Analysis of Websites

A-Level Media Studies:   Analysing a Webpage

People Magazine
https://people.com/

This website focuses on news about celebrities, the royals, music, TV and ‘real people’. There are several tabs for easy access on the top of the page including ‘news’, ‘entertainment’, ‘shopping’ and ‘PeopleTV’ where the magazine broadens their brand by airing live shows, available to watch on many major platforms such as Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV. With technology advancing this is an effective way for magazines to stay in the loop as well as having their website. These links are advertised underneath this tab.

At the bottom of the page, much like many websites there are links to their social medias to again broaden their brand and reach individuals who use apps such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook as their main form of news and communication. During a 2019 survey, more than 70 percent of respondents from Mexico, South Africa, Chile, and Bulgaria stated that they used social media as a source of news. However, large portions of social media users around the world admit they do not trust social media as a news source, so by having both the magazine itself, website and social media platforms, People mag can reach many different groups of people.

People’s masthead is displayed in the top left corner of the page-the masthead is of a serif font which suggests the magazine is slightly more formal, encouraging readers to trust what the news source says within articles and on their shows. The fact that the Royals have their own tab on the page also suggests they are more interested in British royal heritage, which slightly differs them from mainstream media who may only talk about the royals when something major occurs, for example a royal baby. This further makes the magazine seem a little more middle class and presents itself all the more as a reliable news source.

The colour scheme is quite monochromatic, suggesting the magazine is aimed at an older audience. The colours mainly consist of white and different shades & tones of blue, however on the home page the latest news has some purple. This shows an element of consistency within the page.

Again, on the home page are many images and headlines with easy access to articles from the magazine. There are several different categories such as ‘Trending Now’, ‘Latest News’, ‘Don’t Miss’ and ‘Must-See Photos’ in large bold fonts to draw in the audience. Imperatives such as ‘Don’t Miss’ make the audience feel as if they must click the link and read the stories as no one likes being excluded from the latest news and gossip. The images also help the layout be more balanced and not overwhelmed by text. Images help to draw in the audience more than words can as it gives readers a visual stimulation that they may recognise before they even read a title such as images of the royal family may encourage the audience to read the article even if it isn’t about anything major.

There is a subscribe tab at the top of the page for easy access to help People magazine bring in income. Making it easily accessible and placed near the masthead means people are more likely to see it and furthermore click on it and subscribe, meaning People can make a profit and further broaden their news brand such as making more broadcasts for People TV.

Grind Magazine

https://grind-mag.com/

This magazine is about adult fashion and lifestyle for a male target audience. It has themes of club culture, skateboarding and street fashion. There are intercultural references to help widen the target audience, for example Tyler The Creator on the front pages of their magazines to gain an American and British demographic, the text is in Japanese to reference the origin of the magazine and the overall aesthetic is grungy and likely to be popular with the young adult generation. The masthead font is a sans-serif one again to continue attracting a younger, trendier audience. A serif font tends to reference a website aimed at an older and more sophisticated generation. The serif fonts are continued across the website, with a monochromatic colour scheme to fit the minimalistic aesthetic.

There is a selection of images and headings to choose from, enabling easy navigation across the web page. As shown by the five dots, the website moves side to side in a landscape manner to fit the natural way our eyes scan and again enables easy navigation across the website.