Comparing MastheadsOn the Vibe magazine front cover, we can see that the model’s head is on top of the magazine name. My magazine’s mast head is not as big as Vibe’s and my model’s head does not overlap the magazine name. The word ‘Vibe’ sort of blends into the background and is not as evident. However my magazine name is evident and really stands out of the page as it is surrounded by a red neon glow. The Vibe cover does not have a puff but has sell lines instead. It is like Vibe are trying to cram as many sell lines into one space as possible. My sell lines are well spaced out. On my masthead, I have information about the issue (date/number)

PosesThere is nothing complex about the way my model is posing. She is just standing there directly addressing the audience. This makes her seem sophisticated and that she has a quiet, calm nature. On the Vibe magazine, Jackson looks very loud as she consumes the whole page, showing as much of herself as she can. The type of framing I used was medium shot so that the cover would reveal only what is important. On the Vibe cover, Jackson looks very seductive and provocative as she has a hand in the jeans and she wears a tight, revealing vest. My model looks humble and peaceful as she stands there with a smile on her face.

Copy on the front coverThe sell lines in my front cover are spaced out well giving a chance for the reader to read the sell lines individually. The Source front cover has most of the text on one side of the page. This can be a good and bad thing. Good in the sense that the reader can read all the text all together in one go but bad that it looks cramped and disorganised. Both front covers have boxes around the sell lines which make the text more visible. However this is not a convention seen regularly on front covers as readers may find it obstructive. The name of the artist and cover story sell line are easy to identify as the largest and eye catching parts of the pages (excluding the magazine name). Both magazine covers have a puff: “everything and anything you’ve wanted to know about…” for my magazine and “the bible of hip hop music, culture & politics” for the Source front cover. One of the most noticeable things about the copy of the front cover is that the name of the artist is one of the most biggest things on the page. This immediately attracts the audiences’ attention as the cover line contains the artists name and an image of the artist is present.

Masthead Magazine name

Issue details

Sell lines

Key image

Barcode

Cover line

Price

Masthead Magazine name

Issue details

Cover line

Sell lines

Key image

Barcode

Price

Website

Magazine name

Issue details

Page numbers

Sub categories

Images

Magazine name

Issue details

Page numbers

Sub categories

Images

Editorial

Front cover snapshot

Signature

Contents pageUnlike the NME contents page, my magazine makes use of the editorial, a space where the editor writes a quick note about the issue of the magazine. Editorials are often accompanied by signatures which is obviously not found on the NME contents page.

A lot of contents pages also feature a snapshot of the front cover on the contents page. My magazine does this whilst NME does not. Perhaps this magazine editor thinks that these things consume necessary space and are not needed.

The layout of the contents pages are similar to each other as the text is separated from the images.

Article title

Drop Cap

Rhetorical question

Images

Article title

Drop Cap

Floating quote

Artist fact file

Images

Magazine name

Page numbers

Double Page Spread ArticleJust by looking at the two double page spreads, you can tell that the Vibe article has much less features than my magazines. It is missing the basic conventions like page numbers and floating quotes. It has however used some of the most common features of a double page spread: drop cap, article title and images.

The Vibe article has used something which I have not: a rhetorical question. This is a very important and powerful language tool that are used by many writers because of its effect and attention grabbing ability. The editor of this article has cleverly placed the question in the middle of the page so that it would grab the reader’s attention immediately.

The image on the Vibe article consumes most of the page where my images, it only covers a portion of it. This may make my model/artist smaller and meek compared to the very attractive women on the Vibe article which makes her look superior.