Music Magazine Front Cover Analysis- VIBE

As you can see by the famous artist on the front cover, this is a HIP HOP magazine. From the front cover I can tell the main article will be based about Eminem as he ‘comes clean’ as this indicates that he will be giving confessing something in an interview by VIBE. The puffs around the magazine also tell us what is in store for the readers in this issue of the magazine, like ‘The 50 hottest rap blogs ranked.’

The target audience for this magazine are between the ages 16 - 24 , they are also listeners to R&B, Hip Hop and Rap. the target audience for this magazine is perhaps quite young. as the puff tell us the other Hip Hop artists that will be in this issue of VIBE.

'THE 50 HOTTEST RAP BLOGS RANKED' this also hints that the target audience is young as 'blogs' and social media. which ryounger readers are more likely to do, to online. The puffs are also drawing the attention as the well known Hip hop artists are presented in bold; but in this case of Eminem's puff in red.

To comparing this magazine to my previous analysis to Q, I can see that they have some similarity. As the puff colours and the title itself is eye catching and bold. 

This tells me that I need my magazine to be bold and eye catching for my target audience. 

The type of relationship this magazine wants with its reader is to satisfy them with music reviews, celebrity gossip column. Eminem is on the Vibe music magazine cover because he is one of the best rapper worldwide, if people see him on the front cover with a anchorage text saying ‘Eminem comes clean’ they would feel attracted and eager to buy the magazine to find out what he is confessing about. The anchorage text says ‘Eminem comes clean’ representing that he is hiding something from everyone and that he looks very mysterious, that he would like to share his personal information to the reader, as he seems to look guilty about something. This sense of mystery may give his fans a desire to get to know the real Eminem. The overall message that the artist has given is us a direct look, looks as if he is looking at us. It also shows that he is not shying away from the camera. He is looking confident as his arms are crossed with a straight face with no emotions shown on his face; making him looks mysterious. There are buzz words as the magazine is filled with names of rappers on the top of the magazine and the right hand side of it also, promoting upcoming new hits.

The design of the title block is big, bold and it’s just a straight forward font. That could specify that this magazine gives big and latest news which their target audience would like to read and know about. Its straight forward font could indicate that they just give what the readers would like to know and nothing boring that they would already know if they read their magazine regularly. The boldness could mean this magazine likes to stand out than other music magazines, they could be doing something different then a so called music magazine.

The puffs suggest that the magazine will be talking about in this issue of ‘VIBE.’ They will be talking about 50 hottest rap blogs which are ranked, to give their readers the best source of information they would like to know. There is also who is who is the best rapper ever, which says ‘you decide’ meaning that they would like to hear from the readers of their opinion of who is the best rapper and their reasons why; this just lets the magazine show the readers that the VIBE magazine takes their readers opinions seriously. There is also some artists name ‘Swagga Jack, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Jay Z And T.I’ this could be these artists are collaborating on making a new hit single that the readers should read more about.

The strategies the magazine uses to attract the audience by having big music artists, in this issue they have world known rapper Eminem. The magazine satisfies the audience by including music reviews, celebrity gossip column and upcoming music hits.

NME Front Cover Analysis

This magazine looks to me as an indie rock, as the band ‘Muse’ is the direct image of NME. The issues/articles that are going to be in the magazine are Muse as they are on the front cover. The puffs also highlight what articles will be in this issue of the NME magazine. As this is an indie/ rock magazine I can tell that this magazine is aiming at teenagers and young adult because these are the main people who enjoy reading about them.

The central image is a low angle shot of the rock band Muse; they are giving a direct look as they want to engage with the reader. The type of relationship they want with the reader is personal, as they want the reader to know more about them. The rock band ‘Muse’ is on the front cover as they have a new album, which they are promoting. The anchorage text says ‘Welcome to our new space ship! MUSE.’ They are inviting/welcoming the reader to their new tour, and their new album being released. This implies that the artists are friendly and what to let their fans know of their upcoming tour and album release. The overall message the artist is giving is that they care about their fans by welcoming them to their tour and album release.

The magazine represents them as a serious, as they have blank facial expression shown in their face. They are also represented as masculine as they are wearing leather; making themselves look cool and mysterious as they are looking at the camera.

There are buzz words like ‘Courtney, Kurt, drugs and me’ that catches the reader’s attention as it says drugs; does this reveal an indie rock artist taking drugs? It makes the readers think that they should read this article to find out. Another buzz word is ‘the world's most insane band unveil their most ridiculous tour ever’. The words ‘insane’ and ‘ridiculous tour ever’ catch the reader's attention as it is talking about ‘Muse’ the rock band’s tour. It will not be a normal tour they have made it fun for the fans as they are welcoming the fans to their 'spaceship' meaning something they have never been before. Any Muse fans would love to read more about their ridiculous tour ever as they want to know more about it. 

The title block of the magazine is presented in a straight forward font, nothing fancy. But it is in bold and in capital letters. That tells us that the magazine gets to the point with their news and stories and does not want to bore the readers with unwanted excessive news. The bold and capitalised font of the title shows that it wants to be noticed and heard from by the readers with the knowledge and latest news of rock music.

The colours used on the front cover of the magazine are orange, black and white. As the black and white grabs the attention of the magazine articles and the magazine title itself, the orange catches the reader’s eyes with its bold and brighter colour.

NME’s strategies to attract the audience are that NME features a lot of iconography associated with indie/rock and the scene that surrounds it. They also get the well known indie/rock bands as that attracts many of the readers with their interesting article stories.

Convention Of A Magazine Front Cover

I have been set a task to make a music magazine. This analysis would help me understand the layout of a music magazine and its features.

I analysed a front cover of a music magazine ‘Q.’ which from the slogan suggests its is  'THE UK'S BIGGEST MUSIC MAGAZINE' that suggest that they have a wider target audience meaning different article about different music genres. The puffs indicates that this issue of Q will be about rock. By the bold puffs 'ROCKS GREATEST NUTJOB' as well as the main image of the guitarist shattering the Q logo.

I am aware that this is a Rock magazine as the front cover is bold, eye catching and feature a stereo typical rock pose (the breaking of the guitar) but it is designed for people who enjoy about music like my chosen target audience. This shows me that I have to make my magazine bold, eye catching and cool for my readers to enjoy. 

Pre-liminary: Front Magazine Cover & Contents Page

At the beginning of the lesson, we were given the task to take pictures of students or anything around Bishop Challoner school.

After we took the pictures and selected the images that we wanted for our front cover and contents page. Next we used the software 'illustrator' to edit and create our front cover and contents page. I used http://www.1001fonts.com/  for the titles for my front cover and contents page. I also used shaped and text tool bar to add on my puffs. I got the bar code from Google for my front cover. I utilised my 'Photoshop' and 'Illustrator' skills on both of these magazines, that I had previously developed at GCSE in magic wand tool, shapes, texts, etc. Although I have used both these software programs in the past, this gave me opportunity to edit the font styles and layout of the magazine. which increased my understanding of the software programs a bit more.