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Micaela Martinez
ENC 1101
Ashley Humphries
6 Mar 2015
In the February 2015 issue cover for Cosmopolitan Magazine, Kylie Jenner is the center
of attention. Throughout the entire cover, every detail ties in with Jenner, which is a common
aspect in all Cosmopolitan covers. Most, if not all, magazines and other forms of media tie in the
visual and written texts to promote or advertise an idea. More times than not, we do not even
realize that advertisements do this. Cosmopolitan is very notorious for doing these said things in
their magazine. Some of these things include the placement, color, and font of the visual and
written texts which are used to grasp the readers attention.
Cosmo Magazine is very formulaic with their covers and everything on the cover has a
purpose, from the placement of the text to the lighting of the cover. A big factor in grabbing the
readers attention is the use of the colors. Specifically in this cover, one of the first things that
pops out to the reader is GUYS CONFESS THEIR RELATIONSHIP REGRETS, LOOK,
and OBSESSED. The reason why this happens is because of the use of complementary colors.
Complementary colors are colors that are directly across from each other on the color wheel
(Capturing). In this specific cover, the complementary colors that are being used is violet and
yellow, which are a pastel version of purple and yellow. This technique to grab the readers
attention has been around for several years. Some companies that use this technique in their
logos are the LA Lakers, also using purple and yellow, Firefox and Tide that both use blue and
orange in their logos, and Chilis that uses green and red. Moreover, apart from the color of the

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text, another thing that is also included in the layout of the text is the one piece of text that is
unlike the rest: HINT: TACOS. This portion of text is slightly angled, which the brain instantly
notices, bringing your attention to the magazine. Though these are specific examples from this
magazine, several other magazines and advertisements use these techniques, along with others,
to grasp the readers attention.
Other than the color of the text, the font of the texts also has a huge influence in getting
peoples attention. For example, one of the first things one might see when looking at this issue
of Cosmo is the text LOOK SEXY NOW, it is in large bold letters, right in the middle of the
cover, basically impossible to miss. A reader might think hmm sounds easy enough, let me take
a look. However, if this portion of text were to be in small letters, it wouldnt be such an
attention grabber and will most likely go unseen, causing less people to even do a double take on
the magazine.
With that sole attention grabber, people are now looking at the magazine, and since theyre
already there, they will begin to read all the other snippets of text on the cover. A few of the other
topics on the cover give very vague summaries about what the other articles in the magazine are
about, for example 1-2-3 steps to figure out your future faster. After reading this, a person
might think 3 steps to figure out my future? Where was this article when I got into college?!
Not only does the vagueness of the article title grasp the readers attention to the point where
they want to know more, but the simplicity of the idea of the article does the same. Who
wouldnt want to figure out their future in three easy steps? This idea of getting things done now
relates a lot to the Generation Z.
Generation Z is the generation of kids born in the 1990s. These kids were born into a society
when technology begins to boom, and all of a sudden, takes over their lives. Nowadays, these

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kids are used to having everything instantaneously, anything from information to pictures. As a
result of this, the seemingly quick way to figure out their future, in just three steps, attracts the
attention of this Generation Z. This same concept can be applied to why LOOK SEXY NOW is
also appealing to readers because of the fact that it is something that you can get instant
gratification for. That instant gratification is what attracts the readers attention in this portion of
the magazine.
Moreover, in this February 2015 issue of Cosmopolitan, the text placed next to Kylie Jenners
face, Hot Tips for Hot Lips + Hair + Skin + Nails really pops out to the reader. A huge reason
why this specific text popped out to me, and Im sure to others as well, is because Kylies lips
and rumored lip enhancement have been the talk of the town for a few weeks now, as well as her
new hair line, Kylie Hair Kouture. From this, readers look over to Kylies lips and might think
wow how can I get my lips and hair to look like hers, or anything along those lines. Furthermore, being the talk of the town, more readers are prone to pick up the magazine and read
the article, successfully feeding into what the cover was meant to do.
Another factor that also feeds into the attraction of the reader to the magazine is when
something is unlike the rest or is a taboo subject. In this specific magazine cover, there is one
subject that is very taboo, and that is the subject of dominatrix. The cover reads I took my
boyfriend to a dominatrix. We are used to Cosmo giving us tips on how to improve ones sex
life, but sex isnt a taboo subject, at least not anymore. Talking about dominatrix, though, seems
a bit weird to most people, or something they might not be expecting. A reason why Cosmo
might have included a piece on a dominatrix might also have sprung from the recent movie Fifty
Shades of Grey. When women associate the article to the movie, most will probably be more
willing to read the article, since the movie has been a big deal amongst women recently.

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Finally, though this magazine is directed towards women, and benefiting women,
Cosmopolitan also find a way to increase their target audience by also finding ways to benefit
men. Cosmopolitan Magazine is supposed to be a magazine for women and tips to better
themselves. However the title LOOK SEXY NOW doesnt really seem as though youd want
to look sexy for yourself, but instead for someone else. Whom is the article truly directed
toward? Probably for men who treat women like a piece of meat, who are constantly judging
women based on their looks. I can just about hear all the feminists screaming from a distance
every month when a new issue of Cosmo comes out. Cosmo Magazine is supposed to be made
for women, but really, all this magazine does is promote unrealistic standards of beauty, and give
you tips on how to please your man. These tips on how to please your man are used to expand
the target audience of the magazine, successfully incorporating not only women, but men as well.
The overall question of this paper is, do all of these techniques, joined together, create a cover
to a magazine that people want to buy? In a way, a magazine cover is the advertisement for the
magazine itself. The cover has to be interesting enough to grab the buyers attention, leading
them to buy the magazine. Techniques such as positioning, font, and color of the text in an
advertisement or magazine are used to grab the readers attention in hopes to sell the product.
This February 2015 edition of Cosmopolitan cover grabs the readers attention through the use of
complementary colors, specific positioning of text that is different from the rest, and wording of
text that gives the reader a sense of instant gratification for reading an article, along with other
techniques, successfully selling the magazine.

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