Magazine analysis

Front pagesContent pages

Double page spread

The splash Image is a Portrait of Bruno Mars, wearing shades and looking quite serious. This may mean he is taking his career very seriously, but he is also giving the readers an impression of being superior to them, wearing sunglasses to look mysterious and as the sub-heading says he`s got “new swagger”. The golden details he is wearing may suggest that he is rich and successful. The button up shirt implies that he is in a middle class, appealing to most of the readers. His tattoos suggest that his fans are teenagers/in their early twenties – matching the target audience.

The smallest text on the cover is the price, as it is therefore most likely to be seen last by the audience after they`ve seen all the features and want to buy the magazine anyway. Since Billboard is being published once a week, £5.50 is a pretty expensive price, making it more exclusive and promising quality in every issue.

The colour scheme consists of 4 colours: white, blue, red and yellow. These are quite neutral earth-colours, suggesting the magazine can be read by both boys and girls. The yellow colour pops out and will draw the browsers attention.

The layout of magazine is adjusting to the portrait of Bruno Mars – the cover lines to the left is shaped to his body, suggesting that Bruno Mars is the most important thing in that issue.

The anchorage “Future so bright” is the name of Bruno Mars’s new album, but also suggesting that Bruno Mars is successful and therefore promoting his music. The strapline behind is yellow, drawing the audience’s attention.

Since 89 percent of the readers are male, Bruno Mars is an idol they will aspire to be like. He is perfectly styled to look flawless and therefore more attracting to the audience.

The plus symbol suggests that the magazine has a lot to offer, and by featuring many different artists on the front page, the readers are likely to find at least one artist they have interest in, and therefore buy the magazine.

Bruno Mars`s head is covering the masthead suggesting that the audience do not need to see the whole title of the magazine, they already know which magazine it is. This could also mean that Bruno Mars is the star of the magazine, and more important for the audience to see. The masthead has a cool, white colour that stands out from the rest of the darker colours. The iconic colour inside of the A and the D, is repeated in every magazine, and matching the colour scheme.

Billboard promotes themselves through different channels by writing about their own events, TV shows and touring. This will give them a wider audience, as more people are likely to recognize the magazine after seeing the company in another situation.

The Headline has a bold, simple and yet special font in a black colour. This is the first thing that the eye is drawn towards, and it allows the browser to see if there is anything they will have interest in reading about.

At the bottom of the page, the Magazine has included their website so that more people can interact with the features. This multi-plat forming expand the magazine’s business, as well as promoting themselves.

The sub-heading makes the content page cleaner as it becomes easier for the audience to see the different contents of the magazine. The black colour stands out from the white background, attracting attention.

The colour scheme is mainly black, blue and white, but there is also a lot of others colours around suggesting that the magazine has a big variety of reading material and can be exiting in many ways.

The sub-images of different contents in the magazine will catch the readers eyes as it takes less effort to look at photos than small text. The photos also add a bit more colour and excitement on the page. The numbers under the photos will help the browser to find the right page straight away.

Since Billboard is most known for it’s record chart, which track the most popular songs and albums across several categories on a weekly basis, they do right in including their primary chart “Billboard Hot 100” in the magazine.

The colour scheme that is used, attracts girls as it is quite feminine. This will make girls want to read the article.

The woman on the main photo, is wearing quite revealing clothes and posing in a pretty sexual way. She is being represented as a subject for the male gaze, and therefore attracting men to read the article.

The layout is very simple – using black font on white. This makes the page look clean and serious, suggesting that the article is written for more mature readers who likes it simple, just like the target audience. The text is divided into three columns with quite a lot of text, reinforcing this point.

The article will appeal to the part of the population that are African or African American as they might feel like Alexandra Burke is relevant to their lives. She is also quite young, appealing to the younger women who can relate to her.

Alexandra Burke looks gorgeous in the photos, wearing perfect makeup and styled hair. The photos are taken in a studio, and probably edited in photoshop as well to make Alexandra look flawless. This will appeal to young girls that are aspiring to be like their idol.

The main photo takes up a whole page, suggesting that the audience is more likely to look at the photos than to read the article. They will also feel tempted to buy the magazine because they can use the big photo as a free poster.

The pull quote is written in a pink colour, catching the audience’s eye and suggesting it’s more important than the rest of the text. The readers may find it shocking that Alexandra Burke has lived next to a prison, and they will therefore be tempted to read more about it. The pull quote is also suggesting that there is hope for everyone no matter where you come from, appealing to people who may not be happy about their life.

The Masthead is covering the splash image, suggesting that the magazine is more important than the band on the cover. This may also mean that We <3 pop is helping One Direction on their way to success. A bold, black font is used as a contrast to the white, making the title of the magazine literally “pop”. The speak bubble around the title has connotations of Facebook, MSN and SMS, showing that this audience cares about technology and probably all have a phone, computer or TV. By writing “WE”, the reader will feel included and persuaded to read the magazine.

The Banner promoting 10 posters will make the audience believe they get a lot for their money by buying the magazine as everyone loves “free” stuff. By promising posters in “every issue” the readers will want to look after the next issue as well.

The magazine appeals to a larger audience by showing many different bands on the cover. This is because the readers are likely to find at least one artist they like, and therefore want to buy the magazine. By featuring very popular artists, the magazine is guaranteed to have a big audience.

The strap line “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus” suggests that the magazine is fun and interesting to read.

The Layout is quite messy, as everything is in helter-skelter to fill in the open gaps. This is appealing to the young audience who thinks the more content the better.

Since the magazine`s target group is young girls between the age of 12 and 20 years old, fashion will appeal to them and make them want to read the magazine.

Just like Billboard, the price on We <3 Pop is the smallest text on the cover and most likely the last thing the reader will see after he/she has already been tempted to buy the magazine.

By highlighting the word “secret”, the readers will easily see it and want to know about the secret. The magazine appears to be exclusive as they get “secret” information about artists.

The colour scheme used has a lot of popping colours, catching the eye and making the magazine stand out on the shelf. The bright colours signalize how fun and playful the magazine is, suggesting that the target audience is quite young.

By writing “Tulisa opens up to we love pop”, the magazine sounds exclusive and unique because it carries information that no other magazine seem to have.

The magazine has chosen to front One Direction in the splash image as they are a very popular band among the youth, and the front cover will therefore appeal to a big audience. One Direction`s fan group consists mostly of young girls, who is very dedicated to their favourite band and would want to know all there is to know about them. One Direction`s exaggerated smiling will make the magazine stand out from the more serious magazines, and it appeals to the readers as they believe buying We <3 Pop will make them just as happy as 1D.

By featuring a photo of the queen in the top corner, the readers from the UK may feel national pride, and therefore be temped to buy the magazine. It also suggest that the magazine is so great that even the queen reads it, even though that’s highly unlikely.

The headline is written in a black, bold colour that stands out from the white background. It is also covering the whole top of the page, reassuring that this is the first thing the audience will see. Since “We love this” is similar to the title “We love pop”, the readers are more likely to remember the magazine name.

The plug, reading «for your eyes only», suggests that the audience is more willing to see photos than to read text, and that they may exclusively be told celebrity-secrets. The yellow colour pops out to make the text more noticeable on the page.

There are a lot of sub-photos on the content page, appealing to the young target group as they will like to see photos rather than reading a lot of text. This gives the browser an idea of who will feature in this edition, as well as making the page more colourful and interesting.

The main photo on the page is clearly the photo of One Direction as it is bigger than the other photos. This tells the readers that One Direction will be the main focus in this issue, and attracts a wide audience as many young girls have interest in the boy band.

The magazine is Multi-platforming to gain more business. At the bottom of the page, the magazine has included their web-address so that people can read more gossip and interact with the features.

Everyone loves free stuff, and by showing the posters that the audience will get for free in the magazine, the readers will feel like they get a lot for their money. Since the target audience is young girls, they are likely to collect posters. By including posters of many different artists, the browsers are likely to find at least one artist they want a poster of.

The colour scheme is matching the main photo: blue, white and mustard. This reinforces the appearance of the focus being on One Direction in this issue, making them seem important.

The magazine has included a personal message from the editor that makes the magazine more personal and allows interaction with the readers.

The pull-quotes give the browsers an idea of what they can read about in the magazine as well as tempting them to buy it by bringing forward the most shocking or surprising quotes.

The colour scheme is very girly, using a lot of pink that is associated with the typical female. This shows that the target audience is most likely around 10-15 years old, and pink is often a girls favourite colour at that age. The pink colour will therefore attract the female audience. .

The main picture has been taken in a studio, with a white and simple background. This emphasizes the model in the picture which is the artist Cher Lloyd. She is looking flawless – her hair and makeup is done perfectly, aspiring her fans - young girls, to be like their idol. Cher’s pose and the way she holds the camera in a very playful ways relates to the teenage audience who will identify themselves with her. The surprised expression in her face may suggest that there is some shocking news in the article, and this attracts the audience to read it.

Instead of a headline, a pull quote is used to give the audience a taste of what’s written in the article. The readers will want to find out why Cher was blamed for parent’s kids turning out wrong, and therefore read the article.

The text is covered in yellow many places to highlight the most important parts. The yellow colour catches the eye and draw the audience’s attention towards it.

The plug shows that the article has been featured on the front page, and it must therefore be something important the readers do not want to miss out on.

The big picture of Cher takes up an whole page, suggesting that the young audience is more willing to see pictures than a lot of text. They will also feel tempted to buy the magazine as they know they can use the page as a poster of Cher.

The headline takes up the half page before the interview actually starts. This layout shows that the readers won’t bother reading a lot of text, and the photo in the middle of the page breaks up the text, reinforcing this point.

The sub-heading is actually telling the readers to read the article, in a way that will make it seem like or else they’re missing out on something important.

The masthead is very big, stretched across the whole top of the cover page and immediately attracting attention. It is also placed in front of the splash image, suggesting that the magazine is more important than the artist (Rihanna) and that it may even help to promote her music. “VIBE” is written in a thick, white font that matches the colour scheme and stands out from the darker background. The masthead is very recognizable, as it is the same in every issue.

The colour scheme that is used is very simple, consisting of two different types of blue, white and black/grey. The simplicity of the cover page suggests that the magazine is quite serious, and doesn’t have to exaggerate or use popping colours to seek attention – their audience will read the magazine because of the quality of the content.

On the splash image we can see Rihanna, relating to the headline. A black and white photograph of her is used, implicating that something dramatic has happened and this is being emphasized by her sad (at least not smiling) facial expression. The black and white effect on the photo also fits in with the simple layout on the cover. The layout of the magazine is adjusting to the portrait of

Rihanna. The cover lines are placed around the shape of her shadow, suggesting that Rihanna is important in this issue, and not something the audience should miss out on.

The price on the cover is just like the other magazines; the smallest text on the cover. The audience will most likely see the price last and already feel tempted to buy the magazine, therefore they will not care about the price.

The Headline implies that the magazine doesn’t only care about music, they also write about gossip. Since Rihanna and Chris Brown were a very famous couple when they were together, the readers will be interested in reading about them and hopefully get some exclusive news. Since this is the only headline on the front page, the article seem important and suggests that this magazine issue will focus on Rihanna and Chris Brown – appealing to a wide audience as a lot of people are fans of them. The colour on the font is dark and standing out from the background to make sure it is easy to discover.

By featuring many different artists on the front page, the readers are very likely to find at least one artist they would like to read about. This opens up to a wider audience.

The splash image is likely to have been taken in a studio, and Rihanna is using a lot of eye makeup, jewellery and styled hair to look perfect. She is appealing to the female audience who sees her as an idol, but also the male audience as most people like her music and finds her attractive.

The woman on the main photo is wearing pretty revealing clothes, showing of her legs and laying in a quite sexual position. The heavy makeup and the way she is exposing herself to the audience represents her as a subject to the male gaze; Laura Mulvey’s theory. The magazine is therefore appealing to the majority as 52% of the audience are men. The woman is also wearing jewellery and high heels often associated with wealth and this appeals to the readers as they are likely to have extra money to spare.

The headline uses a simple, white font that looks quite modern because of the splitting letters. This suggests that the magazine is fun and new-thinking, and also appeals to a young audience who will not be constrained by unusual fonts. The bottom of the headline is hidden behind the woman on the main photo, suggesting that she is important.

The colour scheme is very natural and simple, just like the front cover. The light brown, grey and white colour-combination suggests that the magazine is mature and serious – they do not need popping colours to draw the audience’s attention.

The layout of the content page is quite new-thinking and exceptional, making the magazine stand out from the rest. By placing a big photo in the middle of the page, and adapting the rest of the content to the photo, the audience will feel like the woman on the photo is very important and want to read more about her as she probably will be featured in the magazine.

By including Fashion in the magazine, the female audience will be attracted to read about it.

It is clearly that the woman has used a lot of time and effort on her makeup and look to be represented as close to perfect as possible. 48% of the magazine’s readers are women, so they could se her as a role model and an icon to aspire to.

The big V will remind the browser what magazine he/she is reading and this is emphasized by the woman’s legs, forming a V as well.

The small text on the left side tells the readers what clothes the model is wearing, appealing to the female fashionistas.

The main picture of Bruno Mars has been taken in a studio, the colours are dark and mysterious. Bruno Mars is wearing dark shades, a hat and a black suit representing wealth and success. This will appeal to most social classes as he is nicely dressed but at the same time laidback. He also looks a bit threatening wearing only dark clothes, reinforcing the headline saying he will “attack” the top charts. Bruno Mars’s posture suggests that he is on a place without gravity, maybe Mars, and that he is falling down. It could also look like he is pointing at something in the distance, suggesting that he is shooting for the stars and will reach far in the music industry.

The layout on the page is very simple, there is quite a lot of text which is divided into three columns. The interviewer’s questions are written in a bold font to make the page clean and easy to read. This makes the text very clearly set because the audience can quickly browse through the paragraphs to see what the interview is about.

The colour scheme consists of three colours; brown/black, blue and white. The colours on the second page is matching the main picture of Bruno Mars, implying that he is important and that the focus in the interview will be on him. The colours used are very mature and calm colours, suggesting that the magazine doesn’t need a lot of popping colours to draw the browser’s attention, they will read the interview anyway. It also attracts a older and more mature audience.

The headline says “When Mars Attacks”, meaning that the upcoming artist Bruno Mars will hit the chart lists and break through as an artist in the music industry. It will attract the audience to read the article as they might wonder what he is going to attack. The font used is unusual, reinforcing the whole idea of Bruno Mars being unique and out in space.

The magazine’s symbol in the top corner will remind the browser what magazine they are reading, and if they like the content they might want to buy the magazine again later.

The deck is promoting Bruno Mars’s as an artist through writing about his achievements and Grammy nominations. The readers will be impressed and interested in reading about his success, and Bruno Mars will probably achieve even more fans and attention. This gives the audience a feeling of the magazine being important as it helps Bruno Mars to hit the big time.