The document discusses elements that make for an effective magazine front cover. It analyzes covers of GQ and Vibe magazines, noting their use of color and font. Both magazines use large, bold sans-serif mastheads in overlapping images. The document advises that an effective cover should suit the target audience through genre-appropriate language and visuals. It should feature a masthead, sell line, barcode for purchasing, advertisements, and well-designed images to attract readers.

1. Front Cover Bonanza
To your left you will see
my personal
Frankenstein. This odd
collection of magazines is
a collage of sorts, in
which I’ll be analyzing
different magazine
elements I like and what’s
key to a good front cover.

2. Though not a music
magazine, I really like
GQs use of a colour,
sticking to a variety of
simple blues and and
grays which look
pretty good.
Vibe used an
interesting main
cover line where
they alternated
colours between the
main red and white.
They advertise free
content here as
well. The language
is also fairly
colloquial, which is
fitting for the hip-hop
genre.
Both magazines use similar
mastheads: they use sans-serif
fonts to convey the
more serious genres of these
two magazines. They’re big
and bold, but are still
overlapped by images
because people know the
magazines. They also use the
put the rest of the
magazines name in a
separate colour within the
wording. Pretty funky.
This use of the bottom
strip to show off
another big article in
the magazine is
interesting as it widens
the target audience to
readers who only want
to see this without
taking anything away
from the main article.

3. What else?
So in a good front cover you’re gonna want to have a it suited to your
target audience. You won’t aim heavy metal stuff at elderly people
(probably). This requires a genre firstly, pop, reggae; what’s your
magazine all about? Then you need a good masthead. Your ship won’t set
sail without one. Get it? Dumb pirate analogy? No? Oh well. It should be
accompanied by a sell line. You also need to check your use of language.
Maybe in a hip-hop magazine you can be a bit more laid back in your
wording, but not so much in a magazine about orchestral music. You’ll also
need purchasing details like a barcode, so you can make money. Can’t sell
it if you can’t scan it. Advertising/promotions is important too! People love
free stuff and might be more enticed to buy your magazine if there’s a
chance for a free shirt. Your main image should take center stage, with
additional images to attract more people. Mise-en-scene. Great phrase, but
you need to have a good looking magazine because who wants to buy
something that looks like it was made by a seven year old.
That was wordy, yikes.