The document analyzes representations of artists in magazine covers, discussing how poses, expressions, and other visual elements convey different meanings and impressions: - A Jay-Z cover in Rolling Stone presents him as sophisticated, serious, and intimidating through his expressionless black attire and sunglasses that avoid eye contact. - Katy Perry is depicted as a strong, independent woman on one cover through her serious expression and colorful hair, but as more provocative and focused on attractiveness on another cover in Vanity Fair. - On a Billiard magazine cover, Katy Perry combines assertions of independence with hints of sex appeal through makeup, dress, and posture. - A cover of Kasabian

1. Rebecca Phillips

2. Rolling Stone magazine did a
feature cover of Jay-Z. As he is
dressed completely in black and
expressionless, we can infer that
the artist is sophisticated and
serious about what he does. The
black also connotates to danger,
making the artist seem
intimidating. Additionally, with
sunglasses over his eyes, it breaks
eye contact between the artist and
the audience, leaving the audience
intimidated by him. Furthermore,
the text to image ratio leads the
reader to believe that he is of
importance and all focus should be
on him, highlighted with the ‘King’
reference. The Medium Close Shot
is also intimidating as there appear
to be little space between the
reader and the artist’s face.

3. There can be contrast in which one model can
appear to be across magazines.
In this magazine aimed at young females,
the artist Katy Perry is appeared to be a
very strong independent woman. We can see
this through her. Serious expression and
bright coloured hair make the reader think
that she does not care what other people
think of her and is determined. The Medium
Shot focuses on the model but also allows to
for the hand on hip to be seen, showing that
she is assertive about what she says. She
becomes inspirational for the teens that
read the magazine because she is strong and
knows what she wants. Katy’s direct eye
contact and small pupils makes her appear
threatening because small pupils link to
narrowing of the eyes when threatened or
angry.

4. However, in Vanity Fair magazine, a
lifestyle magazine aimed at females,
Katy Perry is represented much
differently. Her make-up and
clothing are much more provocative,
making her inspirational for women
who want to feel attractive and
confident, like Katy Perry. Whereas
the hands on hips made her look
more assertive in the previous
magazine, in this magazine, it
suggest that she is highlighting the
size of her waist and hips, showing
that she has a stereotypical
‘perfect’ body, that women aspire
for. Again there is direct eye
contact, typical of a front cover
image.

5. Katy Perry is represented is a
different way yet again in Billiard
magazine. This magazine focuses
much more on music and the
individual. The make-up and colour of
her dress and background al suggest
that she is innocent and sweet, as
pastel pink has connotations of young
girls. Again, with her hair she looks
assertive and independent. Her risen
head connotates to fearlessness as
she looks down at others.
However there is hints of sex appeal,
with the pout of her mouth and her
exposed shoulders. Her hair swirls
down to her chest, draw attention to
her chest giving more appeal.

6. NME featured Kasabian on their front cover.
Straightway we can dennotate one man with his
arm around the other. From this we can
connotate that the pair are close and unified in
their band. It also suggests they are unified
against anything that comes at them. Tom’s
raised chin and frowned brow is
aggressive, where as Serge’s lowered chin is not
aggressive or submissive as it usually is, but
menacing, coupled with the raised eye line, like
he planning something to come. Tom’s arm
around Serge could be seen as possessive but as
Serge’s eye line is nearly equal to Tom’s it shows
they are more of a team rather than a one sided
relationship. However Tom’s arm around Serge
could also emphases their closeness. This could
suggest homosexual relationships and could put
some people off the magazine, however the
target audience of the magazine are not
homophobic so this suggest that male contact is
accepted and not a problem. The direct eye
contact with the camera intimidates the reader
but also makes them feel included in the things
that are going to happen.