Front Cover Overview

All these front covers are front cover magazines from the magazine Vibe which have all been designed and published to attract RnB music fans. By carrying out an examination and doing research in comparing these front covers it is clear to identify the similar patterns and features within all of them.

These eight front covers all include typical magazine front cover conventions. Through this we see the same general layout conventions throughout, such as the main image that takes over the front cover, then we see the sell-lines that then border the main image, article photographs that will appear in the content inside and also a masthead which is designed in appropriate fonts.

Furthermore, there are repeated patterns throughout each of these front covers that we see such as the main image being a solo artist majority of the time. It is obvious that as a reader you expect to see some images of music artists on the front of a music magazine, however the appearance of solo artists on Vibe portray that having a band on the front is rare in the RnB world, it is mainly solo artists. In each of these front covers we see that each solo artist has been positioned in the centre of the frame covering a part of the masthead. This is constantly repeated in each front cover to display the importance and the status of each solo artist within the RnB industry. In addition by doing so this is a very effective way of attracting readers, especially the magazine’s target audience as the main artist on the front is most likely to be a recognisable and admired artist. A prime example of this is on the front cover featuring Alicia keys where she is glaring into the camera, giving the readers the idea she is staring at them and almost staring for their attention.

In the RnB world there is a variety of male and female artists, so there is a mixture of sexes within these eight front covers. This reflects that the genre of RnB is not just associated with just one sex it’s both men and women, it could also be said that it reflects how the genre of music is equal to both sexes and is

displayed that way too in the music press giving men and women confidence and inspiration as upcoming male or female artists or even readers.

There are also other connections within similarities in the mise-en-scene elements that are displayed on each of these front covers. Costumes are a key similarity, majority of the artists are all wearing mainly dark clothing which brings a sense of unity to the front covers. The women are mainly wearing dresses or jeans all presenting seductiveness to the magazine front covers. An example which takes this further would be the front cover with Ciara featuring on it, as she appears to be wearing nothing this would create a very alluring and flirtatious feel to the front cover as she reaches out to the readers to grab their attention to the idea she has nothing on. However the male artists are more casual and relaxed in their clothing such as T-shirts, sweaters and jeans. Both these looks are mainly always related within the RnB genre.

Furthermore, another key shared feature that is repeated across these eight front covers is that they all include feature sell lines and are all mainly laid out the exact same on each front cover just contain different stories which reinforces the brand identity. . This is a great feature to have on a front cover magazine, as it allows the audience to see, which artists are going to appear inside. The list-like structure also suggests that there is a lot of band-related content for the audience to enjoy.

Also on each front cover of Vibe the masthead is displayed in the exact same place and font on all eight front covers, just different colours and the mastheads are mainly all on either black or white backgrounds creating a different mood for each front cover. On every front cover the heads of each artist is always covering parts of the masthead making the title; vibe not fully readable. This suggests and portrays the success and popularity of Vibe as if it was a new magazine it wouldn’t have been wise to do this as it would have been unestablished and wouldn’t of had a maintained loyal fan base.

In addition to this, on each of the eight front covers, the Vibe masthead remains to appear in the exact same font and size which is another repeated feature throughout all the front covers. This also displays to its readers that it has a loyal fan base as the font and size of the masthead can still remain the same in each front cover and still keep the same loyal readers.

When focussing on colours within these eight front covers, they all seem to stick to similar colour schemes such as the dark and relaxed colours. Being more dark and cool colours this appeals to both the male and female audience’ of Vibe.

Another structure feature that is consistent throughout is the layout of each front covers, as mentioned earlier the placement of the artists are all repeated in the same way. This is a key feature of a front cover of a magazine as it draws to the audience’ attention, making them automatically want to read the magazine.

By carrying out the front cover overview, it is clearly obvious that Vibe has established its own brand identity and this can be easily identified by its target audience. All of this is consistently repeated through the stylistic layout features which occur from issue to issue, which is a wonderful way to help the magazine to become successful and sell.