1. FilmMagazine Front Cover Overview.
The layout of this
Niche horror fanatical
magazine, somewhat
subverts traditional magazine
layout conventions. An example
of this is the sell limes, all magazines use sell lines, however that positioning of the sell lines
of the front covers of Fangoria is quite alternative. They don’t have any sell lanes down the
right-hand side of the page, this is left empty, the main image is in the centre if the page on
both Fangoria magazines and the right-hand side of the cover includes irrelevant parts of
the main image. More traditionally there are sell lines down the left-hand side of the
magazine cover however the way these are presented are not traditional either, there are
only three sell lines and they go beside an image. As well as this it’s not as if the smaller
images and the sell lines are just arranged down the left-hand side of the page in a way that
2. is designed to look aesthetically pleasing, they are positioned in wat looks like a roll of film,
referencing the fact it is a filmmagazine. It is unusually for a magazine to feature only three
sell lines on the front cover, usually a magazine will attempt to include as many as they can
(while trying to make the front cover look as aesthetically pleasing of course), this is to
showcase what the magazine includes and draw consumers to purchase the product.
However, Fangoria is a magazine aimed at horror film fanatics, as I previously mentioned it
has a very specific/niche market, therefore the individuals purchasing the magazine will be
regular readers, people won’t pick up Fagoria for a casual read because they saw it on the
shelf. It’ll be purchased by individuals loyal to the brand that regularly purchase the product.
Therefore, having sell lines to attract people to buy the magazine isn’t important to Fangoria
due to the fact their readership will purchase the product even if it doesn’t jump out at
them. Therefore, maintaining brand identity and subtly featuring the theme that it is a film
magazine is more important to the brand, this is why the sell lines are arranged in what
looks to be a roll of film.
Although I have indicated that Total Film and Empire have a more traditional ideas in terms
of their sell lines, this isn’t always the case, some of their designs are slightly more
alternative and I have included some of these in the selections of front covers featuring
above.
Another point of interest when comparing these magazine front covers is the main sell lines,
there is a different in style and size that is designed intentionally for specific reasons. for
example, on the front covers of magazines produced by Fangoria, the sell lines are relatively
small, they’re smaller than the sell lines on Total Film and Empire. This is because Fangoria
want you to focus on the image, when you see the magazine you should be first drawn to
the image, not text. This is because often the main image is iconography of horror and may
be very shocking. They don’t want to take anything away from the shocking image by
placing large text over it.
Empire have gone for a very different approach regarding the style and design of their sell
lines on the magazine featuring a front cover with a focus on inception. As usual there are
many sell lines down each side of the page, this is expected with an empire magazine,
however the style of the sell lines portray movement and references the movement if
people’s minds, thoughts and perception, which is what the narrative of the film is based
on.
Empires conventions regarding sell line layout is clearly dropped at the release of a big
blockbuster movie. Two empire front covers feature no sell lines at all, these are the font
covers for the new James Bond film and for the release of the new X-Men film. Neither of
these feature any sell lines other than a small line of text under the title of the film. The
reason for this is because both these films are iconic, the Bond franchise is one of the
biggest filmfranchises in the world, and filmenthusiasts will be excited for the release of
this film, therefore sell lines aren’t necessary to draw an audience in. Also they want to give
the idea that the whole magazine revolves around the new bond film, therefore the loyal
regular buyers of the magazine will purchase the copy, as well as any Bond fans that may
happen to see it on the shelf. The same goes for the X-Men themed copy of empire,
although the X-Me films themselves aren’t patricianly iconic films like the bond franchise,
3. they do belong to Marvel, which is the biggest brand of super hero movies in the world.
Therefore the same principle applies, keep the front cover minimalistic to ensure all
attention s drawn to the picture which will be recognised by everyone, therefore sell lines
are not only unnecessary but unwanted.
The mast head is something that every magazine features, and usually creativity regarding
the mast head design is limited, as the same mast head features in the same place of every
magazine as it is representative for the brands identity and I’ll be recognisable. However
there are some exceptions and I’ve featured the in the examples above the text.
Total filmhave a recognisable mast head that more often than not, is white in colour and
features the word ‘Film’ very large across the top of the page, it features the word total with
the letter ‘F’ of the large word film. This is a recognisable masthead and enables audiences
to grasp what genre of magazine it is at a glance. However, in the issue of Total Film that has
a focus on the release of Inception the design of the mast head was slightly different.
The filmInception is a science fiction based film and Total Film have attempted to reflect
this with a change in style to their mast head. The size, positioning and front are all the
same as they are on every other issue, this is where the brand identity is maintained.
However, the letters are usually block filled with one colour, normally white, yet this isn’t
not the case with this issue. This issue of Total Film magazine has changed the standard
white block fill text to the design of a science fiction lab. If you look at the letters, they
contain photographs of what looks to be a science fiction lab, this reflects the narrative of
the movie itself.
Total Film aren’t the only ones who have change the design of their masthead for the
release of a big film. Empire have also done this, this time, for the release of the Bond film.
their convention bright red mast head is replaced by a more classy and elegant gold. This
represents the bond franchise and the fact Bond is seen as a professional, classy character.
It also relates to the main image of the picture, which is a scrubbed up, clean shaven Bond
with a side parting and a suit on. The pure white background along with the gold mast head
reflect the classiness and professionalismsurrounding James Bond himself.
The classy gold masthead featuring on the cover of empire is a total contrast to the style of
mast head featuring on the Fangoria magazines. The Fangoria magazines have a mast head
with I suppose could almost be classed as unprofessional or tacky, however this appeals to
the target audience and reflects their brand identity as these criticisms are relevant to
horror. A total divergence to the mast heads featuring on Total Film and Empire, as readers
of these magazines seek a polished and professional film magazine, the mast heads of these
magazines reflect this with their simple bold style and red and white colours,
