Posted by Launching in October of 1984, Your Commodore was dedicated to the Commodore series of computers. Commodore was a leader in the Personal Computer industry at this point, and 1982 saw the release of the Commodore 64. This computer was the best-selling computer model of all time, helping to get more average and middle-class people. The magazine presents the Commodore as a multipurpose tool for entertainment, discussing how to make games and music, how to program your own software, and more.
In the Magazine Your Commodore, both text and image are used to explain and represent the commodore system. The text is colloquial, making use of jokes and language befitting of a regular conversation. A good example is Page 3, where the magazine states that its editor must have sacrificed his enjoyment to write the magazine’s introduction. The most formal moments are primarily explanations of technical concepts, but the language used is comprehensible to the average person. This type of voice can be seen in Relevant Files (Page 70) to explain how to understand file locations, and Introducing Modems (Page 48) to explain how Modems work. The tone is best described as between an entertainer and a friend. The magazine is trying to entertain the reader, while simultaneously building a rapport with them.
Images are used commonly, with a mixture of graphics and photography. Pictures are primarily used to give visual aid. They provide on-topic imagery, such as a photo of women playing various instruments in the section Making Music (Page 50), or an image of race cars during the explanation of the racing game Track King (Pages 54-55). Almost all of these are in black and white. Graphics are primarily used for more whimsical purposes, being a lot more for the purpose of clear comedy. In The Basic Facts, PT. 1 (Pages 14-16), the text is broken up with small, red cartoon characters that seems to personify the computer and magazine. They visually express confusion, fatigue, and pride in their various artworks.
The layout for the magazine wishes to be eye-catching, with the images made large and prominent in comparison to the text. The text is small and densely packed in comparison to the images, causing the eye to be drawn to the eye second. This can be seen with Software Spotlight (Page 30-39), where the paragraphs being dotted with video game covers seems done to entice someone who took only a passing glance at the page, and make them want to read for longer.
The target audience of the magazine are people who don’t consider themselves incredibly tech savvy, but want to be more educated on Commodore computers and related topics in that field. The magazine itself states that, while mentioning the average home computer user, that they “accept that Your Commodore readers will be well above ‘average”. They are also decently interested in video games and entertainment media.
Cultural History of the Internet 