Analysis of 5 Front Covers

Mojo

For this Mojo front cover analysis I decided that the layout in my opinion was a little too crowded and had too much going on. For example the main artists on the front of the cover don’t seem to be very recognizable, so the designer would have to make their name stand out a lot more; but the band name ‘Nirvana’ seems to blend in with the background image too much. This is also the case for the writing down the left and right hand sides of the page, as  the picture is saturated it is harder to pick a basic colour like black or white as a font colour. On the other hand I really like the use of layering in this front cover, the band is in front of the magazine name (Mojo) and the band name overlaps the main image; this idea will probably be used on my front cover.

Furthermore this front cover does stick to the 3 colour scheme well as it only uses white, black and cream. These colours all complement each other well and are used to highlight certain sections of the cover. In this case the cream is used to highlight the artists and band names e.g. Nirvana and Johnny Cash. Whereas the white is mainly used for the sub headings below the artists name, and finally the black is used for extra advertising and highlights important information e.g. ‘Free CD and special anniversary issue’.  Following on from this the main font used for the cover is serif as I think it gives it a vintage/retro essence but the word ‘PLUS!’ in the bottom right corner is in sans-serif possibly chosen by the designer to attract the reader to the extra information as the eyes will be drawn firstly to the top 3^rd. The font chosen for the magazine cover ‘Mojo’ is always going to be a memorable font just by being unusual; this has also been made white so the reader will still be able to see the name easily.

Finally the designer has added little touches like the peeling off sticker with a shadow to make the cover look that little bit more interesting; this shows an edgy side to Mojo instead of being very clean cut and neat. Similar to this is the image in the top right corner, this looks like a classic old photo shot sticking to the retro theme of the magazine. I love it how it is at a slight angle so it contradicts with the layout of the front cover; this could be an idea to make my cover look a little more eye catching.

NME

I really like the way this NME front cover is laid out and how the central focus point is the band member’s faces. The positioning of each member is roughly equal and no one is in front, this shows that each member has the same status in the band. This positioning of band members could be a good idea to use in my magazine to show the lead singer taking up the most of the frame or just being the furthest forward. Also since the band members are wearing all black it allows the designer to use colours such as white and red more easily; without worrying about writing not being seen. This idea works well for seeing the ‘new musical express’ and ‘THE XX’ writing more clearly.

Furthermore the font style that is mainly used on this NME cover is sans-serif as it’s a more prominent font style to use for big headings. On the other hand there are only a few examples of a serif font being used and this is above ‘THE XX’. On magazines such as NME serif fonts are normally used for speech or sub headings, this just makes the text stand out more from the rest as it is a quote. On the other hand the way the designer uses a bold small red line to separate out each heading works well for the reader as it will make it easier to read and follow. I also like the way a ‘+’ sign has been used instead of the word ‘plus’ just to make that cover a bit more interesting; the first impressions are always the best and the reader wants to see diversity and unusual symbols like the ‘+’.

This cover also follows the 3 colour scheme by using red, white and black which seems to be a popular colour group; as they seem to complement each other very well. Each sentence is separated by using different colored fonts in between to show where the new sentence begins and ends; I really like the was the designers have used this technique without making the cover look too crowded. Finally as a normal magazine would have there is a bar code in the bottom corner stating the price, date, NME website address and bar code number. This has been made clearly visible by contrasting with the band members black shirt.

NME

When analyzing this front cover I really like the way the photo is positioned on the page, the photo makes this front cover really eye catching but since it is black and white it also allows the reader to focus in on the magazine name and other headings around the image. The white background is a great choice to make the other text stand out surrounding the image, the more popular bands/ artists that are featured in the magazine are in a bold black sans-serif font and the minor ones are in a red smaller bold sans-serif font; this is a good technique to use to get the reader interested in the content of the magazine without even opening it.

Furthermore the ‘Pulp Return’ is the 2^nd largest font size behind ‘NME’ as it is the main heading, this has also been made red to make it more eye catching and stand out. Above this there is a sentence ‘about f*#king time!’ this looks like it has been hand written which really adds to the cover; what I like about it is that it is a totally different font from what NME would normally use and it shows a more diverse style which shows that NME can be more creative with their choices of font and layouts. The hand written font has also been used on the ‘+’ sign and the dash (-) separating two headings. This writing almost ties in with the artist’s attitude on the cover and maybe the rebellious personality of the individual.

The popular colour scheme for NME to use are red, white and black which is exactly the same as this front cover, although it is a great choice if all these colours are used in the correct places. As an extra touch the designer has used a formal serif font in the top left corner to show the date and price, this really works well to show a little diversity between fonts and also makes the magazine appear more sophisticated to give it a good balance. Finally the bar code is placed in the bottom left corner as another indication of the price and date; I may decide to place the bar code in the bottom left hand corner also as it appears to be the area of the NME magazine cover that is least interesting.

Q

I really like the way this Q magazine is laid out as it doesn’t look too cluttered or messy. The large font in the bottom ¼ of the page is the obvious first focus point as far as the text is concerned, even though it is at the bottom of the cover it is still very eye catching because of the red bold sans-serif font. (a more prominent font to choose) The other text above this surrounding the head is a lot smaller as it shows authority over main stories, each separate sub heading above the main story is in either a different font or colour which really shows creativity and makes the cover seem a little more interesting. For this front cover the there are 4 colours used but this doesn’t make the cover look to busy, (red, gold, white and black) I think the gold makes the cover look a little more high class and POW!

The one part in not too keen on is the huge ‘Q’ logo in the red box in the corner; it just looks out of place and takes the eyes attraction away from the main image. If I was to choose this magazine layout I would decide to layer the logo behind the singers head instead of in front. Furthermore in the top right hand corner is a circle indicating a Queen Exclusive this is a good idea of choosing a different way of advertising a band or artist; instead of making almost a list down both sides of the page. Similarly Q use the ‘+’ sign instead of the word, this is also in a gold font possibly to show significance and makes the reader be drawn down the page instead of across.

Furthermore the main image is a mid shot of the lead singer (possibly) of a band takes up the majority of the page to show his authority or ranking in the band, the other member are in the reflection of his sunglasses; which shows they aren’t as popular. I love the way the designer has chosen to put the band members in the sunglasses as it just adds a little bit of creativity and style to the magazine cover. The colour as well is also really different because it’s not quite saturated and it’s not fully in colour; which makes it such an eye catching image.

Rolling Stone

For this Rolling Stone analysis I really like the way the background goes from dark at the edges and light in the middle showing Shakira to be the main focus point, the grey/silver of the background really matches in with the colour of the Rolling Stone font and adds to the metallic type vibe. On the other hand the sub- heading down the  left and ½ the right hand page are all in a serif font, with the artists names larger and bold and the brief descriptions under each artist in a smaller italic font;       (colour: black) this adds a more sophisticated side to the Rolling Stone cover. Between each sub heading are two silver lines and one bold black line, this is to make the reader feel as though the page is easy to follow and doesn’t look as cluttered; I may decide to use this in my own front cover as I feel as though my cover may look overcrowded.

 Furthermore the image of Shakira is covering the Rolling Stone magazine name which is very typical of the magazine to do as it makes Shakira look almost 3D and coming out of the page; I think this may be because of her stance. Furthermore the main image of Shakira is very well lit and just makes her skin look smooth and since her clothes are black this allows the white writing to pop out to the reader. This larger white text really stands out as it is one of the largest texts on the page, the thin black border really makes it clear to read and doesn’t blend in with the central white area of the background. By making this piece of text a question it makes the reader think also and wonder what will be inside about Shakira.

On the other hand one part of the magazine cover which doesn’t really fit in is the black square box in the top right hand corner, my reasons for this are because the font is sans-serif where as the text on the cover are all in serif font, it also looks to rebellious and untidy; which isn’t what Rolling Stone tend to do with their layouts. RS tend to be a little more neat and structured but by adding this angular box to the cover it just looks wrong. Finally like in all Rolling Stone magazines there is a small piece of text stating the price, date and issue of the magazine; this text is in black to stick with the typical trend of the cover. Overall this RS front cover isn’t as inventive or creative as Mojo or NME; this could make me head in a direction focusing on the other magazine styles like the ones previously mentioned.