SFX Magazine textual analysis

For my first magazine analysis I have decided to look at SFX, a science fiction magazine popular with 15-25 year olds.  This is relevant to my preliminary task because it is aimed at a similarly aged audience and I am thinking of film reviews being a part of my magazine, as film is a popular discussion point for students.

The masthead is the name of the magazine, in this case SFX, which is shorthand for ‘special effects’.  This instantly tells the reader that the magazine genre is science fiction because that is the television and film genre that requires the use of large amounts of special effects.  The font used is the same in every issue so that it is easily recognisable to loyal readers.  It is also a sleek style of font, connoting that the magazine is modern and up to date.  The chunks missing from the letters and the blood splatter overlay show the audience that the articles inside may relate to violence and horror.

The model for the central image is Karen Gillan, a young female actress who stars in Doctor Who.  Using a young and attractive female actress for the cover encourages a female audience who may view her as a role model and a male audience who find her attractive.  As she is young she appeals to a youth audience and because she is in Doctor Who, a show aimed at not only the youth but a wider family audience, the magazine will draw in a wider age group for its audience.  As she is dressed in fairly casual clothes it shows us that the magazine is aimed at a moderately wealthy audience, but they don’t have to be rich.  Behind Karen at the top of the magazine is a British flag.  This could be suggesting that the magazine is predominately aimed at an English audience or could be emphasising that Doctor Who is an English television show.

The cover lines are mainly down the sides of the cover so they do not block the central image.  They are also usually in the alternating colours of red and black.  These colours are bold and create a strong contrast.  They also reflect the dark themes that are frequent in science fiction, connoting death, darkness, blood and love.  The use of the puff in the top right corner advertising 148 pages is there to entice the reader into buying because they are getting a lot for their money.  The circular shape used ensures that it stands out from the rest of the cover.  The price of the magazine, shown in the bottom right with the barcode, is £3.99.  This is a reasonably average price for a popular entertainment magazine.  It is affordable for teenagers who are in education and have part time jobs or who still get the odd treat off their parents, and for people who have their own full time jobs.

Overall the magazine appears to be aimed at a wide audience from demographics C1-E.  They will be into film, television and literature, with a strong liking for the science fiction genre.