Dan Watt analyzed the front covers of popular music magazines such as Vibe, Rolling Stone, XXL and The Source. He found that they all feature a large central image in vibrant colors with bold, easy to read text. On the Rolling Stone cover analyzed, the main image is of deceased rapper 2Pac in black and white, and the selling point is an article on the "50 greatest hip-hop songs of all time." Watt also analyzed a cover of Vibe magazine featuring Rihanna, noting similarities like the black and white central image but also differences like Vibe having less text in a smaller font on a light blue background.

1. Magazine Front Cover Analysis
Dan Watt

2. Do a mood board of different
music magazines…..
As part of this unit I looked into
popular music magazines such as
Vibe, Rolling Stones, XXL and The
source to find out why their covers
appeal to readers. They all feature
a large image in the center of the
cover and have bold text with
bright, vibrant colours. The text
has been made easy to read
intentionally, so it might catch
peoples attention.

3. The selling line for this
magazine is “50 greatest
hip-hop songs of all time.
The mast head is partially
covered by the main
imagine of rapper 2pac.
The main imagine has also
been given a black and
white effect to possibly
show the artist is deceased.

4. Title of Magazine
This is a front cover for the
popular magazine rolling
stones. It features the logo
font in red at the top of the
image, it also has a sub
title “ The best albums and
songs of 2012”.

5. Masthead & Selling Line
The selling line would grab
attention of hip hop fans, as
would the picture of 2Pac. The
logo is consistent on all rolling
stone covers making it instantly
recognizable. The lettering on
this cover is in a large, bold
white font to make it stand out
from the dark, grey and black
background image.

6. Main Image
The main image is of the
deceased world famous
rapper 2pac. I believe the
black and white effect is to
symbolize his death. This
image would immediately
draw hip-hop fans
attention towards the
magazine.

7. Cover Lines & Main Sells
The main cover line is “ The best albums and songs of 2012”,
With sub titles such as “Will Obama try to kill pot?”. The image is
the largest size possible with it taking up the whole background
of the cover. However the text is placed at the side of the cover so
you can see the background clearly. The language used in this
cover is standard English with little if any slang words. The cover
lines are in the colour white with the only coloured text being the
Logo which is red. The main title line is also in bold to catch
The readers attention.

8. Do the same thing for another magazine…select
one with adifferent genre to make a good
comparison.
This is another music magazine
called Vibe. On this cover is Rihanna
a famous pop and R&B singer. This
covers background is a black and
white image of Rihanna similar to the
rolling stones cover, however the rest
of the background is in a light blue
colour. There Is barely any text on
this cover with the main headline
being “ What's love got to do with it”.
The text is also in a smaller font
compared to the rolling stones cover
and it is coloured black which makes
the text more bold.

9. Comparisons
Both the main images are very similar, with them having a black and
white effect. This makes the text stand out more on the VIBE
magazine however as it contrasts with the light blue background. I
would say the text is also similar, both fonts are bold and in a large
size so to catch peoples attention towards the magazines. The main
difference between the text is the composition, with the magazines
having their text on the opposite sides, VIBE on the right mostly and
Rolling stones on the left.

10. Ideas for your own magazine
I thinking about have one main image for my
magazine, possible with an effect such as black and
white. I would use bold but decorative text to catch
peoples attention, be visually attractive and also to
make my magazine easier to read. I think I will put
my text on the right hand side of my magazine as it
will make the image clearer to see and because I
think it looks professional, I will also only use proper
English in the title and other text.