https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ogy2Y89keyh-gc1Z41Kig9OKOkjQrv0U
According to the “About Guernica” page, Guernica is an online “non-profit magazine focused on the intersection of arts and politics”. This dynamic multimodal magazine publishes creative writing, journalistic pieces, art, photography, and many more— they are truly an arts magazine. A visual rhetorical analysis of Guernica shows an inviting homepage and a strong, clear identity.
Guernica has a very inviting homepage. The first thing I noticed is the tall, slender, bolded, all-capped title of the magazine followed by their tagline above the top navigation bar. The modern font suggests the forward-thinking work that they publish. Top navigation has the content categories, making it easier for the viewer to access what they want to read specifically. One thing that’s quite distracting is the advertisement banner below the top nav but above the latest post. It shouldn’t be the first image viewers see, but it makes sense in the context of this nonprofit magazine: they need funding. Although, I do think the ad should either go on the sides or at the bottom of the page.
After perusing the homepage, I estimated that Guernica’s ideal audience is educated and worldly 25 to 50-year olds who care about art and global sociopolitical issues. The magazine’s tagline, “15 years of global art & politics”, alluded to the global focus and audience. After I scrolled down to the bottom of the homepage and clicked the “ADVERTISE” button, on the page, Guernica actually provides demographic data on their readers from a 2010 survey to provide advertisers a baseline when deciding on ads to put out on the website. My estimation was pretty close! According to the data, Guernica’s readers range in age, are college educated, support indie brands, and are socially conscious.
Going back to the homepage, as I scroll down, I see all of Guernica’s most recent posts with the author, categories, and tags clearly labeled. Spatially, these posts are positioned in various ways from alternating alignments to all left-aligned. The photos accompanying these posts are abstract, encouraging viewers to click on them to see what the posts are about. This all guides the eye, keeping the homepage interesting, exciting, and inviting, promoting gestural interaction.
The bottom navigation section houses all of Guernica’s organizational information— things not necessarily interesting to the average reader (except for the “About” page) hence its placement at the bottom of the page. The two red “DONATE” buttons, one above the top navigation and one on the bottom, emphasizes that Guernica is a nonprofit and implores readers to invest in this publication.
On the “About Guernica” page, they explicitly state that they publish work that has “incisive ideas and necessary questions . . . exploring identity, conflict, culture, justice, science, and beyond.” They also list acclaimed writers that they’ve published like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Alexander Chee, which adds to Guernica’s credibility and makes the reader feel secure that this is a legitimate publication. When scrolling through the work they’ve published, it’s extremely clear that they are dedicated to the purpose and values that they’ve expressed in the “About Guernica” page, demonstrating professionalism and consistency.
After clicking “What About Your Grandmother, Jeanine?” by Aya de Leon, I noticed that the categories, date, large title, premise, and author are visibly displayed with a large attributed feature photo. Scrolling, I like that the text took up the entire screen, beseeching the reader to solely focus on the text instead of them being distracted by cluttered side navigation bars and ads like in the Paris Review. Multiple hyperlinks interspersed in the text shows that Guernica isn’t selfish with views and wants to genuinely share ideas and thoughts, a value they stated in their “About Guernica” page. Like the “DONATE” buttons, the social media links are at the beginning and end of the posts, encouraging readers to share the work and the ideas. According to the “About Guernica” page, they support writers at “every stage of their career” so I love that they include a small author bio and their social media to encourage readers to support the writers and artists. Below that, there’s a “Read Next” section, showing several posts. After clicking “Alexandria Peary: Declined”, I noticed that the post was published six years ago! The title “Read Next” implies that the posts in the section is in chronological order and that’s not the case, so instead, the title of the section should be “You Might Also Like” since these posts are recommendations dealing with similar subject matter. The comment section below encourages readers to spark conversation about the above piece.
Scrolling up to click the “MORE…” button in the top navigation bar, an “Explore” page loads with links to more work based on genre (i.e. “fiction”), format (i.e. “audio”), and topic (i.e. “race”). Guernica has dedicated sections to articles with an audio component and a video. I clicked the “The Empty City”, and then started the audio where someone read the poem and I could follow along, reading the poem below. In “SIMA Docs: Marie’s Dictionary”, the video played on the website and a short description was underneath it, combining the visual, aural, and linguistic modes.
The modes complement each other and when used effectively, it engages with the reader’s senses and enhances their experience. Guernica is an amazing online arts magazine, that utilizes all five modes remarkably, displaying an inviting homepage and a strong, clear identity.
Works Cited
“About Guernica.” Guernica, https://www.guernicamag.com/about/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.
“Advertise.” Guernica, https://www.guernicamag.com/about/advertise/, Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.
“Audio.” Guernica, https://www.guernicamag.com/format/audio/, Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.
Bazzett, Michael. “The Empty City.” Guernica, 10 Jan. 2020, https://www.guernicamag.com/the-empty-city/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.
de Leon, Aya. “What About Your Grandmother, Jeanine?” Guernica, 12 Feb. 2020, https://www.guernicamag.com/what-about-your-grandmother-jeanine/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.
“Explore.” Guernica, https://www.guernicamag.com/explore/, Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.
Guernica. 2020, https://www.guernicamag.com/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.
Tattoli, Chantel. “How to Leave Your Lover with Lemons.” the Paris Review, 13 Feb. 2020, https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/02/13/how-to-leave-your-lover-with-lemons/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.
Peary, Alexandria. “Alexandria Peary: Declined.” Guernica, 23 Jun. 2014, https://www.guernicamag.com/alexandria-peary-declined/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.
“Video.” Guernica, https://www.guernicamag.com/format/video/, Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.
Wang, Mary. “SIMA Docs: Marie’s Dictionary.” Guernica, 6 Sep. 2019, https://www.guernicamag.com/sima-docs-maries-dictionary/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.