Magazine Analysis: Views on American Beauty and Pop Culture

People Magazine: Extra December 2006 Issue

People:

• 3 women, 1 man. All Celebrities
• Rachel Ray: cooking channel star; Teri Hatcher: famous for roles on Desperate Housewives and Louis & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman; Anderson Cooper: Emmy-award winning writer/anchor for various news channels; Vanessa Williams: famous singer
• Responsible, accomplished people on the cover which gives what they have to say value

Posture:

• Flattering face shots
• Focus on the eyes
• Happy, sincere looks

Placement:

• Simplistic layout based on squares
• Words blocked in between photos
• Organized feel
• No sharp curves except in the text
• Simple Color scheme: blue, white, green, black, pink
• No advertisements

Point-of-View:

• The authors of the articles written

Overall Theme:

• Focus on the celebrities and who they are
• Focus on the face and not on the clothes or body
• Not much else on the cover which brings attention to the pictures
• No busy bunches of texts
• No advertisements

About the Publisher:

• Published by Time Inc., a division of Time Warner, who also publishes Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, and Teen People
• Originally came from TIME Magazine; an expansion of the People section
• A valuable source to find out what’s happening in Hollywood and cultural trends affecting Americans today

Patterns Between Cover Designs

• Eye-catching photos of celebrities that are well-known
• Eye-pleasing layouts
• Simple color schemes that pull texts and photos together
  

Discussion

• Annual publication of the “50 Most Beautiful People”.
• Takes the normal reader into the lives of ‘the beautiful people’
• In-depth interviews and photographs
• Heavy emphasis on celebrity life and news; although also included are real-life inspiring stories of everyday people
• Position on American beauty/ pop culture: more than just faces and actions