Coursework - Magazine Analysis

When studying the front page covers of specific music magazines it is important to note their particular selling feature alongside noting what works well and what could be more successful.

Out of a wide range of magazines I chose this front cover on the basis that it all works well together. The colour scheme suits the outfit of the chosen artist and blends well with the colour scheme of the writing. I like the photography used in this magazine as the pose is kept simple but the use of the florals really emphasises the character of the magazine.

The only thing about this magazine which I feel lacks success is that it is possibly to simplistic. The text, although effective, is difficult to read, however I do like the idea that the image is pushed slightly to the right with the text type kept to the left. Therefore I may use this idea in my final magazine front cover.

I particularly like 'Billboard' magazine because it focuses on its main selling point and the contrasts between the image, colour scheme, and text all works successfully. For this magazine I would say that the main audience is aimed towards a female side, prehaps late teens and early twenties. I have come to this conclusion because the colours suggest a more 'kid-like' feel to the magazine whereas the use of more whites and greys would suggest a more sophisticated older audience. But in this instance it works well and sells well.

When comparing this magazine to the one previously shown above I would say it has a more sophistaced look to it, therefore aiming for an older audience.

I like the unique factor of this magazine, the imagery and even the text type varies, its interesting and different to most magazines and I think this is what makes this magazine sell well. The background is kept to a simple grayscale colour which constrasts well with the black used in the image and the white text which makes it stand out boldly. The use of the 'puff' allows for certain information to stand out and become attractive to the readers eye although not taking away attention from the main feature.

Overall I like most things about this magazine however I feel that it suffers with a limited range of colours, sticking mainly to white red and black I feel that my magazine should include more colours to make it stand out.

In an overall conclusion, the amount of research that has been put forward into front cover page analysis has allowed me to see what makes a magazine successful and what the drawbacks can sometimes be. Therefore I now have a good amount of detailed information on magazines to allow me to produce a successful and sophisticated front page music magazine cover.