Huck Flashcards
Main image of huck front cover connotations
• woman in main image has a more candid stance, hair blowing in the wind, lack of makeup and airbrush creates a realistic representation, challenges Van Zoonen’s theory
• costume of army fatigues connotes female strength and political resistance in women - reflects bell hooks theory of feminism as a political struggle
Pull quote on front cover challenging patriarchal oppression
‘We live in a world where women are dominated by men. We are here to take control of our own future’
Masthead of front cover semiotics
Typography is in lower case. Challenges conventions and symbolises themes of rebellion in the magazine
Themes of rebellion depicted on front cover of huck
• Issue titled the ‘Defiance issue’
Main image captioned by anchor ‘Female Fighters’ - premodifying adjective and fricative/ alliteration challenges submissive female role
- reflects Guantlett’s Theory of Identity, more diverse representations in the modern age
Intertextual references on the front cover
• David Bowie, Pussy Riots (female band from Russia who actively stand up for feminism and LGBTQ+ community
G Star Raw advert
• Androgynous representations of men and women - similar style on both male and female models, not binary in gender
• costume and eyeliner is alternative, reflects interests of more niche audience
Editor’s letter intertextual reference
• intertextual reference to Catcher in the Rye resonating with misunderstood character Holden, ‘admiring the strength of the outlier instead of the safety of the pack’
• challenges popular view of the political narrative, reflects resistance to dominant ideologies in society
Editor’s letter
•Titled defiance - unconventional typography with the word separated on two lines by a hyphen
• establishes target audience ‘People who defy conventions, and expectations of others’
• Alternative political ideology referencing ‘freedom fighters’ and ‘anti-Putin punks’
• direct address ‘join us as we celebrate these voices of resistance’
Öcalan’s Angels title
• Positions female fighters as being good/holy, representing them as heroines
• Group is named after the male leader Abdullah Ocalan, reflecting that women aren’t completely separate from men, controlled by one - we still get a sense of women’s oppression through cult nature of YPG, family member in an interview described her daughter being ‘brainwashed’
Öcalan’s angels quotes about feminism
• Pull quote - ‘I wanted to let them all know that their worst nightmare had come true: their friend has been killed by a woman’ This quote emphasised by editors
• within article about women’s role: ‘the only role they are allowed to play are those of homemakers and mothers’
Paul Gilroy’s theory of postcolonialism challenged in Öcalan’s Angels article
Challenges some of the dominant stereotypes about Middle Eastern women being oppressed and submissive, actively protesting against this
Huck’s target audience
ABC1, liberal/left-wing, millennials, audiences from global backgrounds
Diverse representations in Teenage Utopia
• women wearing headscarf, range of ages
• Discusses experiences with oppression: Fatima interview about Islamaphobia ‘When you are deprived of your liberty, it’s hard’ (bell hooks)
Progressiveness of teenagers towards ethnicity and immigration in Teenage Utopia (set in Brussels, became centre of Europe’s debate on immigration after Paris attacks)
• ‘Our group of skaters is multicultural and there is no prejudice’
• challenging the fact that a lack of integration is leading to radicalised teens, placing the blame instead on the government and establishment
Title of Teenage Utopia
• perpendicular rather than horizontal across the page, unconventional
• lower case ‘utopia’ written through capitalised utopia in blue, denotes a graffiti style, connoting rebellion/ anti establishment
Images in Teenage Utopia
•Main image depicts a skatepark, graffiti connotes rebellion. Skaters with backs to camera, unconventional, rebellious
• Image of Fatima in hijab - direct address to camera accusatory, representation - not sexualised, Guantlett
Go Pro advert
• traditional representation of gender, man is strong completing surfing (extreme sport) - Van Zoonen body is a spectacle
• yet model is from an ethnically diverse background, reinforced Huck’s alternative nature
Apply Butler’s theory of gender performativity to Beyond Binary Jacob Tobia
• Jacob Tobia, ‘genderqueer’ describes in interview ‘adopting more traditionally masculine mannerisms and an outer appearance just to have approving nods’
• main image of Jacob Tobia contains female iconography of bright makeup, earrings, lace as well as male attributes like facial hair
Apply Guantlett’s theory of identity to Beyond Binary
Quote at the top of the article: ‘Gender looks boring in just pink and blue. These people push beyond the binary’ - gender is a spectrum with a range of diverse identities, challenges mainstream stereotypes
Apply bell hooks’ theory to Arabia Felix in Beyond Binary
Treatment of gender related closely to ethnicity and religion:
• Arabia Felix is a gay drag queen, difficult in Kuwait due to strict and discriminatory laws
• Pull quote ‘In some ways I feel lucky. If I were born in Saudi Arabia, the death penalty would be looming’
Main image of Arabia Felix
• features bold eyeliner and lipstick (Butler)
• gesture code of hand wiping the and serious facial expression depicts struggle surrounding gender
Huck statistics
• £6 per copy, more justifiable as a new issue released every two months
• Approximately 60,000 print readers each month
Huck’s ’quality branding’
• printed on thick, quality paper
• a magazine with status amongst fans of photography and journalism. Often bought and displayed as such in coffee tables
• collectible nature reinforced as back issues can be purchased on the huck website
Huck house style
• simple design, small copy, large images - reflects magazine’s focus on photography
• This branding consistent on digitally convergent platforms - e.g on website, social media
Huck’s online presence (necessary to stay relevant
• Huck has a page on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram - audience 25+
• online content is synergetic to the magazine, extends the stories. e.g Huck’s YouTube offered a short film ‘Teenage Utopia: Skating Through The Lockdown’
TCO diversifying into different markets
• have diversified into documentary film making and use YouTube to feature their work to target fans of video-based journalism
• successful, ‘How To Create Your Own Animaged GIF’ tutorial got 270k views
• interactive, active participation (Henry Jenkins)
TCO horizontal integration Hesmondhalgh
• Runs its own advertising and marketing agency - has created marketing for big companies that align with their brand identity: e.g Levi’s Skate, Squarespace: Creative Resilience
• building connections with brands, aiming to guarantee adverts to be placed in huck
TCO London vertically integrated
Has its own printing press, maximising profits, allowing them to diversify into printing books, posters, leaflets and other products for other countries
TCO making themselves more attractive by offering a range of artistic services
TCO London owns a gallery space 71A in London - rented out to cultural photographers, has a cinema for exhibitions
Apply Curran and Seaton’s Theory of power and profit to Huck
• TCO work with a global network of freelance photographers, which allows TCO to create content which is reflective of a range of cultures
Apply Henry Jenkin’s theory of fandom to Huck
• audience can pitch ideas on the huck magazine website - audience participation
How does is Huck distributed through Zinio
• Zinio distributes over 6000 magazines with a global readership of 10 million
• Zinio suggests magazines to audiences who have read similar (Huck recommended to new audiences)
• Zinio allows audiences to buy one issue at a time for those who want to try Huck before committing to a 12 month subscription - unusual, attracts new audience
How is Huck promoted to new audiences through Stack
• Stack is a magazine subscription service, which sends a random selection of niche independent magazines monthly
