Analysis of Existing Magazine Front Cover (2)

This is the front cover of music magazine VIBE. The central image is the most striking thing on the page as it takes up the majority of the space; so much in fact that it covers half of the magazine title. The designers feel confident enough that readers can still recognise the name of the magazine having only two letters clearly visible. The font style is bold and simple so it is easy for the reader to make out. Its bright colour of red makes it stand out on any background that is used on the cover. Red has connotations of danger, power and love but in this case I think it’s trying to show its respected presence in the magazine industry.

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Lighting effects have been used both on the artist’s face and in the background. The light coming from behind him makes the artist look powerful. The lighting on his face has been made to look righter so his facial expressions can be seen more clearly – all trying to represent the artist’s image and personality

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Contrasting colours of red and white are used to show the text. This works well throughout the front cover although the red is difficult to make out in some darker areas. Certain techniques are used to emphasise words in order to make them more effective. For example the word ‘exclusive’ is in bold red writing on a white background to show everyone that it is exclusive to their magazine. Another example at the bottom of the page is describing Keri Hilson as being a ‘very bad girl’. The word ‘very’ is emboldened and a red line is placed either side of the word to exaggerate the word. The white text often catches your attention more than the red so the writers have used this to their advantage. For example the headline ‘Teenagers marked for death’, the words ‘For death’ are in white and much bigger than the red text so this attracts the readers attention and because of the word ‘death’ we want to know more. The text at the top of the page is a sort of summary of this month’s issue and the writer’s opinion of 2010. Alliteration and the power of three are used when it says ‘cool, crazy and crass’.

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There are several advertised articles around the page. These are good as it attracts the reader with inside information without revealing too much; making the reader have to buy the magazine in order to find out more. I think the number of these is just about right as if there were too many the page would look messy and if there wasn’t enough there would be empty spaces. An example of a selling point is used when it says ‘We’ve got gifts! Open on page 50’. This is used to try and ‘pull’ the reader in by saying to the reader that if you read our magazine you will gain something in return. The use of the personal pronoun ‘We’ve’ is trying to show that the magazine knows the reader; they want to establish a relationship between the reader and the media.

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VIBE also includes generic magazine features like a barcode, price and website address. The website address is included to attract a wider target audience and gain more readers. Overall I think this magazine cover is effective in appealing to their target audience and selling the magazine itself.