This is my first annotation of an existing magazine front cover, as part of my AS Media Studies Coursework.

1. Masthead of the Magazine,which
isusedfor the name or the logoof
the magazine,itisveryimportant
because itallowsaudiencesto
identifythe magazine.The “Rolling
Stone”mastheadisinbright
colours(red) soit hasthe effectof
immediatelycatchingthe eye of
the reader.
Anchorage Text – thisis the writingthatrelates
to the mainimage of the magazine,whichis
slatedtotell youwhatthe mainpicture (and
sometimesmainarticle) isabout.Inthisexample
of “RollingStone”,there isanimage of Katy
Perrywithhername colour codedinblack;the
phrase above hername says “conqueringthe
world,one sinat a time”isalso codedina black
colour,whichconveysthatthisphrase is
affiliatedwiththe mainstoryaboutKatyPerry.
Main image – thisisthe bigpicture inthe centre
of the magazine thatisintendedtobe the first
conventionthatthe readerssettheirsightson.It
isthe mainfocusof the magazine and so the
mainarticle of the magazine will alsobe tailored
afterthe main picture.KatyPerryisthe main
subjectof thismagazine,as herportrait isthe
mainimage.Hereyesare fixatedforwardssoit
portraysher as payingattentiontowards
consumersandher redlipstickissomethingthat
male’scouldfindattractive.
These are the sell linesof a
magazine,theytell readers
aboutother articlesinthe
magazinesthatare interesting.
There purpose isto catch the
eye of the readerand are
usuallyplacedonthe bottom
or on the side of a magazine.
So inthe case of thisissue of
RollingStone, the storyof Tom
Pettyishighlightedasthe font
size of hisname is bigand the
white fontcoloursuggests
that these are interesting
secondarystories,while the
blackfontcolour isthe main
story.Anotherthingto
highlightisthatthe subjectof
the article follow’sthe name.
Thisis so thatconsumerscan
identifythe celebrityandif
theylike the celebritythey’re
more likelytobuythe issue.
Issue number,
date and price
The choice of colour forPerry’s
outfitisbrightand unorthodox
because of the differentamount
of coloursitmixes,itisused
mainlyasan effecttoshowhow
“colourful”Perryis,evenwithher
hair (dyedinagreencolour) andit
alsocoincideswiththe bright
colourof the masthead.The
contradictingcoloursof blackand
white thatare usedforthe textis
a prime example of abrightcolour
and dull colourmix.
The background of the
magazine iswhite anditis
usedto match the colourof
the white textsandallowthe
blacktextto be seenbecause
the fontis reallythin.Itisalso
usedbecause there is a variety
of colouronthe magazine in
the likesof Perry’shair,
clothingandthe fontcolours,
so white generally“goeswith
all the colours”so it has a
clearappearance and the
aestheticqualityof the cover
isto par.