Magazine analysis

Front CoverThe first part seen by the audience would be the Masthead and Katy

Perry’s face. The block colours used in the centre of the masthead typeface draw the audience’s attention to that area. The 3 colours are red, blue and

yellow, which are all contrasting colours on the colour wheel to

magenta, which is the background colour of the cover page.

The use of only one image on the cover simplifies the design

meaning attention is focused on the star, Katy Perry, with no

distractions. Your eye naturally follows on from the masthead to the other elements of the cover

page that are in the same colour; the cover lines.

Even though the text is black and may not seem too exciting, this means the writing ties in nicely with the colour of Katy Perry’s

dress.

Non verbal communication is

not very clear. Although she seems

to be placing her hands where her

heart is so she may be feeling passion or love, or as her body is facing away from

the camera and covered in flowers

she maybe portraying

innocence.

The artist, Katy Perry, is wearing a patterned dress

embodied with flowers. This could represent, on a

connotative level, feminism and perfumed aromas, and the

ideology of an ideal size and figure. The dress and the star

both fit this stereotype, compared to Meghan Trainor who breaks the ideology and

stereotypical conventions of an ‘ideal beautiful body’.

The other cover lines play a large part in the presentation of the magazine as without them it appears to be a magazine

dedicated to this one star, however it is not until you continue reading that you realise it is not.

Katy Perry’s head goes over the Masthead, showing that she is the most important thing on the page, along with

her article that is written in the largest font.

The bright yellow writing above the cover lines is difficult to read on the pink background, this has either been done to make the reader look closer to try and read them, or because they’re less important pieces of information that come second to the bolder text.

The shadow cast from the studio lighting on Katy Perry helps break up the page as there isn’t one block

tone as a background. This gradient of tone, going from light to dark, helps your eye follow the flow of

information on the page working from top to bottom.The model and her pose appeals to both males and females as it is feminine and idealistic, however the pink background may initially appeal to females only

due to the feminine connotations. This can be overcome by her direct gaze, this feels like she is

looking directly at the viewer making a connection with them, this is often enough to appeal to anybody.

Contents Page

The contents page is much more masculine, still with a feminine touch. The grey, black and white colour scheme along with the male model shows

that this magazine still has masculine qualities to it, but can change from loud and flamboyant to subtle

but effective.The feminine touch comes in where another arm is wrapped around the model. In the hand of this arm is a red heart, the only colourful item on the page.

The heart is placed on Kanye West’s chest. This makes you think that music comes from the heart, a

unique style that the artist wants to show others.

The grey colour scheme makes it very easy to focus on the text meaning there are no

distractions from the important information. Like the front cover there is not a lot on the

page and the design is very simple. This helps the reader enjoy the magazine as they are not

being bombarded with information, and ties the magazine together through this common

theme.The way the word ‘contents’ has been written is fragmented, potentially representing the music

played by the artist, or personality the artist possesses, for example their style is fragmented

and portrays mixed meaning.

Double page spreadLike the other two pages the double page spread tries to keep the colours and design simple and

tries not to overwhelm the reader with information. Instead they show a very interesting

picture of Nicki Minaj that expresses her well known personality. This is certainly enough to

grab the attention of most people and make them more interested in the article.

The colours and design used would really appeal to the target audience as they are pink and look

very fashionable and stylish, the design fits in with the type of music focused on, which is mainly pop

music produced by very famous and popular artists.

Non verbal communication is not very clear with the image on this DPS. Her hand is posed in a way that shows the accessory she is wearing, but the gesture could also

connote a ‘whatever’ attitude.The way Nicki is looking directly at the reader/camera shows to me that she is open to connect to the audience on a

personal level.Her expression appears blank or shocked. As if she has been caught doing something

she shouldn’t, making the reader more interested in the articles contents.