This document analyzes the design elements of a music magazine cover and contents page. It discusses the masthead, images, puffs, slogans, cover lines, colors, and layout. Key elements include the masthead placed at the top in white contrasting the dark background. The main image is a singer linked to the coverline and placed in the center. Puffs advertise extras like a free CD. The contents page also follows magazine conventions with the masthead, date, images, and grab quotes to entice readers. A double page spread similarly analyzes the heading, images, puffs, and article elements used.

1. Front cover

2. skyline
puffs
masthead
Sell lines
Cover line
price
barcode
Anchorag
e text
Main Main image
Cover line
USP

3.  Masthead – is large, bold and has a 3D effect behind it to make it
look different and more superior to the rest of the cover. It is in white to
contrast the dark background and it has been slightly covered by the
slogan and puffs which connote that is has been branded and
therefore the audience already know of the magazine and do not need
to see the whole masthead. It has been placed at the top of the page
underneath the skyline which is a common code and convention of
magazines.
 Main Image – is the singer from ‘Soiuxse and the Banshees’, the
main image is linked to the main coverline. It is a medium close up of
her and the masthead covers her which connotes that the masthead is
more important however the coverlines don't overlap her which shows
how significant she is. She has heavy makeup on and as the genre of
this magazine is music and the subgenre is indie/classic rock, the
stereotype of indie singers is their originality and her makeup is very
different. It has been placed in the centre of the page so it’s one of the
first things that the audience notices, this is a common code and
convention of magazines.

4.  Skyline – is also linked to the puff right next to it. It has been
written in a sans-serif font and is in grey and red. They have
chosen these colours to keep with the colour scheme but also to
highlight different parts of the skyline. The name ‘George Harrison’
is in a different colour so that the audience will notice it. Also grey
and red with stand out against the dark background of the
magazine.
 Slogan – ‘The music magazine’ is placed over the masthead
which connotes that the masthead has been branded and that the
slogan is of equal importance. It has been written in script font to
make it seem as if someone has written on it which gives it more
value to the target audience. It has been written in grey so it
stands out against the white masthead. Saying ‘The music
magazine’ connotes that it is the only music magazine, it also
reinforces the genre to the target audience.

5.  USP - is also a puff. It has been placed in the top corner/ top left
third, its in a red box with white sans-serif writing. The font is big and
bold so that it attracts the audience. It slightly covers the corner of the
masthead which connotes that the masthead has been branded. Also
the ‘free cd’ reinforces the genre to the audience as it’s a music
magazine and the contents on the cd fit into the sub genre of the
magazine (indie/classic rock). The actual cd was placed in the bottom
left corner so that it was directly below the puff.
 Puffs - are located in the top left third and the right left third. The
first is a usp advertising a free cd with the purchase of the magazine. It
is a red box with white sans-serif writing, these colours have been
chosen to keep with the colour scheme of white,red,blue and grey and
white stands out against the red and makes it more noticeable. The
second is a picture of George Harrison, this puff links with the strapline
and has been used to make the target audience buy the magazine as
they may listen to him as his music fits in with the subgenre of music.
The third is a blue circle with white and black sans-serif font inside.
This puff also acts as sell lines. The circle has 2 other thin circles
around it to represent a turntable as it’s a music magazine or to make
it stand out more. These colours keep with the colour scheme.

6.  Anchorage Text - is also a part of the main cover line
except it’s not the actual main cover line it just links into it. There
are two anchorage texts used, one in blue and one in white (to
keep with the colour scheme). They both link to each other and
connote a war or some violence, this may connote the violence
and war of the music industry to become number 1. Both writing is
in sans-serif font and some words have been put into bold to
highlight them. They have been placed in the top left third and the
middle left third and have been placed right next to the main
image’s face as they link to the main image.
 Price – is located above the barcode and is gives the prices for
Britain, America and Canada, this connotes that they are a big
magazine that sells world wide. The price is also located next to
the date so they audience know when they find the price that this
is the most recent copy. The cost is expense for a magazine which
is why it is located in the bottom right third by the barcode and in
small writing so that they find the price after they have looked at
everything else.

7.  Barcode - has been placed in the bottom right third of the
page, this is a common code and convention of magazines as they
don't want the barcode to take up much of the page. The barcode
is still quite small but compared to other magazine is big, this is
because they may have enlarged it to fill up the dead space at the
bottom of the cover.
 Layout - follows the codes and conventions of magazines,
Masthead is at the top, cover lines around the sides, main image in
the centre and barcode at the bottom. The layout makes you first
focus in the main image then look at the masthead, this is because
the masthead has been branded and the magazine knows that
people will buy it but they want them to see who is their main
feature in this issue.

8.  Cover lines - have been placed around the main image so
that they don't cover any details, this is a common code and
convention of magazines. They follow the colour scheme and are
all written in the same font except some are in bold and some are
bigger than others. Everything in the cover lines refer to something
important inside the magazine and give slight details about it as
well to make it more appealing to the target audience. Every
coverline links to the genre/sub genre of the magazine.
 Mis-en-scene – shows only the model and part of what she is
wearing. You can also see her red hair which links into the colour
scheme. The main focus is the head as below that is starts to fade
into darkness. The denotation of the background is that there is a
black background but the connotation of this is that the
background is black to make her stand out and so the audience
only really notices her and doesn’t get distracted by anything in the
background.

9.  Colour Scheme – consists of white, red, blue and grey., The
white, red and blue are the colours of the British flag, these haven
been used to represent it’s identity and how it is a British
magazine. Also these colours all stand out well against the black
background, this connotes that the dark background has been
used to make everything else stand out. Around the main image’s
face the colours white, red, blue have been used but when the
main image fades out only red and grey are used, this connotes
that the white and blue are related to the main image as they are
not needed when the main image is no longer there.
 Niche Market - is people who listen to indie/classic rock
music but more of the younger generation as they have used a
young modern singer on the front. So the niche market is most
likely white males aged 25 to 35.

10.  Target Audience - is white men aged 40 to 60 who listen to
classic rock/indie music. Their social class would be
working/middle class as they listen to classic rock and were
around in the 70’s listening to it. The puff in the right corner shows
a singer that may be recognisable to them as he was famous in
the 70s and they were around then and listening to the type of
music that he makes.

11. Contents page

12. Heading
Sub heading
Date and issue number
Main image
Contents
Contents
title
Page number
Grab quote

13.  Heading - has the same font and colours as the masthead, to
link it in with the masthead. It is located at the top of the and page
and it’s in the centre. The writing is smaller than the masthead. A
common convention that hasn't been used is the masthead
reappearing on the contents page, this connotes that the
masthead has already been branded and therefore does not need
to be shown to the audience again.
 Date/issue number – Has been added underneath the
heading and subheading and has two thin red lines above and
below it to make it stand out. This is a common code and
convention of magazine and they have been added to remind the
audience that this is the latest magazine and they have all the
latest information. The issue number also shows how many other
copies there are to show how successful the magazine is and that
the audience should believe it’s the best one.

14.  Sub heading – is 3 cities ‘London. Memphis. Bromley’. These
may be the cities that the magazine is based in and they reinforce
it in every magazine.
 Page numbers - are big and in a different colour to the
contents, this is a common code and convention of magazines as
they want the page numbers to stand out so it is easy for the
audience to locate anything in the magazine. They have used red
(to keep with the colour scheme) and sans-serif font to make it
look more professional.
 Contents titles - are in white with a red box around them.
These have been used to make the page look more neat and also
make it easier for the audience to find something in the magazine
they want to read. The red also relates to the colour of the page
numbers, this is to keep with colour scheme.

15.  Grab quote – is at the bottom of the page under the last contents.
It relates to one of the contents and states which one it is and what
page to find it on in red, this is so it stands out against the rest of the
writing. A grab quote is a common code and convention of magazines
as it gives the audience a hint of what the article is about and intrigues
them so that they want to read more. The quote is serif font and in
black with a white almost transparent box around it, this is so its
stands out against the rest and shows that it is different. It is also a
puff as it is in a box which overlaps the actual contents.
 Main image - links to the grab quote that has been used. It is a
long shot and has been taken from a low angle to make him look more
superior. It is placed closer to the right so that the contents don't cover
any of the important aspects of the image such as someone's face or
hand. He is dressed smartly, with a woman who's is also dressed
smartly, standing behind him, this connotes that he is a ladies man but
as he is not looking at her and is looking at the camera shows direct
address and connotes that he is more interesting in the audience than
he is in the woman behind him.

16.  Colour scheme – is similar to the one of the front cover
except this time only black, red and white are used. The
connotations of red is romance and as there is a man and a
woman in the main image this connotes that there is romance
between them.
 Layout - has the heading at the top and the main image
slightly to the right and the contents to the left so that neither of
them overlap. The rule of thirds seems to have been applied,
which makes the page look much neater and more organised. The
contents have been arranged neatly as they have been split into
sections and the articles are in numerical order with the page
numbers which makes it so much easier for the audience to find
anything.

17.  Mis-en-scene - shows a man and a woman in a posh room.
The denotation of the wallpaper and carpet is that it’s old fashioned
which connotes that the pair have wealth and live in a big old
fashioned house. Also the man is sitting at wooden/ glass table
with his back to the woman, which connotes that he is dominant
and more important. The woman is hidden behind him and the
heading and issue number cover her which connotes that she is
not the main focus as the man is in front of the lines whereas she
is behind them.

18. Double page spread

20.  Heading - links to the contents title, this shows that this article is the first
out of that category from the contents page. Three colours have been used
(white, yellow and red) and the same font as the masthead has been used to
emphasise the magazine being branded. The same 3D effect has also been
used, using the same font and effects on titles as the masthead is a code
and convention of magazines.
 Main image - takes up the whole first page and some of the second. It
shows the famous band ‘ABBA’ when they were younger and at the height of
their career as the audience is most likely going to recognise them like this
rather than as they are now. The denotation of the background that it is a
studio this connotes that they were at a photo shoot or shooting a music
video at the time that this picture was taken. The band links to the genre and
sub genre of the magazine as they are a classic band. It’s a long shot of the
band to show them all and what they’re wearing.

21.  Mis-en-Scene - of the main image is that behind them there
is a studio for either a photo shoot or the filming of video, this has
been used to highlight how famous they are as they are in studios
like this a lot. Also they are all wearing white which connotes that
this was a staged photo. Also the girls are sitting but the men are
standing so that the audience can see all of them easily. The
clothes they're wearing may remind the audience of the 70s/80s
when everyone dressed like that. Also they are obviously posed
which connotes that they about this and that they’re happy for it to
be a staged photo.
 Puff - has been used in the top right corner of the second page.
It advertises the magazine articles from this section of the contents
page, there is a yellow line above the text and a red line below, this
keeps with the colour scheme and makes it stand out against the
rest. The text is white which stands out against the dark
background. The colours link to the heading as the puff is
advertising everything else in this category.

22.  Other image - shows one of the band members now and in a
modern studio. It is located in the article box and shows contrast
between how he used to look and how he looks now, he is also the
representation of the entire band to show how they have aged and
how times have changed because of modern technology.
 Article heading - is in a serif font and is bold and black. It is
located at the top of the article box and acts like a second heading for
the page. It refers to the article as its about a previous show the band
did, it is a common phrase that people say which means that the
audience can find it easy to relate to.
 Article Subheading – is in a different colour to any of the other
writing to make it stand out, especially as its on a white background
the red makes it stand out even more. It gives details about the article
so the audience can decide whether they want to read it or not. It is
located directly underneath the article heading to show that it is the
subheading. It’s in a sans-serif font as a contrast to the article heading
which is in a serif font.

23.  Article - is set into 2 columns and in between is a grab quote
and information on the pictures. The article has small writing and
starts with a the first letter of the first word much bigger than the
rest, this is a code and convention of magazines as it makes it look
more sophisticated and interesting. The article is detailed which
connotes that whoever wrote it knew the correct information.
 Grab quote – also acts as a puff as it is in a red rectangle
which yellow and white writing. Yellow and white writing has been
used to make it easier for the audience to differentiate between the
quote and who said it. It is located directly in between the two
columns of the article. It is a code and convention of magazines to
use a quote as the audience will immediately be attracted to that
and then the quote will interest them so that they want to read the
article. A serif font has been used and the colours stick to the
colour scheme.

24.  Information on images - is located directly between the
columns of the article. It is in small bold writing to make it stand out
against the rest and show that it’s not part of the article, even
thought some lines have been added around it to reinforce this. Its
a code and convention of magazines to add information on
images used so the audience know who is in the picture.
 Masthead – is located in the bottom right corner next to the
page number, this has been used so that the audience get used to
seeing the masthead and eventually it becomes branded. It is in
small writing so that it doesn't stand out and distract the audience
from the article.
 Colour scheme - involves black, white, yellow and red.
These colours stand out against the backgrounds used and are
quite happy colours which would make the audience feel happy
when they see the colours.

25.  Layout - has the main image and heading on page and
overlapping onto the second page and the article on the second
page, the article has been arranged in the rule of thirds which
makes it look neater and more organised and thus making it nicer
for the audience to look at. It has followed codes and conventions,
for example the heading is at the top of the page and the
subheading is below the heading.