This document analyzes the cover design of a student magazine. It notes that while the cover does not strictly follow the rule of thirds layout, it has conventional magazine design elements like a prominent masthead at the top and two columns of text. The background color matches the theme and directs attention to the central photo of a student. However, the cover is evaluated as cluttered and unprofessional with scattered text that does not follow design rules or guides. Overall the cover draws the eye effectively to the masthead and photo but lacks consistency and clarity in its layout.

1. Masthead – Highlights the magazine brand/type.
This particular magazine does not really comply
to the rule of thirds, though it still does not break
the codes and conventions of a typical magazine
cover, in that there is a clear masthead taking up
majority of the upper cover and there are two
clear columns in which the text easily fits. The red
lines indicate the actual layout of the cover,
whereas the black lines demonstrate how it does
not comply with the rule of thirds.
The background follows the typical conventions of a
student magazine in that it’s just a plain colour, with
some lighting. In this case it’s blue, which perfectly
matches the theme. Also the plain colour brings focus
to the man or student stood in the middle and also
makes the text more legible.
Pug
There is no strapline on the cover, which does
break the conventions of then typical magazine
cover in general.
Pull quote – enables a specific bit of a quote to be highlighted
and therefore catch the eye more
The general feel of the magazine is actually very ‘quirky’ and immature,
not so much to the level of children, but fitting to the age range of
around 15-19, which incidentally is the most likely target audience for a
student magazine.
The colour scheme is very consistent throughout the whole cover of
the magazine and is very clean cut and sharp, whilst remaining ‘casual’
which also helps attract young students because this would be
considered very ‘cool’ and stylish in it’s layout.
The text falls behind the model, I’m sure this was done on purpose
but it still looks unprofessional in the case.

2. Masthead- very clear and colourful, the effect of this is that it becomes
prominent and eye catching.
The format of this cover looks very cluttered and
unprofessional. This is because it follows no real layout ‘rule’ or
guide as such leading the text the be scattered everywhere.
One thing it does do effectively is it draws attention to the
masthead and the photo by making them more prominent
than the other items on the page. For example the face
remains uncovered and all the text revolves around it;
including the masthead.
You could say this magazine has no real in house trademarks, though
it does follow a slight colour scheme in that pretty much everything
is yellow, so the in-house colour=Yellow.
Slug – this area of the cover contains nothing or just very little
information of any importance; this would be the place where you’d grip
it to avoid missing informations. More of a feature of ergonomics than
anything else.
The picture is lopsided and this emphasised my point about it’s
‘cluttered’ layout.
The promotion is highlighted in red, but shadowed by
the thick black out line which makes it far less obvious to
readers who are just skimming and scamming the cover
to see which magazine to buy
Clear indication of the magazine price, but its in a bad font so the
text above it cannot be read with ease.