Seonaid Mackenzie

The Header- The header or skyline is the text that goes along the top of the front cover, following the codes and conventions of magazines. This header is in a orange box and the fonts are in black and white . The header mentions the band paramour, who will appear in the magazine , this suggests that the magazine is based around the subgenre of rock and the use of the name will attract their niche market of fans

The Masthead- The Masthead is presented at the top of the magazine, following the codes and conventions of magazines. It is bold and large making it noticeable , the colour scheme of green and orange suggest a Halloween theme to the magazine as the colour green is used in an inconsistent manner. The main cover image is covering the masthead which suggests that the magazine is a well known brand. The masthead has a unique font to the rest of the text on the front cover, to further differentiate the masthead and make it easy to recognise, the typography appears rough and disjointed, this creates a slight grunge effect

Barcode/Issue/Price/Date- Usually found around the bottom of the magazine so that it can be found, an important convention that gives legal information on the magazine to a reader and is needed to sell a magazine. Is usually small so not to use up too much space on the front cover.

Main Cover Image- The close up or in this case mid shot image of two members of the Black veil brides. They are both directly addressing the audience, one is smiling widely as both eats sweets, this would appear welcoming to potential readers as though he is personally inviting them to read the magazine. They are holding props in the image, pumpkin baskets and gummy worms emulating ‘trick r treating’, this falls into the mise-en-scene set up of Halloween, this issue may be a special. The Overall impression of the magazine has exciting atmosphere shown by the use of space creating an almost busy effect and the use of language and punctuation (e.g. '!') , the language such as 'blood', ‘Halloween’ and ‘spooktacular’ reinforce the Halloween theme that appears, I think that this issue may be a special as the colours orange and green carry connotations of the holiday and the colour green is used inconsistently and appears only on the front cover. The overall genre appears to be rock and metal music as suggested by the bands and the gothic style (i.e the dark imagery, use of the word ‘demon’)

The Main Cover Line- Makes a reference to the, ‘Halloween’ theme present in the magazine. The text is considerably larger and in a ‘spooky’ font different from the other cover lines it is bold and uses effects such as a shadow, differentiating it from the other cover lines, the colour green matches the masthead and may highlight the theme of halloween. The text anchors the main cover images artists appearing with Halloween props and provides context.

Footer- The footer is found at the bottom of the front cover and addresses the reader with the use of the pronoun ‘you’ it is in a orange box similar to the header and contains information on the contents of the magazine, following the codes and conventions of typical magazines.

Rule Of Thirds- The rule of third has been used on this front cover, the sue of the rule of thirds highlights certain hot spots on the cover to mark them as important , for example the main cover line and the musicians faces, this will allow the target audience to pick out important features of the magazine quickly.

The Cover lines- Smaller than the main sell line, follows the codes and conventions of magazine by going around the main cover image, follows the colour scheme with green and consistently uses white and yellow sans serif font. Mentions popular bands such as asking Alexandria to attract potential target audiences, also provides info on the subgenre of the magazine(rock and metal music). Uses lists such as ‘10’ and images to further attract interest with exclusive features.

Cover mount/puff- A puff has been used to attract potential buyers, it is in a yellow circle on the front cover to cause it to stand out, puffs attract readers as they offer them exclusive content and competitions for the magazine, the niche market of Slipknot fans will be more interested in buying the magazine