Research on Magazine

Layouts
Slide 2 – Blender Music Magazine Cover
Slide 3 – Blender Short Analysis
Slide 4 – Rolling Stone Music Magazine
Cover
Slide 5 – Rolling Stone Short Analysis
Slide 6 – Cosmopolitan Woman’s
Magazine Cover
Slide 7 – Cosmopolitan Short Analysis
21st January 2009 – Jessica Venner
 Arrow previously seen –
repetition makes reader Bold band name for
relate to other articles
emphasis
advertised
Bold Mast-
head across
the top
Celebrity’s Bold shape of arrow
pointing to a feature
name is the
– catches attention
second biggest Arrow also featured
title for at the top – common
attraction theme and repetition
Celebrity subject
looking
provocatively at
Article features
the camera
Big number to smaller than others
attract as they may not be
audience eyes as ‘audience
to an article attracting’ as the
promotion others

Bold name
again –
common theme
Usually last place for audience eyes to look so it is written in
 Codes and Conventions
• Big, bold title along the top.
• One big picture of a celebrity subject overlapping part of the title.
• Bold number – title of an article in the magazine doing a countdown.
• Modern fonts written in capitals throughout front page.
• Date and a website address.
• Name of celebrity subject in the photograph emphasised

Expected codes and conventions which are missing

• Price
• Issue number
• Barcode
• Date is down the bottom of the page (usually at the top near the title)
• Website address is down the bottom of the page (same as above)

Short Analysis
Woman on the front looking provocatively at the camera
suggests that the target audience is primarily male. This is a
music magazine. There does not appear to be a common genre of
music which is focused on. There are some unusual titles which
are promoted on the front page to attract the reader out of
curiosity. There is a common colour and font theme of black,
blue and white and only one font type is used throughout.
Random words are in bold, possibly for emphasis, but there does
 Date, price and issue number
E-mail address
Masthead bold
and in usual font
Unusual corner band
for audience
attraction
Main man
standing
Very large and bold forward and
band title for
‘dressed’
audience attraction –
shows main feature.
differently for
Does not comply with emphasis
common colour
theme of front page
White fonts help
title stand out
against the
background - also
a common colour
theme

Dress of group
matches the style
Feature in a box for emphasis of the magazine
 Codes and Conventions
• Big, colourful and abstract type title along the top.
• Four band members as the photo subject, partially overlapping the title.
• For a rock magazine look, the expected colours are black and red which is the theme
of colour used.
• All written in capitals except from the title. The general font used is similar to the
title.
• WebsiteExpected codes
address, date, price and conventions
and issue number which are missing

• Barcode
• One of the titles promoting the cover bands story is written in pink, a
colour which is not part of the general colour theme
• A feature title which includes a number e.g. ‘12 ways to get healthy’
Short Analysis
The band on the front could appeal to either a male or female audience. As there
is a man who has is top off who is known for being a ‘sex icon’, this shows the
magazine is perhaps trying to appeal to females a little more. The common
genre of music focused on seems to primarily be rock and similar, which is again
suggested by the band on the front. There are some rather vague titles which
could be appealing to a certain audience who would specifically know what they
mean or to draw the audience in out of curiosity to what they mean. The
common colour theme is red, white and black. There are three particular titles
which are emphasised due to their difference in colour, their change in font size
or their particular position on the page. After now analysing two magazine
covers, I am starting to see how the most important titles are placed mostly
down the left hand side of the magazine as they will be more noticed there.
 Promotion heading along the top above the
Bold masthead title
along the top
A circle drawing
Date and price attention to
another feature
Bold feature title of the magazine
emphasised
near the top left Celebrity’s name bold

Celebrity figure
Variation of font size behind main and
and colour in one sub titles but still
title focused in the
Number included middle
in a feature Subtitle below a bold
title
Eye catching Barcode
banner across
page with the
WWW.COSMOPOLITAN.CO.UK

biggest title of all – Website

bullet points address
featured also –
common colour Simple bottom title
theme
 Codes and Conventions
• Big, bold title in block capitals across the top of the page.
• One female role model focused in the middle of the page beneath titles.
• Female magazine so it has female colour and font themes – pink, purple and white
with a variety of different fonts: capital, curly, old fashioned etc.
• A feature title including a number e.g. ‘413 Sexy Buys’
• Website address, barcode, date and price.
• Real life stories expected in woman's magazine.

Expected codes and conventions which are missing

• Issue number
• Photo subject is not in front of the title
• Large banner running along the bottom of the page

Short Analysis
The female role model in a genuine position and dress, smiling at the camera, suggests the
magazine is aimed at a female audience. The common genre of magazine focuses on women
interests; there do not seem to be any articles features which would appeal to a man. The titles
are clear and their font size, colour and type varies between titles and even amongst one title
itself. The titles themselves seem to encircle the subject photo and all are bold and
emphasised. However, the left hand side is where the words have the greatest emphasis
because of where the audience eye is drawn to first. Furthermore, like the previous front pages
Rolling Stone and Bender, there is a particular shape in the top right corner which is
emphasising another feature in the magazine. In Bender it was a bold arrow, Rolling Stone it
was a band across the corner and Cosmopolitan it was a circle which looked like a sticker. This
gives the particular article they are emphasising a sense of speciality and difference from the
rest. This seems to be a common theme amongst magazines. There is also an unusual banner