This is my Overview.

2. Front cover overview
All front covers are from 'Top Of The Pops' magazine and so they have
all been designed with the intention of attracting fans of pop music.
Through carrying out an investigation of them and comparing them to
each other, it is possible to identify shared features within them and to
establish repeated patterns.
The six front covers all feature typical magazine front cover conventions.
We see expectedgeneral and layout conventions, such as the main
image dominating the front cover, sell lines surrounding the main image,
feature article photographs which relate to the content and artists inside
the mag, and a masthead in an appropriate style and font.
In addition to this, we see other repeated patterns. Each of the front
covers features a popular artist from the pop genre as the main image.
This would attract a potential audience to the magazine, as they would
see faces of their favourite artists and want to pick up the magazine and
find more about them. This is emphasised by the fact that the main
image consistently presents an artist who is generally popular, like One
Direction, or popular at a given time due to a new single or TV exposure,
like Cher Lloyd. When a band is featured in an image on the front, the
artists usually fill the frame equally, showing that all the members of the
band are equally important.
We can see some other similarities in the mise-en-scene elements that
are presented on each front cover; in terms of costume,the artists are
usually all united by the fact that they're all wearing fairly casual choices
of costume and tend to avoid wearing too many dark colours. For
example, One Direction are wearing t-shirts, Cher Lloyd is wearing a
bright blue top. Bright, feminine colours are used for pop magazines; this
reflects the fun and upbeat genre of pop, and relates to the target
audience of these magazines, who are fun, feminine and vibrant
individuals. On the front cover featuring The Saturdays, all the members
are wearing the same colours,but with differentstyles of costume;this
links them as a band, but shows that they're individuals with their own
unique sense of style. This is commonwith bands in pop magazines.
Artists on the front cover are usually smiling, or pulling a fun pose,while
making eye contact with the audience; they usually look relaxed, giving
the magazine a friendly feel. Hair is usually kept fairly natural, and make-

3. up kept to a minimum. This relates to the youthful audience who would
be reading Top Of The Pops,and wouldn’t be wearing excessive
amounts of makeup.
When bands are featured, a long shot is usually used in order to fit the
whole band in, whereas a medium shot is used for a single artist, or a
duo. The image of them usually fills the whole cover, and sits in the
middle,or slightly to the right.
Another shared feature among the six front covers is that they all include
feature article photographs. Generally, these show artists that are going
to be in the magazine, posters,or fashion sections.The fact that images
are dominant on the front cover reminds us of the young pop audience
who would be disheartened by a large amount of text, but respond well
to visuals. Space on the front cover is devoted to presenting the posters,
which illustrates how the typical pop fan likes to decorate their walls with
pictures of their favourite artists. In each instance, there seems to be a
fairly decentnumber of posters for the target audience to choose from.
This vast selectionserves to suggestthat there are a lot of artists for the
audience to enjoy in the magazine.
On each front cover, the masthead appears in the same place. However,
as Top Of The Pops has evolved the masthead has changed with the
magazine. Making changes to the design of the front cover is something
that magazines do in orderto continue drawing in audiences, and keep
the magazine fresh. Pink and white are usually used for the masthead,
with the exceptionof one magazine, which uses orange and white. The
head of the band members is placed underneath the masthead; this
suggests the success and popularity that Top Of The Pops has achieved
as a publication, as it would be unwise to do this if the magazine was
new, not established,or didn’t have a loyal fanbase. However, this only
applies when the modelis above the masthead, not underneath. Another
repeated feature comes in the form of the skyline at the top of the
masthead, which is used to draw attention to the magazine, and gives a
sneak-peek of an article in that issue.
The main sell line is usually placed in the middle right, with a bright and
bold font and colour scheme;the main sell line also links to the artist
featured on the front cover, and is usually in the form of an interview.
The most enticing words within the main sell line are biggerand bolder,
for example, 'secret' and 'shock' are emphasised,and in a different

4. colour to other parts of the sell line. This is a good feature of the
magazine as it allows the audience to see,at a glance, what will be
featured in the magazine, and pull them into that issue.
In relation to font, bold and feminine fonts dominate the front covers of
Top Of The Pops,reminding us of the target audience, and highlighting
the most important parts.
Colour-wise, Top Of The Pops tends to stick to a similar colour scheme
in each issue. Pink, yellow, orange and blue feature most consistently
throughout each issue, and these colours are bright and fun which
reflectthe pop genre, and the fun and feminine persona of the audience.
Layout is also consistent across these six front covers, with images and
sell lines placed on the left, the main image in the middle and the main
sell line towards the middle right, usually in some sort of fun shape. The
pug usually features near the main sell-line, directing the readerships’
eyes to it next.
Having carried out this overview, it’s obvious that Top Of The Pops has
its own unique brand identity and signature look that can be easily
recognised byits target audience. This is maintained through the
repetition of layout and style that features from issue to issue, and is a
wonderful way of helping the magazine to sell and succeed.