front cover analysis
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Magazine Front cover
Comparison:Rolling Stone
and NME
Clear cover line - Font is the same as the explanatory text
Exclusive stands out as it is in a bright colour (yellow).
Formal language is used in both the explanatory and the cover line text
Bold colours – typical for a music magazine – black and white photo and red masthead
Eye contact is met by the person the exclusive is on (Keith Richards)
Photo is taken in a studio – still looks natural and relaxed though – lighting is quite soft – plain background
the price of the magazine is £3.95
The strapline on the cover is clear.
There is a natural eye flow, and backward S shape. Making it easy to see everything
Rolling Stone:
Mast Head
Main cover line
Strapline
Cover lines
Main Image
Sticker
Cover Lines with explanatory text
NME:
Rolling Stone Masthead and Strapline:
The Mast head that ROLLING STONE use is called Royal Acid Outline, and we can see that this magazine is a well known one because the
model on the front cover is covering the Masthead, which shows that it’s audience is already familiar with the magazine. The colour of the
Masthead is Red, which is commonly used in music magazines because it is bold and stands out against the black and white colours that are also
used on the covers. The strapline font that is used
NME Masthead and strapline:
The Masthead of this magazine is quite bold and short and
therefore has a direct impact on the reader as it is easier to
remember. There are sans serif fonts used on the cover of this
magazine, which makes is easier to read for the reader as they do not have to struggle to see the explanatory texts and
cover lines.
The Strapline on NME is on the bottom of the issue. It is also in
the same colour font as the mast head and the main cover line,
showing that it still has information of importance.
Rolling Stone Image and Main Cover Lines:
Eye contact is made by the model (Keith Richards) who is also the person that the exclusive is on. This draws in the reader as they may feel that the
interview within the magazine would be a personal one.
NME Image and Main Cover Line:
The magazine has used the Arctic Monkeys as endorsement, in order to
have more consumers of their product. This means that the
magazine will get new readers who are fans of Arctic Monkeys and
haven’t bought the magazine before, and those who are regular buyers of
the magazine. All of the band members are looking at the camera
lens, giving the reader a feel that they are looking right at them.
Rolling Stone Cover Lines and Kickers:
The font and colours that are used for the cover lines shows that this magazine is quite sophisticated and doesn’t really break many
boundaries of magazines, which is something that music magazines tend to do.
NME Cover Lines:The Sticker that is used on the front
cover, gives the magazine an informal feel because the font used
on the sticker is like handwriting. The editors of the magazine have also used a shadow on the cover lines,
used to make the text stand out against the colour of one of the band members t-shirt which is white. The
use of exclamation marks also makes the magazine feel that
everything is last minute, as it allows the reader to feel that they may miss
something of importance in this issue.
Rolling Stone Eye Flow:
The eye flow of the magazine cover subverts the conventions of a
magazine as it is the opposite to our natural eye flow, going from right to
left.
NME Eye Flow:
The Eye flow of the magazine cover is from left to right which
is natural for someone reading a magazine. Their main cover line is near the bottom of the
page which shows that they are breaking the conventions by not having the cover line in one of
the corners.