The document analyzes the shared features across the covers of eight issues of the magazine "We Love Pop". Some key repeated elements identified include the use of a solo pop artist as the central image, exaggerated poses and bright costumes reflecting the genre. The covers also commonly include feature articles on style and photos of attractive male artists to appeal to the target readership of teenage girls. Overall, the consistent branding elements across issues help maintain the magazine's identity and appeal to its audience.

1. Front Cover Overview

2. All of the above magazinecovers are the magazine ‘We LovePop’, so they have
been designed with the intention of attracting fans of pop music. This essay
will be exploring shared features across the magazines, and to recognise
repeated features throughout.
All of the eight covers all contain typical magazine conventions. Somegeneral
conventions used are the masthead, sell lines, a main image which covers the
majority of the page, feature article photos which relate to the article and
appropriatefonts for the genre.
In addition to this we see other repeated patterns, each magazinefeatures a
solo pop artist who is doing particularly well at the time. Obviously the
audience is expecting to see a music artist, but the repeated useof solo artists
indicates that bands arenot as common in the pop world as they are in other
genres, for example rock. This is likely to be because solo artists deliver a more
distinctive sound to more individuals in a band. Also becausepop music tends
to use a lot of computerised melodies rather than actual instruments. The
artist always stands outon the cover as they are the only person filling up the
whole frame. The composition of the artist being centred in the frame shows
that they areobviously the main focus of the magazineand indicates the main
artist each month. This idea is emphasised through the exaggerated facial
expressions of popular artists Cher, Taylor Swiftand Jessie J who all put on a
fun, playful posturewhich goes with the type of magazine and makes them
stand out more with their creative poses.
The artists who feature on the magazine are also usually female which links
with the readership of the magazinewho are predominantly girls. The males
are usually displayed in a way that draws attraction towards themfrom the
girls. Since the female target audience find their favourite pop artists
attractive, the magazineuses this to interest them into reading more about
them, by using sell lines from the males such as ‘I’d loveto have Aston’s abs!’
which is focused on the physicalappearanceof the male artists. This differs to
the female articles, which are usually much deeper and have more personal
opinions in them.
We can also see other similarities in the mise-en-scene, like for example the
costumes. The synonymous look for pop artists is to wear bright clothes with
bold prints and glitter. For the men which are shown they wear smartclothing,
or often clothes which complement and show off their bodies. This is displayed
particularly in the image of Ariana Grandewho is shown wearing a luminous

3. pink skirtand crop top. Oneartist which slightly breaks this convention is Justin
Bieber, photographed in a navy and white hoodie which is obviously quite
casualand not particularly colourful. Though this may seem unmatched to the
general style, it accompanies the sell line which describes him as ‘Swaggy’
quite well as it shows that he is young and care-free, and he supports themore
relaxed style. Perfectly styled hair for both the males and females is also an
ongoing look, as it shows thatthey are well put together and at the same time
bang on trend. The female artists wear a lot of brightly coloured makeup (for
example Jessie J’s pink lips or Taylor Swift’s orangelips) which matches with
the idea of everything being shown as colourfuland playful.
Another shared features across theeight magazines are the feature article
photographs. Theseare almostalways related to style which shows how
fashion and pop music go hand in hand, and becausethere is always spacefor
this article on the frontcover demonstrates its importance. These clothes (like
the ones photographed on the artists) are also brightly coloured which shows
the continuous theme of bright clothing continuing to a level where the target
audience are able to purchaseit to look like their desired pop artist.
On each frontcover, the signature ‘WeLove Pop’ icon is shown, changing the
word ‘love’ to a pink heart to show the clear femininity of the magazine. The
fact that the magazine name is placed inside a speech bubble is quite a unique
way to present it, and demonstrates the magazine’s creativity, bubbliness and
clear awareness of social media. There is also always a strapline placed at the
bottom of the page, usually displaying posters of male artists which appeals to
the readership’s interestin boys.
The sell lines are used quite heavily throughoutthe magazine cover, which is
clear by the busy layout. Although the cover artist dominates the page, it is
filled with other articles around it mainly about other pop artists, fashion,
gossip and boys. This could be becausethe young target audience has interest
in more than one famous pop artist so in order to fully grab their attention
there needs to be lots of fun, colourfulinformation spread over the page, so
the morearticles they see which they are interested in, the more likely they
are to keep re-purchasing the magazine. This is a good way of arranging the
magazine for the audience as at a glance they will notice numerous amounts of
information which interest them and therefore draw them in.
The colour scheme of ‘We Love Pop’ tends to revolvearound the colour pink,
but also uses other bright, fun colours such as orangeand yellow. The colour

4. pink is a typically female colour which is why it is good for demonstrating the
gender of readership, and it is also quite a positive uplifting colour so it reflects
the light-hearted, entertaining fun articles which will be found inside. Italso
grabs people’s attention as they walk pastand the colours are brightand stand
out against other backgrounds.
Having carried out this overview it is obvious that ‘We LovePop’ has a brand
identity which is unique to their magazineand remembered by their target
audience so that it is easily recognisable. Itis maintained through the
repetition of layoutdevices such as colour, placement of articles and artist’s
costume which is whathelps the magazineto succeed in selling so many
copies.