Generic Conventions, Language and Narrative Codes
Masthead:
Printed in a font belonging to the Serif family, which by itself already conveys elegance, tradition, and luxury, the masthead reads "Sidelines" meaning: either of the two lines bounding the longer sides of a football field, basketball court, tennis court, or similar playing area. With this definition and the niche nature of an equestrian magazine, we can deduce that said playing field would be a riding hall, positioning the reader of the magazine as a spectator within the said field. In addition, the masthead also sets the house style for the rest of the issue.
Featured Article:
"The 2017 Sidelines Hot Horsemen Featuring Christopher Webb" Combining the same font as the masthead and another from the Sans Serif family, the featured article creates a perfect balance between detail and simplicity in its appearance on the front cover of Sidelines. The title of the article is displayed in a bigger font than all of the other cover lines, driving the audience's focus toward it, and portraying it to look more interesting and important; this fulfills the article's role to make the audience want to continue reading the magazine.
Cover lines:
Below the featured article in a smaller Sans Serif font are the three other cover lines, all titles of articles found inside the magazine: "Big dog ranch rescue", "Foxhunter Jason Cole", and "Unbridled with Michael Matz". The function of these cover lines is to further hook the audience into purchasing and reading the magazine.
Website link, Issue, and Price:
All essential pieces of information to the audience, which potentially can help them subscribe to the magazine, learn more about Sidelines as a company, and get a fair deal when purchasing the issue, making sure they are not being overpriced. The placing of this information is key as it is readable but doesn't distract the audience from the rest of the magazine cover.
How does the Cover Image portray Symbolic and Narrative Codes?:
The cover image presents the audience with a long shot of a well-dressed man, presumably high class, looking at the camera (audience) while holding a dapple-gray horse by its leather lead, in the center of the image. Behind the man, there is a small pond, tastefully decorated to satisfy the narrative of the magazine: elite, old-money, equestrianism. The image is full of semantic codes that strengthen this statement, for example, the man's formal equestrian outfit and the setting that just continues to emphasize the prestigious and exclusive lifestyle that he lives in according to the narrative of the magazine. This makes the audience more interested in continuing to look through the magazine, as they would like to be like the man in the cover image. The image also sets the color palette for the rest of the issue.
Production Context
Publishing Company:
In late January 2016, Sidelines was purchased by Classic Publishing, a division of Classic Publishing Ltd which is committed to producing Hunter Jumper Shows in the southwest region of the United States.
Popularity:
Within the equestrian world, Sidelines is often referred to as the People magazine of the horse world (Charles, 2016), over the years it has become a staple in the equestrian community.
Role of Technologies
A way technology has affected the industry:
As the uses and popularity of the internet increase, magazine circulation does the opposite, some magazines have opted to adjust to technology, publishing partially or exclusively on the web; and some, like Sidelines, have forged a whole new app just to view their issues.
Website/App:
In addition to the magazine's website, Sidelines has a mobile app where readers can download and view several issues for free. This is a great way for the industry to incorporate new technologies into its user experience, making it more appealing and accessible to different age groups.
Audiences and Representations
Target audience:
Sidelines is targeted at those who own horses, people who are usually considered part of the upper socioeconomic class, thus they can afford the products that the sponsors advertise inside the magazine. As described by Young and Rubicam Sidelines is targeted at "The Suceder", those who have a high social status, combined with the belief that they deserve the best and most reliable product, typically, no matter the cost. Although the magazine is necessarily targeted at a specific gender we can see that more than 90% of its readers are women.
Images and target audience:
As mentioned previously the cover image have great importance when it comes to drawing the attention of the audience, on this specific issue we can see that the image used illustrates the narrative and theme of old money, wealth, and equestrianism; thus people that are thinking of entering this exclusive, elite community can inform themselves about it, and people who already own horses can educate themselves on various luxury products and events.
Moreover, the magazine uses a conventionally attractive model which can also draw the attention of the reader, as we naturally are drawn to aesthetically pleasing things.
Table of Contents
Articles:
The table of contents highlights three articles, features in the magazine cover "Cover Story: Hot Horseman Christopher Webb", and two character profiles "Sara Kirby: It's Just Good Horse Training " and "Nicole Lakin: An Unpredictable Path In Life". The latter two make the audience of the magazine (92% female), feel represented, thus more likely to continue reading. Inside the magazine, there is a great diversity of articles, from investigative pieces to commentary and character profiles. Through the table of contents we can further understand the house style of Sidelines;
House Style, Layout, Font, and Colors
Color:
Sidelines uses codes to appeal to both the conscious and subconscious minds of the audience. Through the use of color, the magazine presents a sophisticated overtone to its readers, the neutral colors are associated with stability, wealth, and calmness. It helps other more dominant colors pop, setting the color temperature of the magazine. The green present throughout the whole issue, most noticeably in the cover image, represents growth and abundance, in addition to nature and wildlife.
Font:
The fonts used throughout the magazine produce an equilibrium between graceful and detailed serif fonts, and clean and modern sans serif fonts. The combination of these two also takes part in differentiating between heading and subtitle, as well as a way to accentuate certain names or phrases in articles inside the magazine.
Layout:
The layout of this issue is designed to make the audience first look at the cover image, then at the masthead, thirdly read the features article, and finally read the rest of the cover lines. To satisfy this, Sidelines takes into consideration that, at least in western culture, we read from left to right, and from top to bottom, however, the audience tends to focus on the image first, as it provides the reader with a lot of information with just a glance at the magazine. On this issue we can see how all the text is near the edges of the paper; this combined with the use of fonts and colors serves to highlight the protagonism of the picture, and at the same time create a clean, simple, and overall elegant look.
House Style:
Through different elements, such as the aforementioned, we can begin to understand the house style of the magazine. For example, we can see that in order to bring out certain text in its articles, Sidelines changes the color from black to red, gold, or blue, all colors that create contrast with the magazine's main color palette. Another similarity found in most pages is the prevalence of the color green, found mostly on images. The use of font also stays consistent throughout the issue, giving it a feeling of cohesion.
Mise en scene
Photography and Composition:
The cover image is set in a fenced field in front of a pond, the setting by itself communicates a state of affluence. Composition wise, the picture is balanced using the rule of thirds, the man is positioned in the first vertical line of the grid, with his head on the first intersection, therefore, receiving the most attention from the audience; the horse, on the other hand, is roughly placed in the middle of the issue cover. Finally, the edge of the pond is placed around the top horizontal line. Through the use of the rule of thirds, the picture became more pleasing to the eye, attracting more readers.
Editing:
The editing and color grading of the image results in neutral tones with a cool hue, which, as explained before, are accompanied by meaning and connotations. Some may suggest that the editing of this specific picture is filmlike, mirroring the colors, grain, and texture of certain analog film stocks, giving it a vintage appearance, which further stresses the narrative of old money.
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