Front Cover Analysis

Masthead: The font is a sans serif font, and it is quite regular, and informal. The letters are placed a bit apart, and they have a “black fade into red” colour. The red and black colour is associated with rocky, kind of rough men. The magazine name is also associated to music.

Cover line:The cover line is catchy and makes you want to read more. Uses words such as “died” to make the article seem interesting. Also that “Eminem comes clean” which makes us believe that this is original news, that has not been published before

Layout:The layout is generally based on the colours red, grey and black. Its is a “clean” layout, and the fonts are used more than one place.

Main image:The main image is taken in a studio, and it is of a very famous rapper called Eminem. Its is a medium shot. He is looking straight into the camera, and he is positioned to look though, and “hard-core”. He kind of pulls people into the image, and is supposed to make young boys want to be as cool and though as him.

Freebie:This makes the audience feel like they have gained something by purchasing the magazine. They get to be a part of something in the magazine, and decide something. It also makes the magazine stand out form the other magazines which may not offer a quiz like that.Language:

The use of loads of artist names is usedto reach out to more buyers, which might buy the magazine if they see an artist they like. They have also used words such as “hottest”, “best” and “Vicodin. Valium. Methadone.”. These are strong words, which catches your attention easily.

Symbols:The cross around Eminem`s neck is symbolic to show his beliefs. Also his tattoos being very visible and showing of his personality and meanings. Also his very strong facial expression can be a symbol of his rough past, and also his attitude.

Masthead:The font used is quite bold, and stands out because the black font is in contrast to the white background.

Cover line:The cover line is catchy and it is linked to the main image, and the article about Katy Perry inside the magazine. It makes the audience want to buy it to read about Katy Perry`s secrets that she is revealing.

Main image:The main image is a medium shot of the celebrity Katy Perry. She is showing a lot of skin, and she is also positioned to bring out her curves, and body figure. This is the male gaze, and it is supposed to make the image interact with the audience. She is looking straight at the camera as well, to kind of drag the audience to buy the magazine. Everything about the image is feminine; her hand, hair, “bikini”, bow, makeup and body. This is a typical “Blender”-cover. They use loads of famous women dressed in sexy clothing.

Layout:The colours used on the cover is black, bright pink and white. The pink is a typically girly colour, and it is supposed to underline the femininity about the main image. It also stands out, and may drag the audience attention to this particular cover.

Freebie:The list of 186 “must-have songs” is something that make you feel like you have gained something important by buying the magazine. “Must-have” is used to make you feel like you are missing out on something if you don’t buy the magazine.

Language:There are words such as “Porn!”, Weezer” and “Kiss `n` tell” which makes it a teenage magazine, with informal language. There are loads of “Buzz” words, which makes the audience feel involved in the magazine, because they hear the gossip first.

Masthead:The font is really simple, and really clean. It is a red font which makes it stand out, and with a white stroke around it.

Cover line:The cover line is catchy and makes the reader feel involved and getting to know the inside of Billie Joe`s head. The audience feel like they are going to read something news breaking.

Layout:The main colours on this front cover is blue, red, white, yellow and black. This is quite conventional colours for a music magazine. There is a very clean layout, and they have used the fonts several different places.

Main image:The main image is a studiopicture, of a celebrity called Billie Joe. He is looking quite “punkish”, with his tattoos showing and his crazy hairstyle. It is a medium close-up. He is staring into the camera lens to interact with theaudience.

Language:The magazine cover contains buzz wordssuch as “exclusive”, “dark place” and “inside the mind of”. All these sub-headings makes the audience want to buyand read the magazine. The language is quite unofficial, and it contains a quoteas well. The quote is very much somethingthat makes the audience feel like they`reinvolved in the magazine because they “know” what Billie Joe says and wherehis lyrics for the Greenday songs come from.

Plug:The plug makes you feel like you haveto buy the magazine to become happy. They offer you 49 ways to become happy, and that is something that makes the the audience interested, because every-body wants to be happy. Also the freebieIs related to music and what the wholemagazine is all about when they tell youwhere the free gigs will be.

Contents Page Analysis

Main image:The main image is a long shot of two guys looking directly into the camera, and interacting with the audience. The mise-en-scene in the picture indicates that this is a hip hop magazine. It is a studio shot, with both front and back lighting.

Layout:The colours used in this contents page is mainly yellow, black and pink. The fonts are simple and clean which makes the layoutsimple and clean as well. The only thing thatstands out is the number 48 and 24 which is written in a “pop-font”.

Date:The date and the magazines website is written on the bottom of the page.

Features:The features is written on theright hand side. This stands outfrom the rest of the text. This is alsothe most important thing on thecontents page. There are subheadingsfollowed by a little description.

Second picture:The second picture is a yellow picture which gives the layout a very good look because it matches the font colour.

Language:The language is quite “catchy” and itmakes the audience want to read the articles. Using phrases such as: “When parties goes wrong”, “Youth of today” and “The `true’ dance history”. This makes it seem like a magazine written for young adults.

Main image:The main image is a long shot of Katy Perry holding a huge mushroom. She is looking shocked and straight into the camera. She is placed in the centre of the image. The is dressed in a very short and feminine dress, and she represents a very feminine figure. This is also the male gaze when she shows skin, shoulders, neck and knees.

Masthead:The masthead is written in a bold font and it is placed behind the main image. It stands out because it is in contrast to the white background.

Features:The features are written down on the right hand side, and they have a bold subheading with a short description under.

Date:The date is written just belowthe masthead, in a thin cleanfont, which contrasts to the huge bold masthead.

Quote:Down on the bottom left there is a quote from Katy Perry, who is in the picture. This makes the audience feel like they are reading and listening to what Katy Perry says, and they feel included in the magazine. This makes the audience curious of the rest of the article.

Internet page:The magazines website, andpage number is written down on thebottom right.

Masthead:The masthead is written in a simple and pretty bold font. It is written in black and over three lines. This makes the masthead a little bit different from all the others, and this is something that might be easier to remember. The font is also big, and easy to read. The way it is divided into three lines gives the magazine a edgy look.

Main image:This is a studio medium shot of a famous character called Kayne West. He looks directly into the camera lens and this makes him interact with the audience. He has got his hands in his pockets, which shows that he is a though rapper. The image is also black and white. His facial expression is also to underline the fact that he is a though guy.

Layout:The contents page has got a clan, and simple layout. The huge V behind the character stands for “Vibe” which is the name of the magazine. This is a standard layout for Vibe magazine, and they always use the same fonts, and places the objects and text this way in every issue. Also the masthead is standard for “Vibe” Magazine.

Colour Scheme:The colours used on this page are mainly in a grey tone, with just the read heart which stands out.

Symbols:The red heart stands out in the main image, and it may symbolise love or life. Or because of the female hand around it it may symbolise falling for someone, or having your heart broken.

Double Page Spread Analysis

Main image:This is a medium close-up of Lady Gaga edited to be in a grey tone. It represents the male gaze because she is not wearing clothes at all, just chains. The chains is a really masculine thing, that contrasts to her very feminine pose. She is covering her breasts just with her hands. She looks directly into the camera and catches the audiences attention.

Title:The title is “Lady Gaga” written in two very contrasting fonts. The fist font is really feminine, kind of handwritten whilst “Gaga” is written in capital letters and in a simple font. This is very contrasting. It fits Lady Gaga’s image of being very feminine but still crazy, and different.

Article:The article is written out in three identical columns. It has one dropped cap, S, that stands out from the rest of the article, which may indicate that the article is changing. The whole text is covered by a huge capital L that stands for Lady Gaga. The L is in a bight red colour, and catches the audiences attention straight away. The red colour is in contrast to the rest of the double page, which is mainly black, white and grey. The red colour is also the same as in the Q-magazine logo.

Layout:The double page spread has got a clean and minimalistic look. There are only two or three different fonts, and few different colours. The page is divided in the centre and the left bit is just the main image. The article occupies the entire right side. This layout is a standard layout template.

Logo:The magazine logo is places next to the page number, down in the bottom right. This is standard for all the pages in Q-magazine.

Main image:The main image is a studio image of band. The image is black and white with quite strong shadows. It has obviously been photo shopped. It is a long shot that they have cropped. The image is taken with the thought in mind that there is supposed to be an article around the characters. The characters are more or less places in order of their height, and it goes from upper right, to bottom left. The characters are also showing their instruments in the picture which makes the audience relate them to music. The band is looking directly into the camera, and they are interacting with the reader.

Date:The date and magazine issue number is placed bottom right and bottom left. It is written in a small clean font.

Title:The title is written in capital letters and the font is quite bold. The letters are placed close to each other. The font is black and in contrast to the white background.

Article:The article is written in six columns which is coordinated with the main image. The heads of the characters is each places in a column. Behind the black front which the article is written in, there is a white background. This makes the article easy to read.

Layout:The layout of this double page spread is pretty clean and minimalistic. The main colours used is black, white, grey and orange. The image is covering both the two pages, and the article is as well. This makes the double page look more holistic. The page is also divided into six columns horizontally, and three columns vertically. The three columns vertically is the first where the background is just white with text over, the second one where all the characters heads and text are placed, and the last one is where the quote is and the characters lower-body.

Main image:The main image is a medium shot of a male character. He is looking directly into the camera, to draw the audiences attention to the page. He looks to be a bit of a rebel with all his tattoos showing and his ear pierced. The magazine this is published in is Kerrang, which is a pop-rock magazine.

Layout:The page layout is clean and easy to read. The image is placed on the left hand side, and the character is places in the foreground. The text is divided into three columns with subheadings. The heading stands out and is written in bright pink and bold white, and it is written in capital letters. This draws our attention to words like “ABSOLUTELY”, which is a buzz word. The frame is also standing out and gives the audience a feeling of fame and glam, because the frame is like the lights on the mirrors in celebrity dressing rooms. The colours used is mainly pink, grey, black and white.

Article:The article is written in black which is easy to read on the grey background. The article is also written like an interview and there are question, then answer, question, answer, all the way through. This is very typical magazines like Kerrang. The question is written with a white background, so it is easy to separate it from the answers. The article has got a dropped cap at the beginning.

Website:The website for Kerrang magazine is written in the section header. The red word “News” written in capital letters makes the audience aware of it.

Page number:The magazine name and page number is written in the bottom right and left corners.

Similarities

• Studio image• Characters looking directly into the camera• Mostly medium/ medium close ups• Clean layout• Page number and website• Few colours • Celebrities and famous people• Buzz words