Empire Magazine Analysis

Analysis of Empire magazine

Target Audience:

The target audience of Empire is is a wide age range. I think it is between 16 and 45. Because of this, it has a film on the front which would appeal to everyone between this age range. The younger people who would buy this would simply buy it to see what films are coming out and whether they're worth seeing. The older people would most likely buy it to actually read up about their interest in films.

Masthead:

Personally, I really like the masthead for this cover. I like the way it goes behind the image so even though you can't see the full wording, you know it's empire.I also like the way it's right at the top of the page in bright red lettering. It stands out next to most magazines and follows it's colour scheme well.

Layout:

The layout is quite good in this cover. Main image in the middle with the article directly under it. This is a good way of laying out the main article as it's directly to the point. This would draw in the audience as the movie 'Django Unchained' is a new big film which will interest basically all film fans as it's already showing to be popular. They have used mainly the top third of the cover as the sails point. You can tell as they've used the words 'Oscar special' and '18 Huge Exclusives' which would make the magazine look like it contains the most important information.

Colour:

The colour pallet of Empire magazine always includes the colour red. You will not find an issue without it. This is because the masthead is a strong red which controls the rest of the pallet. That's why the main atricle has a red outline around it and some of the text is in red. Along with this, you get black and white used across the cover. These colours do all go together well as the black and white reversed onto eachother brings out the red and adds depth.

Typography:

The fonts used are well thought out I think. Basically all the fonts and typography used follow the Masthead well. The only time the font changes is when they use bold words or add an Italic effect. This not only makes the cover mroe interesting, but adds depth and keeps the audience entertained without making it obvious. I think that the only thing that could be altered would be the lack of text.

Conclusion:

Overall, I like this cover. I think it all fits together really well and other than the small amount of text, I wouldn't change it. Even with the way the main image goes over the masthead you can still understand what the magazine is for and about and what it will contain. Maybe if I had to change something else, I'd add to the sweet spot of the magazine in the left third of the cover. Even if it's just an advert of some sort, it would help sell more issues.