Conventions/Components of Food Magazines

  Conventions/Components of Food Magazines

    Food magazines are often disregarded in stores and online; however, a lot more goes into them than can be seen. The target audience of food magazines are people of all ages who love to cook or even just look at food! This blog is going to be talking about the conventions/components used in food magazines, and what makes them, well, delicious! 

Codes/Terms of Food Magazines

    In order for you, as the readers, to understand this blog, let's review some of the main codes/terms of food magazines. This will help for better understanding for topics discussed in this blog, while analyzing the differences between food magazines and other genres of magazine.   

 The codes/terms of food magazines are:

• Main image
• Masthead
• Cover-lines
• Strip
• Bar-code
• Content page
• Puffs
• Double sheet spread

    The main image usually covers most of the front page, and in a food magazine it is often a food or dish on the cover. In order to make the audience want to buy the magazine, the cover needs to be attractive to catch their attention. For example, on the magazine picture shown, the Coca-Cola chocolate bundt cake is the main image.

    The masthead lets the reader immediately know what the genre of the magazine is. The masthead is also very large, and tends to be at the top of the front cover; it usually matches the shade of the magazine cover's main image as well. For example, on the magazine shown, "FOOD & WINE" would be the masthead.

    The cover-lines are seen normally on the right-hand size of the cover of a magazine. Important articles and selling lines are often stated in this section of the magazine cover. For example, on the magazine picture shown, cover-lines such as "75 recipes for celebration" are present.

 The strip is the most interesting part of the magazine, because it includes information about what details will be mentioned later on in the magazine. 

    The bar-code tells the price of the magazine.

    The content page is the page in the magazine that contains little to no images, and tells the page numbers of the articles.

    A puff is the incentive placed on the cover of a magazine in order to make something stand out. Puffs are usually promotions or giveaways, therefore attracting audiences towards the magazine; it is also usually a different color from the rest of the cover so that it stands out even more.

    The double sheet spread is the two-page section of the magazine that contains few images (often one large image), but is mostly made up of headings and text. As seen in this image, the food magazine has a double sheet spread of "Top Dogs", which brings the readers attention to the page through the use of fonts (discussed in blog "Font Psychology") and through the large image covering the side page. 

Components of Food Magazines

    Over the years, different types of magazines have developed in the U.S.; this information may also be useful in future analyzations of magazines. Food magazines generally fall under one of the following typologies:

• Trade and Professional
• In-house
• Consumer

    Trade and professional food magazines target individuals or companies working in specific trades, industries, and professional fields. The content is specially tailored to the interests of the intended audience by providing updates, advice, and practical information. For example, "Whole Foods Magazine" and "Kosher Today"- though they have a large online presence- save the most interesting material for members only, where a printed copy is mailed directly to the subscriber or at trade shows. However, "Restaurant Insider" has been able to work its way onto newsstands and be open to the general public! 

 

 In-house magazines  are published by organizations and institutions- both for profit and non-profit- to inform employees, clients, and customers about their own activities, initiatives, and so on.

    Consumer magazines are geared towards the general public, and are the best known- and most visible- type of food magazine. 

Conventions of Food Magazines

The brands of food magazines that will be analyzed in this section of the blog are: Bon Appétit, Cook's Illustrated, and Gather Journal. These magazines were voted in America's top 5  magazines! I will be using these magazine brands to analyze and dissect in order to show the difference between food magazines and others.

Bon Appétit:

    Bon Appétit magazine is mainly known for its large collection of recipes, dinner party hosting tips, and their many articles on food culture. Bon Appétit has created two special copies as well, called Healthyish (contains articles, recipes, trends, and news on healthy eating) and Basically (contains simple recipes, basic cooking tips, and instructional articles for beginner cooks). 

    Bon Appétit magazine talks mostly about recipes and cooking tips. Because of this, their main audience are typically adults and teens who enjoy cooking. For example, the target audience of this magazine could be women from the ages of 18-62, because they are the people who cook/host parties the most often compared to other groups of people. 

    Bon Appétit magazine tends to use very simple and professional cover layouts. The masthead is always centered at the top of the cover, always in complete lowercase lettering; the masthead also tends to use the same black font in every issue. Solid color layouts are typically used in the background of the magazine cover to draw attention to the main dish; this main dish also matches in color with the background (explained in my Color Theory blog). For example, in the first image, the background is solid pink because the undertones of the dish are pink; in the second image, the background is mostly white because the main undertone of the dish is white. The dishes used in the main cover photo tend to be very minimalistic, which adds to the simple and professional layout of this magazine. There is often little to no cover-lines as well in order to maintain that minimalistic tone. The publication date of this magazine typically tends to be in the lower center of the magazine. Overall, this magazine uses about 2-3 main colors each cover, matching the background color to the color of the main dish. 

Cook's Illustrated:

    Cook's Illustrated is an advertisement-free magazine mostly known for its large amount recipe-testing and instructions. Only ten recipes are published in each issue in order to insure  that the recipes have been thoroughly tested and are explained to readers in great detail. Published every two months, this magazine also usually includes evaluations of cooking tools and food brands.

    Cook's Illustrated magazine talks mostly about recipes and how-to cooking instructions. Because of this, their main audience are typically adults and teens who enjoy cooking. For example, the target audience of this magazine could be women from the ages of 18-62, because they are the people who cook the most often compared to other groups of people. 

    Cook's Illustrated magazine tends to use very simple and professional cover layouts. The masthead is always centered at the top of the cover, always with the word "Cook's" in large bold letters and "Illustrated" in small underlined letters; the masthead also tends to use the same two white fonts in every issue. Solid color layouts are typically used in the background of the magazine cover to draw attention to the main ingredient or dish; this main ingredient also matches in color with the background (explained in my Color Theory blog). For example, in the first image, the background is solid dark grey because the undertones of the ingredient are darker-toned colors; in the second image, the background is mostly green because the main undertone of the ingredient is green. The ingredients used in the main cover photo tend to be very minimalistic, which adds to the simple and professional layout of this magazine. There is often a small section of cover-lines on the left side of the cover to maintain that professional and simple tone. The publication date of this magazine typically tends to be in the lower right corner of the magazine, just above the bar-code. Overall, this magazine uses about 3-4 main colors each cover, matching the background color to the color of the main ingredient. 

Gather Journal:

    Gather Journal magazine is a recipe-driven publication that centers each issue around a specific theme or concept. Some of these past concepts, for example, have included heroines, sins, the 1970s, and magic. This magazine tends to draw in readers through its striking photography and incredibly artistic design. 

     Gather Journal magazine talks mostly about recipes and specific concepts. Because of this, their main audience are typically adults and teens who enjoy cooking or art. For example, the target audience of this magazine could be women from the ages of 21-63, because they are the people who cook/admire art the most often compared to other groups of people. 

   Gather Journal magazine tends to use very simple and artistic cover layouts. The masthead is always centered at the top of the cover, always with the word "Gather" in large bold letters and "Journal" in small letters; the masthead also tends to use the same two white fonts in every issue, however sometimes the masthead may be underlined. Solid color layouts, with a satin-looking texture, are typically used in the background of the magazine cover to draw attention to the main dish; this main dish also matches in color with the background (explained in my Color Theory blog), however it does so by making a different color the main image so that its' color pops. For example, in the first image, the background is solid green because it makes the dish stand out since it is yellow, orange, and brown; in the second image, the background is mostly yellow because the main color of the dish is bright red. The dishes used in the main cover photo tend to be very minimalistic yet colorful, which adds to the simple and artistic layout of this magazine. There is often no cover-lines on the cover to maintain that minimalistic tone. The publication date of this magazine typically tends to be in the lower center of the magazine. Overall, this magazine uses about 3-4 main colors each cover, matching the background color to the color of the main ingredient in order to make it stand out. 

Cited Work:

• ("Top 5 American Food Magazines,"Culture)
• ("Codes & Conventions of a Food Magazine,"Muhammad Abubakar) 
• ("Part 2: Food Magazines,"The New School)