The cover of Q magazine has its masthead and strap-line in the top left corner, both connotate sophistication and style with the Q being an abbreviation of "Cue the music" and the stylised font being quite formal. The strapline too is simplistic yet effective "Discover great music". The clever title and the promising strap-line is not only very interesting but also very eye-catching, taking up the entire upper left corner and the contrasting colours of red and white making it stand out. The central dominant image shows the singer Lana Del Rey dressed quite simply yet blood drips down her face. Her expression however shows her at complete ease. All in all the image connotates a hard and dangerous side to the artist and seems to suggests that she can withstand pain. In addition to this the cover line links to the image reading " Everybody's Mad For Lana Del Rey. So What's So Bloody Good?" Not only does the cover line link to the image but it is also personalised for its UK readers, the term "bloody good" being one used in everyday conversation. The cover line above this one has the artists names in large red letters to place more emphasis on it and to make it stand out. This is again done in the upper right hand corner of the magazine and is coupled with a buzz word, "EXCLUSIVE PRO GREEN" is written in a deep pink, contrasting against the white background. The other buzz word too is done in a contrasting colour followed by an exclamation mark "PLUS" (bottom right corner) The buzz words draws the readers attention and suggests the magazine has valuable and interesting content. Alliteration is used in the article heading on the right hand side of the image of Lana Del Rey, "Fights!Feuds!Feathers!" The literary technique is used in order to attract readers, those interested in Kings of Leons will want to know more about it because of the catchy article title.
Different fonts are used effectively for the overall composition of the magazine cover, Lana Del Rey's name looks like an autograph suggesting a more intimate relationship. In addition to this the article title to do with music festivals is to written a different font and is placed in the middle of a yellow circle. The shape, colour and font differs from most of the cover. What this does is connotate the magazines variation in content, that there is more to the magazine. This technique is used again at the top of the cover with the article title on the "140 songs you must download now" layout in a zig-zagging design with alternate colours of pink and yellow. This reinforces the variety Q magazine offers.
The bar-code, date, price and web address is all neatly placed in the bottom right corner.This layout, as oppose to having the date up at the top, the date in the other corner etc. etc., keeps in line with the simplisticy of the cover. The simplisticy is reinforced too by the fact that there is only one image on the front, the central dominate one and that the colour scheme is very simple too, red, white and black with splashes of pink and yellow. Whilst the cover is eye-catching it is not overally vibrant, this, along with the rest of the composition suggests that the intended audience is an older one where its not the vibrancy of the cover that will appeal to them but the valuable content of the magazine itself.
The cover of Mojo magazine has its masthead dominating the upper part of the cover and its strap-line is placed within the masthead itself. The use of the word Mojo connotates a classic approach to music seeing as Mojo is a old turn of phrase for music. It addition to this the strap-line helps to identify the magazine as a music magazine. The red strap-line on top of the white masthead helps for it to stand out whilst the jazz like font suggests that the content of the magazine focuses on classic styles of music. This is re-enforced by the main dominant image of Bob Dylan in a black and white photograph. Fans of Bob Dylan will know that this a picture of him when he was younger and the fact that it is in black and white re-enforces this. It also connotates again the fact that the magazine focuses on classic styles of music. The buzz words are made to stand out by the contrasting colour of red against black and white and they are also finished with an exclamation mark suggesting the articles importance of exclusivity. For the article title on Bob Dylan the use of font and the fact that it is slanted suggests two things. Firstly the use of font which looks as though it were typewritten again implies that Bob Dylan is a classic rock and roll artist, and secondly the fact that the quote is slanted further re-enforces what the quote is saying, Dylan "doesn't break the rules because there are none" the slanted writing breaks away from conventional alimentary and so too suggests as though it were breaking the rules.
The bottom right article title and information is framed in quite an old fashioned frame not only keeping in style with the rest of the cover but also bringing it to the readers attention thus making the cover more eye-catching. Moreover the fact that the promise of a free CD (in a sticker effect) and information on an exclusive interview is in green and yellow heavily contrasts against the rest of the cover and thus makes it more eye-catching. A free gift is used to make readers wish to buy it whilst the article title and additional picture helps to make the cover more aesthetically pleasing.
No comments:
Post a Comment