Youth magazine cover design in a democratic South Africa: an analysis of SL and Y-Magazine between 1994 and 2008.

Abstract

Abstract This study will analyse the images created on the front covers of youth magazines to determine the manner in which visual culture in South Africa has been shaped by societal changes between 1994 and 2008. The country’s foremost youth publications will be examined: namely “Student Life” (SL) and Y-Magazine. SL was established amidst the changing socio-political milieu of 1994. YMagazine, its sister publication, which began in 1998, was borne out of the need to connect with an urban black youth culture. The advent of democracy has allowed for identities to be reconfigured from the rigid apartheid systems of racial classification. As new possibilities to break the social boundaries of the past have arisen, this study aims to chart the representations and messages that the relevant magazine covers disseminate regarding various identity issues such as race, class, gender and sexuality.