PRE-PRODUCTION: Analysis of magazines

Masthead: it is meant to be the largest typography on the page. Therefore Q magazine did this with a big, bold white ‘Q’ with a filling of red to make it stand out. This is also happens to be the logo of the magazine. As shown on this magazine the masthead is sent right to the back and has one of the images overlapping over it, but only by a little. It is also an acronym for the maker of the magazines name which is Quieten Richardson, which in this case is what the ‘Q’ stands for. The name just being a ‘Q’ makes it short and snappy and the magazine more appealing. Use of red is common in music magazines, particularly rock and indie genres. In the top left hand corner, as this is the first place we typically look. It is also what you can see on the new stand. It reflects what the magazine denotes.

Main Cover line: in this magazine will be LANA DEL REY, JAY-Z and KANYE WEST, and KINGS OF LEON.  However Lana Del Rey is the highlight as she has the biggest cover line and it is also a color very similar to the Q logo. The main cover lines tend to be on the left hand side that way it'll be able to engage the most amount of attention possible on that new-stand  To do this they use mainly the large text that is easy to read therefore they need to be short, snappy and should tell most of the information that is included inside the magazine so the audience purchase it. The font needs to be simple and easy to read as it is the second largest text on the cover, drawing attention to itself.

Banner: Is an advertisement that is meant to contrast with the rest of the magazine, possibly to draw even more attention to it. So clearly the magazine sees it as a selling point. 

Main Image: slight long shot of Lana Del Rey being the main model in this magazine, she may be made main as she has suddenly become famous due to her album releases and has many fans. Her having pink lipstick matches the main symbol in the magazine, and her being dressed in white on a grey background makes her bold and stands her, also there is  a contrast with blood dripping on the right side of her face, with so What's so bloody good ? It could target both audience as you want to find out. 
The color scheme is typical of most music magazines, red, white, pink and a slight hint of grey/black. In this case the background is white, the masthead and the models name is pink. This is more of a feminine edition as Lana Del Rey is the woman who is featured in this edition.

Bar code: Usually includes general information about the magazine such as the date and price, these also tend to be placed in any corner of the cover. Which in this magazine is placed on the bottom right hand corner. The font is small and irrelevant to the rest of the cover as it doesn't have to match with anything on the cover.

Cover lines: the main focus of the cover lines is the bolder text at the beginning of each, which in this case is the names of the celebrities/ bands that the cover line concerns. The topics of the cover lines differentiate as ones talking about Lana Del Rey, Kings of Leon, Jay-Z and Kanye West- which is a bizarre mix as they all perform in different genres. The main models name is placed as a cover line bolder and the color is in pink that therefore relates to the masthead, even though red is the main symbol in this magazine, usually in all music magazines. The cover lines are about what the magazine features inside that engages the audience to read/ buy it. In most magazines the cover lines are usually on the left side of the magazine as it is the first side that is seen when it is placed on the shelves in shops.

Selling/ Strap line: the strap line is usually based on the top of the magazine and usually just above the masthead but in this magazine its [laced as a puff over the ‘V’ in Vogue.

The model’s name is in large typography as she is very famous and has many fans after the Harry Potter phenomenon. It might be hard to recognize her, has she had her appearance changed, with a sophisticated make up, and sleek straight back her hair style..

The models lip color corresponds with her name title, also they match her accessories, the whole photo looks stylish . And put some small headlines down the right hand side of the magazine, to make the display even. Her lips and eyes gives her a sexy sophisticate look that will attract both for the male and women audience. This links to Laura Maulvey’s theory on ‘Male Gaze’

Cover lines: the cover lines often relate to the main image, as the first cover line reads ‘Life After Harry Potter’. The other cover lines relate to other famous celebrities, such as JLo, Beyonce, Rihanna, Tom and Gisele. The celeb names typography is quite large compared to the other text. The main color scheme in this magazine will be ‘Burgundy’, as it’s a mature color it will be mainly purchased by a female target audience, but male might want to look at it too.

This cover line reads ‘The only bag you’ll need this season’ this may attract female target audience that follow Emma Watson’s style and the ‘Vogue’ magazine trend.

Masthead: The name of the magazine is large and bold on the page; the bright red color stands out to the person looking at the front cover. The reader would notice the name as it is also the logo for the magazine found on the website. It also allows the reader to recognize the magazine. The typography of the masthead is serif as its very formal, the color is between red and pink therefore makes the target audience mainly females.

Date: to show when the magazine was released, usually referred only to the month and year. The date also shows that it is a monthly magazine.

Main image: Used to take up large amount of the page, bright colours used to attract reader and make the magazine stand out on the shelf. Which in this case the model used in the vogue magazine is ‘Emma Watson’ who is very famous actress ‘Hermione’ in the phenomenon Harry Potter. This is known to be the largest image in the magazine, its large and eye-catchy, so the readers are attracted which then makes them buy the magazine. Emma’s eyes is looking directly at the audience, she seems very confidante.

Cover Lines: Used to attract the reader so that they want to buy the magazine to read the article. The cover line acts as a summary of what the magazine editors feel are the most enticing features within the magazine.




 The main image of the magazine consists of four people  all link very nicely, they are the main characters of ‘High School Musical’. The girls are arranged so that they are in front of the boys, this emphasizes on how girls have the upper hand girls on boys. Again the sparkly special effects are used around the models’; they are placed on a purple background which reinforce the idea of girls audience. Pink and purple are known to be very girly color. The main image is placed so that it does not take up the left-third, most important section of the magazine. Instead it is arranged further to the right of the page, the size of the main image does not take up the whole page as there are many other head lines and story lines displayed , which would mean plenty to look at or read.  The lay out looks cheap, and in fact is cheap magazines for teenagers. 

Unique selling point: Is  the website address of the magazine. This can be found on the top left-third section of the page, which is deliberately placed there so that it can be seen straight away. The font style of the USP is very plain and white, which shows that not a lot of emphasis was put on it. The more important USP of the magazine is placed straight under the masthead, again near the left-third section of the page. The use of the word ‘gossip’ directly attracts teenagers, especially girls to buying the product. The font of this slogan is in plain pink writing, to emphasis  the idea of buying ,slightly with the use of italics.

There is not a set color scheme to this front page. The main colors used are the pinks and purples along with a few yellow sections and classic black and white writing. The clothing of the models’ do not match this scheme at all, as it would be to much color. This makes the page look extremely bright, colorful and busy, which mainly aims to attract young teenage girls. The unstable color scheme adds to the loud  effect, and gives an impression of not a serious magazine.

Masthead: is designed so that it looks a very flashy and young style.  The font face is very teenage-like and the extra bold white outline makes it look even more childish. The texture in the text is very diamond y which again is extremely teenage-like which in fact helps to emphasize on the target market. There are two main sparkles on the end of two of the words, which gives us the idea of it being a very fashionable magazine. 

Banner/Main Cover line: The banner can clearly be identified as soon as you look at the page. This is firstly because it is in a bright pink color and that it goes straight across the page. The main cover line lives in the banner as it is clearly talking about the people in the main image and the biggest font size is used. The colors black and white are used for the fonts, which are very classical; they both contrast very well with a bright pink background. Again the sparkle effects are used very nicely here as well which matches the masthead.Polaroid: There are a lot of of them used on this front cover, one on the top left section of the page which almost mimics a pug. It looks like a sticker which has been stuck separately on the page; it is slightly slanted however the white outline gives it that important Polaroid look, and to show there are genuine photos of ordinary people. The others used are further down in the yellow pug on the bottom right side is the celebrity gossip. A funny contrast between snap shot and profession snap.

Photoshop: The only effective Photoshop techniques used are the outlining of texts and the use of texture. The sparkly textures are scattered all over the page which makes it look very teenage –like. This successfully attracts the target market audience which are aimed to be young teenage girls.

Bar code/Date: Are placed on the bottom right hand corner, which is normally known as the least important section of a magazine front cover. The reason the bar-code and title are here, is because they are the least important thing on this front cover.