Case Studies (Music Magazines)

Vibe Magazine Cover Analysis

The Master Head of the magazine (VIBE) is written in large, bold, uppercase font in red. This is in order to catch the audience’s attention straight away, as red is an eye catching colour. Although part of the Master Head is covered, the ‘V’ is always visible as it is a universal logo and this then allows the audience to easily recognise the magazine without needing to see the full word. The magazine contains three main colour schemes (red, black and white), in order to keep the magazine looking consistent and professional, however there are also two other colours included on this front cover, but these colours have been used to emphasise some points and make them stand out to the audience. The three main colours are quite formal and can all connontate to mean various things, i.e. Red= love, passion, sexy and danger. The target audience of this magazine is young females aged between 16 to 25, who are probably this celebrity’s (T.I) fans. This is clearly shown with the medium close-up of a male celebrity who is smiling and making eye contact with the camera. The use of eye contact is done to make is seem like he is interacting with the audience, this then makes in more personal and is a use of marketing to try and make the audience buy the magazine. The fact that the main image of T.I covers the Master Head shows that even though the magazine is important, T.I is more important. Anchorage is used in this cover as the image of T.I smiling and the text saying ‘T.I has the last laugh’ match. This text is the Main Coverline and is used to entice the audience and makes them want to know why exactly T.I gets ‘the last laugh’. The right hand side of the magazine has the teasers for why Barry Bonds hates baseball, the magazine cleverly puts this text in a sphere shape, making it look like a baseball and also has a small sihlotte of a man swinging a baseball bat. The bar code is in the bottom left hand corner in order for it not to be in the way and take the reader’s attention away from the main focuses of the cover

Q Magazine Cover Analysis

Bauer Media Group is the publisher of Q magazine. The Bauer Publishing Group comprises 282 magazines worldwide in 15 countries, as well as TV and radio stations. Bauer started in the UK with the launch of Bella magazine in 1987. The letter ‘Q’ is used as a universal logo (Positioned on top of her to show that it is more important than her). The Master Head of the magazine says ‘ The UK’s Biggest Music Magazine’, clearly showing the audience that it is a music magazine and by using the word ‘biggest’ in upper case text automatically grabs the reader’s attention and makes them want to see why exactly it is the ‘biggest’ UK magazine. The right hand section of the magazine is full of teasers which give the audience a taster of what is going to be in the magazine and therefore makes them want to buy it. The magazine contains 3 very popular colour schemes- Red, White and Black. The reason for only using 3 main colours is to keep the magazine looking professional and consistent. There is a barcode on the left hand side of the magazine cover, which then contains psychological pricing. The fact that she (Cheryl Cole) is making eye contact with the camera makes her connect with the audience and makes it seem more intermit. There is a contrast with the white used in the font saying ‘CHERYL COLE’ (white=pure & innocent) and the red font saying ‘ROCKS’ (red=dangerous, sexy & passionate). She has a seductive pose with red lips and tongue sticking out, in order to catch the audience’s attention as red is an eye catching colour which exudes passion. This also goes with the colour scheme of the magazine. She has a provocative look in her eyes which then ties in with the wet look as having her with water dripping down her makes the picture look sexier and entices the audience. The bottom left hand corner/lower left 3rd of the magazine doesn’t contain a lot of writing as it is the area mainly used for freebees.

Vibe Magazine Contents Page Analysis

 





The Master Head of this page says ‘Contents’ in white bold upper case writing. The white font really stands out against the dark background in order to catch the reader’s attention. There is a white outline of the letter ‘V’ which is the universal logo of the magazine. This then links to the models legs, which make the letter ‘V’. The model is laying on the fall with direct eye contact with the camera; this makes it more personal for the reader. She exudes sex and this then is used as a marketing strategy as ‘sex sells’. Also the model looks quite confident and this could be used to help empower the audience (mainly females). The ‘contents’ of the magazine are split up into 2 sections ‘Feature’ and ‘Fashion’ ad this is clear so the reader can easily navigate through the magazine. Under these sections, there are numbers with subheadings to again allow the reader to navigate through the magazine easily. There is also a small number in the bottom right hand corner to let the reader know what page they are on, this continues throughout the magazine

Q Magazine Contents Page Analysis

 

This contents page continues the house styles colour pallet (black, white and red) in order for everything to stand out against the white background. The contents page is very structured and is split up into 3 sections and a main image of ‘The Courteeners’.  The top section runs across the page and includes the ‘Q’ logo, as well as the title, date, website address and issue number. The 3 main sections are ‘Features’, ‘Every month’ and ‘Q Review’, this makes it easier for the reader to navigate through this page. Also the fact that there are small numbers next to each subheading makes it way easier for the audience to know where to find the things they want in the magazine. The main focus of this page is the image of the band as they are the story that is going to be on the double page spread, therefore being the main focus. The background colour is a grey colour, opposed to the white background of the rest of the page; this probably is to suggest that this is something the reader should look at as it is different to the rest of the ‘content’.

 

Q Magazine Double Page Spread Analysis

 

 

The whole page on the left is an image of Lady Gaga (the star). She is making direct eye contact with the audience, making it more personal. The image used exudes sex as she isn’t wearing any clothes but is wearing a big necklace/chain and is using her hands to cover her breasts. Her mouth is open in a sexual manner and this then makes it seem as the audience of this article is mainly young men. Furthermore, the page on the right initially catches the audience’s attention with the bold, striking red ‘L’ covering the whole page. The colour red is a huge contrast against the rest of the black and white magazine and is possible in colour to show that it is important. The ‘L’ stands for Lady Gaga and is therefore showing that she is that main reason for this article. To also emphasise this, the Master Head of the magazine purely says ‘Lady Gaga’ to show that, that is all the double page spread and interview is about. The first part of the article is just background information on the star to allow the audience to have an insight on Lady Gaga. The drop capital is then used to show the reader exactly where the article begins.

 

 

Vibe Magazine Double Page Spread Analysis
 

 

The black and white images at the top of the page, consists of Solange Knowles (the artist) doing various poses which shows the audience her personality. She looks almost like a doll and gives off the view that she is perfect. The colour scheme of the magazine is black white and blue, which keeps the magazine consistent and allows all the text and images to stand out against the white background. The text of the article is in standard black writing in columns as normal articles are. The artist name is in blue write so that it can stand out against the rest of the writing and grab the reader’s attention. On the right page there is a large image of the artist in a short red dress which shows that she is confident and happy with her body. She is making eye contact with the camera and looks quite sexy. However the pose the artist is doing then makes the reader rethink all of this as the way her hands are behind her back and her legs facing in towards each other, automatically makes the reader think of a little girl. The pull quote on the side of the artist is used as a teaser in order to make the reader have a taster of what is in the article, therefore making them want to read more. Both pages of the double page spread have little numbers at the bottom to make the reader know what page they are on and this then also works together with the contents page and helps the audience navigate through the magazine. The article is then an interview of Solange Knowles and has her answering questions.

 





College Magazine Analysis 

 

The Master Head of a magazine is the largest font on the front cover of a magazine and is usually the name of the magazine. In this case, the magazines name is ‘College’ and has been written in bold, upper case, lime green font. There are 3 colour schemes used: green, white and black in order to keep the magazine looking consistent, however there is a ‘splat’ of pink on the right hand side of the magazine but this is because it is the unique selling point and is therefore supposed to grab the audiences attention .The colour green is frequently used as it goes with the ‘summery’ theme of what is included in the magazine. The cover line at the top of the magazine uses alliteration when it says ‘Hip, Hot & Happening’ to grab the audience’s attention and make it stay in audience’s head the cover line also clearly states that it is the summer edition of 2009.