film magazines by Dominika Malina

2. Masthead
Cover Lines
Selling Line
Date & Price
Barcode
Main Image
website
Cover lines: On the right the cover lines are a lot
more eye-catching and the font is a lot thicker
than the cover lines on the right hand side. This
is because the readers eye will always start from
the left hand side. Therefore the magazine needs
to be rearranged in this type of layout in order to
capture as much attention as possible. The left
hand side also features most interesting stories
what will captivate readers into buying it. The
reason why some text is black is to make the
contrast stronger from the background which
further makes it stand out. Out of every text in
cover lines I believe that “Review of The Year”
and “X-men Origins on Set World Exclusive” are
most important out of any other (cover line text)
because they are bigger in size and thickness and
are places on the left hand side.
Selling Line: The letters are relatively large
written in capital. However, the font is thicker on
one word which is “Wolverine”. This is because he
is a popular character amongst Marvel fans this
actor could also have an audience since he is also
known as Hugh Jackman. The bold letters on his
fictional name stand out more and could catch
attention of a potential Wolverine fan. The selling
line leads to the Masthead by making it feel like
an incomplete sentence “Wolverine has returned
for…”. This makes the readers complete the
sentence by adding the word “Empire” after the
Selling Line.

3. Masthead
Cover Lines
Selling Line
Date & Price
Barcode
Main Image
website
Masthead: The Masthead is in in bold capital
letters, one of the most noticeable parts of the
magazine. The reason why it’s so eye-catching is
because it’s red and incredibly vibrant. This text
is also larger than any other text seen on the
magazine making it feel important. The
magazine has a colour palette and a gradient
from light to dark, the top of the magazine is
black but as I look down, the colour and contrast
is getting lighter . Therefore, the contrast of the
masthead is lighter than the background.
Additionally the word “Wolverine” (right above
the masthead) has a really strong contrast from
the background
Main Image: Additionally, the dark background
at the top makes the actor’s face stand out more
because it’s a lot lighter than the background
making the audience focus on him. Since he is
the first thing that an audience should see (in
order to get as many fans buying the magazine)
the actor is placed above the text (Masthead for
example). This creates layering which is an
appealing technique in magazines for layout
composition. The photograph is a half body shot
of Hugh Jackman playing a role as a Wolverine
which can be clearly seen from the blades on his
knuckles.

4. Masthead
Cover Lines
Selling Line
Date & Price
Barcode
Main Image
website
Barcode, Date and Price: In this magazine, the
barcode is placed separately from issue date and
price. All of these important aspects are made
small and less eye-catching in order to draw
attention to pats that will get the viewers to buy
the magazine. For example, the barcode is placed
on the right bottom side of the magazine where
the background is light (which matches with the
colour of the barcode). Since the barcode and the
background barely create any contrast, it blends
in with the whole magazine making it the last
thing the consumer will be looking at. However,
the contrast of the date and price is strong since
it is placed on the dark part od the magazine
with a white coloured font. This creates a lot of
contrast but the text is incredibly small
compared to other text. Therefore, it will not be
the first thing the customer sees when he or she
picks up the magazine. Judging by the price, this
magazine is available in U.K as well as U.S
because of the currency signs (‘£’ Pounds and ‘$’
U.S Dollars). This makes it easier to distribute
the magazine in these areas without editing and
printing out individual copies, saving money.
Colour: The colour mostly consists of blue, red,
black and white which is a simple colour scheme.
Red is quite far away from blue in the colour
wheel but it’s not quite a complimentary colour.
Even though these two aren’t complimentary,
they go well with each other depending on how
much saturation is used which in this case, red
has more saturation than blue making it ‘pop
out’. Using black and white is a simple way to
add more to the magazine while keeping it
organised and clean.

5. Skyline
Date & Issue
Masthead
Sell
Line
Main Image
Main Sell
Line
Cover
Lines (with
Images)
Puff & Barcode
Skyline: In this magazine, the skyline seems to
be separated from the whole magazine making it
look like it’s a part of a different section. The
whole Skyline is written in capital letters, in a
big and bold font making it look eye-catching.
The white background also creates a strong
contrast because most of the Skyline text is
completely black. However, ”44 New Movies” is
red compared to the rest of the sentence
matching with the whole magazine’s colour
palette. The colour red against a white
background makes it ’pop out’ even more making
the audience eager to know what are the “44
New Movies”.
Cover Lines: Unlike a traditional magazine, this
magazine has it’s cover lines going through the
middle attached with photographs. This is an
effect that matches well with the film genre
because the design resembles a simplified
version of a film roll. This also gives the
audience a visual guide to the content that is
going to be featured inside of the magazine
featuring popular actors with the film titles
below the images. The border of the images is
white which creates a nice contrast from the
dark background of the magazine. The cover line
is slightly tilted making it seem interesting and
not too symmetrical.

6. Skyline
Date & Issue
Masthead
Sell
Line
Main Image
Main Sell
Line
Cover
Lines (with
Images)
Puff & Barcode
Masthead: The font of the Masthead is
incredibly bold, taking up one quarter of the
magazine (space). Additionally, the word
“TOTAL” is ‘carved out’ of the first letter ”F”
creating two words overlaying each other whilst
keeping it simple, and most importantly,
original. Not to mention, another text is
overlaying the Masthead which is a tag
line/graphic on the letter “M”. It makes the
magazine look a lot more busy and full of
content which is something a consumer would
want when buying a magazine. On the other
hand, the colour of the masthead is also vibrant
red against a dark background creating a strong
contrast and saturation which makes it a lot
more eye-catching.
Main Image: The image features three actor
head shots in the middle of the magazine which
are well known actors. The most recognizable
actor is placed in the middle. The characters
seem to be interacting with the background by
holding candles. This makes the magazine look a
lot more detailed. Additionally, the image creates
layering in various laces such as the Masthead
and the Sell Line by placing the text under the
image and make the layout a lot more usually
appealing.
Date and Issue No: Like in the previous
magazine, the date is placed in a similar place
using a similar white against black technique.
However, unlike the other magazine, the text
features an issue number instead of the price.
The price, on the other hand, is placed on the
barcode.

7. Skyline
Date & Issue
Masthead
Sell
Line
Main Image
Main Sell
Line
Cover
Lines (with
Images)
Puff & Barcode
Puff & Barcode: Both, puff and the barcode are
located on the bottom of the magazine. Additionally,
the price is located on the barcode in small letters.
The text of the puff matches with the colour of the
barcode which is white. Not to mention, both of
them also have red so they match with each other
and the overall magazine. Since mostly barcodes
have to be white, adjusting the colour scheme to fit
the barcode can be effective in order to make it less
noticeable and blend in with the magazine.
Sell Line: The sell line is shaped as a circle which
matches with the graphic on the masthead's letter
‘M’. Additionally, it is placed on the left hand side
which is a side English speaking countries read
from. Since it’s on the left, it will be read before
anything that is on the right hand side (such as the
graphic or issue number). This sell line is a lot
smaller than the main sell line because it’s not as
important as the main sell line. However, it is
coloured in white which fits well with the overall
colour scheme (black, white and red). Not to
mention the sell line features a “007” which is a
reference to a James Bond movie increasing the
chances of fans (of this movie) to buy this magazine.
Main Sell Line: The main sell line is placed
completely in the middle of the page. Behind the
text, there is a light cloud texture in order to bring
out the text. The font itself, is in bold red and quite
large and has a white outline to make it appears a
lot more detailed. The reason why this text is in the
middle is because it fit’s with the layout which looks
balanced in both sides of the magazine. Therefore,
the reader will be mostly focused on the middle of
the magazine rather than one particular side.

8. Skyline
Masthead
Sell Line
Main Image
Barcode
&
Price
Main Sell
Line
Puff
Skyline: Skyline is quite simple. The font is white
and is all in capital letters in order to make it sound
‘louder’ than it actually is. It is placed on top of the
magazine (in the middle). It is placed in the middle
in order to get a balanced layout of the magazine.
Additionally this font has special effects which is a
drop shadow, this makes the text look like it is
hovering above the magazine making it look three
dimensional.
Masthead: The masthead might be the most vibrant
and eye-catching thing about the magazine. Since
the magazine itself is blue, using colours such as
vibrant yellows and reds are effective as they are
close to being complimentary colours. In this case,
the magazine uses both, red and yellow. However
these colours are minimal in many places. For
example, yellow only appears on the masthead and
on the puff and red only appears on the price, sell
line and on the word “Plus” that is located below the
main sell line. Not to mention, the masthead does
not use capital letters unlike the other two
magazines I have analysed giving it a more
professional/casual look and making it appear as if
it has more variety than it actually does since this
magazine does not look as busy as the other two.
The magazine is called “Sight & Sound” these two
words create repetition and make the name a lot
easier to remember and the word “Sight/Sound”
clearly indicates that the magazine is about films
(visually and audibly). The “&” sign is in red
separating the sentence in 3 sections. Moreover, the
masthead also has a 3D effect further bringing out
the letters and make them ‘pop out’.

9. Skyline
Masthead
Sell Line
Main Image
Barcode
&
Price
Main Sell
Line
Puff
Sell Line: The sell line is a small circle on the right
hand side of the magazine. It stands out a lot
because it is vibrant and red which contrasts well
with the colour of the main image. Additionally the
red colour matches with the overall colour palette
(red, blue, white and yellow) However, it uses a
colour of font which isn’t used anywhere else in the
magazine front cover, which is black. Using the
black font for “Plus” matches with the image
because the actor has black hair making the word
stand out from the whole sell line (it also contrasts
with it because it’s darker than the red and white).
The font is in capital letters and the number “2015”
is larger than other font within the red circle. This
sell line doesn’t give away too much information
whilst still making it interesting to find out the best
films of 2015.
Main Image: The main image is a portrait shot of an
incredibly known and popular actor Leonardo
Dicaprio who was the protagonist of various films
throughout his lifetime, therefore he has a
ginormous fan base which will increase the chances
of this magazine being bought further increasing
the profit. He is also dressed as a character of a film
he was nominated and awarded for, therefore the
audience this photograph might bring could be even
bigger.
Barcode, Price and Date: This time, the barcode and
price are located on a different part of the magazine,
placed vertically (on the right) on the edge of the
magazine. The price is also more noticeable than
previous magazines I’ve analysed, it is vibrant red
and a lot bigger which is easier to spot. The date
and issue number, are located separately at the top

10. Skyline
Masthead
Sell Line
Main Image
Barcode
&
Price
Main Sell
Line
Puff
Main Sell Line: Like text on this front cover, it is
placed in the middle. However, unlike two previous
magazines the font appears slightly larger than the
Masthead, but it doesn't seem as eye catching as the
Masthead because it has a simple effect (small drop
shadow) and the font colour is completely white like
most text in the magazine. Above “The Revenant” there
is a sentence with a smaller font stating the actor’s
name (who is shown on the front cover) to make it
clear to the audience that this magazine will feature
this actor in it’s content. On the other hand, “The
Revenant” is a name of the film this actor is cast in.
The film is successful which increases the audience.
Puff: The puff is quite simple, it is placed on the bottom of
the magazine (also in the middle section). The font is white
with yellow bullets in between to separate the text and
make it more visually interesting. It is also all in capital
letters and it features names of various popular/well known