Front Cover Analysis 3

Masthead: is hidden behind Paul Mcartney's head, portraying that the magasine doesn't even really need to have it's Masthead showing because it has such a vast amount of reader's that they will just KNOW that it's Mojo magasine simply by seeing the 'M'. White bold lettering on a totally black background, stands out completely, attracts the eye very well.

Pull Quote: is very simple and rather difficult to spot as it kind of blends in with the rest of the Lead Article but it's quite a bold statement about how Paul Mcartney "survived" which would make reader's want to open the magasine and hear about what one of the greatest musicians of all time went through after the Beatles' collapse.

Lead Article: is very clearly marked out in big, bold, white lettering and has quite an extensive title. It also has "exclusive interview" written above it which draws the audience in to read about what is so exclusive about it. This is written on a red background with white lettering which really stands out from the black background.

The Left Third: is very cramped. The magasine has crammed a lot of BIG names (in the music business) in on one Left Third. This could draw in a phenomenal amount of reader's from all different pools of taste in music. They have just simply used the same white lettering on a black background which is very effective and comes across easily.

Main Image: is very simple but again very effective. They have simply used an old photograph of The Beatles when they were in their prime but they have edited it so that Paul Mcartney is in the forefront. This tells the audience that the Lead Article is simply about him and not really about any other memeber of The Beatles.

Skyline: has quite a lot included in it. It speaks to 3 different audiences and again has used the same white lettering on black background, but the magasine has also included small images to represent the content. This way if reader's don't recognise what it is about by the text alone they may relate to it by one of the images used, because an image may seem familiar to them (for example the Bob Marley one which is used Internationally).

- this front cover has no Cover Lines -

Front Cover Analysis 2

Masthead: the masthead has been made to look like it is being shattered by Matt Bellamy's (lead singer of Muse and featured on front cover) guitar. This would attract audiences because they would see that with graphics and editing such as this, the issue was a unique one and the magasine itself was interesting and unique.

Pull Quote: is not immediately visible to the naked eye but is situated just above the Lead Article. It is in black coloured lettering on a dark background which makes it hard to spot, but it has been put in bold so that it makes it a littler more clear to read. It would also attract audiences because the quote they have used is a rather interesting one and it would make readers want to open the magasine to see what context the quote was used in.

Lead Article: is very clear to see. It is in bold and big white coloured lettering on a dark background. They have also used just the band's name to pull audience's in because they are such a well known band and have such a wide and vast following that their name alone on a magasine would attract all kinds of people to read the magasine. The font is also very sharp which attracts the eye easily.

The Left Third: is cramped full of information to attract all kinds of audiences. They have again used the same bold, white, sharp and big lettering to attract the eye. But underneath each heading have included a mini-description in red lettering. The red and white alternation represents the colours of Q magasine, again indicating to the reader that this particular issue is unique.

Main Image: is very well set out. Plain gray background, which tells the audience that the magasine itself doesn't need fancy backdrops or gadgets to shout to it's audience, in fact Q has developed a signature for having plain backgrounds with shocking main images. This Main Image is no different. And as mentioned above they have Matt Bellamy striking his guitar against the Masthead of Q. It relates to the Lead Article, stating Matt Bellamy is "out of control" and it also draws in readers not just because it is an issue about Muse but also because they want to know what's caused Matt Bellamy to look the "rebel" in the Main Image.

Skyline: is extremely simple and shouts out "The UK's Biggest Music Magasine". Black background and white lettering, stands out very well and attracts readers because the statement itself is rather bold, but also because they will want to open the magasine to see if it really is the biggest music magasine in the UK.

- this magasine front cover has no Cover Lines -

Front Cover Analysis

This is the front cover of the Reading & Leeds issue of NME magasine for 2009.


In some ways it has a very simple layout but in other respects it is quite crowded, there seems to be an information overload. The larger audience attracted to this magasine would be Music Lovers and a range of 14-25yr old people. But this particular issue could be for anyone 15+ because it is about Reading & Leeds and such a wide age range attends those festivals every year that honestly anyone could buy this particular issue. It's appealing to the masses, and on top of those two groups it's appealing to the vast majority of Kings of Leon fans, who could potentially be persuaded by this magasine to go to Reading & Leeds simple because their favourite band is headlining, a fact which is clearly stated on this front cover and immediately draws people in to read more in order to buy the correct tickets to see them live.
This is my front cover analysis, click the image to expand it:

College Mag Progress

The research...

The font's that I researched were varied, I liked several different styles, but I really wanted a good font to convey what kind of magasine it was.

But I found it a little too preppy and that wasn't really what I was looking for, I wanted a font that showed it was an education related magasine but that it was also meant to be current.

Then I found this font called Varsity:

I didn't want this to be in a dull black colour so I changed it to a purple colour by spraying over the text in a grafiti kind of way.

Some layouts that I was interested in were rather close up ones and not 'serious' faced ones just really layed back silly ones such as:

Flat Plan

Contents Page

Front Cover