2. IDENTIFY THE FEATURES THEY ALL HAVE AND
WHY THEY ARE IMPORTANT
Due to the codes and conventions of magazine design, all front covers
are expected to present certain features. Firstly, a masthead must be
included, typically in bold at the top of the page. This allows the
reader to clearly identify which magazine it is. However, a magazine
may not only be recognised by its masthead. By using key colours
and fonts, a magazine will develop a clear house style; once this has
been identified a magazine may become branded. As a result,
models (musicians) may pose in front of the masthead, so that it is
partially covered; yet the magazine is still recognised by its target
audience. Also, it is important to balance out the main image with
text, such as cover lines. There will always be one main cover line to
support the main image, so that the readers are provided with an
incite into the magazine. Finally, not all but some, particularly music
magazines, include a cover mount in order to promote/support their
main image/cover line.
3. IDENTIFYING A GENRE
This magazine can be clearly identified as a Pop/Rap Music
magazine. There is specific evidence, such as the main image and
cover lines that support this idea. For example, the main cover line
referring to Katy Perry, says ‘Pop’s…Babe’; this clearly refers to an
idol that people would be able to easily identify as a representation of
this genre. Therefore, this means that the main image acts as an
specific example as to why this is a Pop/Rap magazine, as it directly
relates to the main cover line. Furthermore, there are two other cover
lines, which refer to the genre rap. These include ‘ T-PAIN’ and ‘Rap’s
Greatest Rides’. From the second cover line, we can clearly see that it
refers to rap. Whilst the cover line ‘T-PAIN’, is similar to the Katy Perry
cover line, in the way that the target audience would be able to
identify them as someone who represents this genre of music. Finally,
Pop music is considered a lively/upbeat style of music; thus the
selected colours, such as pink, associate to this colourful/fun style.
4. IDENTIFYING A TARGET AUDIENCE
Once a sub-genre is chosen for a music magazine, it begins to
highlight who the intended target audience are. Therefore, as
it is a Pop/Rap magazine, we would typically find people who
enjoy pop music purchasing the magazine. However, for this
particular issue it may be aimed at specifically females, as the
person featuring in the main image is female. Nevertheless,
some of the surrounding cover lines refer to male artists. Even
so, in relation to the female target audience the colour scheme
for this issue includes pink, which is typically a female colour.
In terms of an age range, it could be specifically for young
adults/teenagers, as Katy Perry is a younger Pop Idol and
pink is often considered as a youthful colour. Also in relation to
the text, the font is quite curvaceous, which is usually used in
Women's magazines, as opposed to having rigid/angular
typography.
