This document analyzes magazine covers and double page spreads. It discusses elements like consistent color palettes, placement of titles, dates, and barcodes. It notes how covers attract attention through prominent images of famous people and eye-catching designs. Double page spreads are examined for continuity of images, fonts, and themes across the two pages. Consistency in visual elements is highlighted as important for linking different parts of a magazine issue.

1. ANALYSIS OF MAGAZINES

2. Cover Pages; ELLE’s titles are always a consistent font and size and at the top of the page; although the colour of the font changes depending on the colour palette used for that particular cover. The colour palette used on this cover is black, white and red. The red was most probably chosen as it stands out against the rest of the magazine as the designer has chosen to stick to a black and white theme. This won’t be consistent throughout the entire magazine but the front and the contents will be similar, also if there is a double page spread they may have linked the theme through to that page also. I like the idea of black and white or a particular theme, I may use this in my own work. The date and price of the magazine are subtly beneath the title, this is for the same reason as the barcode, it’s only there for shop-use and was only included in the design for that reason. The image of Sienna Miller on this cover overlaps the title of the magazine, this could either be because it’s a well-known title or because the lettering is still clear and doesn’t get confused because of the black and white theme. The clothes that they have dressed the model in are all black to fit in with the theme, this is another example showing consistency within the magazine cover. As this is a popular, well-known magazine for women of all ages, there will always be a famous model or actress or musician on the cover to attract more public attention, this is also shown in this other ELLE cover featuring Kylie Minogue. The bar code is arranged and positioned so that it is barely noticeable on this cover, barcodes can sometimes be too big and distract attention from the main feature. This magazine inspires me as the colours used are basic and appealing to the eye; I also like the style of writing around the featured person (Sienna Miller) says her name written in a lipstick or crayon style font.

3. The gradient of the font for the title is increasing in brightness, this makes it stand out more and reinforces the title of the magazine. The text after that is then in pink, purple and black which also shows a consistent theme within the font. I particularly like how the designer has managed to keep within a certain colour palette but has tried to fill most gaps with some sort of colour. The colour palette is shown within the title and font as well as the model’s clothes on this cover. This proves that NME have been consistent while designing this particular cover; As it’s a 40th anniversary special magazine it features Jimi Hendrix who in NME and many other musicians mind is ‘the greatest guitarist of all time’. Even the clothes the photographer and designer have dressed Hendrix in seem to compliment the colours running through the magazine cover. The colours could be edited or enhanced on his clothes as they have managed to make his skin, face, and hair all grey scale – this contrasts the bright colours well. This cover is a lot busier, brighter and bolder than the ELLE one I chose previously, this shows a contrast from one extreme to the other. The style of writing around the edge of the featured person is the same scribbled front however it has a completely different effect to the ELLE writing. The writing placed over the top of Hendrix is the title and the text saying his name and what his feature pages will be about, this draws the audience in as they know from the cover what they will find inside the magazine. The bar code and extra writing that isn’t needed for the customer is positioned in the bottom left corner of the magazine, this detracts attention. The price and issue date are in the top left corner above the title, this is for the customers use so it is more visible than the bar code. The subtle competition in the bottom right corner even though it wouldn’t be expected to be notices, somehow the yellow font links with the yellow on Hendrix’ clothes and catches the readers eye.

4. As this cover doesn’t feature a person, it is rare – they have chosen to show a black leather jacket which is unusual. This could be just because it’s the 25th anniversary edition, as this is a regular issue of Spin… The writing is again, scribbled like the other two magazines I have chosen; I really like the scribbled effect and think it works really well with music magazines as well as fashion. It catches the audience attention is the writing looks handwritten as it is unusual to see handwriting with the technology of computers around us. The zip hanging over the top of the title looks so realistic which would also catch the readers eye, the lighting on the jacket also looks surreal; it is as though the magazine cover is literally made out of a leather jacket and has been cut to size. The background of this magazine cover is made to look like a leather jacket, this would give the impression that Spin is a magazine featuring rock or indie music as opposed to Classical music, but that is simply a stereotype of a leather jacket. This is the 15th anniversary issue so it will feature something different to the regular issues of Spin. The reader is told that there will be ‘100 moments…’ inside the magazine in a big font so this will draw in their attention further. The slightly smudged lettering keeps in tone with the theme of a rock/indie music magazine The bar code is unusually big on this magazine cover, this could be because there is no main feature image so the readers eye is drawn to every section of the page equally other than the title. The title is positioned centrally and is the only section in colour, this can then be seen as a ‘Spin’ magazine from a distance. The colour theme on this NME magazine is similar to the one shown previously, the ELLE magazine. The reflection on the jacket adds a tone of grey to the theme, but other than that it’s grey scale with a red splash of colour. – This may be continued inside on the 25th anniversary feature pages.

5. The clothing style in the image used shows distinctively that the band consists of three guys and a girl purely through clothing. They don’t show the style of music through the clothing however the text will explain that to the reader so it’s not important. The theme of clothing being black, white and gold (the same at the text) links to the rest of the page exceptionally well. Double Page Spreads; I like this style of double page spread as it’s subtly blended across two pages rather that being purely colour coded the same, the picture being slightly distorted as it crosses over doesn’t affect what the magazine is trying to show with consistency. Some sections of text stand out more than others as well, as one section is highlighted in black with a white font, this suggests it would be interesting to draw the reader in. This double page spread shows that the image cuts straight across both pages, linking them simplistically. The colour of font also blends as the magazine company have used a traditional three colour theme, black, white and gold in this case. The font style also is continuous across both pages showing consistency again. The clothing style in the image used shows distinctively that the band consists of three guys and a girl purely through clothing. They don’t show the style of music through the clothing however the text will explain that to the reader so it’s not important. The theme of clothing being black, white and gold (the same at the text) links to the rest of the page exceptionally well. I like the title font style as it links to the band’s previous album cover; it’s individual and almost a trademark to the band. Also with the title being a question about someone, being referred to as ‘he’, this would make the reader want to find out who it’s about so they would continue reading the double page spread.

6. This double page spread looks boring compared to others but it shows continuity as the whole page is in greyscale. This shows a large difference between the sharpness of the text boxes and layout of the left hand page, as opposed to the right hand page which is smooth and curved to the eye. Usually if the image of a face was side on, it would be pointing to the centre of the double page to attract attention into the magazine rather than out. The font used on this page is traditionally ELLE magazine’s font, therefore this causes the reader to think of the link between this page and the rest of the magazine. The image on the right hand side attracts the readers’ eye as she’s gazing out of the page, but also because she has a very unique style and without being girly in her clothing or hair cut her face and arm are very feminine. The reader would take this into context and see how well the clothes or haircut link to the first impression of the girl. She is also used on the cover of this ELLE issue. In my opinion, this could express one of two options; 1) the magazine are confident that the text will be read anyway and the layout used draws attention in.2) the text will cause the reader to think outside the box, as does the image.

7. I like this style of page and I took a photo of this page spread out of one of my own Marie-Claire magazines; it stood out to me because of the simplistic style that has somehow managed to catch my eye with the limited colours. I also like the plain background of the page, this allows the image to be softer to the eye and the title and other text almost blends in with the background. The title is again, as before, in a default font used in the Marie-Claire magazine. This gives a traditional feel to the page and allows the reader to recognise that they haven’t put work into the title so that the image is more noticeable. This double page spread is taken from Marie-Claire , a typical woman’s fashion magazine. There is approximately a 5-page-spread interview on Rihanna, a well-known R&B artist. This is the first page of the collection of pages, the image takes up most of both pages, leaving a quarter of the double page for the title and rough summary of what the reader should expect across the next few pages. I like the idea of having one huge picture but I don’t think the editor thought they’d need more than one image as there are more on following pages. The colour scheme of these two pages is grey, skin tone and red; this is blended well through the writing and clothing used in the image. Rihanna’s hair stands out the most in the image as you would expect with such a bright, bold colour; this automatically draws attention to her as an image and the eye would trace her body down the page looking at her playsuit and finally reaching her statement shoes. This then leads up to the title above; the editor will have positioned this in a particular way for the eye to create this pattern and attract attention to the page.

8. ContentsPages; The font of this is also a default font, this shows continuity to the magazine’s other pages throughout the issue. The use of three pictures in the centre of the page attract the eye to that area; also there are small captions in the pictures with page numbers directing you to where this image may be extended later in the magazine. This colour scheme mainly sticking to black, white and pink in the text shows a neutral idea and suggests that this is how every Contents page is in each Marie Claire magazine. However the images show different scales of colours; this is because the colours tend to change from page to page depending whether it’s an advertisement, photo shoot or article. I like the idea of having a main title of a page on the Contents, but with a little bit extra writing describing what you will find on the page listed, this is also helpful for the reader to understand what sort of magazine it is if they haven’t come across it before. I don’t think I will lay out my Contents page like this but I wanted to explore 3 different styles to narrow down which I like and dislike for my final product. The title being so bold at the top of the page showing the name of the magazine and the month issued is in a very large font, I like the style of having a large title as it stands out on the white background of the page.

9. ELLE have used a similar design to Marie Claire as they have the page number, the title of the page, and a short description of the page underneath. I like the idea of this however on this page in particular it looks very busy and a reader may choose not to read every detail on the page because of this. However there are also three different sections of the contents page, ‘On the cover’, ‘ ELLE edits’ and ‘Features’; I think I will use this on my magazine as it separates each section of the magazine into categories. I also took this image out of my own collection of ELLE magazines, this one stood out to me the most because of the images used in the border. I like this contents page a lot, it’s very simplistic but around the edge, in the border, are images of what you should expect to find within the magazine itself. The colours are all very monotone with the occasional flash of red in the repeated three photos. The font is the ELLE font so it doesn’t particularly stand out however the difference in the three words at the top of the page, ‘ELLE’, ‘CONTENTS’ and ‘January’ each have different fonts which I may use in my magazine as it shows variation. Having the name of the magazine in a bigger print also appeals to me, as it did in the previous contents page also.

10. I like the image used on this page as it fits with the fashion theme of Vogue very well and the photo has been taken purely for the contents page so a lot of thought has gone into it. The style of the girl is very vintage and expresses a catwalk theme by her hair being bundled up and wearing a fur coat. I also like that the models’ eyes stand out a lot on the page, it shows the only glimpse of a blue/grey colour scheme across the entire page. Also there is text overlapping the image which is an easy way to fit in more text but have a big image at the same time. This creates a happy medium where the person who wants the image still gets one, and the person interested in reading gets their way as well. I particularly like this contents page for the fact it has a large image and title taking up a good two thirds of the page, this leaves a third left to roughly sum up the significant pages within the magazine. The colour scheme sticking to white, black, red and skin tones throughout the page shows that even the images in the bottom right corner have been taken into consideration when choosing how to arrange this contents page. The font is a typical Vogue font as were the previous two contents pages, most magazines do this as it shows it’s not an advert by another company in a simple way; the font catches a readers eye and from memory they would recognise that it links to the front cover of a magazine.