Magazine Cover Analysis (2)

DARK KNIGHT – MAGAZINE COVER ANALYSIS

The first thing that catches the audience attention from this magazine cover is the mast head. This is used to create a branded image and instantly recognisable to the audience.

This cover has also used a slogan, which is usually placed under the title and briefly explains the content of the magazine. In this case it says “Batman VS the Joker – summer just got serious”. This explains what is inside the feature article of this magazine in a short declarative.

The straplines at the bottom of this cover state who else is included inside this magazine and the title of the film they are in there for. These straplines follow the stereotypical conventions of a magazine cover. This can be seen helpful for ‘selling’ the magazine as if they see there are more recognisable actors/actresses included then they may be more likely to buy the magazine.

The central image is the second thing that catches my attention when first looking at this magazine cover. The central image is generally a close-up head shot, which in this case it is. The photo is usually a face forward as it is seen as direct address. This is called ‘the gaze’ and is believed to create an attachment between the magazine and the audience that will push the audience to buying the magazine. On this cover, we see the model facing forward with their eyes piercing forward directly addressing the audience, making them feel it is solely aimed at them.

The feature article cover line is usually bigger than the rest of the other texts, apart from the title, as it supposedly meant to take domination of the rest of the page. This tends to be the line that producers believe will best ‘sell’ the magazine. This magazine cover reads “Clint makes our day” this could be seen as an enigma code as it produces many unanswered questions for the audience. This proves to be a good decision on the producer’s behalf as this will make the audience want to know the answers to the questions which they will presume to be inside and will therefore buy the magazine.

On a typical magazine cover, there should always be a barcode and the price of the magazine so that the audience can be aware of how much they are expected to pay before actually going up to find out. The front cover of this magazine shows both of these aspects; proving that this cover follows conventions of a magazine cover. In some cases these days, the magazine producers will sometimes include a web address too. On this cover, we see the barcode is placed at the bottom right hand side of the page – next to the straplines – which makes this visible to the audience. The price of this magazine is placed in the mist of the mast head. Again, this is cleverly placed as this will be one of the first things the audience see’s after recognising the producers.

With many covers, there stereotypically will be many different fonts used for the magazine. This is meant to make it more appealing to the audience and interesting to look at. This magazine however, appears to not have used a variation of fonts which some magazines, evidentially, do. However, I believe that this doesn’t get rid of the audience as the colours will still lead them to reading the cover.

A typical magazine cover will have a colour palette that created a more recognisable image and style.With this magazine cover, the colour scheme that has been used includes blue, black and white. This colour palette proves to be effective as the black background and mask of the model emphasises the blue text, making it stand out, which in turn means the audience are more likely to read it.

In conclusion, it is clear that this magazine cover follows many of the stereotypical conventions and although it doesn’t include some, it is still proved to be a successful magazine cover. Now completing this analysis, I can be certain that it will help me when it comes to making  my own magazine cover.