This document analyzes various design elements of a magazine cover and pages, including: 1) The masthead and cover photo are designed to stand out and highlight the importance of the featured artist. 2) The contents page uses text and fonts to target different audiences, including women and older readers. 3) Photos on the double page spread use lighting, settings, and positioning to convey meanings like success and professionalism about the featured music artists.

1. Deconstructions
In this presentation, I will deconstruct individual aspects of a front
cover, a contents page, and a double page spread.

2. The masthead is the title area at the top
of the page. The writing overlaps the
title, as does the photo of Ed Sheeran.
This shows the importance of the artist
and also the importance of the article by
bringing them forwards and making
them stand out.
’THE STORIES OF THE YEAR” is there
to let a potential buyer know that this
magazine contains all the important
and best articles and gives them a
reason to buy this particular magazine
over any competitors. It also says that it
has the most ‘ESSENTIAL’ alums that
are a ‘must-hear.’ This implies that
you’d be missing out by not owning this
magazine.
Key-lighting is used so that one light is
shining directly onto Ed’s face. This makes
his expression (of confusion) stand out as
his face becomes incredibly prominent.
With other types of lighting, you might not
get the shadow behind him. This has been
done to bring him forward, as with placing
him in front of the masthead. Having
darkness behind him and having him look
forward has optimistic connotations of him
looking towards the light, looking towards
the future, and having darkness behind
him has subtle connotations of moving
forward to bigger and brighter things.

3. The majority of font on this page is
straight, plain, and professional. This
suggests and older target audience as
they are more drawn to
professionalism. The title font that
reads ‘Ed Sheeran is written in a font
that looks almost like lipstick or
crayon. Lipstick would have feminine
connotations, appealing to a T.A of
women. A crayon sort of font is
somewhat out of place on a more
professional magazine but could create
contrast. It would fit in with the look
that Ed Sheeran has. He’s described as
an ‘everyday tale’ and is made to look
down to Earth and normal with a
confused, ’out of it’ look on his face,
dressing him in plain clothes, and
giving him an acoustic guitar (as
opposed to an electric guitar) as a prop.
He’s supposed to come across as out of
place in the professional world as he’s
just an ordinary man. This makes him
more relatable, and by extension more
likeable, to an audience.
The lack of subimages shows an older target
audience. Magazines who want younger
readers tend to have a lot of pictures
advertising posters and attempting to grab
potential buyers eyes with an array of popular
celebrities. The page remains saturated and
doesn’t look empty, which is a fear when cutting
down on subimages. It has been saturated with
articles and content – which wouldn’t
necessarily appeal to a younger audience.
Magazines with younger recipients sometimes
tend to skimp on text in favor of images and the
text that they do write tends to be short and
snappy.
The most prominent color on this page
is red. Red is a strong color, as are the
other primary colors, and therefore will
stand out. Ed has been dressed in black
and the background is off-white with
dark shadows to allow this red to pop
even more than it usually would. It
attracts the eye almost instantly. Red
has connotations with passion and
romance, but also danger and
warnings. If we go with the idea that
Ed’s name is supposed to appear as
having been written in lipstick as
opposed to crayon, then this fiery red
would further this. It would extend the
idea that he is a heartthrob who has
ladies constantly after him.

4. Taking photos outside means that you cannot
control the lighting or the weather but you
can get more interesting shots this way. In
this photo, the band are standing on what
appears to be a hill with a nearby town fading
into the fog into the background. Having these
artists at an elevated position with homes,
trees, and other things small and beneath
them shows that they are ‘on top of the world’
and ‘at the height of the their game’ by quite
literally placing them above other people and
putting them at a height. This shows them as
quite successful, or, at the very minimum,
rising to success.
Having a photo of a man in a suit suggests a level of
professionalism. The setting for this photo is also quite
professional as it is around great, white columns - potentially
marble. This is associated with somewhat fancy architecture.
Professionalism, as mentioned before, appeals to older people,
more mature people.

5. Crosswords and such suggest an older target
audience as younger people, like myself,
aren’t as inclined towards them as the older
generation seems to be.
The color scheme is quite dull and grey on this
page with splashes of red. This means that the
red does stand out even more against such a
plain background but it contributes even
further to the professionalism. Magazines with
incredibly young target audiences often need
their magazine to be saturated in color in order
to maintain audience interest and attention.
With an older audience, this is not necessary.

6. Davey Havok has a very specific
look that’s played up in this
double page spread. He wears a
short sleeved shirt to show off his
tattoo sleeves, he wears the
inverted cross, he has expanders
in his ears, and his hair is quite
messy. The look could be called
punk. His look, his facial
expression, and his relaxed stance
seem quite laid back, which
match with the idea of having a
lazy, casual Friday.
Important words within the
title and the strapline have
been colored purple, which is,
arguably, the color that stands
out the most on this page. Yet, it
has been used very sparingly.
Using a bright color sparingly
atop a somewhat saturated
background calls an immense
amount of attention to these
words. The phrases in question
range from ‘a casual Friday,’
which stands out as it is
relatable and fun, to ‘death of a
rock star,’ which is quite
dramatic and neither fun nor
relatable. This difference
creates a sense of contrast.

7. The background is quite plain
except for the border of lights.
This looks quite like the lights
surrounding a dressing room
mirror, which remind us that
even if this man appears quite
laid back and calm – he’s still a
star and he’s still famous. The
rest of the grey background
has been used as it doesn’t
stand out on it’s own at all.
This makes the rest of the
content on the page stand out.
The photo of him as well as the
article, which is broke up by
questions in white boxes
therefore making what’s
written within the white stand
out the most, and the article
title. The title and the picture
are color atop a colorless
background.