Textual Analysis of the front cover of Vibe magazine

This is a front cover of Vibe magazine but it is different to the other Vibe magazines for example usually Vibe has a main focal image that is in colour but this edition is black and white and this could be because it is their 150th edition meaning that Vibe is quite old and since it is different it makes the magazine unique. The name of the magazine 'Vibe' is in gold making it seem special as it is the 150th issue. Also they have put the number 150 twice on the front. Thye have also put the name of the editor on the magazine as the magazine is mostly focusing on their 150th issue which the editor Quincy Jones has published.

Also Vibe is aimed for a mainstream audience as it has famous artists on the front cover for example Eminem, Shakira, TI and Usher. They have also used many conventions such as the website and the barcode as well as the issue number on their magazine. It also has a wide range in the readers musical interest, for example we have R&B (Beyonce), RAP (50 Cent and Tupac) and Hip-hop (Wu-tang Clan). Also the magazine has used other methods to give their reader entertainment for example Charles Barkley has got nothing to do with music because he was a basketball player, but he used to make the readers interested in the magazine.

Also mode of address has been used as Mary J Blige is looking straight at the audience which absorbs the readers attention. The framing is also conventional in this magazine. At the masthead they have put 'Special Collector's Edition', this makes the magazine seem more important.

Textual Analysis of the front cover of Blender magazine

This is the front cover of Blenders magazine. The firt thing that appeals to you as the reader when you see the magazine is the medium shot of Taylor Swift. From the image we can see that direct mode of address is used because Taylor Swift looks as if she is looking straight at the audience and her gaze seems to be inviting and engaging. It encourages the reader to get engaged to the magazine. In the copy there is only 2-3 types of text used. Blender gets published by Dennis Publishings. One of the sell lines in the blender magazine is "Tech Special, Total Audio Immersion: Best New MP3 Players" from these sell line we can see that the magazine is aimed at young readers as mostly young readers are into technology but it also builds a representation of teenager as technofile. Similarily another sell line says "194 downloads" from this we can see that the magazine is aimed for teenagers because mostly teenagers love to download music compared to the older generation. But overall there is a big range in the audience for example, there is some old bands named on the front cover like Pavement and Nirvana who are loved by the older age as well as new bands such as Cnarls Barkley and Taylor swift who are aimed at a younger age. As well as a wide range of audience, the magazine is also aimed for a audience with a wide range of musical interests example, we go from indie rock (Pavement and Nirvana) to Pop (Michael Jackson) to R&B (Taylor Swift). There are a few conventions used such as the barcode and the limited amount of colours used. Also the title is placed behind the contemporary artist and the main focal image is of Taylor Swift who is a new artist so again the magazine seems to be aimed more to teenagers but not discluding the older audience.

Production Log

27/01/10- I designed my first draft of the front cover of my magazine, the moment it hasn't got a title because I couldn't think of a pacific title that I wanted but the tpye of titles I am thinking of using are Affect, Sensation, Beat, melody,line or tune. Eventually with more research I can find a better title for my magazine. I am going to have a medium close up of a girl gazing at the audience but I am still not sure how I will make the girl seem like an artist. My main story will be under the picture and it will be big so that it cans stand out also it will about the girl who is meant to be the artist. Although my first draft was not in colour I am planning to use two or three colours as most of the magazines that I have seen and researched about only use a few colours.
02/02/10-Finished 3 analysis of front cover of magazines and started analysing a contents page of a magazine. For next week I am hoping to finish two analyisis of front cover magazines and need to start to improve my draft of my front cover of my magazine.
03/02/10- Finished analysing the contents page. Need to start analysing the double page spread of magazines and I need to improve my draft of the magazine cover I am going to make.
08/02/10- started and finished my second draft of my magazine cover. I decided to call the magazine Tune. I started researching for a double page spread of other magazines which I can analyse so that I can start thinking about how my double page spread will look like.
09/02/10- I finished analysing one double page spread of NME magazine. Need to find another double spread page to analyse.
16/02/10- I produced and uploaded my questionnaire on my blog and started my analysis on a double page spread of Q magazine.
21/02/10- Finished my analysis of Q magazine and did my first draft of the layout of my double page spread and contents page.
23/02/10- collected the results from my questionnaire and produced a slide show presentation to present my findings, which includes why I used certain questions and how they will help me with my magazine.
25/02/10- I did my focus group on a teenager where I asked him questions about music magazines to help me see which type of features and conventions to use for my magazine.
01/03/10- started the front cover of my magazine on photoshop, need to start taking pcitures this week.
03/03/10- need to start my research on mise-en-scene and get the CLC booked to take my pictures but first need to figure out what lighting and background I am going to use.
08/03/10- I did research on the type of mise-en-scene I want to use for my models. The research will give me an idea of what type of props I need to get to make my model look like a artist. I am planning to take pictures on thursday the 11th of my model and then edit them using photoshop before putting it on my magazine. I also need to start making my contents page and a draft of my double page spread.
11/03/10- I took pictures using photoshoot in the CLC. But I still need more pictures but with a background for my contents page. I finished my draft of the double page spread but need to improve it.  Need to take more pictures and finish the layout of the contents page and the front cover so that I will only need the images on it.
16/03/10- I started my contents page where I have put an image and some of the features but I need to improve it.
18/03/10- Decided to change the model of the cover as she didn't have the elements needed to make it glamorous. I am planing to make my genre pop as it is easier to do and also the model that I am deciding to use for the fornt cover has the pop look.
02/04/10- I uploaded my preliminary front cover and contents pages that I can compare it with the final music magazine.
04/04/10- uploaded my music magazine contents page and double page spread as I had finished them.
05/04/10- uploaded my front cover of my music magazine after I had changed and improved it.