Analysis of Existing Magazines

By Alvin Goolab

Masthead Sky Line

Main Cover Line

Main Image

Buzz Word

Barcode

Cover Lines

Masthead – The masthead has been written in Red & Black for this article as it suits the Artists dress code shown on the front, it also illustrates the articles style and the artists personality.

The main image dominates and is shot at eye-level which catches peoples attention and depicts a serious article.

Main Cover Line is, Eminem, which shows the lead article within the magazine is about Eminem hence him being the main image. This persuades people to buy the magazine as they would be interested to read about the article.

The importance of the text has been colour co-ordinated in 3 levels of transparency to the background. Least important text is set in grey to blend in with the background as it is not a priority to being noticeable whereas, the second most important text is in black to stand out enough as important. Finally, the most important text is set in bold red to stand out to the audience to foreshadow the leading articles. The importance of the text also determines the size, smallest text is mostly written in grey whereas the largest text is written in red.

Contrast is shown between the background colour and the colour of the outfit worn by the artist in the main image.

Masthead – The masthead has been written in yellow with a black outline, this makes it stand out for brand recognition.

The Main Cover Line is Lil Wayne and DJ Khaled who are “simply the best”. Lil Wayne has been written in a bigger font whereas DJ Khaled has been written smaller and in a different colour to show the importance between the two artists and the difference in popularity.

The Main Image is Lil Wayne and The Secondary Image is DJ Khaled. Although the two images are separate, it has been arranged to make it as if DJ Khaled is assisting Lil Wayne.

It is evident that the most intriguing text has been written in white despite the colour scheme of white and blue This could be because white stands out more than blue.

The Barcode is displayed in the bottom left corner of the page

The well known artists are written in white to show these artists have a role in this magazine.

The word Contents is the biggest word on the page as it informs what page the viewers are on. The contents is one of the most important pages in a magazine because it guides the viewers, it should be displayed clearly so it can easily be found as NME have done. The name of the magazine has been written in the heading so viewers are aware of who the contents page belongs to.

The actual contents is set out in categories such as, News, Radar, Features, etc.

The page numbers have been highlighted in red to stand out whereas the page headings have been set in black with a description of the page in a small print beneath.

Advertisements have been displayed on the bottom of the contents page as there is a higher chance of it being noticed as the contents is one of the most viewed pages in a magazine.

The main image/focus on the contents page is a picture of the lead player of the band, Arctic Monkeys. This picture co-operates with the article displayed beneath.

This little article gives us an example of what to expect from this magazine.

These advertisements are included on the contents page to persuade people to subscribe therefore allowing the magazine company and customers to benefit in financial terms.

The title, Contents is always written in this format to give the page style.

The V in the background represents the brand of the magazine, VIBE. As you can see, it has been overlapped by the title and the main image to form structure for better appearance.

The main image is consistently a well known celebrity often in an exaggerated pose to entice the audience and persuade customers to purchase the magazine.

As you can see, there are 5 articles displayed on this contents page each with a minimum of 4 pages.

This shows that this page is 1 of 3 contents pageThe women seen in the main

image is dressed in crème clothing which blends in with the background for a more relaxed effect.

This has been written larger than any other text to indicate that it is the beginning of the article. I believe it also improves the appearance.

As this double page spread is an article about Florence, she is used as the main image on the whole left hand side of the page to make it easy for people to know this page revolves around her.

As the main focus of this page is Florence, the second main focus is USA. The two are associated with each other hence the reason she is seen sitting on the American flag with the word, USA, written in bold behind which takes up two thirds of the double page spread.

This Tagline is a quote from one of Florence’s songs. It has been used in this page to portray that USA have “got the love”.

Her colour of clothing contrasts with the colours used in the article which makes her fashion sense stand out. In my opinion, it shows a sense of hatred towards America.

Her name has been highlighted here to show her importance and almost a shock for what is said in the articles summary.

The main image is a young woman dressed in a white top with a black jacket on and blue sunglasses which establishes the articles colour scheme. The question mark in the title has been set to blue to match the sunglasses to provide consistency within the colour scheme.

Her colour of clothing contrasts with the white background.

The main image has been placed at the right hand side of the page and takes up a whole side of the double page spread, this makes is easier for the audience to see that the article is based on her. She is assisted with pure text on the opposite side of the page.

She is seen to be looking at the title of the page which draws the attention to the pun used in the heading which foreshadows the article.

The main colour scheme of this page consist of White, Black and Blue.

The first letter of the text is yet again written in a larger text compared to the rest of the text used in the article. This indicates the articles starting point and emphasizes a main convention of all magazines.