The Source Magazine Analysis
Target Audience:
The main audience for this magazine is young people mainly in America. The age range would most likely be between the ages of 15 and 30. That is why they've used an icon of HipHop for the main image. Everyone knows who Snoop Dogg is. With him on the cover, it will attract the target audience as they would all want to know about him. I believe that the target audience will buy this magazine just because of all the big names on the front and the bold, gripping text.
Masthead:
I quite like the masthead of the magazine as a whole. I think it's bold and stands out well next to a lot of other covers. Another thing I do like about it is the way it uses the same masthead in each design but different colours for each. It all depends on what colour the main images on the cover are. For example, in this it's a light grey and white masthead because the background and part of the image is blue. It arranges it differently with the way it puts 'The' on it's side. This just makes it easier to tell what magazine it is. It is also more helpful when it is in a shop and you can't see the whole magazine, you can only see either the top or the left third. Because of the simple placement of the masthead, you can tell it's The Source magazine. The shadow behind helps add depth to the whole magazine. It's at the back of everything with a drop shadow which makes it look like it's coming out further than it is.
Layout:
They use a similar layout for all issues of The Source; the main image in the middle and the Masthead taking up the top third with the teasers coming down either side.They focus mainly on the top left part of the magazine. This is also known as the 'sweet spot' of a magazine as it's been proved that it's the first place people look at. They stick to a very straight forward layout in this issue. They've made everything directly in-line and doesn't overlap, apart from the top of the main image.
Colour Pallet:
They've used a 4 way colour pallet; Blue, grey, black and white. I'm not sure why they've used these colours in particular because they don't help each-other stand out very well. It makes it look a bit bland. I think that if they had used something strong like yellow on top of the blue it would have helped it to stand out. The black and white text on top of each-other helps make a reverse colour which is a popular effect.
Main Image:
The main photo used in this issue is Snoop Dogg wearing a suit. Snoop Dogg is a well-known rapper and was one of the most popular HipHop artists around. They've had him wear a suit in the photo. I believe this was to attract the target audience as he would never wear things like that due to his background.
They use a similar layout for all issues of The Source; the main image in the middle and the Masthead taking up the top third with the teasers coming down either side.They focus mainly on the top left part of the magazine. This is also known as the 'sweet spot' of a magazine as it's been proved that it's the first place people look at. They stick to a very straight forward layout in this issue. They've made everything directly in-line and doesn't overlap, apart from the top of the main image.
Colour Pallet:
They've used a 4 way colour pallet; Blue, grey, black and white. I'm not sure why they've used these colours in particular because they don't help each-other stand out very well. It makes it look a bit bland. I think that if they had used something strong like yellow on top of the blue it would have helped it to stand out. The black and white text on top of each-other helps make a reverse colour which is a popular effect.
Main Image:
The main photo used in this issue is Snoop Dogg wearing a suit. Snoop Dogg is a well-known rapper and was one of the most popular HipHop artists around. They've had him wear a suit in the photo. I believe this was to attract the target audience as he would never wear things like that due to his background.
Rolling Stone Magazine Analysis
Rolling Stone is aimed at basically all audiences. It features all the mainstream artists which would mean it appeals to a very wide age range. I would say it's most likely aimed at 16-45 year olds. In this issue, they've used Adele. This will help appeal to the target audience as she's a massive star and has been for a long time now. Because the target audience is 16-45 year olds, they'll most likely be fans of Adele's music.
Masthead:
The Rolling Stone masthead is very well known. Because it's so bright and unique, it's easy to spot it out of a crowd of magazines. The red and white was a great choice for colours as the red can stand out on most colours then with the white outline and drop shadow behind it, it really stands out and makes it easy to see what magazine it is.
Layout:
The layout in this issue has focused most on the top third, right third and bottom third. With this effect, it leaves more space for the main image. I think that this way, the target audience will see the photo of Adele and think that it is worth reading. They haven't used the soft spot to it's full usage as they have everything mainly on the right side of the cover. Maybe if they had an advert on the soft spot, it would get noticed slightly more.
Colour Pallet:
The main colours are red, white and you could say brown. This is only if you count her hair colour as the only text used is either red or white. These colours are very strong when used together. Especially with the dark background with the white text on top, the text is a lot easier to read.
Main Image:
Rolling Stones is a massive magazine. It's very popular and always has the biggest stars on the cover. This example has Adele on the cover. They've used this to attract the older and younger people as she's very popular and has recently won an oscar. This will also get more people to buy the magazine.
Masthead:
The Rolling Stone masthead is very well known. Because it's so bright and unique, it's easy to spot it out of a crowd of magazines. The red and white was a great choice for colours as the red can stand out on most colours then with the white outline and drop shadow behind it, it really stands out and makes it easy to see what magazine it is.
Layout:
The layout in this issue has focused most on the top third, right third and bottom third. With this effect, it leaves more space for the main image. I think that this way, the target audience will see the photo of Adele and think that it is worth reading. They haven't used the soft spot to it's full usage as they have everything mainly on the right side of the cover. Maybe if they had an advert on the soft spot, it would get noticed slightly more.
Colour Pallet:
The main colours are red, white and you could say brown. This is only if you count her hair colour as the only text used is either red or white. These colours are very strong when used together. Especially with the dark background with the white text on top, the text is a lot easier to read.
Main Image:
Rolling Stones is a massive magazine. It's very popular and always has the biggest stars on the cover. This example has Adele on the cover. They've used this to attract the older and younger people as she's very popular and has recently won an oscar. This will also get more people to buy the magazine.
Vibe Magazine Cover
Target Audience:
The main audience for this magazine is young people from all over the world. The age range would most likely be between the ages of 15 and 25. They've used bold bright writing for a few reasons. Younger people will always be more interested in bigger fonts compared to small slender writing, but that doesn't mean you cannot use it. I believe that because this cover has been aimed at that audience, they can use all these conventions properly.
Masthead:
The masthead for Vibe magazine never changed anything but it's colour. This way, it's easy for the audience to connect with the magazine and trust that it will always give only the information it needs to. I think this is a good aspect as it stops confusion with the magazine and it is in itself a great masthead. It takes up the whole top of the cover and is bright enough for any background.
Layout:
This magazine rows are split into fourths I think. You can see that the banner and masthead takes up the while top quarter of the page. The cover is then split up into thirds. They've got the main image in the centre third and the teasers in left and right third. I guess you can say the important aspects of the magazine are placed into the left third as that's where some of the teasers, the main teaser and the start of the masthead is. This is exactly what is going to attract the audience when the magazine is seen in the store.
Colour Pallet:
They've used a 3 colour pallet on this cover. It's mainly red, black and white. I think this is a very effective colour scheme as all the colours can stand out on top of the others. For example, they've used the white as the colour for the background so that they can use the red on the masthead and the black on some of the text. This way, there isn't a part of text that doesn't stand out.
Main Image:
This choice is main image was a very smart one. Because they've used someone like Ke$ha, not only do they have the advantage by using a famous face, but they've added sex appeal to pull in the male audience and they've used a female icon to pull in the female audience. Simply by using an attractive female model, they've attracted a massive audience.
Target Audience:
The target audience for XXL magazine is similar to most Hip-Hop magazines. It's around the ages of 17-30, mainly young adults. This cover appeals to this well as it uses an artist who appeals to a young audience and lots of aspects which can only be enjoyed fully by younger people. If they only used text to pull in the audience, it wouldn't work as well as it does with these conventions.
Masthead:
The masthead for XXL is very unique on this cover. As you can see, it sits in the top left corner. I really think this is a fantastic thing for the magazine to do. A very common convention is to have the masthead take up the whole top third of the magazine. In this issue, it's only in the corner so they can add information in the top right corner, a lot like Q magazine.
Layout:
The Layout of this cover is split into almost 2 columns. The first has the masthead, a quote and the main article teaser. The second half has what else the magazine is going to include. This way, it's not hard to get lost or overpowered by the cover as it's easy on the eyes and places everything in perfect places. They've even taken advantage of the sweet spot by including a quote from Waka Flocka.
Colour Pallet:
This cover uses a 4 colour pallet scheme. This includes red, green, black and white. This was almost brave as a lot of magazines don't use green on their covers with other colours like red and black. On the other hand, they've done very well to use all the colours to their full potential as the green looks fine. I think the fact they've only used one colour for the masthead and nothing else was not the best choice as It can stand out on plenty of different colours.
Main Image:
The choice of the model is always a hard decision as you need someone who can appeal to the audience as a whole. For example, on the Vibe cover they used a model who appeals to the entire audience. On this cover, they've used a big artist who is very well known (as he quotes on the cover) and is very entertaining. I think this was a fantastic choice since as they do say, "Everybody Loves Waka".
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