In this essay I intend to look at two magazine covers aimed at the adult female market one magazine, Marie Claire, is aimed at heterosexual females the other, Diva, at lesbian females. Now in order to make that simplistic statement I have already used semiotic information, for Diva the sub title "For the lesbian in you" was enough to give me a pointer, sorry signifier, in the right direction. For Marie Claire I relied upon my wife.

The semiotic analysis I shall offer, will not include certain items which I have predetermined to be conventional, unless they subvert that convention in order to make a point. These items are the magazine titling, (not the name) the bar coding and the contents list, or titillations, on the front cover. I fully realise that there is a whole world of semiotic information contained therein but for the purposes of this...