Fair Lady (2011) Magazine Analysis

By Shanelle Peters

The masthead of the magazine cover is covered by the actress Anne Hathaway. The main image of the actress takes up over half of the magazine cover suggesting that Anne Hathaway is the main selling point of the magazine, as Fair Lady is a South African womens magazine and is not globally recognised.

Fair Lady is a magazine that aims to network passionate and intelligent women. This is evident in the anchorage text underneath the model credit which quotes Anne Hathaway Im going to be exactly who I am. It is evident that the magazine content alludes to female independence. This links with the magazines niche audience of women, specifically women who do not wish to read celebrity tabloids

The model credit is positioned near the bottom right of the magazine as the actresses name does not need to be explicitly positioned across the face of the magazine. The white serif font of Anne Hathaways name adds to the femininity of the poster.

The cover lines across the magazine cover are written in a range of colours. The lack of uniformity in the poster reflects the emotional ranges of women, for example, the yellow depicts joy and happiness and the red is indicative of passion and courage. This reinforces the independent female ideology of the magazine as these women have the courage to be outspoken.

The cerise red is a theme within the magazine cover and reinforces the feminine ideology. The independence of women links to the film One Day and Anne Hathaways character Emma, who is a dependent and headstrong woman.

The cover lines around the magazine target the typical readers of the magazine. The colour palette of the colour lines utilises pink,back and yellow. However, certain parts of the text that is designed to be eye catching will include a layering of colour.

The paradigmatic feature of the floral dress reinforces the femininity of the magazine cover. This creates the syntagmatic meaning of effeminacy.

The paradigmatic feature of the colour palette and the focus on red and pink creates the syntagmatic meaning of ladies. Both the mast head and the main image incorporate similar tones and as a result the composition creates an enticing aesthetic that will allow it to stand out on the magazine shelf.

The paradigmatic components such as Anne Hathaways pose and hairstyle subtly conveys the style of the magazine creating syntagmatic connotations of the gender of the magazine and the desired readers of the magazine content.