• Masthead• Main image• Cover lines• Captions• Cover story• Price• Bar code• Consistent house style• Layout to achieve route of the

eye• Sans serif font• Mid shot • Cover line backgrounds • Stand first

Images & Cover lines

Comparing route of the eyeThe route of the eye for both magazines are the same which shows that my magazine is conventional for my target audience and the genre of my magazine- Pop. The route of the eye follows across the masthead, diagonally down to the bottom right hand side and across the poster column which is a simple route of the eye for my target audience but it also allows them to take in all of the content. The route of the eye reaches across the masthead which allows the audience to understand which magazine it is. It then runs down the centre of the magazine allowing the reader to read the cover lines etc. and analyse the images shown. And finally it covers the lower magazine where the final contents of the magazine- posters are shown.

Comparing the Captions To the left is my fashion cover line and the fashion cover line from Top of the Pops. Both are composed in the same place on the magazine cover which shows that this cover line is conventional for a Pop magazine because it appeals to my target audience and target gender. The items shown on the background are for my magazine- winter clothing as this is a December issue, where as on Top of the Pops this is a summer issue which therefore changes the contents of the magazine slightly. This is portrayed through the use of winter and darker colours contrasting to the bright, light colours used for Top of the Pops.

Additionally, below are the poster cover lines for the

magazines. These are both positioned in the same place on

the magazines too, to ensure a conventional route of the

eye. These are like a ‘bonus’ so the reader appreciates

noticing the ‘posters’ at the end of analysing the magazine

cover. They are laid out so that the cover line is bold to

catch the eye of the reader, and the poster images are

captioned with who the artist is so that the ‘fans’ of these

pop stars notice that they are inside the magazine which

would appeal to them to buy it.

The main images are not similar, because of the way the star is composed. My main image is a mid shot, face on and the use of Mise En Scene consist of a wooden heart, a black skirt, a white vest top and make-up that harmonises with the house style colours. Whereas Top of the pops have used a mid shot, similar to mine, but ‘Cher’ is standing side ways. There is no Mise En scene used such as props but she has her hands held to her head which connotes importance and authority and the make-up used also harmonises with the house style of this particular Top of the Pops issue. (Although the red lipstick does not).My main image reflects similarities from the Top of the Pops

main image, but in other ways it does not, such as the way

they are positioned in the image. The background of the

image is also different, Top of the Pops sports a white

background, harmonising well with the use of white text

whereas I have kept the background from the original

image. Additionally, I have composed my image so that the

cover story will fit into the heart shape that the star is

holding which shows how I have tried to compose my

image to fit the magazine layout. I have also piled my pop

stars hair on top of her head in a beehive style which

allows all of the attention to focus on the heart, rather than

having her hair falling down her shoulders, which would

take away the main focus from the heart. I though this was

important because the cover story is the key feature on a

cover page and therefore it needs to be seen almost

immediately and it needs to be very visible being the

centre of attention on the cover page. Additionally, I have used clothing that will harmonise well with the colours used on the front cover. The black and white clothing mirror the black and white text that I have used on the cover which makes the magazine look more professional as all the colours harmonise well. The use of the black and white clothing also ensure that the attention is not taking away attention and focus from the main cover lines and cover story. If the star was wearing brighter colours, she would dominate the page too much and it would therefore not look as effective for example; my first main image used for my front cover. There was too much colour and her clothes were too bright which made her dominate the page.

Main Image