in music, this will signify who the magazine is for. The image of the front shows Kanye West, who is a well known artist, whose gestural image could be considered "cool" or "hip" and this most likely was the aim of the people creating the front cover. The icon is the picture of Kanye West, as it is simply him. The picture of him signifies that this article is to do with music because he is well known figure within the music industry. It may symbolise "hip" or "cool" things. The person has also achored the main image with the main article, this is anchorage and they have done this to show the relationship between the two.
