Magazines Like Time example essay topic

Change your mind, choose your mood Magazines, members of the print media family, have entered the twenty-first century in a state of confusion. Although they are still very much ink on paper products, magazines also reaches people on websites, they are exclusively available in digital form on the internet. At the same time, magazine format, which information organized by topic and theme in an entertaining manner, has been borrowed by television. Thus the magazine is a media product, a medium of communication, and a communication format. Understanding what magazines are and how they have evolved from their beginnings is one of the vital things in understanding what they are today. Many people nowadays ask the question: what differentiates a magazine from a newspaper?

Actually it is a necessary question, since in contemporary publishing it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the two. Generally, a magazine is a published less frequently than a newspaper. It is also manufactured in a different format; usually on better quality paper, bound rather than merely folded, and with some kind of cover. Magazines today then retain their traditional functions. They are a major medium of surveillance, often delivering information ahead of the rest of the media. Some magazines like Time, are intended mainly to inform and others like Playboy, to entertain.

However, among the various functions served by magazines in contemporary society, the most notable is still correlation. This refers to interpreting society and its parts, projecting trends, and explaining the meaning of the news by bringing together fragmented facts. The magazine from which we will be discussing an advertisement is categorized as a consumer magazine, called SHAPE. Shape has a specific target audience, mainly woman trying to live a healthy life. This magazine has all kinds of articles, including low-calorie recipes, methods of exercising and ways to dress to look fit. The types of advertisements they publish are mostly related to health; beauty, skin, food and many more.

While skimming through this magazine, an ad caught my attention. On a white background, starting from the top going vertically; three simple words combine to from the first half of the slogan: 'Change your mind' printed in Times new roman, and in black. Slightly beneath it, a color palette make-up case with five circular colors: lime, orange, green, brown and pink. They are in a metal case, with an eye shadow brush (pin ceau). Under it, the second half of the slogan, repeatedly using three words in Times new roman, in black ink as well: 'Choose your mood'. Under it, five circles; lime which reads 'diet 7 up', orange 'diet Sunkist', green 'diet Canada dry', brown 'diet A&W' and finally pink 'diet 7 up plus'.

The last sentence at eh bottom of the page reads: discover a world of delightful possibilities, with LIGHT in red from the word delightful. This kind of ad is both simple and entertaining. It catches the eye in a split second, making it stimulating and not irritating to the eye. The colors used are very common colors we see in our daily lives, not too striking and not too dull.

Not too much is written making the ad short, concise and to the point without wasting one's time. Since the ad is from a magazine whose main purpose is to spread health, this ad agency picked the appropriate magazine. Their target audience is perfect and is aimed towards the correct direction. As straightforward as the slogan is and the simplicity of the ad, it justifies the phrase: the simpler the better! Usually, in our age, people are more likely to skip an ad that includes the descriptive part of the product and instead spend more time on an ad with a catchy phrase which is more likely to be part of their memory and will convey the message very clearly. Picking the convenient magazine in which to advertise is the one of the hardest steps in making your ad succeed.

Still the most important step is studying your target audience, forget your likes and dislikes, think for the people and role play. Put your self their situations, live their life for one day and see what they go through and what are their needs are. This way, you will give the public what their looking for and maybe get a little bonus for you!