Magazine Analysis

EllieTwaites

o The editor uses a large picture of both Cheryl Cole and Victoria Beckham. Both of these are two very high celebrities, this large image also gives an indication to what the magazine is about. The picture of both women with arms around each other shows a close friendship, this also makes the headline stand out ‘CHERYL & VICTORIA ‘THERES NO FUED – VICTORIA’S AN AMAZING WOMAN’ this is also in capitals to show the bond they share.

o Underneath the headline a pink box stating the pair’s friendship, the colour pink could be used because both of them are female and the main story is feminine.

o At the top of the magazine there are 2 free magazines included inside this is to encourage people to buy the magazine.

o Towards the bottom of the magazine there are only 2 pictures this shows that there are three main stories.

o The editor uses coloured boxes with a tiny bit of information in, this is to show the readers what the story is about.

o ‘Secret Hollywood wedding exclusive’ this is in a purple box with white writing and the groom is wearing a purple tie and the bride is wearing white.

o The first thing people see is the main image which is, Peter Andre. Straight away, many people know there will be a big article written on him and so if people like him, they will automatically buy the magazine to know more about him and what the situation is.

o At the side of the image is a caption saying 'my side of the story - only in heat', the editor of the magazine heat is telling the reader that this is the only place to find a Peter Andre interview and to hear his side of the story in his recent break-up. Also ALL is underlined so this means that the celebrity reveals everything.

o Secondly is the masthead HEAT. This is a name people know well because the magazine is very popular so people tend to buy this magazine because there are many interesting stories and topics inside.

o However if the people have brought heat magazine before they know what the magazine is like and how the editor uses different devices to enhance on the readers.

o At the top of the magazine, there are the sub-stories, in this case, 'posh gets scarily skinny again!' and 'kerry katona has no friends'. This is further information of which is to come inside the magazine.

o The editor of this magazine uses many different pictures above.

o This magazine is mainly aimed at people in there teens, or young adults, and specifically aimed at females. It shows a few of the celebrities for example Victoria Beckham,Charlotte Church and Jordan.

o The most recognised one which stands out above all the others, is Victoria Beckham, and this is shown by the way the editor has made her picture bigger, and more dominant over the rest.

o In addition to this, the tag line to her story, 'New baby on the way!', this headline to Victoria's story is much bolder in comparison to the others, and stands out far more than everything else. This is making it very clear that the main story of this issue of the magazine is focusing on Victoria Beckham's pregnancy.

o At the top of the magazine there are 2 more stories which are both about children!

o This magazine is aimed at women because most main stories are about pregnancy or babies.

o Heat is a very popular magazine, the editor of heat uses a range of different colours to catch the readers attention.

o It is a gossip and celebrity magazine that is aimed at young to middle aged women. Every issue of Heat magazine follows the same codes and conventions and each issue is similar in some way or another.

o However there are different types of stories about all different celebrities.

o Peaches' is the main headline for this magazine and her story is about marriage,.

o Marriage is an important moment in a woman's life. The headline reads a quote said by Peaches', "Marriage isn't forever", which some women believe and some women don't. Considering Peaches' is a young woman, the quote could not be much of an concern for older women as they would think that she shouldn't say this when she has many years ahead.

o The colours of the cover are very bright, using block colours to easily capture the eyes of the target audience.

o The size of the text also draws attention. Peaches' headline has the biggest size this is because it is the main story.

o There are two different headlines at the top on one it says see the pics inside this makes the reader want to buy the magazine to look at what pictures are inside.

o Ok magazine is a popular magazine in the UK. In many different issues every week and in some you get 3 mags for the price of one.

o The cover star of the magazine, Kerry Katona, is dominating the majority of the front cover, with the headline, ‘my amazing new body’.

o This headline is effective because it is showing something new, like a transformation. As typically when something like this is portrayed, Katona is posing in a fashion where she is showing off her new body to the max, and the tight dress she is in shows this even more.

o The headline underneath, still about Katona, reads, ‘I would risk my life for more surgery’. This headline shocks the audience and makes them want to buy the magazine so that they can find out more. A box has also been used in between these two headlines saying that the story is ‘exclusive’, suggesting that this is the only place that this story can be heard or read.

o Around the edges of the magazine there are different headlines with different colour boxes, in one case there is a red box which matches ferns red dress.

o The editor of 'Vibe' magazine the masthead infront of the model as appose to behind, this is to ensure the name is in full view of the audience and to catch the readers attention more clearly.

o The masthead is also placed central to the magazine cover and is bold and bright, contrasting against the black and white theme of the main image, ensuring that it stands out from all other conventions.

o The main image of T.I is large, covering a large percentage of the cover, and is shot straight on in a close up, guaranteeing all facial expressions are clearly seen.

o The strong eye-contact and narrow eyes makes T.I look in power and, in turn make the audience feel intimidated. This connects well with the feel of the magazine and also T.I's image; a dominant male character throughout music.

o The editor of the magazine sticks to 3 colours throughout the front cover. This is to create an effect on the audience.

o The editor of the magazine XXL concentrates strictly on music, the audience buy the magazine, for its information on artists, album releases, top 20 in the charts, interviews with the artists.

o The main image is of the famous rapper Eminem, who is statistically in the top 5 most successful and popular rappers of all time. Its illustrating how XXL use this the most popular artists such as Eminem to reel in their readers.

o Him with his top off and showing all his tattoos shows he is a big rapper in the music industry and he is showing a confident pose.

o By using a dominant character in the hip hop culture, who he has influenced many, this will help their magazine to become more popular and reel in a bigger audience if they like the artist.

o The editor of this magazine uses only 4 colours on this cover! This is too make the front cover neat and it follows a colour scheme.

o The magazine uses the logo to distinguish itself amongst other magazines, as well as an iconic and memorable logo.

o Each different part of the magazine like the sub-headings, heading and pictures are cleverly disguised and separate to create a well-balanced and easily eye-catching cover.

o Both of the men on the magazine are standing back to back wearing the same outfit and have the same hairstyle this shows they are part of a band and share a close friendship

o On the left hand side going down the side of the magazine there are mini subheadings showing what is inside of the magazine this is almost like a mini contents page.

o The editor of this magazine uses a colour scheme of only 3 colours they have chosen black and a bright pink on a white background.

o The bright pink highlights the important bits on the front cover of this magazine.

o I think that the pink and black work very well together because they are both contrasting colours. They also work well against the white background as they stand out and the pink is bright and catches the readers attention.

o The sub headings around the edges of the front cover are the main story’s in this magazine and the pink highlights which bits are vital.

o The image of the artist Katy Perry is in the centre of the magazine and dominates the front cover.

o The bright pink attracts females to the magazine and also fans of Katy Perry with this large image.

o The editor of the magazine NME uses bright contrasting colours this is to catch the readers attention.

o I think the use of the royal blue and bright pink colours look really catchy and both connect with each other.

o I also like how the background is quite a dull colour but the use of bright colours makes it noticeable as attention is drawn to the colours.

o The artist Rihanna is doing a pose which dominates the front cover of this magazine, she is striking a pose which shows she has attitude.

o Down the side of the page on the left hand side there is a variety of different artists and this catches the audience because of the bright heading above it.

o The editor of this magazine ‘Blender’ only sticks to a colour scheme consisting of only 32 colours black and a bright blue on a white background

o Using a white background makes the magazine cover look empty and plain.

o Using a bright colour makes the important bits In the headlines stand out.

o The overall appearance of the magazine looks to be very clean cut and organised, using a simple font for the masthead and cover lines.

o Below the release date is the Blender website address, which is advertising that magazine’s website in case the audience want to find out more about the magazine once they’ve read it.

• The masthead isn’t fully visible to the audience as the main front cover picture is covering a section of it; this shows a confidence from the Blender publishers as they are assured that their magazine is so established that people will know what the magazine is.

• Using a large image of the artist in the centre of the page, this shows that both her songs are good and also that the main story is about her.

o The editor of the magazine ‘vibe’ uses a large picture of the artist Drake to dominate the front cover.

o The cover of Vibe magazine has been based on a main colour being yellow. The full bleed image has been placed above the masthead, this makes the viewer see the artist before the masthead which can persuade the consumer into buying the magazine.

o There are a total of 4 coverlines placed on this magazine. Vibe has placed the more popular article towards the top of the magazine and the less important below, this makes the reader begin off from the face of Drake, then move onto reading the masthead, perhaps read the eyebrows too and gradually move down the magazine reading coverlines.

o The barcode has been placed on the bottom corner of the magazine along with the details of the magazine such as its online website.

o On the magazine cover the colour yellow stands out above everything this is used to catch the readers eye and important words in sub headings are highlighted in a bright yellow.

o The editor of this magazine uses a bright green to highlight the most important things that are inside the magazine.

o By having a famous artist on the front will persuade people to buy it because if they see a well known person they want to no why hes on the front, this makes you want to read on.

o The pose Chris Brown is doing is leaning against a wall and having his hat slanted, this shows the artist has attitude and shows that the main article is about him

o Having Chris in front of the title makes him stand. out the texts are various with different colours. some of the text is in italics.

o Looking at the magazine name this has to be visible because people who purchase the vibe magazine every month or when ever it comes out wont to be able to notice it on the shelf immediately.

o The colours of the front cover are pale sticking to the theme of Pale blue, black, white and a pale red-ish/pink.

o The fonts all fit well in together and the use of colours with them complement each other and make certain articles stick out. The title of the magazine ‘ROLLING STONE’ is in capitals, is in a bigger font then the rest of the text on the cover and is placed at the top it is in a pale blue colour which makes it stand out but also goes with the theme.

o There is not much text on the cover but the text they do use work well. Down the left hand side of the cover there are a few article titles which are all placed in black and use the same font style.

o They use one article title that is made bigger then the other article titles and put in the same colour as the magazine title pale blue and in capitals ‘AMY WINEHOUSE’ this makes it stand out more and shows that this is one of the main features within the magazine.

o They use one splash at the top right hand corner of the cover to give extra information and is put in a totally different font and colour from the rest of the font and text on the cover.

o Rolling Stone always features their trademark italic masthead where only the colour differs in each issue.

o The cover also generally features an engaging centre-image, here it being rap artist Lil Wayne. The white background allows for the masthead and centre-image to appear more illuminated, which engages readers more efficiently.

o As the magazine’s most prominent feature is the music the cover story and apparent main article is based on Lil Wayne and the story ‘Lil Wayne Goes Rock’. This cover line is followed by an anchoring tagline ‘Rap’s Genius Changes His Game’.

o Lil wayne is the only image on this magazine cover and him looking down with all his tattoos showing tells the audience that the artist is a well known rapper in the music industry.

o Each of the cover stories that are separated by a yellow rectangular piece of graphic are written in a bold, white font to stand out.

o Also the date line, price, issue no. and website address that appear above the masthead are faded and very hard to see.