Analysis of magazine front covers

Q magazine is published by Bauer Media and has been in production since 1986.

The cover model is a popular female artist who will appeal to a broad audience.  She is being represented as powerful by her confident body language and the fact that she is towering over well known monuments such as the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty.  This will appeal to a modern thinking audience because the female having power is a very modern ideology.  The colour scheme is red, white and black which is very modern and sophisticated.  It connotes elegance and passion which makes the audience feel like the producers of the magazine are professionals who know a lot about their magazines content.  The choice of font for the masthead and cover lines is fairly basic and unemphasised in order to keep the attention on the cover picture, and to seem sophisticated and professional.  There is also not much text on the cover in order to keep the design simple.  The puff in the bottom left corner is placed in order to let you know you are getting value for money.  The magazine is £3.50 suggesting it is aimed at a more wealthy demographic, a fact backed up by the sophisticated look of the magazine.  The magazine has an overall house style that says style, elegance and formality, but it appeals to a wide audience because modern young people are often after a magazine which makes them look good and this magazine definitely fulfills this criteria.

Rolling Stone magazine is published by Wenner Media and has been published since 1967.

The cover model is a popular male artist who will appeal to the wide target audience.  He is dressed in smart clothing suggesting sophistication and money.  This makes him seem powerful and his eye contact with the audience draws them in.  The simple colour scheme of red, black and white gives the magazine an air of professionalism and doesn't distract from the cover mode.  The masthead reminds you of the band and therefore shows a clear relation to music. The cover lines are positioned mainly on the left hand side of the cover in a column style layout which is similar to newspapers and therefore suggests formality.  The font is also formal and varies in size to add visual interest to the cover and to highlight the words that are most important for drawing in the desired audience. The price is about £3.80 which is a reasonable price for a magazine and caters for a large demographic.  The overall house style connotes professionalism, elegance and formality, appealing to wide wide modern audience.

Kerrang magazine is published by Bauer media and has been published since 1981.

The cover models are 3 men who are from a rock band that is well known amongst the rock genre.  They are being represented as rebellious and confident, which is the target audience the magazine is aimed at.  The font used for the masthead looks like graffiti, targeting a young male audience.  The colour scheme of red, black and white adds to the rebellious and and individual nature of the magazine, attracting the male audience.  There aren't many cover lines and they are all positioned near the bottom of the magazine, giving the main article linked to the cover model a central positioning because it will draw in the desired audience.  The price is £2.10 which is cheap for this type of magazine suggesting it is aimed at people with a lower income such as students and low level careers.  The overall house style connotes youth, rebellion and individualism that draws in an audience who want to stretch limits and don't like to conform to rules.