Entertainment Magazine Websites- Analysis

Empire Magazine Website Analysis www.empireonline.com (current June 2019):
- The website is very simplistic as many Entertainment Magazine websites, this may be so the viewer of the website focuses on the features which will be found in their issues presented on the home page. The colour red is used for the title of the magazine in the top left of the website, this stands out very well against the plain white background, this is the typical logo used on the magazines and to advertise their cinemas. Red connotes alertness and will then alert the viewers eyes to the title of the magazine so then they will be aware of which logo to look for on the shelves in supermarkets and newsagents.
 - The simplistic aspect to the website means anyone can view it without feeling overwhelmed by being bombarded with lots of information all about the magazine as they click on to the page, it is well organised and simple to use and navigate. The breakdown of topics on the home page as the viewer clicks onto the website is very pleasing to the eye as the different pieces of information look organised on the page. This means the viewer of the website can click from section to section and read each article separately, the 'X-Men Dark Phoenix Review' is the largest box on the page as Empire may view it to be very popular at the time and want the viewer to notice it straight away as a brand new and exciting film, so they can read about the magazine company's opinion on it.
-As the website viewer scrolls down on the home page each section of the movie sector of the magazine is broken down in an organised fashion, for example, Latest Movie News, Latest Movie Reviews, Latest TV Reviews. As the viewer looks at the different reviews presented on the website they can choose which one they would like to read as a result of the amount of stars shown next to the film or TV series title, then they can either choose to read a 5/5 star review or a 3/5 or lower star review and find out why this is.
- The website presents to readers of Empire that it caters in its magazines for a range of people and not just film lovers. It has pages on its website for sections of the magazines such as gaming, which gives its readers information on the latest gaming gadgets and the video games themselves. On the website the reader is given information on the review and rating the magazine company gave each video game, this allows the reader to read articles and access video game reviews of Empire without actually buying a physical copy of the magazine. The website also displays the viewer with information on the Empire podcast and who has been featured on the previous episodes, this may encourage the reader to research the podcast or listen to it. This podcast caters for those who love film but may lead a busy life so cannot actually find time in the day to read the physical magazine, meaning they can listen on the move or in the car to work.
- There is also a feature on the website in which frequent readers of Empire Magazine can subscribe to the magazine, in which straight from their website the viewer is taken to www.greatmagazines.co.uk ready to subscribe. By subscribing, they can receive an issue in the post each month or week depending on how often it is released. This means the fans of the magazine can read the magazine the week it is released and get their hands on a new issue easily without having to travel to a newsagent or buy the magazine on their phones to read digitally. Empire gives the viewer of the website reasons they should subscribe to the magazine on the page as an encouragement and in fact allows frequent readers to subscribe straight away if they wish on the page by inputting their details. There is also information for the reader on how much money they save by subscribing to a years worth of issues rather than individually buying them each week or month. Often on the movies page of the website, adverts will pop up encouraging the viewer to subscribe to the magazine, 'Subscribe Now.'
- The 'WIN' link on the website takes the viewer to a page full of competitions in which they can be in a chance to win DVDs, gadgets and prize money. This adds an interactivity to the website as the viewer can easily take part in competitions with other readers of the magazine to win exciting prizes. It is also very easy to enter the competitions as to enter a reader only has to click on the competition they are interested in and then enter their email address into the website (www.winit.empire.com). There is information on the page as to when the competition finishes and the value of the product they may win.

Heat Magazine Website Analysis www.heatworld.com (current August 2019):
- The main colour on the website is red, this may be so it stands out bright and loud to the viewer of the website, it is also cleverly used as if Heat had used a busy image in the background it would have drawn away from the photos of the famous celebrities and artists on the homepage meaning they would not stand out so clearly to the eye. The magazine used well known singers and celebrities of the 1990s and 2000s so all or some would hopefully be recognisable to the viewer meaning they feel clever if they can identify their names. Examples of these people are Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Ariana Grande and Cheryl.
- Similarly to the Wonder Magazine website I created, I am including on the tab bar on the page social media icons which include links to the profiles so it is then quick and easy for readers of the magazine to follow their pages on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. There is also a link on the page 'Listen Live' allowing the viewer to click the button navigating them to a page which allows them to read the pop music radio station attached to the magazine, 'Heat Radio.' There is information which follows the viewer of the website from tab to tab of which song is currently being played on the radio show at that moment, for example when I screen shotted the page 'A Little Respect' by Wheatus was playing on the station. This may encourage fans of the artist or song presented on the website to be playing on 'Heat Radio' to listen to the station to hear the song, this may then allow the station to gain more daily or weekly listeners if they enjoyed listening to the snippet of the show they listened to.
- The tab on the website which is related to 'Mental Health' makes it obvious to a viewer that Heat are targetting not only those who struggle with mental health to seek advice and support but those who may question themselves and teenagers/young adults who may be susceptible to confidence issues, anxiety, depression or mental health problems in general. On this section of the website celebrities give viewers of the page advice on how to cope with low points in life or the realities of being in the spotlight and questioning yourself. This is successful in challenging the way Heat Magazine portrays celebrities as strong and confident people, presenting to younger readers that everything in their minds may not be as positive and they may not feel self assured all the time. This message is important as teenagers can be given the wrong impression when they see these stars in interviews, on television or photos of them on social media or in a magazine.
- The 'Hair and Beauty' and 'Style' tabs stereotypically cater for a female viewer, but may also appeal to male viewers, of the website, it allows people to discover how celebrities looks have changed over the years, how to dress like them and latest news about high street stores and online shopping. An example of this is the 'Style' page contained information in August 2019 about Primark and how it is 'finally set to launch online shopping' in which a reader who is a fan of clothing and beauty may be excited to read about. Emojis and abbreviations are used on the pages in many of the text-boxes all over the website, this appeals to the current generation of 'texters' and internet using young people. An example of this is -

Lucy-Jo Hudson announces pregnancy with boyfriend Lewis Devine 👶

in which on the tab 'Celebrity' on a news box, Heat Magazine uses a baby emoji when announcing a pregnancy of a the celebrity, Lucy-Jo Hudson. This is to make the magazine website seem trendy and 'down-with-the-kids' as they seem to use the same forms of communication as their target audience. Abbreviations such as 'OMG' (Oh my gosh/god) and 'ASAP' (As soon as possible) can be found on the pages on the website-

7 Bad hair habits you need to ditch ASAP 

this gives the website an informal and casual feel as it feels to the viewer that they are being spoken to almost like a friend by the website, it is also easier to read if the text is more simplistic. For example, the number '7' was added onto the page rather than the written out word 'seven' and the informal word 'ditch' has been used to imply 'getting rid of' hair habits.

- Similarly to the Empire Magazine website, the 'Win' tab navigates the viewer of the website onto a different window in which they can enter competitions to win prizes such as '£350 CASH!' or 'Win an Echo Show!' which is presented with photos to be gadgets that anyone would strive to own to be trendy and up to date with the best of technology.

- The Heat Magazine website's logo 'Heat World' seems unusual and very fashionable to the 21st century, this is as a result of its smart looking serif font which is easy to read and in a white colour stands out with the tabs text against the harsh looking bright red background. The letter 'o' in the word 'world' is replaced with a text bubble, this may be to imply the magazine and its website is full fo the latest gossip and celebrity information in which everyone is talking about, it has lots of exclusives on each page. This logo also implies to a viewer exactly what the theme of the website and magazine is, entertaining gossip, chatty language and exclusive information on the stars of the 21st century, such as the well-known stars, Bruno Mars and Beyonce, who are presented on the homepage.

- The text overlapping the celebrities 'We love Pop!' , not only presents to the viewer the main genre of music these artists produce but subtly implies to the viewer that the editors of the magazine love pop music so they then should too or definitely will if they began to listen to the recognisable faces on the home page. The viewer can then click on 'Listen Live' which will allow them to discover the pop music Heat have assured them they will 'love', by discovering the radio station accompanying the magazine.

British GQ Magazine Website Analysis www.gq.magazine.co.uk (current August 2019):

- Similarly to the Empire Magazine website, the British GQ website is very simplistic due to its usage of monochrome colours, such as black which connotes formality and sophistication, to give the page a classy and smart feel. This magazine attempts to seem trendy by shortening its name from 'Gentlemen's Quarterly' to GQ, then implying its target audience is men, the articles presented on the page also would stereotypically appeal to a young male audience.
- The articles presented on the page are sectioned tidily into boxes with green text explaining the theme of the article. There are many of them but does not overwhelm the viewer f the website as there is not too much text on the page only article titles in a bold easy to read black sans-serif font. This implies that the magazine has lots of information to offer to its readers. An example of this is 'Partnership'  and 'How to create the perfect hair care routine', implying to a viewer of the website that this is an article in which GQ works with the 'Amazon Men's Grooming Store' to recommend products and give their readers the best advice on how to care for their hair and make it look as 'perfect' as the men on the magazine covers or on photographs on the website.
- Audio visual content is also used on the full article in the format of a short video from GQ's YouTube channel, then advertising it to their readers to be full of informative videos, addressing their audience "the way our hair looks is so important" this cleverly refers to all men reading the article as a group/team who are working together, 'our hair.' Presenting it as a bad thing to have a 'bad hair day' and that a man must always look his best in public. Other articles of a similar fashion may be found on the website such as, 'the ten most expensive cars ever sold at auction' as stereotypically men are interested in cars and how to groom themselves and look their best (for women) 'the best face-masks to give your face a pick-me-up', this chatty, catchy phrase rolls off the tongue and seems clever when said aloud.
- The subheading of this section of articles is 'GQ Hype' this implies these articles give the audience all the entertaining information and popular most talked about news 'the hype', they need about the latest trends in fashion, grooming and famous celebrities and artists such as Shawn Mendes and Ryan Gosling. The word 'hype' is usually associated with excitement, extravagance and publicity. If Shawn Mendes is wearing these 'throwback jeans' then it is fashionable and all men should be following his lead and wear clothing and do things similar to him. There are well known stars photos and names all over the website homepage. At the bottom of the web page the company who produce the magazine is presented to the viewer of the page 'Condé Nast', this may mean in some cases if someone enjoyed reading this magazine they may research to find other magazines created by this conglomerate and purchase them monthly also.
- Also at the bottom of the website GQ's social medias e.g. Facebook and Instagram are presented as icon buttons which the viewer can click on to be navigated to GQ's profiles on these apps, I will be including this on my magazine website. This means it is easy for the reader of the magazine to follow their favourite magazine on social media and find updates and information on content to be found in their latest issue.
- When a reader hovers their mouse over a bright and eye-catching photograph which accompanies the article it turns black and grey, this looks affective and makes the photo then stand out against others if it is monochrome next to the other colourful pictures. It gives the photographs an old 1950s camera film look or an old movie picture feel, this is very stylish and unusual.
- The tabs at the top of the page which stand out well as black bold text on a white background present to their male readers what their lives should focus on in their opinion, watches, grooming (looking good), fashion, GQ Hype (famous celebrity and artist gossip), lifestyle (how to stay fit and knowledgable on trendy cars and technology.) The magazine and its website seems to educate its male readers on what it is to be a man and what they must focus their lives on, it seems in formal terms to be a form of indoctrination.
- The 'Subscribe' tab navigates the viewer onto a different page within the website in which the reader is presented with offers on 'Print' and 'Digital' subscriptions to the magazine. There is a blue button 'Order Now' which stands out clearly against the black and white theme of the page, which seems to encourage the viewer with simple wording to 'cave' into the offer of '6 issues for only £15,' 'only' being the main and significant word in the sentence implying to the reader it is a very cheap price and it cannot be missed out on as such a deal. The idea that the magazine can also be purchased as a digital subscription makes the magazine seem current and in with the 21st century trend of reading magazines on iPads and laptops rather than just in physical copies. This means the working man can read this magazine on the go without having to carry quite a big paper magazine around London or cities with them, using up a lot of space in their bag which could be used for important documents instead or an iPad. It is 'available on the app store' which an owner of an IOS product may be aware of.