Music Magazine Analysis: Front Cover #2

Front Page Analysis #2

This front cover is taken from one of The Source’s magazines. The well-known artist, The Game, is an element which is immediately noticeable when first looking at this page. The stance and expression on his face draws in readers attracted to this particular music genre, as it is unique and interesting and not commonly seen on music magazine covers in general. 
The stance and expression of my model will have to be considered depending on the aspect of this genre I want to portray, in this case the violent and aggressive side is displayed.

I think the way that the use of the gun and the way his tattoos haven’t been concealed opens the reader up to the culture behind this type of music. It introduces them to reality of some life associated with the music and the artists own personal experiences. This influences the reader to create a connection between themselves and the image, and makes them consider opening the magazine and reading further into it. 
I think displaying tattoos and props within the front cover is an effective feature to make use of when portraying cultures in relation to this music genre. It is one way to draw in the readers, which I may consider when photographing my model.

As you can see, the artist covers a section of the masthead of the magazine. This is a feature which is used on well-known and popular magazines. It shows the artists dominance on the page and also informs the reader that the magazine doesn’t have to completely show its brand for consumers to recognise it. 
I like the way the artist covers part of the title to show his dominance on the page, depending on the text and the type of photo I include will decide on whether I choose to utilize this feature or not.

Overall, there is a black and white colour scheme. The designer has used this in the text to enable each piece of information to stand out individually in order to allow the consumer to take in all the text on the page. Red is a particularly suitable colour for this genre of music magazine, as it is a strong and powerful colour which often relates to anger, violence and warfare. This, which is a common subject associated with the hip hop rap genre. Alongside this, red is a colour which is generally used to grab a person’s attention, therefore this magazine has the ability to do so down to its colour scheme. 
When deciding on the colour scheme I want to utilize in my magazine I will use, I will have to take into account my audience research, and what colours are mainly preferred in this genre of magazine. In the way The Source magazine has, I will also carefully consider the meanings behind colours, which colours will be suitable for my magazine and what they will portray.

The text on the page is all a bold capital font. This alongside the way it is placed specifically on the plain background and not overlapping the image of the artist, allows it to stand out and can be read without difficulty. The stories plugged on the front are all very similar sizes, apart from the main cover story. It shows the reader the authority that this main story has within the magazine in comparison to the rest of the stories as it is considerably larger than the rest. A part of this main story is also underlined, this is used to emphasise this stories importance and encourages the reader to take a look at the article. 
I will make sure to utilize fonts which are clear for the consumer to read; it will allow them to view the information on the cover without difficulty and will prevent the page from being over complicated with complex texts. The way the background in this magazine is reasonably plain prohibits it from overpowering any elements on the page; this is something I will make use of when creating my magazine. The main story on my cover will be differently sized in comparison to other stories plugged on the page, alike to The Source’s. It will portray the articles importance within the magazine enticing potential readers to want to take a look further.

The overall language on this cover is informal; due to the way slang words such as “Speedin’” are included. Also the way that stories relating to violence are plugged on the front makes this wording suitable for this type of magazine; it grabs the attention of the targeted consumer and influences them to pick up the magazine to have a closer look at what they’re about.

Underneath the masthead of this cover, there is a small slogan in a black box, “The Bible of Hip Hop Music.” This is something alongside the method of covering a section of the masthead, which allows the magazine to be recognisable. The slogan displays the magazines recognisability as being the leading voice of hip hop and shows that it is a magazine that has the ability to deliver new and exciting news and can cover all aspects of this genre. I don’t think a slogan is one of the most important features of a magazine, although I will still consider including one depending on my audience research.

A generic aspect of the magazine is its issue number and barcode. These two features are essential for a magazine that is available for consumers to purchase as it informs the reader of the price and which edition the magazine is. 
I will without doubt include some form of issue number (number/month) and barcode, as they are fundamental features of a magazine which are needed to provide purchasing information to the consumer.

The magazine’s website has also been included on the cover of this magazine. This is placed on the cover to provide the consumer with an additional location in which they can visit to find out more about The Source. 
I think this feature is a worthy aspect of a magazine, although I don’t think I will utilize this when producing my magazine.