Music Magazine Analysis: Front Cover #3

Front Page Analysis #3

This is a front cover which is seen on one of Vibes music magazines. The aspect that I feel jumped out at me first was Nicki Minaj. She is positioned in the centre of the pace which already shows the reader that she is significant within this magazine. Most importantly, the photographer has directed her into this specific stance which allows her to dominate and control the page; it makes her look powerful and commands the reader’s attention.

I will definitely make use of centring my model on the page to show extra significance on her, which should allow my cover to jump out to potential readers.

The designer has made used of a sans-serif font for all the text on the page; I think this makes the overall appearance of the magazine more bold and noticeable. This not only follows the conventions of styling for Vibe, but for Nicki Minaj as well. An aspect of text I particularly like is the word ‘exclusive’ which is written in white and is surrounded by a pink box, where others just contrast with the actual background (both allow the information to be read with ease). This makes the connected story have extra importance, and interests the reader more.

I plan to make use of sans-serif fonts on my front cover as I think the boldness of this type of text makes the magazine stand out more, as well as providing the practicality of being uncomplicated and easier to read.

I think the colour scheme of blue white and pink has been used very effectively in which the colours have been distributed across the page evenly. By doing this, potential readers are drawn in to look at the magazine. They will look at each and every factor positioned on the page, due to the way that each piece of information includes a slight pop of colour. I feel the designer thought carefully when picking the colours to include on this page; as they have taken into account Nicki Minaj’s person al style, using bright and bold colours, as well as the conventional style of Vibes magazines, minimalistic and sleek, and combined them to make a professional and effective front cover.

When considering the colour scheme I want to use I will refer back to my magazine research and come up with a basic idea of what kind of style I want my magazine to have, and then incorporate my artist’s style into the scheme to create a unique look in terms of the featured artist.

Expanding further into the conventions of this magazine, Vibe has included a barcode and issue number, and has positioned them in the corner of the magazine in order for them to not be a focus on the page. Another common convention used in my specific genre of music magazine research, is the positioning of the artist, as she is covering the masthead of the magazine; this is often used to show that the magazine doesn’t need to show its full name in order for it to be recognised. This feature may influence someone to pick up the magazine, knowing that it is a common favourite and must include intriguing and interesting stories.

When forming the cover of my magazine, positioning of each of the elements will be an important aspect that I will consider, making sure that the sections I want to be most in focus placed somewhere that will catch the reader’s eye. The barcode and issue number is unquestionably a feature which I will include on the front cover on my magazine I will definitely utilize the idea of having the artist covering the title on the magazine, as i feel it is something which will influence any potential readers to pick up the magazine, knowing that they are insured a valuable magazine. Not only this, but it allows the featured artist to really stand out on the page, further grabbing people’s attention and making the covers overall appearance look more professional.

An aspect I also like is the banner across the top of the page; it differs from the usual banner as the text isn’t actually placed inside a box of a contrasting colour. The text is just placed on top of a contrasting part of the images background. I think it’s effective as it doesn’t necessarily draw the reader away from some more important bits of information seen on the cover.

I plan to utilize the banner on the top of my magazine cover, I feel it gives the magazine a professional appearance and provides a space to place additional information. The colour of my background will depend as to whether I choose to have the text in a box, and whether it fits in with the general style of my pages.