Analysing magazine front covers

In today's lesson we analysed four magazine front covers. Two of which were from 'Elle' which is a typically women's fashion magazine. The other two were from 'Wired' which is a tech/science based magazine. Both the 'Elle' and 'Wired' magazines used similar techniques so in the blog post I have only analysed one of each.

Things I noticed about this front cover:

• The masthead uses a clear and bold font. The use of the pink represents the magazine as feminine and romantic- Roland Barthes semantic code. This further links to the lilac colour of her top which is also a typical 'female' colour.
• The magazine uses hyperbole, for example, 'products on the planet'. The use of exaggeration emphasises the articles inside the magazine and makes them appear more exciting and intriguing to the audience.
•  There is also a use of plosive alliteration, for example, 'the 14 best beauty'. This makes the phrase more catchy for the audience, it also makes the phrase more prominent and bold, embedding it into the reader and encouraging them to buy it.
• The cover also uses a celebrity (Suki Waterhouse) for the front cover. The use of a celebrity is to intrigue the audience if they see someone they like/ know. Furthermore, the use of the phrase 'how to do the Suki Waterhouse flick' will further intrigue the readers as if she is someone they are influenced by the may want to be more like her.
• There is also a use of imperatives, for example 'Ditch the gym.' The use of a imperative is to influence the reader and make them feel obliged into following what the magazine says.
• The adjective 'Exclusive' is also used. This implies to the reader that they will only be able to find that information in that magazine, once again encouraging them to buy it.



Things I noticed about this front cover:

• The masthead is very clear and dominant in their branding. It instantly lets the audience know what magazine they are reading. The font is clear and bold but also slightly unusual, suggesting the content inside will be also.
• This magazine cover also uses the celebrity Simon Pegg. This once again helps to reach a further audience if Simon Pegg is someone they enjoy watching. The editor of the magazine has linked his work to the front cover by placing Pegg in a 'comedic' position and adding bright colour to the background. They have also chosen for him to be wearing technology which lets the audience know further what the magazine is about.
• The use of the tagline 'Ideas, Technology, Design, Business' clearly tells the audience what type of content is inside and catches the eye of anyone who is interested by that information.
• The headline 'Gear for Heroes' is clear and bold to be eye catching. The word 'Heroes' suggests superiority which further implies that this is the best magazine with the best content. The headline uses joined up, lower case letters which links to the current trend of neon lights which usually have a similar font and are also technology based.