‘Sin City’ Magazine Cover Analysis

‘POST’ magazine- (April 2005)

The Masthead

• The bright red colour of the masthead is easily recognisable to the reader, and therefore immediately heightens the status of the magazine.

• The positioning also draws the attention of the reader as the top left hand corner is easily seen if the products are stacked one on top of the other, therefore making it more possible for the product to be marketed.

• The colours of red and white also contrast in order to ensure that the masthead stands out more for the reader. Whilst the red ‘Post’ is the same for every issue, the white of Jessica Alba’s hair symbolises action and drama.

• The ‘San Serriffe’ font also gives a cleaner, more defined appearance to the magazine and thus makes the theme of the magazine bolder and more dramatic.

The Image•The overall image of actress Jessica Alba is both striking and dramatic, due to the juxtaposition of colours and the pose chosen. The paradigmatic choices of the colour palette and pose add to create an eye catching cover.

•The syntagm of the positioning of the model and the pose chosen add to the sharp, crisp style of the cover. Due to the slightly twisted and angled shape created by the actress, a heightened sense of action and movement is immediately connoted- thus reinforcing the theme of the film ‘Sin City’.

•The contrasted created through the main colours of black and white symbolise the themes of sin and purity, strengthened through anchorage text of “Sinfully Good”.

The Anchorage Text•The anchorage text on a cover is used to provide a link between the image and the context of the cover.

•This anchorage text of “Sinfully Good” almost creates an oxymoron, and therefore makes the cover immediately more intriguing and distorted for the reader. The use of “sinfully” links to the title of the film and is used as a selling point for the cover itself.

•The positioning of the text- overlapping the body of Alba, is used in order to add to the layers of the dramatic picture, and consequently heighten the dramatic tone.

•The ‘San Serriffe’ font also matches that of the mast head, which makes the cover seem more professional and ‘completed’.

•Therefore the chosen syntagm’s of the positioning and play on words makes it clear that the cover focuses on the film “Sin City” whilst creating a slightly distorted style.