Magazine Genre Research

Today, my class and I started learning about magazine genres to help us decide which genre we want to pick for our final magazine. Out of a list of eight genres, we picked our four favorites and researched examples of each. By narrowing the various genres into only four, we learned more about the specific genres that interest us and got a better idea of what we wanted to base our final magazine on.

Whether it's because society is exposed to them daily or because we wouldn't be able to live without them, four genres I'd like to learn more about and consider for my magazine are the following:

1. Cooking, Food, and Beverage

2. Science and Nature

3. Art and Design

4. Sports and Recreation.

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1. COOKING, FOOD, AND BEVERAGES (CUISINE AT HOME)

By looking at the cover of a food magazine, it is unlikely that its viewer would leave either uninspired or uninterested. Personally, when reading through magazines from different genres at my local bookstore, the ones that stood out to me the most were the cooking magazines! Therefore, I was encouraged to consider this genre for my final magazine. I think that a cooking magazine would be the best for me to design due to the following: I have years of experience photographing food, I'm always creative with food, and most importantly, I think I'll have a blast throughout the entire process. Plus, who doesn't love food?

With the help of the mouth-watering image, bold text, seasonal theme, and use of humor, it would be hard for this magazine to go unnoticed. I think the aforementioned features help make the magazine cover more presentable, well-designed, stylish, and attention-grabbing.

Unlike most magazines from this genre that I discovered while researching, I find it pleasant how this magazine isn't crammed with words and is more simplistic. Yet, I think the product is still efficiently demonstrated, allowing the audience to easily understand what they will be reading about. Overall, I think this magazine is perfect to promote creative fall-inspired recipes for its readers.

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2. SCIENCE AND NATURE (National geographic)

Being directly exposed to nature and having a huge interest in science, I think it's important to learn about the complex issues that occur on our planet. So, why not do so by reading (or creating) a magazine? Popular science and nature magazines, such as National Geographic and Wildlife, act as some of the leading sources of Science and Nature news for the public. They display top-notch photography, well-written articles, and touching headlines. Yet, despite this genre providing an abundance of information, these magazines aren't just educational, but also fascinating. Therefore, I would like to consider this genre for my final magazine as I think science is one of the most crucial subjects to learn: it plays a key role in everyone's life and allows us to become more aware of the natural world.

First of all, I think this magazine is a great way to advocate for a serious cause (in this case, climate change). When the audience looks at the central image, they can easily identify what information will be present before reading the table of contents. I believe that this makes the magazine effective since it can efficiently get its point across to its target audience.

Yet, it does this in a more simple way! Unlike most Science and Nature magazines, there are no coverlines, and instead, its central image covers the whole page to share its main message. Speaking of which, I like how this image is a literal illustration of the caption. Specifically, the caption states that the 18 billion pounds of plastic dumped into the ocean are "just the tip of the iceberg"—connoting that it is only a small part of a large serious problem. The image portrays this by photoshopping a large plastic bag that would only appear to be a small tip of an iceberg at the top of the ocean. As the imagery enhances the overall cover, the magazine is able to attract a larger target audience and raise awareness about the global plastic crisis.

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3. ART AND DESIGN (apollo)

As someone highly interested in pursuing design as a career, producing an art and design magazine would not only be entertaining but also useful when entering the workforce. Since this genre always involves either rich colors or extravagant graphic elements, I believe that my magazine would most likely turn out to be creative, eye-catching, and visually appealing. After all, art is a universal genre highly prevalent in my everyday life, meaning photographing sculptures, landscapes, paintings, or even household items will most likely be easy.

Throughout my research, I discovered the magazine, Apollo—a monthly international art magazine that covers topics from the latest art debates to exclusive interviews with the best artists in the world. What stunned me the most was that Apollo is known as one of the world's leading international art magazines! By looking at this cover and Apollo's other magazines, I definitely agree with the previous statement!

I selected this magazine as a perfect representation of the Art and Design genre mainly because of its central image. It is visually appealing and can easily attract the attention of its readers, especially with the portrayal of Vincent Van Gogh, who is arguably one of the most famous artists of all time. Most noticeably, I like how the blue image acts as a distinct contrast from the yellow text, allowing for a complementary color palette. Overall, I think that this magazine (like all Art and Design magazines) acts as a pleasing way to educate people on particular topics.

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4. SPORTS AND RECREATION (time)

As magazines are intended to appeal to extensive audiences, they are categorized based on topics that interest the public (genres). In this case, Sports and Recreation is a perfect magazine genre due to the immense amount of worldwide sports fans. In reality, due to the massive sports industry, it may be hard to think of at least one individual that doesn't play, watch, or is interested in any sport. Personally, I not only train for hours a week doing rhythmic gymnastics but am also interested in learning, reading, and photographing a variety of other sports! Therefore, besides myself, creating a Sports and Recreation magazine would most likely interest a wide range of viewers from any age, gender, etc.

First of all, this magazine stood out to me because of the endorsement of Simone Biles, one of the most famous and decorated artistic gymnasts whom most of the public is familiar with. Known as ethos, this would allow the magazine to attract more viewers since more people would be willing to read about someone they already know. However, if this magazine were to present another gymnast that isn't as notable, it can be assumed that fewer people would choose to read the magazine.

Besides the use of celebrities being featured in magazines, some other aspects that I found pleasant were the following: the central location of the picture that grabs attention quickly, not too much text that may not interest the viewer, the emphasis of bold words, and the continuous use of the color red to match the gymnast's leotard.

As I believe that I have picked four great magazine genres, picking a final one will definitely be tricky! However, I will acknowledge that this entire research process was very helpful as I was able to learn about each genre by examining real-life examples! Before doing this research, I was unaware of the differences in each magazine genre, specifically how each genre has its own unique visual way of displaying content. Now being aware of each genre's distinct style, I will ensure that my final magazine accurately represents its genre. In other words, depending on which genre I pick, I am now aware that my final magazine should contain certain elements that are always present in its genre. For instance, if I pick the Cooking, Food, and Beverage genre, I should have a big main image of food and bold text.