Task 3: Magazines & Audiences (Part 2)

From this cover of Cosmopolitan magazine it is clear that the target audience is women who are likely to be aged between 20 and 40 and of working class. This is apparent due to a number of different codes and conventions displayed on the front of the magazine.
First and foremost, the eye catching pinks of the front cover's colour scheme are a clear indicator that this magazine is intended for woman. The shade of the pinks as well suggest that it isn't for older women as they're light and 'girly'. This is also the case for the swirly fonts used. This magazine, however, is not intended for young girls which is obvious from the second biggest cover line advertising "Explosive sex secrets!" This then leads us to believe it must be for young adults as they are less likely to have settled down and will be more concerned with improving their love life.
The main image as well is helpful in us understanding the target audience. For any magazine, more often than not, the main image would be of a celebrity of a similar age to the target audience and Kimberly Walsh would have been 29 when this was published in 2011, again leading us to the conclusion of 'Cosmopolitan''s target audience. She is also not overly sexualised and is portrayed as a happy confident woman, which would appeal to women over men. Though, the fact that she is in a rather short dress does add to the idea that this magazine is for younger women as anyone older than 40 is not likely to wear an outfit like this.
The puffs on the cover are also very feminine and the plugs inside these puffs would mainly concern young women. The large numbers of the plugs catch the reader's attention, drawing their eye to what they're advertising: fashion. The fashion they're uncovering in one of their articles is to do with outfits for evening events, for example parties and clubbing, as the cover line "Buy-now-wear-tonight steals" proposes. These sort of outfits are probably not much desired for most women older than 40 and so, again, the assumption is that the magazine is for younger women.
If this wasn't enough to make the age of the audience clear the gossipy cover line "Exclusive! 'My name is Kate Middleton... and I'm a transsexual'" yet again enforces it. Women of a slightly older age will be more sensible and quicker to disregard gossip like this classing it as ridiculous but those of a younger age will have more of an interest in scandals such as this one.
In terms of audience's class, the cover lines are good indicators of this. One uses the phrase "OMG" which is very colloquial and is not associated with high class citizens. Another cover line is "Climb your career ladder" which tells us the audience are intended to be of a working class. As well as this the price is £3.50 which is quite dear and so the magazine is not likely to be purchased by anyone out of a job as it is more of a luxury item than a necessity.
Therefore, all these codes and conventions are what lead me to my original conclusion that 'Cosmopolitan' magazine is a magazine aimed at young women between the ages of 20 and 40 that are of a working class.