2. Masthead – this is always found across the top of the magazine as it draws the viewers attention, even
when stacked on shelves in shops. The 3-d effect of this masthead creates the illusion of the title
jumping off the page – this is a successful way to grab the attention of a potential buyer. The colour
blue has also been used to grab attention, and might stand out from other magazines that often use
the colour red.
Main coverline – the main
coverline shows who is featured
on the cover of the magazine (in
this case, Courtney Love). I don’t
think this coverline stands out in
comparison to the other
coverlines on the cover, so the
bold and capitalised “Exclusive”
above Courtney Love’s name is
useful to aide that hers is the
main article. ‘Exclusive’ also
draws in the readers attention,
particularly as the expected
readers of Rolling Stone would
be fans of Nirvana and of Kurt
Cobain (hence his name also
bolded).
Sub-heading – the sub-heading is
used to explain the main
coverline, while Courtney Love’s
name has been bolded and the
font size increased – the subheading underneath is a different
colour and adds explanation to the
magazine’s contents. This subheading uses a list of three and
keeps the language ambiguous to
pique a reader’s interest.
Main Image - the main image is a
picture of the artist featured on
the cover of a magazine. This
image is in black and white, with
heavy shadows and editing. This
creates connotations of
sadness/mourning which could tie
in to the mention of Kurt Cobain’s
death.
Essential information – a
barcode hasn’t been
included on the cover of this
magazine, possibly because
it can be found on the back.
The date of publication has
been put on the front,
which is useful for any
reader that’s an avid
collector of Rolling Stone
magazine.
Coverlines – the colour blue has also
been used for the coverlines and to
highlight any other key information and
tie in with a colour scheme for the
magazine. A lot of the coverlines have
been outlined in white before blackthis effectively makes the text stand
out and look bigger, without taking up
anymore space on the page. The colour
scheme and fonts used also create an
aged look to the cover – which is both
fashionable and stands out from other
magazine covers.
3. Masthead – the featured artist’s head covers up the majority of Billboard’s masthead, as Billboard is a well
established magazine, people often know the title regardless. The masthead uses a clear and easily
readable font, the use of white on the black background helps make Billboard stand out from other
magazines, and it ties in with an Autumnal theme hinted at by the mentioned “Fall Preview”. Billboard has
an original masthead in the respect that it fills bright colours in the rounded letters of the title, this is a
rare yet effective way of making the magazine stand out.
Main Image – the main image on this
magazine is also the key artist that will
be featured. Bjork is a popular and
recognisable artist, so including her
picture on the cover will be beneficial to
magazine sales. The colour scheme used
for the main image ties into the theme of
autumn by including various shades of
orange, gold , and brown – this is
aesthetically appealing to a viewer.
Sub-heading – this sub-heading uses a
rhetoric question, providing ambiguity
and the reader with an interest of
buying the magazine in order to find
the answer of the question. Key point
“all-app” has been highlighted in
bright yellow to intrigue those that
use smartphones/ipods etc, and also
to tie in with an aesthetically
appealing colour scheme.
Main coverline – Bjork is used as the main image, so the main coverline
is an enlarged white font of her name – this makes it clear who is going
to be featured heavily in the magazine, and makes the magazine
appealing to viewers who are fans of Bjork. It’s different that the main
coverline has been placed at the bottom of the magazine, but due to it
being a special “Fall Preview” it ‘s important to include plenty of other
cover information, as the magazine will likely have more pages and
content than usual.
Essential Information – the large title
of “Fall Preview 2011” is information
essential specifically to that year and
season, the use of the word ‘preview’
lets a reader know that they’ll be
viewing the content of the magazine
before anybody else, which makes the
magazine more enticing to buy. Other
bits of essential information have
been added under that, as the year is
2011 they’re likely be a website
address or twitter account, which
connects people not buying the
magazine too, and helps span it across
various forms of social media,
increasing the attention it receives.
Coverlines – the coverlines on this
magazine feature a wide variety of artist
genres, this is due to Billboard being
marketed at a broad audience, and people
who follow chart music. This ensures that
more people buy the magazine, as it
caters to a wider of variety of interests.
The colours used are both yellow and
white, which in contrast to the
background, help Billboard to stand out
about other magazines.
4. Masthead - the masthead of NME adheres to the tradition of
placement in the top left corner, and has used the bold colour red
to look shocking, dangerous, and eye-catching. This masthead is
memorable because it is short and punchy, the abbreviation NME
is explained below to stand for ‘New Music Express’ – which also
gives insight into the type of music that’ll be featured in the
magazine.
The Main Coverline – the main coverline here
has used the same colour and a very similar
font to the masthead. The colour red is used, to
emphasise the main coverline, and to tie in with
the overall colour scheme. The main coverline
has titled MIA’s name, letting the reader and
any of the artists fans know that she’ll be
featured heavily in this issue.
Sub-heading – the sub-heading here
has used a quote from the artist MIA
featured on the cover, this is an
effective way of letting the reader
know that an interview with MIA will
be included inside the magazine. And
the quote used includes a bleeped out
swear word which also helps establish
that NME is marketed at a younger,
edgier audience.
The Main Image – the main image features
M.I.A, given that NME is targeted at a younger,
edgier audience, she can be seen smoking with
red lipstick and tousled hair, which can be
suggestive to her being ‘outside the box’ and
prone to breaking rules. This will appeal to the
target audience as M.I.As image may be
something they aspire to.
Coverlines – fewer coverlines have been
featured on NME which helps
aesthetically with the illusion of
minimalism . “The state of music today”
will appeal to a young audience that’re
critical and looking for new and constantly
updated music. Including a list of artists
featured is incredibly effective as it
targets fans straight away, and so little
additional information has been given
that fans’ll feel compelled to buy the
magazine. All of the artists listed are very
current, which is the purpose of NME to
provide.
Essential Information – a barcode has been
included in the bottom right corner of this
magazine, so that it can be purchased and also so
that all magazines are kept record of – so that
money isn’t lost by them being stolen or
misplaced. The date and the price of the
magazine is also essential information, it’s
typically included in small print – unless the price
is particularly low, or it has been reduced.
