This is my written analysis of the Empire Magazine Winter Special issue for my a2 media coursework. Visit my blog at: jademeladya2media.blogspot.com

1. All the text on the
cover is in capital
letters. This makes the
writing stand out and
attracts the eye of the
readers. The capital
letters also give the
text a sense of
urgency and
importance. This
suggests it is like they
are shouting the text at
you, urging you to buy
it and read more. The
text is also either in
white, red or gold. All
these colours are
associated with winter
and the Christmas
period. As this is a
winter issue, it reflects
the personality of the
magazine. Gold
connotes wealth
suggesting it is
important and eyecatching, white implies
purity and honesty,
suggesting that all
information is honest
and straight from the
source, and red
connotes passion or
urgency, both which
attract attention and
would perhaps
persuade you to pick
up the issue.
And typically as all
magazines do, it
features the issue date
and price towards the
top of the issue.
The title of a magazine is called the
'masthead' and features on every
magazine. Empire often changes the
colour of its title to fit in with the colour
coding of the issue, but it is often red. In
this issue it is white; this fits in with its
‘winter special’ theme and connotes purity,
reflecting the main character featured on
the front. Putting the title in bold lettering
emphasises the importance of the name, it
makes it iconic and recognisable.
’40 ESSENTIAL MOVIE EXCLUSIVES’.
‘Essential’ suggests to the audience that they
MUST buy the issue because they can’t miss
out on the stuff inside, and it is essential that
they know. ‘Exclusives’ suggest you won’t get
the information anywhere else, and you must
buy the issue to get hold of these exclusives.
Again, the writing is in bold gold lettering,
highlighting its importance and exclusivity. ‘40’
implies that there is a lot of exclusives, making
it seem worthwhile buying it.
The main picture is of
a powerful female
protagonist. She is a
well-known actress,
making people drawn
to the cover to find out
why she is featured.
She is in costume for
the new film ‘Catching
Fire’, attracting the
fans of that film. Her
picture is centred to
show her importance.
Her picture also
features behind and in
front of the magazine
title; giving it a 3D
effect and making it
stand out.
Empire Magazine – Winter issue 2013: Analysis by Jade Melady
To the right of the cover is a gold circle featuring the word ‘WIN’ in
capital letters. Competitions on magazine covers often attract an
audience as it makes it seem like you’re getting a prize. Also, under the
masthead, it states ‘The world’s biggest movie magazine’, showing off
the magazines status and quality.
‘Winter Preview’
suggests the
information they are
providing is only
available for the
season. It suggests
that if you don’t buy it
now, you’ll miss out;
this makes their
audience want to buy
the magazine so they
don’t miss out on the
issue.
The gold outline, text and banners featured
on the cover emphasises its quality. Gold
connotes wealth, suggesting that the
magazine is rich with information, and it’s
too good to miss out on.
Featured all over the magazine are well known names such as ‘Jennifer Lawrence’, ‘Affleck’, ‘Clooney’, ‘Neeson’, ‘Law’
ect. ‘Name dropping’ highlights the magazine’s power and status. Using well-known actors/actresses names attracts a
large audience, because any fans of any of the names would buy the issue, it also allows people that are a fan of their
films want to buy the issue to see if they are making another one. Also, featuring pictures and names of other new
upcoming films attracts a wider target audience and promotes the genre variety of the magazine. ‘JENNIFER
LAWRENCE CATCHES FIRE IN THE HUNGER GAMES 2’. This line is a play on words, as the hunger games 2 is
called ‘Catching Fire’, this suggests that the magazine has backstage coverage or exclusive interviews from Jennifer
Lawrence, making fans of her or the film want to buy the issue.