Magazine Analysis

19th October 2009



Today we analysed different magazine covers describing the layout, the pictures used, why they have used the main heading etc.
I analysed a magazine from November 1998 called Select so it was very old fashioned and not as sophisticated or modern as they are today. As a group of 3 we decided that the magazine was more for an older male audience because of the colours, the bands and the advertisements used.

I was looking on the Internet for some magazine covers that appealed to me and i found this magazine. I really like this magazine because its very sophisticated. The space is used cleverly because there is not alot of information or loads of images all crammed up in one space, there is only on big picture which takes up the whole of the front cover which looks really effective. The colours that are used work really well as they are very classy colours and there is only a limited amount used. Other magazines use to many colours which makes it look too busy and instead of attracting attention they are putting off the audience by using too much. That is why i like this magazine cover because less is more in this case.
If i was to buy or make a magazine, this is the effect that i would try to create to attract the audience because it really suits my style and the music i enjoy listen too. The picture of Lilly Allen is very eye-catching because it shows she is fierce and not afraid of the 2 animals that are surrounding her, it links to the heading because it says "Lilly Allen and her wicked wicked ways"
The words 'Wicked' has been emphasised to create more of an effect and make the reader want to know what has been written. Everything about this magazine is eye-catching, it is very classy and sophisticated which to me is set at an audience of 21-35 as the bands listed on the front cover are classic bands that have been around for a while, even though Lilly Allen is a new artist compared to The Rolling Stones and U2, i still believe it will attract to an older audience who like indie music.

I also found this image of the V magazine front cover. This magazine cover is even simpler than the Q magazine cover. there is much less writing on the page as the picture of Grace Jones takes up the whole page. I really like the way the logo of the magazine is mixed with the image. it is really interesting that the logo takes up the whole page rather than taking up a small amount of space in the corner or the top of the page as most other magazines tend to do. This shows that it is different from all other magazines and it stands out.

The colours that are used are really effective as the contrast with each other. The bright pink and the white writing stands out on the black background which makes it easier to understand and read. This magazine has also only used 3 colours as well as the Q magazine which i find the perfect amount of colours to use, other wise it looks to cluttered and i tend to ignore the cluttered magazines as there is too much going on to grab the readers attention. The picture that is used is very interesting and unusual which also grabs the attention of the reader. I think it is really unusual but effective that they have the issue number in big font as most other magazines have the issue number small and hardly visible.