Magazine Cover analysis - Vibe

Magazine Cover Analysis

Vibe Magazine

Masthead

Vibe's logo is much more simple than other magazines, solely being the title in red font. It's possible that Vibe is trying to use a minimalist style for it's cover style. 

Main Image

The main image features the artist T.I. in a close-up shot. The background has been removed and replaced with a white background. The image has also been shot in Black and White. It further reflects the minimalist style of the magazine.

Sell Line + Information

 

Vibe tries to sell this issue by using quotes and artists featured in articles to try and attract it's target demographic. The main headline 'Ain't no such thing as a secret snitch' creates a dramatic situation that might encourage the consumer to purchase the magazine to find out what the drama is about. 

Vibe also lists a selection of artists such as 50 cent and JayZ to attract it's target audience. (namely the rap crowd) 

Design and color 

 This issue of Vibe is using a grid structure to align it's text. As I have stated Vibe's design seems to be a minimalist approach as evident by the solid colors and lack of detail in graphics.

This issue also uses a black and white color scheme with splashes of red to highlight certain parts of information.

Magazine cover analysis - Kerrang! Magazine

Magazine cover analysis 

Kerrang! Magazine

Masthead

Kerrang!'s logo consists of the text Kerrang! with a cracked mirror/glass affect. This creates the impression of the loud, angry sterotype of the target audience

The logo is positioned across the top of the magazine. It is positioned at the top as western markets instinctively read from the top of a book or magazine. This allows the potential customer to have more of a chance to become interested in the magazine. 

Kerrang! doesn't use a catch-phrase, but instead features an article in the masthead. This is probably a more important article in the magazine because, as mentioned above, western markets read from the top down, so logically it should grab more attention.

Main Image

This issues main image consists of a medium long tri-shot of the popular rock band Blink 182. The shot's background has been removed and replaced with a black to white gradient in the background. It creates the darker impression often associated with the genre. 

Subsidiary Image

The subsidiary images features other popular bands artists, advertising posters being featured with the magazine. It also features Nergal (frontman of the the death metal band Behemoth), as he is the subject of one of the articles. The subsidiary images seem to be used as advertising tools by kerrang! 

Sell lines + Information

 Kerrang!'s sell lines use short buzzwords to sell their articles. terms like "Blast Back!" and "World Exclusive" draw the reader in with simple and striking terminology, allowing the customer to easily take in information.

Kerrang! also uses contrasting colors to bring out the text more and make it stand, ultimately making it more likely the consumer will see the sell lines and base their purchase off them. The use of the Pug also highlights important information.

Design and Color

This issue of Kerrang! doesn't use a grid structure to base it's text layout on, and the design presents multiple artists at once. This could be to show the large amount of content easily, while other magazines would not use an as convoluted style as kerrang!. 

This issue of Kerrang!'s color scheme primarily consists of Red, White, Black and Blue. Black and Red are the most commonly used colors. This is used to make the magazine have a "vampiric" style.

Magazine cover analysis - Q Magazine

Magazine Cover Analysis

Q Magazine

An example of a Q magazine cover

Masthead

Q - "Discover Great Music"

Q uses a white, capital Q encased in a red square as it's masthead. The red and white color is used to create a striking appearance that draws a potential customer. 

The logo is positioned in the top left corner. This is done as western markets are usually comprised of people that have been conditioned to read from the top left, in all forms of text. As such, these potential customers instinctively glance to the top left of the magazine, where the logo is positioned.

The Masthead also contains the sub-heading "Discover Great Music". This alludes to the magazine being music focused. 

Main Image

This specific image features Adele as the model. The shot is a close-up shot of the model  The picture has had the background removed, creating a white background. This gives the magazine a clean and professional appearance. 

Sell Lines + Information

The sell lines say just enough to draw the reader in, but not enough to spoil the contents of the articles. The Text uses stark, contrasting colors to stand out from the background, such as the red and black against the white background, or the white against the models hair. This brings attention to the text and makes it stand out. 

The pug is also used to highlight important information. In this case being the 300th issue celebration.  

Design and Color scheme 

Q uses a conventional magazine layout. The text uses a grid based layout. The design sticks to the Q layout of only having one artist on the cover.

The Magazine uses a White, Red and Black color scheme. The scheme seems to be typical of Q. These colors also contrast each other often in Q's design, making the colors stand out amongst each other. 

Magazine cover

School magazine - Completed design

This is the final design for my magazine. I based the final product off of my second draft, as it was a much simpler and conventional design compared to the first. I decided to reorganize some of the elements of the magazine, such as the location of the sell lines, date lines etc. However I did reuse the masthead from design #1. I did so because I felt the first designs masthead was a more professional than the second. I chose the two color schemes of the school, Black and Yellow and Red and White. The sell line seen in design #2 has been moved down towards the bottom of the picture. I decided not to remove the background of the image, as I believed that it wouldn't suit the style.  

Design #1 - Masthead

Design #2 - Masthead

Final Design - Compared to the original sketches

The original image

Designs

 Design #1 - Full View

 I designed this version of the school year to represent a students folder. Elements that represent this include the main news headline displayed as if it was on a lined A4 workbook, the pug being a sticker on another workbook and the main photograph of the article being a polaroid, paper-clipped to the folder.



Design #2 - Full View



























 Design #1 - Masthead

 I chose the title of "The school year" because it ties in to the school theme. "The School Year" is also a play on words, referring to the year of education. 

Design #2 - Masthead
 

Design #2 - Full View

I made the second design a bit more traditional than the first, sticking to most of the conventions of a magazine. This can be seen as the design and layout is simple and minimal. This has the advantage of being easier to produce and drawing more attention to the text.

Design #2 - Masthead