Magazine Cover Analysis (1)

SPECTRE - MAGAZINE COVER ANALYSIS

The main function of a magazine cover is to make it eye-catching, interesting and to sell the magazine. I will be analysing how this magazine does that.

The mast head is the first thing that instantly draws my attention in. This is the brand image at the top of that page that makes this poster recognisable to the audience. This stands out as it is at the top of the page, and it is also written in a large, bold and distinct font. Another reason the mast head could draw the audience in is because it is written in a white text in contrast to the main colour scheme. I believe that the magazine has done this to make it stand out from any other magazine trying to sell or advertise this film.

On the left side of the page, we are shown the tag lines which are the main bulk of text and it states what other articles can be found within the magazine. This is an advertisement technique to try and lure the audience into reading it further than the front page and to actually purchase the magazine. However, they use the main story on the front page that they believe the audience is more likely to want to read. Just under the ‘Empire’ title there is a cover line that reads “The world’s biggest movie magazine”. This has been added to make the audience feel like there is no other magazine that will compare to this with regards to the content and its ability to intrigue its audience.

Many magazine covers use a slogan. In this case, the cover says “Ultimate TV Preview: The 27 Biggest Shows in 2015”. This is to briefly explain the content and to make it stand out that little bit more.

We also see the straplines at the bottom of the page that state other famous, recognisable, actors/actresses that are included. This could be used as a USP (unique selling point) as the creators of the magazine could see these actors/actresses being of a high enough rating that it would make people more likely to buy the magazine. This is mainly to highlight the stars in the magazine.

The second biggest piece of text on the cover was ‘Spectre’ on the left hand side of the page above a list of some content. This is the feature articles cover line that is bigger than the rest to intentionally dominate the rest of the page. This tends to be the line that the producers believe will ‘sell’ the magazine best.

From this magazine, we can see a few different fonts that have been used on the cover. This is supposedly done to create an aesthetically pleasing feel for the audience when they first look at the magazine as its meant to capture more attention. Although this magazine doesn’t have a multitude of different fonts, there is a clear difference between the master head and to cover lines which is the most important thing as they are the two main parts of text.

This central image is of the actor Daniel Craig who plays ‘James Bond’ in ‘Spectre’ which is this film that the magazine is advertising predominantly. This shows a close up head shot of the actor which is a conventional aspect to a magazine cover. The close up shot is an aspect of direct address which is believed to immediately make the audience feel like it is aimed at them. This central image shows that the ‘Spectre’ film will be the feature article of this magazine. The fact that Daniel Craig is facing forward in the image is called ‘the gaze’ and this is seen to create a relationship between the magazine and the audience to welcome a bond. This is a common rule of a magazine cover although some models do look away.

On every magazine, it is highly likely to have a barcode and a price clear to the audience. More-so now days, some magazines will also include a web address that is a link to the same content but online instead of printed. In this case, we see that a barcode isn’t actually visible on the front cover of this magazine but we do see a price that comes just underneath the magazine title. This is an ideal positioning as people will always look at the bigger text and from that they will see the price underneath. This allows it to be clear to the audience as it is important they know how much they will be paying. It is evident to the audience that this magazine was published in 2015 and therefore probably wouldn’t have included a web address as it was just becoming a thing then.

A convention of a typical magazine cover includes a colour palette. This is essentially to show a defined choice of colour to create a recognisable style and image for the audience. In this case, the main colours used are a pale blue, grey, black and white. The colour scheme that has been used for the cover reflects the image that Daniel Craig has personally presented. For example, the blue text correlates with his blue eyes. The black background shows the dark nature of what persona ‘James Bond’ carries and also matches the colour of the gun. Finally, the white is mainly used to insure that the text stands out on the black background but he is also wearing a white shirt. Small details like this could make a great difference when it comes to choosing which magazine looks more appealing without reading inside of it.

Overall, it appears to me that this magazine cover follows many of the conventions that a typical magazine cover should have. This shows that it is a good example and therefore will be useful when it comes to inspiration for making my own magazine cover.