OUGD501 / ESSAY

How does advertising & branding further perpetuate the structure of class within society?

This essay explores how the methods involved in advertising further maintain society’s positions in the class system. It aims to explain the reasoning why the class system is so deeply engrained into society, and investigate the techniques featured in marketing and how they effect the individual in lower classes; and finally in magazines aimed at the proletariat. 

Class inequality has been universally present in our progressing society. Historically manifesting itself in terms of wealth and possessions; with individuals owning more land, money or goods than others, propelling their status in society and placing them at a higher advantage, as Max Weber would suggest ‘besides the specific status honour, which always rests upon distance and exclusiveness, we find all sorts of material monopolies. Such honorific preferences may consist of the privilege of wearing special costumes, of eating special dishes taboo to others, of carrying arms’ (Weber, M, 1979) Fundamentally, this has created a class system that is evident in modern society today, exhibited through the ruling class and the working class. This is an ongoing battle, as D’Amato would suggest ’the struggle between classes is as old as class society itself’ (D’Amato, P, The Meaning of Marxism, 2006, Page 68).

Karl Marx believed conflict existed between different classes. Marxism is based on a philosophy of dialectical materialism, and can be described ‘in the words of the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus: "All things flow, all change”’ (What is Marxism? An introduction to dialectical materialism, no date) in other words, the Marxian interpretation of reality that views matter as the sole subject of change and all change as the product of a constant conflict between opposites arising from the internal contradictions inherent in all events ideas and movements. Marx suggested that an individual’s life is determined by the State, otherwise defined as economic determination. Marx’s clearest statement on this is contained in the preface of the 1859 Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy, “in the social production of their life, men enter into definite relations that are indispensable and independent of their will … which rises a legal and political superstructure and to which correspond definite forms of social consciousness.” (Marx et al., 1970)

Marxism also teaches of the economic base, also known as the substructure, which controls the other institutions which includes everything that is not involved in the means of production, also referred to as the superstructure. The ruling class own and control the majority of the superstructure, this ensures that their dominant hegemony is further reinforced to maintain the proletariat in a state of false class consciousness. This entails the working class being unable to identify the injustice, preventing united revolt to alter their situations, and further catering to the bourgeoisie and their capitalist society. 

These institutions within the superstructure, are all interlaced with exploitation from the ruling classes. For example, schools are controlled by the economic base, raising youths to never question their living and financial situations, no matter how dire they truly are. Students may never push themselves further due to complications in the education system, such as placing students in lower bands, making them incapable of achieving their full potential. In Paul Willis’ text Learning to Labour, and in particular his study ‘the lads’, in which he followed a group of working class males who overtly rejected education and it’s values. Because these ‘lads’ could not achieve academically, they strived for social status in their peer group (Willis and Aronowitz, 1981). Due to this ideology being thrust upon students in the system, this could lead onto them rejecting their education and forming a ‘counter school subculture’, as they have accepted their fatality, realising their fate lies in a working class manual job, therefore they choose to enjoy their school life socially while it lasts. In relation, Vance Packard suggests, ‘people in lower social brackets do not seem to strive particularly hard to get into a higher social layer, they can be persuaded merchandisers have learned, to up their consumption.’ (Packard, V. 2007). 

Another sociologist who concerned themselves with the class system was Max Weber, a German sociologist and political economist. In Weber's view every society is divided into groupings and strata with distinctive lifestyles and perspectives of the world, just as it is divided into different classes, he suggested that “status honour is normally expressed by the fact that above all else a specific style of life can be expected from all those who wish to belong to the circle” (Weber, M, 1979).

According to Althusser, as he explains within the text ‘Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays’, the State is a repressive apparatus utilised by the bourgeoisie as a technique to dominate and exploit the proletariat. The Repressive State apparatus includes institutions such as heads of state, the government, the police, the courts and the army, which can hold a dominant role over the working class by applying violence in favour of the ruling class, which is the class who possesses the State power. The Repressive State Apparatus is a separate concept to Althusser’s Ideological State Apparatus, which in contrast include private institutions such as the church, the education system and families, which do not induce repressive means to initiate order. Rather, the Ideological State Apparatus (ISA) reinforces these dominant principles in favour of the ruling class by ideology, teaching that those who do not follow order will face social rejection. The ISA serves to reproduce capitalism in regards to the means of production.  Althusser suggests “the Repressive State Apparatus functions ‘by violence’, whereas the Ideological State Apparatuses function ‘by ideology’” (Althusser, L., 1971, page 145) Instead of fearing coercive action, the individual will fear straying from the social path and the common social consensus. This is how the ruling class achieves hegemony, “The processes by which dominant culture maintains its dominant position.” (Definition: Hegemonic, 2002).

One of the main institutions in relation to the ISA is media, whilst technically outside of state control, it still in many ways serves to transmit the ideas of the State, and as stated previously, to maintain the means of production which serves the capitalist structure. “The mass media, overwhelmingly private capitalist enterprises themselves and having other private capitalist enterprises as their chief customers (selling advertisement opportunities to them), promote consumerism continuously. Richard D Wolff would argue that “advertising has increasingly succeeded in “colonising” workers’ “free time” by defining the purchase and consumption of specific commodities as the necessary way for “leisure” to be “enjoyed.”” (Wolff, R.D., 2004)

Capitalism is the economic system regarding owning and distributing personal produce in order to gain profit for the individual. It rules out any shared wealth as a society and rejects any ideologies regarding communism. Capitalism is for the individual and the individual only. Capitalism takes a toll on the working class, especially those who have jobs in manual labour, as Judith Williamson comments “a Marxist perspective enables us to see capitalism’s ‘excesses’ as integral to it’s structure: how could it not exploit its workforce, and still make profits?” (Williamson, J., 2002) Working class children are prepared for the exploitation of the workforce from a young age, as Althusser proposed, “Somewhere around the age of sixteen, a huge mass of children are ejected ‘into production’: these are the workers or small peasants.” (Althusser, L. 1998) 

Advertising is a direct manifestation of modern capitalism frequently integrated within our busy society today. In western society the individual is met with numerous advertisements every single day, from listening to the radio in a morning, seeing a billboard driving to work, to watching the channel breaks on television. Therefore, advertising plays a colossal role in everyday life. Benhabib would imply that “western societies have developed into a historically new stage in the evolution of capitalism, one which is characterised by corporations exercising monopolistic power and sustaining demand by advertising through the media.” (Benhabib and Bisin, 2000)

Advertising is a method of persuasion upon the individual, using various key procedures and elements. Williamson argues that an “advertisement’s role is to attach meanings to products, to create identities for the goods…they promote: a process today described as branding” (Williamson, J., 2002) The idea of acknowledging that our feelings and thoughts are not fully in our own control creates a sense of discomfort, further integrating these ideologies into the mind. 

Even though the divisions of the classes is signified by the individuals various roles in the process of production, in other words job titles, through advertising and branding, it is these products in their false class categories that warp the structure of the class system by then redefining these class structures in respect of the consumption habits. “We are made to feel we can rise and fall in society by what we are able to buy, and this obscures the actual class basis which still underlies social position” (Williamson, J, 2002), this theory supports the idea that the individual’s worth is somehow calculated by material goods and financial status, as Wolff also concurs “Individual worth – for themselves and for others – became measurable above all by one’s achieved level of consumption” (Wolff, R.D., 2004).

Social pressures can arise as a result of advertising and consumer culture, meaning that individuals may constantly strive for material goods that their financial status simply cannot afford. The individual may feel excluded and disintegrated if they cannot include consumer goods into their lives, whilst they see ‘everyone else’ possessing them. Since we live in a ‘bulimic society’, as Jock Young would describe, with many products which are designed with planned obsolesce in mind, we constantly take the newest material objects in and purge them out when something new comes along. This creates a relationship with these material products, and a way to communicate a message to other members of society, regarding wealth, status or power. A person with the latest goods is seen as wealthy whereas those who cannot afford are associated with a lower status of worth; ‘advertising gives those goods a social meaning.’ (Williamson, J, 2002) 

To the modern working class man, advertising implements ideologies and standards that are almost impossible to meet. Brands learn to appeal to the male by selling sex, perfect physique and social status, the key desires that a male may want to possess to magnify their worth in society. An example of this method of advertising is the Joop: Real Men Wear Pink campaign (Fig 1), displaying a male that clearly has a defined physique that a lot of men in the working class may not possess, being clutched by an animalistic female, clearly depicting the desire for sexual relations with the protagonist. The prime idea applied onto the audience is that if a male was to purchase Joop perfume, they could achieve the lifestyle that the leading male in the poster or footage appears to have; females suddenly want you, and you are the top dog. Unfortunately, this is never true, but with manipulative tag lines such as “Real Men Wear Pink”, it is easy for the audience to abandon logic and be immersed into a fantasy - exactly the scenario the brand craves. These methods are applied in advertisements of all categories; and if the audience cannot afford to purchase these products, they are further repressed and alienated. 

As for working class women, their role in the family is constantly ascribed for them in terms of advertising. For decades, advertising has depicted women in the kitchen, fitting the ‘housewife’ role that had been conditioned onto it’s respective audience of the working class. These advertisements imply that women belong in this environment, and since it is the working class female that are most susceptible to viewing these advertisements due to their everyday activity, this is the exact target audience that the ruling class want to address. For example the Mr Clean advertisement shows a woman cleaning in a bathroom or kitchen, and not only this, she is teaching her child how to clean (Fig 2). This advertisement supports Althusser’s theory of the Ideological State Apparatus; through the institution of the family, the next generations vicariously learn to instil these roles through advertisements and seeing their mother clean and cook. The advertisement also contains text that reads “This Mother’s Day, get back to the job that really matters”, insinuating that the modern working class woman does not merit a day off and her most pivotal job is to clean and cook for the family. The brand introduces an imaginary male character, giving the impression that a female is a ‘damsel in distress’, and always in need of a strong male role to help her - she can’t possibly clean the bathroom on her own without Mr Clean. 

Furthermore, women are put under pressure, to look and act a certain way. In order to gain sale of their products, brands will promote a standard of beauty which could be impossible to obtain for every individual. Through the use of photoshopped imagery, a lot of women, especially the lower classes, will feel uncomfortable with themselves, and the natural effects of ageing, weight gain or fluctuations in skin. Through this method of portraying the perfect woman, a lot of the time this will boost sales of the product, as with advertising comes the notion that life will improve with this product; you will be attractive if you buy our skincare products; men will want you if you purchase our weight loss pills. It is a cycle, and a direct result of capitalism, and a modern concept - “glamour is a modern invention” (Berger, J, 1972, page 146) The beach body campaign demonstrates exactly this (Fig 3) “Are You Beach Body Ready”, the use of inclusive pronouns suggests that the advertisement is addressing the individual directly, forcing them into a conversational discourse structure. The image shows a very petite figure, one that not every individual has, or has to have to be beach body ready. Since this particular body type is of a homogenised ‘norm’, and is dominantly portrayed in advertisements, other body types are ignored in mass media; leading to the alienation of a large fraction of the population, and it can not be generalised as an accurate representation of how a woman looks. 

Advertisements and branding obviously paints an unrealistic standard separately for both men and women, especially those who are part of the lower classes. Some could say that advertisements are beneficial, the individual is able to distinguish their need for a product and consume, however there are more pressures placed on a member of the proletariat as they are not able to fully achieve ‘the American dream’. Berger, in his text Ways of Seeing, would say that “publicity principally addressed to the working class tends to promise a personal transformation through the function of the particular product it is selling” (Berger, J, 1972, page 145) Communicating that a product will serve the individuals emotional and social needs, persuades the consumer to buy it, in hopes that their life will improve socially or physically.

Though movements do exist to overthrow capitalism, for example the communist revolution, the lower class still mainly remain stagnant. Furthermore, mass media provides distractions within popular culture which is catered to the lower classes’ preferences. An example of this is X Factor, or celebrity news and gossip, dramatising trivial stories and creating hype to distract the individual from their class status, in effect, this could prevent any future motives to revolt, and keeps the proletariat in the same position in the hierarchy. In support of this theory, Adorno suggests that culture is to blame for the stationary social and financial position of the proletariat. Industries produce a mass of unsophisticated sentimental products which replace the more critical forms of art (Adorno, T). An exceptional example of this is publications tailored to attract the lower class, and more specifically, women. Through the established imbalance of gender equality in previous periods, ideologies have been implemented onto women without their say for many years, ideas which have been explored in this essay; such as body image and the overall ‘importance’ of appearance to fulfil their male counterparts ideals. 

Publications such as ‘Take a Break’, a weekly magazine, creates a different setting than that of a high class magazine such as ‘Vogue’ or ‘Glamour’, the publisher, H. Bauer explains that this magazine is aimed at ‘C1C2 women [clerical or skilled manual workers] aged 25-55 with children’, (Gauntlett, D. 2008, Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction, page 145) this is evident through the concoction of real life stories, competitions and puzzles. The publication aims to attract a less aspirational reader through the nature of the lives portrayed within, perhaps with spare time on their hands. The real life stories featured in the publication are dominantly very shocking and usually involve violence or rape. The working class may be more concerned about issues regarding pop culture than important world events, in support of this concept, Noam Chomsky commented on how ‘normal’ individuals apply analytical skills and attention to detail into sports, however when discussing world events, there is not the same level of intellect; “The way the system is set up, there is virtually nothing people can do anyway, without a degree of organisation that's far beyond anything that exists now, to influence the real world. They might as well live in a fantasy world, and that's in fact what they do.” (Chomsky, N., 1988, The Chomsky Reader) 

The headlines featured in weekly magazines easily attract an audience of impressionable women, through the use of emotive language and composition; exploiting the love that a woman has for her family and inducing a sense of empathy and the need to read on.

Lower class magazines also reinforce the idea that women need a partner, and offer various methods on how to ‘get a man’, whether this be through changing the appearance or through sexual gratification. The example (Fig 4) demonstrates the use of these methods. The main headline is ‘diets that work’, further perpetuating diet culture and placing a false seed in the consumer’s head that dieting is the norm to achieve a healthy body. Under this headline is other ways to achieve a standard that is difficult for anyone to achieve. Another headline states ‘Katy’s Xmas without Russell’, insinuating that it is negative and lonely to be without a man. This could also play with the individual’s insecurity if they are without a love interest. The magazine also shames Debra Messing for already dating her costar. This has a negative message which contrasts with other ideas included in the publication, for example the need for a love interest. The message behind this is, you should have a man, but do not be ‘promiscuous’. Through instilling these ideas into the consumers brain, they can attach meaning.

Alternatively, Joke Hermes suggests that women do not actually attach any meaning to the content in these magazines, rather, they are something to simply pick up and put down without any additional thought. This would then suggest the fallacy of meaningfulness, the notion that ‘when someone consumes a media text, meaning is always produced’ (Hermes, J. 1995)

In conclusion, it is apparent that advertising does play a significant role in the maintenance of class structure through methods explored in this essay, for example the selling of sex, social status and body image. The stagnancy of the lower classes is perpetuated through culture, especially the nature of today’s media for example television, radio and publications, producing meaningless products and distractions to stop the lower classes realising the truth of their situation, and disconnecting them from world issues. Pressures are placed on the lower classes to buy into capitalism, promising happiness through consumerism, whilst in actuality, this is not the key to happiness.

Bibliography 

ADORNO, T.W. and Bernstein, J.M. (1991) The culture industry: Selected essays on mass culture. London: Routledge.

ALTHUSSER, L. (1998) Lenin and philosophy, and other essays. New York: Monthly Review Press,U.S.

BERGER, J (1973). Ways Of Seeing. Penguin Books. p45-64.

BENHABIB, J. and Bisin, A. (2000) Advertising, Mass Consumption and Capitalism. Available at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.23.1646&rep=rep1&type=pdf (Accessed: 4 January 2016).

CHOMSKY, N. (1988) The Chomsky reader. Edited by James Peck. London: Serpent’s Tail.

D’AMATO, P. (2007) The Meaning of Marxism. Haymarket Books.

Definition: Hegemonic (2002) Available at: https://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/marxism/terms/hegemony.html (Accessed: 22 April 2016).

GAUNTLETT, D. (2008) Media, gender and identity: An introduction. New York: Taylor & Francis e-Library.

HERMES, J. (1995) Reading women’s magazines: An analysis of everyday media use. Cambridge, MA: Wiley, John & Sons.

JOOP!, (2011), Real Men Wear Pink [ONLINE]. Available at: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ily6BjYHU1MrTBVwUTJtBpTeEAxJVRLSkht76ACxvpAX1MtISsSbh5d4uaqwJz7LpLZs5x_wr07V8XrP5J6EBJD09niz8s8JKbRVm4SVFM4KQhlNkoStOIqmcOXrAz_CnGmbhlon7-yk/s1600/joopcouk0311.jpg [Accessed 20 April 2016].

MARX, K., Dobb, M., Translated, S.R.W., Edited, M.D. and Dobb], M. (1970) A contribution to the critique of political economy. Moscow, : Progress Publishers,: Progress Publishers, ; 1970

MR CLEAN, (2011), Mr Clean Mother's Day Advertisement [ONLINE]. Available at: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPdFDMCvZ-cPFVyst2Lp-yOjVLqqbGt0zDltlpwsIn7K3cwMx0gQOrAMcrmuzReMVhooEvML-3efsdblOWg-hvEh50F5xxDqPvEUDq1GBoRf25pegpcVf4bNgAm3CHjdc1xUy6SrHNg9nY/s1600/mr+clean.jpg [Accessed 21 April 2016].

PACKARD, V. (2007) The Hidden Persuaders. United States: Ig Publishing.

PROTEIN WORLD, (2015), Protein World Advertisement: Are You Beach Body Ready? [ONLINE]. Available at: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03281/beach_3281978b.jpg [Accessed 21 April 2016].

US WEEKLY, (2013), Us Weekly cover [ONLINE]. Available at: http://kimkardashian316.typepad.com/.a/6a013487502bda970c0162feb35a63970d-500wi [Accessed 20 April 2016].

WEBER, M., Roth, G., Wittich, C., Fischoff, E. and Ephraim Fischoff... [et al.] translators (1979) Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology. Berkeley: University of California Press

WILLIAMSON, J.A. (1978) Decoding advertisements: Ideology and meaning in advertising. New York: Boyars : Distributed by Calder and Boyars.

WILLIS, P.E. and Aronowitz, S. (1981) Learning to labour: How working class kids get working class jobs. New York: Columbia University Press

WOLFF, Richard D., "Ideological State Apparatuses, Consumerism, and U.S. Capitalism: Lessons for the Le " (2004). Economics Department Working Paper Series. Paper 74.

YOUNG, J. (2007). Bulimia: not exclusion but inclusion/exclusion. In: The Vertigo of Late Modernity. London: SAGE Publications. p23-25.

FIG 1

FIG 2

FIG 3 

FIG 4 

OUGD501 / SYNTHESIS

During the essay section of the module, I focused on marxist ideas of class, and the exploitation of the proletariat in different institutions such as work and education, then leading onto exploring the various ways that advertising effects and maintains class structure. This included instilling ideas into those suseptible to those advertisments, for example those who read weekly magazines usually aimed at women age 25-50 with children, of a working class.

The research undertaken into Adorno's work on the suggestion that culture is the cause of the stationary social positioning of the lower classes, really informed my practice as magazines such as 'Take a Break' and 'Chat' definitely have a culture surrounding them. Distractions from their class position are implemented into media that the working class come into contact with, such as pop culture's current affairs, allowing the reader to immerse themselves into the lives of celebrities, or television media such as the X Factor which keeps those who watch it involved and distracted.

David Gauntlett's research further gave me substance, as his documentation of the difference between working class magazines and high class magazines informed my research, and provided support to my practical work.

From analysing the methods and principles included in these magazines in order to sell, I also looked into higher class magazines to distinguish the differences between the two. I wanted to implement the principles of the higher class magazines onto the weekly magazines, and experiment with these design decisions to see if this changed the target audience. I wanted to keep the same text content, to demonstrate that design has an impact on the overall tone that the publication takes. When displayed on the originals, the stories are extremely shocking, which is excentuated by the design decisions; I wanted to be able to manipulate this, and show that even if the majority of the content does not change, the magazine can have a completely different target audience.

Gauntlett, D. (2008) Media, gender and identity: An introduction. New York: Taylor & Francis e-Library.

Adorno, T.W. and Bernstein, J.M. (1991) The culture industry: Selected essays on mass culture. London: Routledge.

OUGD501 / COP 3 PROPOSAL

OUGD501 / MODULE EVALUATION

The context of practice module has been academically challenging, allowing me to build on my theoretical skills from last year and explore a topic that marries one of my favourite parts of A Level sociology and design. I chose to apply my knowledge of marxism and expand upon it in a more contextual and extensive way; applying this knowledge and research and linking it to branding & advertising. My research topic involved the effects that advertising and branding have on the class system in our society today, allowing me to further conduct research into the fundamentals of marxist theories and link this back to theories regarding advertising. Towards the end of the written piece I chose to focus on the methods involved in the production of women’s weekly magazines and how they attract a certain class. 

I found the written piece very challenging in parts, but rewarding. Although out of practice, writing essays is something I enjoy, especially when passionate and interested in the topic. Since I had a basic knowledge of certain sociological theories, I found this helpful when conducting research into marxist theories, and found my knowledge extend throughout the duration of writing the essay. The most difficult aspect of the written piece was learning to link the sociological and marxist theories to graphic design, and applying the concepts in terms of advertising and branding. 

The practical element was enjoyable too as once I had established a solid idea with supporting theory behind it. I chose to  distinguish what design decisions make a publication appeal to the certain class as it’s target audience. I then applied the principles of a high class magazine, in order to demonstrate that although the majority of the content remains the same, the publication can have a whole different aesthetic and ultimately change the target audience to a higher class. What I produced was three redesigns of three women’s weekly magazines, That’s Life, Chat & Heat. I feel as though I explored a range of design decisions spread across all three resolutions, and demonstrated the impact design has on audience. As editorial design is a discipline I am interested in, I felt that this allowed me to be engaged with the module more, as I had focused it on an area of interest to myself personally, which could eventually lead onto the research conducted for COP 3. 

Time management was something I considered throughout the module. It was important to ensure that the practical and research was conducted in an organised way, I made sure I purchased weekly magazines to analyse early on, so I was organised, and ensured the study tasks were completed promptly. Towards the end of the module I discovered more useful theorists to include later on, which could have been completed earlier, however everything was finished on time.

Overall the module has gone well, with some challenging yet rewarding aspects. It set the tone for next years Context of Practice module and allowed me to discover new theorist which could prove useful in the future. 

OUGD501 / DESIGN BOARDS

OUGD501 / PRACTICAL / HEAT

Heat magazine prides itself on celebrity culture, delivering to the user the most up to date gossip on current affairs regarding pop culture. The page, although structured, has so much information on it, it is hard to know where to start. Not to mention a large amount of imagery. The reason behind this design decision could be to showcase to the potential reader that information is packed within, and to lure them in with snappy and hyperdramatic titles. The title is not even fully visable due to editing the image of Cheryl Cole and Liam Payne, which  could connote importance to the story.

I chose to demonstrate a different type of high classs magazine when redesigning Heat's cover. I wanted to show a more contemporary 'arty' side to higher class publications.

The injection of bright red successfully maintains Heat's brand identitiy, whilst refreshing the title with a clean, current and contemporary sans serif, Apercu. The title of the publication is centered along with the image to allow the reader easy reading. 

For this redesign I experimented with having none of the teaser content on the front, and replacing an unflattering image of Cheryl with a professional photo. The use of this image adds to the quality and makes the magazine look more expensive as Cheryl is looking pretty glamorous. Black and white image again excentuates the classiness and adds a timeless feel. The contrast between the red title and the image is very bold but is not distracting, it is complimentary.

The important information is very concise and set out towards the bottom of the page also in Apercu, consistent with the title. This includes the date and the tagline. Sometimes less is more. 

The white background of the cover looks extremely clean and gives the composition fresh breathing space.

OUGD501 / PRACTICAL / CHAT

The original cover for Chat magazine takes a very similar aesthetic as That's Life, even featuring a very joyous conventionally beautiful model on the front, who is in no way related to any of the content, simply a face to  look at which the audience will aim to relate to. The text is cluttered and all over the place, shoving information onto the reader without any structure - simply attempting to reel them in with the nature of the articles and the large, bold titles and colours.

For this design I stripped back any colour, in order to achieve a timeless cover which will not grow out of fashion. Black and white is a very  classy colour choice as it eliminates any distracting colours and focuses on the text and image.

For Chat I chose an uppercase title as opposed to the original; this was to reflect the principles of a high class magazine which from research I discovered predominantly contain large uppercase titles. The term Chat is very short and sweet, meaning the title would have more of an impact with these design decisions. Since it is quite an informal word, having it in a serif creates a classier tone and contrasts well.

The image I chose (since the ones on the front I felt wouldn't be appropriate), is a mature model who still possesses a lot of beauty. In using this image, although not as conventional, it still reinforces beauty standards which are set by women's magazines. The dark tones compliment the white background well. For this, the position of the image was influenced by publications such as Supplement, who always have one impactful centered image. This is a clean and organised composition which again does not have a cluttered aesthetic. It is calmer. 

The content was not changed for this redesign, but simply layed out on the bottom of the page, not distracting from the image. A serif was used in a small point size, to negate the original's large overfacing tone. The smaller serif has a petite and gentle aesthetic, and tone of voice. Setting it out on the bottom of the page rather than all over it designates a space for article titles, 

The tagline has a similar nature, however I chose to use capitals for this, as I wanted it to mirror the title, but in a gentler way. 

OUGD501 / PRACTICAL / THAT'S LIFE

This publication is ultimately aimed at those who perhaps aren't as ambitious, working class women with children who need some 'cheap entertainment' to pass the time. The nature of the content aims to shock the reader usually featuring violence and sex. For this redesign I wanted to really demonstrate how graphic design has such a large effect on the target audience and how the product is viewed / received through the use of elements such as type, point size, image and composition. 

The type choices for this redesign were mainly influenced by magazines such as Vogue. A large, capitalised serif for the title brings about a sophisticated tone, establishing an element of class from the very beginning. The type is tall and strong, really setting the scene for an important and high class magazine.

As for the content, I chose a modern sans serif to smoothen out the bold title. GT Cinetype is a clean and fresh typeface which is fairly elegant especially when used in a thin weight. The thinness of the font increases the classiness as it does not jump out of the page, or grab attention in the same way as the original. The content looks organised and clean, allowing the reader's eyes to travel organically down the page.

I took a bright colour alongside a neutral colour palette, to pop out from the shelves without bombarding the reader with too much colour. The aqua blue connotes relaxation, relating to taking time out to read the magazine. It also brings about a contemporary element.

The full bleed image brings attention to one image as it takes up all of the space on the page and does not allow for distractions from various images such as on the original design. The high quality image of a model oozes beauty and happiness.

As can be seen from the image, none of the article content was changed, simply organised in a sophisticated manner to distract from the horrifying titles.

OUGD501 / PRODUCTION METHODS

Binding:

It is noticeable from analysisng the weekly magazines that they are mainly staple bound, which is a fast and efficient way of binding the publications without compromising on the cost. It is one of the cheapest ways to bind a publication, meaning the magazine can be mass produced for less money.

Higher class magazines are frequently bound in other methods. From looking at examples such as Vogue, it noticeable that more budget has gone into it to provide added durability, exuding class and making the product appear more expensive.

In context, if the magazine redesign was produced, it would be perfect bound to keep the pages together strongly and heighten the sophistication and quality.

Stock:

A lot of weekly magazines use a very low stock weight, creating a cheaply made product that does not effectivelt stay strong and pristine. I would use a higher weight of stock in order to increase durability and quality again, however not too thick as this would lower the practicality of it being a magazine.

OUGD501 / PRACTICAL / FEEDBACK

In order to discover if my resolutions have been successful, feedback was conducted by asking three questions in which peers could write answers on separate papers.

I was pleased to see that someone thought that 'That's Life' resembled Vogue, as that was the very aim of it. Overall everyone thought that the resolutions were much more classy and sophisticated, meaning that my resolutions have been successful, and the target audience had been changed effectively. Using black and white seemed to be a positive, and it was said that this heightened the class of the magazines. It was suggested that for That's Life, I should inject a colour as it was very monochrome, which may not reflect the nature of magazines such as Vogue and Elle, as colour is used frequently and succinctly. 

The feedback I got was that it was apparent once I mentioned that I had designed each magazine in a slightly different style, and this worked well. I'm happy with the feedback I got, as it demonstrates I am going in the right direction for my practical work.

OUGD501 / COVER ANALYSIS 2

In contrast with the previous analysis, I chose to convey the distinctions between lower class and higher class magazines, by now analysing the design decisions and language of higher class magazines.

Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine published in 23 regions:

 

In terms of lexis, this issue of Vogue conveys a much more formal register than the previous covers, this is demonstrated through the use of latinate lexis 'generation' 'extraordinary', which heightens the formality of the discourse. Vogue is a lot more positive than publications such as 'that's life' or 'chat', as it contains a much more optimistic lexical field 'revamp' 'fun' 'innovator', providing a publication that promotes a constructive and confident outlook, rather than focusing on the shocking bad stories.

It's important to note the use of a serif typeface with this magazine, amplifying professionalism and the sophistication of the overall aesthetic. Vogue is known for being a classy magazine, so the cover should reinforce this notion. The larger type featured on the composition 'Kate's world' and 'Autumn style', although large and eye catching, do not have the same tone of voice undertaken with previous analysed magazines. These adopt a formal and gentler tone through the usage of regular grammatical capitalisation, which contrasts with that's life/chat's full uppercase titles. This lowers the volume and again excentuates a classier tone of voice that will appeal more to higher class women due to their perhaps increased maturity levels. Italic serif seen here is decorative and conveys emphasis, and utilising lowercase lettering, this demonstrates a classy and elegant aesthetic. Using italic type contrasts with the usage of uppercase type within a sentence as seen on other publications, in order to emphasise. 

Full bleed imagery is popular within more luxurious magazines. An example here is the cover of ELLE,  a lifestyle magazine with french origin published worldwide. Here demonstrated on the cover is a full bleed image of Kylie Jenner, an iconic face amongst contemporary pop culture. The full bleed imagery manages to capture attention whilst also maintaining a classy aesthetic. 

Similarly to the other lower class publications, type has been emphasized by the use of bright yellow and red, however due to the more organised composition, this does not have the same connotations. The bright colours in this case add a splash of colour, and alongside the single image this is not as overfacing and busy. 

The tall narrow sans serif is modern and elegant, in contrast to thick, bulky type choices in That's Life/Chat.

Again, ELLE features a large serif typefaces which is very common for higher class magazines.

The use of alliteration is also apparent in this issue of Elle, similarly to the other magazines, however as said previously the connotationes of this structure are more positive 'brave bold beautiful'. 

From conducting this analysis I have found some key aspects of women's lifestyle magazines which are catered to a higher class, including serif fonts, organised layout, narrow clean typefaces, full bleed imagery and one key bright colour within a neutral colour scheme. 

 

I chose to analyse a couple of less mainstream 'arty' magazines usually found in more creative shops. Supplement can also be found in popular high street book & craft shop WH Smith. The cover for Supplement is immediately calming, conveyed through the use of a relaxed and sophisticated lowercase serif with a thin delicate font weight for the title. The use of this typeface insinuates a serious tone alongside the latinate term 'Supplement', the placement of the title is dead in the center, evoking impact and allowing the eyes to naturally read this. 

In terms of content, this is not featured on the front cover like the other examples. In doing this, there is a lot of breathing space, creating more impact on the image and title. This approach is minimal and clean, but does not contain any content to initially draw an audience in. This is the reason publications such as Supplement may not appeal to an audience that demands shocking and 'cheap' content that appears in other 'lower class' lifestyle magazines. 

There is a very minimal amount of text at the bottom of Supplement which contains the basis of the magazine, 'art / fashion / culture' & 'issue no 1', this has a very sophisticated approach to displaying only the critical information, and I will be taking note for use in my own redesigns. 

OUGD501 / PRIMARY RESEARCH

Once the first developments of the redesigned covers had been completed, primary research of a qualitative nature was conducted. This was to gain more detailed data rather than objective numeric data, as it would not be relevant. I conducted a questionnaire of two questions regarding two examples of magazine covers. The first one was the existing cover of That's Life, and the second was my redesigned version. I wanted to see if what I had done and the principles I had applied had been successful. 

What audience do you think this magazine cover attracts?

"Older women with a lot of free time"

"I would say women who don't work all the time, it looks like a daytime magazine, aimed at people dont want to work, 30s-40s."

"Working class women between 25-40"

"Jeremy Kyle type demographic"

Why is this?

"It focuses on issues that are very trivial and don't really matter in regards to the whole world, and the front page is plastered with it"

"Because of how spelled out it is, it's very bold and sometimes people need that to be interested in it. The colours and the type used - it looks quite cheap, and easy to access and understand, looks more exciting than it is because of how busy it is"

"Because of the wording of the titles, it's pretty dumbed down informal language. Imagery only features women rather than men. It's hectic layout comes across as unprofessional and aesthetically unpleasant which wouldnt appeal to a higher class"

"Uses loaded adjectives to attract drama"

What audience do you think this magazine cover attacts?

"More of a younger upmarket audience"

"Young professional women, higher class, with more independence and money with more social awareness especially for their own lives"

"Professional women who are into fashion, middle class"

"Higher class working professionals"

Why is this?

"Elegant photography and minimal organised design, not grabbing attention as rashly"

"Definitely the colour, the type is very nice and minimal and you'd be more drawn to the overall composition at first and be interested gradually than having to grab attention like the previous cover"

"Because of the model on the front is more beautiful, the sophisticated monochrome colour scheme and also the serif typeface"

"Looks more aspirational"

What I found from this research;

The design decisions applied to the redesigned cover have been successful and appeal to a more higher class. It was interesting to see that one of the answers assumed this would appeal to women who have an interest in fashion, however the content is not related to fashion at all. Clearly the choice of imagery and type, alongside the overall composition has an effect on the target market, as none of the content was actually changed except image.

OUGD501 / THEODOR ADORNO / CULTURE

Adorno suggested that it is infact the feeding of culture from capitalism that keeps the proletariat satisfied and passive, without the desire to revolt and change the structure of the class hierarchy. With this argument, it was seen that capitalism was not as close to collapse as Marx predicted, however it was more engrained than ever.

Through the production of products that lack any sentiment or real semantics, these classes are fed this culture which satisfies false needs and keeps them from desiring what is important, such as freedom and happiness.

"Popular media and music products are characterised by standardisation ... and pseudo-individualisation" meaning they are undertaken in a similar fashion, and incidental differences bring the illusion that they are different, however it is not the case. 

Adorno's ideologies are particularly beneficial in the case of my practical research. His concepts and thoughts accurately encapsulate the effects of pop culture, and in this specific case, pop culture magazines, further perpetuate the satisfaction of class status.

Theories researched from: www.Theory.Org.Uk Resources: Theodor Adorno". Theory.org.uk. N.p., 2016.

OUGD501 / COVER ANALYSIS / DESIGN

Following on from analysing the language, I began to explore the design aspects of the publications. 

The first thing that is noticeable from looking at this magazine is how busy the composition appears. It is not obvious to me where the reader should look first, as there is a lot of information contained on the page. In doing this, it bombards the reader with information to reel them in through the use of large point type. An example on the 'That's Life' magazine cover is the dominant news story "Docs SWAPPED my baby GIRL for a BOY", here you can see the usage of capitals to excentuate certain words and shock the reader, alongside the large type. The large type also communicates a certain volume to the discourse. 

Similarly is the cover for Chat. Large type used throughout with one main headline to draw the reader in to buying the product to see more. There is a clear trend of using bright red in the colour palette of these magazines. Red, as well as yellow, can connote danger or anger, and the combination of this colour with the nature of the article headlines creates an intense concoction. 

The use of imagery with this publication, and the previous, is particularly interesting as real life family pictures are used. This is to implement a sense of reality and allow the consumer to be put in the family's shoes, and provide a sense of emotion. The consumer will imagine their own family in one of these situations and be met with sympathy, empathy and compassion.

Heat magazine is also heavy on type and imagery. Again, this bombards the consumer with information, in this case about celebrities. It is noticeable that there is unflattering imagery of Cheryl Cole alongside the very bold, large headline, with the key noun 'pressure' highlighted with the neon pink colour which dominates the composition. Highlighted words are a key way of filtering what the user sees first, as the page is very busy. Cheryl looks very rushed and 'scared', reinforcing the drama of the headline, prompting the reader to be more inquisitive to read into the story. The pink is another method of attracting the readers attention, and is a stereotypically feminine colour. The yellow also used for this publication further fortifies the dramatic effect of the layout, again forcing the readers eyes to be caught when shopping.

The imagery used takes up most of the layout and contains various well known celebrities in pop culture. It is a showcase of the various news stories inside and gives an extensive taste of what the user can read about.

Overall, the type is consistently a large, sans serif, clearly to allow easy readability and access. Sans serif communicates a modern aesthetic, however when paired with some of the imagery and colour in the first two examples, this cheapens the overall layout.

Through analysing the design decisions for the previous publications I have gained a clear knowledge of what is used for this calibre of magazine and why. The principles applied to these magazines are clearly a way of attracting a lower class alongside the use of language geared towards them. The magazines do not have a luxurious quality to them, rather, they are a dramatic and busy way of drawing in a reader interested in pop culture, to perhaps distract them from an unfulfilling status in society.

OUGD501 / PRACTICAL / PROPOSAL

During the essay I explored how advertising manipulates and targets certain classes by utilising a specific set of design decisions. 

For the practical element for this module I will be revisiting the content of the essay and formally researching into the aesthetic design choices of magazines catered to a lower class, and what methods are used to appeal to this target audience. Taking these principles, I will then recreate these magazines with a different target audience in mind to show the extent of marketing, and the role language and design has, especially in terms of publications and more specifically magazines that appeal to lower class women.

OUGD501 / FRONT COVER ANALYSIS / LANGUAGE

As my practical work concerns publications, I firstly began researching into the language within a set of magazines which are aimed at a lower class to gain knowledge on how this differs from a magazine of a higher class audience. Generally, these magazines aim to bombard the audience with a large amount of information from the word go. Like any news based publication, the main objective is to sell the product by informing the audience of the content straight away; usually by eye catching taglines which spark the readers interest and need to know more about the article. 

The first magazine analysed was 'that's life!', containing shocking real life news stories. At the top is a large point size text placement which reads "Win Menorca hols", the colloquial term 'hols' is an abbreviation of the word 'holiday', which is commonly used within a lower class, those who adopt an exceptionally informal discourse. Those who are drawn to this calibre of magazine may not have all the luxuries in life, and since it does appeal to a lower class, the financial situtation may not be as stable. The prospect of winning a free holiday is a useful advertising technique, as the reader may not be able to afford this on their own, and by using their informal dialect, this communicates a friendly and relatable tone of voice.

The publication name is itself a colloquial ellided structure, "that's life", and a phrase often related to mishappen events or things out of your control. The magazine prizes itself on it's shocking news stories relating to lifestyle and people's personal stories, which may or may not be relatable for the audience. It takes an informal stance on an accepting outlook to life. It also implements an element of fear upon the reader, which is a technique used by a lot of media platforms, more often news.

The title of this publication is 'best', which could infer to the reader that this magazine is of a top standard. The lexis involved has a strong semantic field of demolition, for example 'deadly' 'desperate' 'tragic', evoking strong feelings within the reader through the use of this emotive language. 

The use of quotes from the celebrities creates a sense of involvement and generates a personal tone. 

In publications such as this, weight and appearance is heavily featured, containing methods in which the reader can improve their own appearance through diets, make up and exercise. They also tend to shame celebrities, predominantly women, for fluctuations in weight, thus transferring this shame onto the consumer and imposing an unrealistic standard for the majority of women to achieve, 'drop 10lb and 10 years on the new food and fitness plan'. 

The large point text usually featured in these publications, alongside the abundance of capitalised type can convey volume, grabbing the reader's attention. 

The abundance of personal pronouns 'my' 'me' create synthetic personalisation and interjects an informal conversational discourse with the reader, allowing them to feel more involved. Illiterations such as 'cracking crime' have a catchy and memorable ring to them. Through analysing, it is apparent that publications of this category also implement colloquial terms for family members to enforce emotion upon the audience through these terms of endearment, for example "mummy". These terms often do not coincide with the audience's language, so this will bring about an emotion linked with their children or those they love.

The publication takes a relatively informal discourse, and concerns itself with the affairs of celebrities, in which this particular audience may be interested in. Due to the nature of having a low paid job, there could be an element of status frustration, in which will manifest in desiring a more luxurious life, and becoming 'involved' with current affairs in reality TV stars and other celebrities; which creates a target audience for this category of magazines.