Front cover analysis

The image stands out because its amusing and comical which makes the audience think it’s a fun, exciting magazine. Its unusual as the models are not usually portrayed as ‘ugly’ on the cover of a magazine and are normally airbrushed and perfected, but this looks like a spontaneous and unafraid to show their fun side sort of model which is refreshing to see.

The cover line is in a sans-serif typeface which creates an informal tone. It’s in block capitals so it stands out and the size of the typeface makes it stand out as well. The colour of this cover line also ties in with the colour scheme of the magazine.

The masthead is not covered by the models head because the reader should be able to know what the name of the magazine is.

Simple layout, so its easy to read and quick to find what you’re looking for. The backround is an off white colour which makes it quite difficult to read the white writing, however the masthead manages to catch your eye because its mainly in front of her coloured hair.

The skyline at the top of the page is almost impossible to read because its so small so its really unclear and definitely should be made larger and using a different font colour. However, using a different colour might detract from the overall style.

The general vibe that you might get from this magazine cover is that it’s aimed at a young female audience because of the stylish and chic style. The main image is one of the most widely recognisable models, Kate Moss, which could suggest that this magazine is very popular and high earning as they can afford to use one of the most famous models in the world for the front cover photoshoot.

The institution of this magazine is a commercial institution. This is shown by the barcode and price being placed on the front cover, showing that this is a popular magazine which is sold in many shops.

It seems as though the genre of this magazine is fashion because the model is wearing an outfit that could be considered highly unique and stylish and also the fact that she has a really quirky hair colour could suggest that its aimed at a younger audience, maybe 16-25 year old females because that is the stereotypical age for rebellion against common fashion.

The masthead is really eye catching and bold because it’s in a textbox which is a contrasting colour to the rest of the cover which hardly consists of barely any dark colours. The masthead reflects the genre of the cover because its simple but effective as it uses capital lettering and a bold Arial narrow font which is the same throughout all the text.

The body copy is all positioned to the left of the model which doesn’t distract any attention from her. The text is mainly names of artists and general celebrities which the magazine consists of articles based on. The puff is a phrase saying “Let me be your fantasy” which is trying to grab the audiences attention because it sounds inviting and pleasant.

The teaser runs across the page in a diagonal line in a really bold white font. It conveys excitement to tease you to find out what its about. The unorganised manner in which it of

The model has an unusual expression for a magazine cover as there usually portrayed as quite serious and sultry. There's a lot of energy within this front cover so this means its probably aimed at a younger audience. Her positioning is central on the page but it doesn’t look the same as other magazine covers because she looks like she stands out from the page.

The image used is a medium long shot, this is because the model has been photographed to be viewed from further away. The model in this image is wearing clothing you wouldn’t normally see, this is shown because there insanely bright and over dramatic, this is usually associated with people who are fun and energetic.

. The male model portrays a negative representation of young adults, as he is smoking a cigarette and also has a punky fashion sense. His stance and the way his head is positioned directly forward signifies that he is control and is successful in the competitive magazine industry. Some cel lines standout such as “Heidi Sliming” with further details featured below. The cel line of “Teenage Takeover” stands out to the reader immediately.

The masthead is in bold block letters which makes it stand out even though it’s mostly behind the models head. Writing that stands out to the reader, with a sold sans serif type face in upper case crossing from side to side in approximately size 40. Use of white and grey infill colour, which makes billboard dominate the page.

The model is standing in front of the billboard to signify importance, and that he is the main feature of the magazine. He is glamorized, and also under a strong key light. His facial expression is seductive, and the position of his hands emphasise this. This could appeal to both men and women. The cel lines are in white, which is a calming colour, as well as the majority of the text being in capitals, which makes the image front stand out even further

The colour of his shirt lining also matches the typeface which adds to the monochrome look of the front cover. The black shadow used adds a masculine touch to the magazine, and could therefore mean that the magazine is targeting men. Furthermore, the use of the words “Teenage Takeover” stands out to the reader, as it could mean that it’s aimed at teenagers/young adults, and the “Takeover” could suggest that it’s implying teenagers are in power. It gives off the connotation that if the member of the public purchases this magazine, they find out “exclusive information.” They are buzz words.

Contents page analysis

The ideology behind this magazine is to promote pop, rock and indie music. This is shown by the variety of bands that are featured within the magazine and within different articles.

The colours white and black have been used consistently from the front cover. Also the larger image of a band shows that they are quite a serious band despite their scruffy appearance. This is shown by the serious expressions of the band and the way they are posing for their photograph.

This magazine is aimed at an audience of mainly young males aged 18+ who are interested in rock and independent music. It is aimed at this audience as these are the usual type of the people who listen to this music.

This is the contents page of GRAZIA magazine. It is simple yet effective. There is one dominant image instead of many, this could be the main focus of this issue and so is giving a preview of what is to come. This contents page shows us a lot about the reader of GRAZIA we can see they are elegant and fashionable and always up to date with the latest styles.

It is a simple lay out and has a very plain background and the colours are very passionate colours, again showing the characteristics of the model GRAZIA reader.

The actual contents is very simple and basic set out, not in chronological order. Showing us that this magazines reader doesn't need everything to be set out simply they are an intelligent person.

The small picture on the bottom right hand corner shows us a preview of an important topic in this issue, the reader can see the main focus of this issue again.

‘Q’ magazine does not concentrate it's contents page on just one feature. Instead, different images of things related to the features down the right of the page are shown. By doing this it shows the reader more of what is featured in the magazine and not just the one main feature on the front cover as the reader is already aware of this feature due to it being the first thing they notice when they see the magazine. The images are also arranged in a collage layout, making the reader relate to the magazine more due to the layed back feel it is connoting as it gives off a vibe that they have just placed the images wherever and not given too much thought into it, giving the impression of being effortlessly cool.

Placed under each sub-title is a italicised description of what will feature in that certain article. The descriptions vary from long to short, still, in each case, not giving too much away about the content, pulling the reader in and urging them to read further.

The reader can tell that this is the contents page due to the typical conventions such as page numbers, feature headings in a bold text, information under the heading about that feature and also, images relating to one, or more, of the features in the magazine.

Language

Institution

Ideology

Audience

Representation

The colours black, white and red have been used consistently throughout the contents page, this is because these colours are used in the NME logo.

This magazine is aimed at males aged 18+, this is because they are the type of people usually interested in the genre of music this magazine is aimed at.

The ideology behind this magazine is music, this is shown by the image of a venue and the title of the main story which is about the venue in the image.

The institution of this magazine is a commercial institution this is shown by the advertisement for a subscription at the bottom of the page that shows that this a popular magazine and is sold in many places.

Features an Index which would allow the audience find a particular band of interest. There are page numbers so the reader can easily find what they are looking for within the magazine. There is also an advertisement for a subscription to the magazine at the bottom of the contents page, this uses language which tries to convince the reader to buy a subscription.

In top right corner is the date, issue and the price of the magazine, which helps readers keep in track of what’s what with which magazine.

The idea of the contents page is to show what is inside the magazine, but not giving too much information away to the reader.

This contents page is very informative for the reader. It has obvious guidelines and page numbers for the reader to find their way through the magazine.

The font of the title ‘CONTENTS’ is bold and stands out catching the viewers attention. The main titles are in white which is eye catching and reflective.

The main and only image on the page is big, which covers the whole page meaning it is the major and most important subject inside the magazine.

The background is red and the font is in white, these are clashing colours so it makes them more appealing to the reader.

On the left side of the page we have the features and fashion, which is the key subjects inside the magazine, it is in white and in a small font style.

At the top right of the page there is the main title of the contents page, and uses the same editing as the other titles.

Double page spread analysisThe language used in this article is very informal and not very complex which shows that it is aimed at younger people who may not be as intelligent. There are also a lot of images and not much text.

This magazine is part of a commercial institution this is shown by the magazine logo shown in the top left hand corner which reinforces what magazine you are reading.

The ideology behind this magazine article is to review live music, which is obviously a regular article in this magazine. This is made obvious by the interview with this musician.We can tell that this is aimed at mainly young

male audience This is made obvious by the lack of text and the simple and informal language used and the large amount of images used.

This magazine is obviously aimed at people who are interested in rap music, this is shown in the images by the musician being urban dressed and behind a microphone. He is obviously taking himself quite seriously, this is shown by the aviator sunglasses the singer is shown to be wearing and the way he Is posing.

There is only one small column for text which means that the text used is specific and links to the picture. The language in the article is quite formal and uses some complex words. This shows that it may be for people who are older.

This double page spread is taken from a magazine from a commercial institution although it can't be seen by just this article.

This double page spread layout works and links really well with the type of music genre that it is aimed at. Dark colours are used which links in well with the Rock music in which the magazine is mainly about

Because the language that has been used is formal and the words are more complex this shows that the magazine which this article has been taken from is aimed at an older audience who are interested in rock music.

The dark colours used in this article show that it is quite a serious article and the black and white image also shows that it's serious and aimed at an older audience. The artist in the image has lots of tattoos and is fairly young this relates to the genre of rock music which this magazine is about.

As the band shown in this double page spread are called The Teenagers it is presumed that their music is aimed at young people aged 14-18. Because of this there isn't too much text within this article as young people aren't usually interested in reading lots of text.

You can tell that this magazine is part of a commercial institution because of the small advertisement for the NME website at the bottom of the page.

Because of the small box on the left titled 'Need To Know' it is shown that the ideology of this double page spread is to introduce this band to the reader and give them information about a band the reader may not of heard of before.

The blue used over the text is some parts is used to make the text stand out and attract the reader's attention. Also the contrast between the blue and the white on the page looks cool and modern. The band shown in the main image look quite scruffy which relates to the genre of indie and shows that the band is young and appeals to young people.

Because the band is called The Teenagers it is presumed that their music is aimed at young people aged 14-18.

This pull quote is telling readers that she's not everything that people say she is which also links in to what the article as a whole is trying to say. Also to me this is a very personal quote from her whereas I think it would lose its point if a quote from someone else covered this page. That fact that the journalist has only use one large image on this DPS makes a bigger emphasis on her as a person as they don't include little pictures of her, maybe performing etc.

I think this double page spread is evenly laid out and that both the image and text lead this spread as I think they are balanced because the image and font of the pull quote stand out as soon as you turn the page to this.

This quote is made eye catching through the font, as the letters are different sizes e.g. in the word „people‟ it has been made with the P and O big and then there's a small L and this is used in every word of this quote.

The use of bold and capitals turns this quote into a headline. The VALS of this magazine is quite calm as this image isn't portraying a wide range of emotions etc. I think the values are the interest in Lily Allen as a solo artist and it just seems to be a general interview on what's going on with her at the moment, what are her plans for the future and personal sides to her lifestyle.

The first page of the contents contains a fairly simple layout. It has a masthead, main image, contents and another small image. The main image is of cover star and magazine dedicated John Lennon. The image, like the cover image, is taken in black and white.

This denotes grieving and time passing. It also has further connotations with the age of the photograph. It is a mid-shot to long-shot of him and he is sitting on a rocking chair. This is interesting as we typically associate rocking chairs with elderly people,

This magazine attracts a niche market of predominantly males between the ages of eighteen to forty. It can also appeal to women, but not in the same magnitude as men.

He has a disturbing look on his face, solemn and mysterious. This adds weight to the black and white theme, the image looks almost spooky. Further juxtaposition includes the connotations associated with the rocking chair and the youth of Lennon when the photo was taken.

The masthead contains the word Contents. The letters are spaced out, creating a sophisticated effect. The font here is black. Both the white and the black work well against the red to create effective contrasting. It is easy to read and the white and red appear brighter against each other.