Magazine Front Cover Analysis

This pop magazine cover is for ‘Top of the pops’.

It follows the conventions of a usual magazine

cover as it has a masthead, main cover image

which relates to the main sell line, a pug, fap,

uses the left hand third rule, puff, and small

skyline. It is similar to its other front covers,

which reinforces its brand identity. Its look is

unique in some ways to this particular magazine

as it has used a slightly darker background colour

than usual, and is less crowded.

The masthead is written in a bright, electric, pink

colour which draws the reader’s eyes towards it.

There is also a bubble shaped shadow

surrounding it which makes it look fun and

feminine which would appeal to the target

audience of young girls. The font is bold and

unique looking as the edges are rounded and

look very disco like, which is emphasised by the ball above the writing which looks like a

disco ball. It is placed directly behind the celebrity model’s head so this draws more

attention towards the writing.

The main image is of a famous artist Cheryl Cole. She is very popular in the music genre, and

is presented as a positive, happy person. She is giving a broad smile which shows she is

positive, and her hair and makeup in done in a feminine way which would appeal to the

audience as it would make them want to be like her, and would feel that by purchasing the

magazine will help them achieve this. This is reinforced by the puff placed on her which says

‘You can be Cheryl!’ in capital to emphasise the message even more. The image is being

used to reflect the genre as pop music is very bright and uplifting, which is being shown

through the model’s facial expression, and also through her costume and makeup which is

girly yet natural due to the fact it is for a younger audience. The mise-en-scene for this

magazine cover has used many pop conventions, for example having bright, girly colours,

images of many pop artists and also female articles as well such as ‘Shopping heaven!’ This

sell line is placed in the left hand third so it makes it stand out even more. There are many

exclamation points used throughout the cover to add excitement and emphasis to the

message being sent out. All the images of celebrities used are of them either smiling of

pulling a funny face which would appeal to the target audience as it shows their fun side.

Sell lines are used to entice the audience to open the magazine as there is a lot of emphasis

used to create excitement, for example excitement in the style section it is named ‘Shopping

Heaven!’ This is especially used in the numerous celebrity gossip sections, for example

saying ‘The Wanted open up to everything!’ and using emotive language calling Justin

Bieber ‘lonely’. Buzz words such as ‘Exclusive!’ are also used to generate excitement and

interest. Mode of address is used in the main sell line, telling the audience that they can be

like Cheryl Cole which will make them want to learn more about how to be like a poplar

artist they like. Particular sell lines stand out more than others because of the colour and

font used. Most of the fonts are doodled, in a small font so the sell lines which stand out

most are bolder and larger in size.

The magazine is laid out relatively similar in each issue to maintain brand identity, and

everything is placed in a particular place depending on how exciting the article will be for

the audience, for example Cheryl Cole’s article is placed in the centre in bright pink puff to

draw more attention to it, whereas the box saying ’10 pages of’ is in very pale, unexciting

colours so there is less attention being drawn to it. The colours are pink and purple which

are two stereotypically ‘female colours’, so this is why they have been used so heavily. The

font used on the cover is kept the same, except for the name of the magazine which is

written in a fun, bubble type font and a few articles with doodled type font. This gives the

magazine a more relaxed, casual look. The elements which make this front cover effective

are the use of imagery and this makes the cover more interesting to look at, the colour

scheme as this catches the reader’s attention, and the overall layout is quite busy so you

feel as though you are getting value for many as there are many articles.

Magazine Front Cover Analysis

This is the magazine front cover for ‘We Love Pop’. It

follows the conventions of standard magazine front

cover as it has a masthead, a main cover image of a

famous celebrity which also relates to the main sell

line, a puff, a skyline and more. This particular

magazine is very similar in its design to other front

covers for the same magazine as the masthead is

kept the same in all magazines, and has been

presented in a unique style of being placed in the top

left hand corner. This is where the eye is drawn to

first according to the rule of thirds so it is very

effective to put the name of the magazine here. By

keeping the magazine’s presentation similar it

reinforces brand identity. In some ways this

magazines look is slightly more unique to the other

front covers of this magazine as the main cover image has quotes from the interview placed

coming out of her mouth so it gives the effect that she is exclaiming them in an exciting way.

The masthead suggests that the magazine is very girly and aimed at a younger audience as it

is written in a speech box and has a pink heart placed in the name to give it a unique, quirky

look, which is exactly what the target audience of this magazine would be drawn to. The

font is in bold, black text which makes it stand out more, along with the chunky writing and

speech box. It is the largest text on the page which makes it stand out even more.

The main image is of a popular pop artist Ariana Grande, wearing a bright pink dress and

lipstick, with her hair blowing away from her face to draw more attention to her flawless,

youthful, girly makeup. She is being represented as quite sweet and innocent, due to the

way she is doing a fun, posed position and the colours she is wearing. These all link to her

style of music which is bright and uplifting, and also slightly brings in her acting career as she

is an actress of a young teens programme in which she plays the role of an inspired, sweet

girl. The mise-en-scene contains a lot of feminine colours like baby blue, bright pink and

purple. These colours are very common in pop magazines as they tend to be aimed at young

teen girls. There are also other images of different famous pop artists around the frame

which is again very popular for this type of magazine. In addition to this there are other

feminine articles on the cover like ‘Back to school cool’. This is sending out the message to

girls that you can also be fashionable and girly in school, and is directed at the target

audience. The feature article is all about the main image model which is titled ‘Ariana

Unleashed’. The magazine uses the artist’s first name to make it seem like they know her

more personally and the word unleashed is a more dramatic way of saying that she says a

lot about herself in the interview. This way it will make people want to know more and adds

appeal to the cover.

The sell lines are being used to lure the audience in so they want to buy the magazine, as

there is a lot of emphasis used to create excitement, for example the main sell line ‘Ariana

Unleashed!’ is written in bold font with an exclamation mark to draw more attention to it.

There are also three different puffs which draws a lot of attention to those particular

articles. In addition to this, the names of the pop artists used in the magazine are all put in

eye catching fonts so it is immediately made clear to the audience who is going to be

featured inside. The mode of address is used in the main sell line, telling the audience that

Ariana Grande has been unleashed which indicates that she is giving away lots of

information about herself. Some small examples of what she will be discussing inside are

quoted on the cover to create excitement. Particular sell lines stand out more than others

because of the colour and font used. Most of the fonts used are written in bold writing to

make it seem like everything written on the front is important.

The magazine is laid out relatively similar in each issue to maintain brand identity, and

everything is placed depending on how important the article will is and what will sell best

for the audience, for example One Direction’s article is takes up the whole left hand corner

with bold fonts surrounding it. According to the rule of thirds, by placing the article here it

will be on the side which the eye is drawn to first which will make it even more obvious. On

the other hand the article about 5 seconds of summer is not very obvious as it is the top

right hand corner, and the small sell line beneath it appears to get lost to the large picture of

Ariana Grande. The colours used are pin, blue and white which are quite feminine colours,

and pink is almost always used in pop magazines as it appeals to young teens and reflects

the genre. The font used on the cover is kept the same, excluding one part which has been

crossed out and re-written to give the effect that it has been revamped by the audience

themselves to make it appear more interesting and to appeal to them more. It also gives the

magazine a slightly more casual look to it. The elements which make this front cover

effective is the colour scheme used as it reflects the genre and target audience, and also

how each article is paired with an image so it makes it more interesting to look at. The

overall layout is quite busy due to the fact it has an image with each article, but it is

effective as it makes the text easier to read for the target audience.