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The final front cover I have chosen is from a 2008 issue of Vibe featuring Kanye West. The first thing that is noticeable within this front cover, is the size and prominence of the main image of the artist himself. It is very in-your-face and eye catching towards the audience. I particularly like the way the artist literally stands in front of the masthead, as this creates a feeling of importance, but also connotes that the magazine itself is generally popular; people will know the name of the magazine, by viewing just a part of the text. This portrays a feeling of popularity to the audience, and usually popularity is due to the magazine being of good quality. I am considering using a factor like this in my magazine. This could simply include part of the model's body on the main image covering some of the text within the masthead.

It is also very clear in the left third, that the main article involves Kanye West, which refers to the image, also. As it is in the left third, this is a prominently viewed area of the cover due to the typical layout of magazines in a shop. The use of celebrity endorsement attracts a wider audience, including those who may be a fan of Kanye West. This suggests that those may be a fan of Kayne West but have never purchased Vibe before, may look into buying the magazine to read Kanye's article, and then go on to enjoy the magazine, meaning they may continue on to buy future issues, providing a larger income for the magazine. I would like to use celebrity endorsement in my magazine, to attract a wider audience than just my target audience.

This magazine cover also carries out a consistent colour theme; blue and pink. This even includes the costume of the model (West's collar). This colour theme is essentially bright, but also gives connotations relating to both genders, giving ideas about the magazine's target audience. These bright colours also make the cover eye-catching and attention-grabbing. In my magazine, I would like to use a certain bright colour that would attract attention to my magazine, such as red. This would give its own connotations and would also be eye catching against the rest of the cover.

One factor I am considering using that is included in this magazine cover, is the way in which the artist directly addresses the audience, with direct eye contact. There are several modelling poses and techniques I could use within my front cover, such as 'the chocolate box'. I will publish a post covering these poses in the near future. I particularly like this one due to the look of superiority on Kanye West's face. This ties in with the pull quote 'I am rap' as he, as a person, is known for being majorly egotistical and slightly dominant in the music world. The use of facial expression and cover lines work together to not only portray a certain feeling, but put forward the artist in the light he is frequently seen in, making him recognisable and almost familiar. I will ensure that the pose that my model employs will give of the correct connotations in order to put across a more personalised feel, allowing the readers to feel as if they are becoming closer to the artist, and due to whoever being on my cover being currently famous. Generally, people want to be close to artists they admire, therefore, my magazine will give my readers this aspect/give my readers what they want.

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Secondly, I will be studying the front cover of an issue of Billboard, featuring Katy Perry, who covers 2 thirds of the right hand side of the cover. This is a good factor of the magazine cover, as this ensures that the audience's attention is focused dirty onto the model, meaning they are encouraged to view what the article is about, therefore observing the rest of the magazine cover and then hopefully drawn into the magazine, leaving them wanting to purchase. I will ensure that my model fills at least 2 thirds of the cover in order to include an image that will grab the readers attention and encourage them to read on and for this interest to increase as they do read.

I also particularly liked the way that the cover lines were positioned in a way that made them curve around the model, also providing an area designated to the model, making them stand out. for example, I really like the way the main cover line is placed within the curve of the models back, making the model appear to be posing in a way that cooperates with the cover line of her feature article.

When observing this particular cover, I enjoyed the use of props in the main image. The use of the flowers appearing to shower the artist gives an insight to the type of music the artist produces; girly and up-beat. I really like this use of props and the way it is accompanied by a girly coloured background. These features all work together to give the magazine cover a feel that mirrors the artists type of music which will most likely fit in with the genre that the magazine bases itself around, meaning that it will attract the correct audience will noticy the magazine and will most likely purchase it.

As a whole, the front cover is generally quite colourful, with colours such as pink, yellow and black composing the main theme (girly). This theme is shown throughout the front cover, although, below the main coverline, there is more information given about the main story (relating to the image), which is printed in white. This immediately draws your attention due to the sudden change in colour and almost forces you to read the text, leading you to want to know even more about Katy Perry and leaving you wanting to read the article. I would like to include something like this within my magazine, particularly in the main coverline to draw my audience's attention in, and to encourage them to purchase the magazine.

Also differing from the normal, is the font used to print 'Katy Perry'. The whole cover generally uses a pretty much house font, with areas of interest taking on a more girly, decorative font, not only drawing attention to these words, but again, adding to this girly theme, relating to the artist and also the genre that the magazine generally bases itself around. It is clear that this magazine uses subtle but effective features that attract their audience and create a cover that uses various factors to put across certain connotations based around the genre and the model. I would like my magazine to do a similar thing. I would like to use my mode and the colour themes, fonts and props to all come together and produce a cover that gives connotations of how I would like my magazine to be known and presented; classy, professional, high quality, dramatic etc.

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Firstly, I have taken the front cover of Rolling Stone which features an artist of my chosen genre on the cover; Lana Del Rey. A key feature of the magazine cover, is obviously the masthead, displaying the name of the magazine. The name of this magazine is in a striking blue font, contrasting the coral red background. I like the way this makes the name of the magazine stand out and it makes the name very clear to the audience and eye catching to those who see it. In my magazine I will use the same technique in order to make the name of my magazine stand out to the audience.
The magazine also has a Selling Line that reads, 'Rising Stars of 2012', giving an idea as to what this magazine will entail. This also informs the audience that Rolling Stone will inform you of the rising stars of the year ahead (as this magazine was published in December 2011), which is a desirable quality of a magazine as readers are usually interested in up and coming artists and would like to be the first to know them/listen to them before they're popular. I believe a quality like this would be vital for my magazine as I am planning on endorsing articles on up and coming artists in order to attract an audience that thrive to be the trendsetters in music. The sell one is also set out in a clear manner and the background color to it's text also links in with the 'star' aspect as it feats a shimmery shade of gold.

The dateline, price, issue number and website are all clear beneath the selling line, in a small font as they are not a key part of the magazine but just some information that isn't particularly focused one, but is still a vital factor of the magazine. I'll be sure to add these elements to my magazine front cover as they are important and informative to the audience.

I particularly like the way that a house font is used throughout the magazine cover lines, but in the main cover line a different font is used to draw attention to the larger text and the way in which the choice of font gives a certain expression of the artist and their music. I would like to employ a feature like this is my magazine as it draws the readers attention to a certain area of text in a subtle but creative way.

The font is also made large, with a white backing to make the text almost 3D and creates the feeling like it is literally jumping out at the audience to grab their attention. I will consider using a concept like this, but I feel that in certain covers, a technique like this may be overwhelming and may make the cover look slightly crowded.

Additionally, next to the name of the artist as the main cover line, there is an area of text that almost introduces the artist reading, 'The sultry rising star and her story'. This gives the audience an idea of the artist and encourages them to read about them. It also ties in with the selling line of 'Rising Stars of 2012' as if to give an example of what rising stars their magazine employs. I would like to include a feature like this as I believe it would add an enhanced understanding to whatever artist I use, for example, this magazine speaks of their artist as sultry, which links to the image of her looking seductively at the camera/audience.

A classic, almost cosy feel is added to the magazine by the choice of color scheme, with the use of the warm coral reds and creams. Red can portray a feeling of warmth but also sexuality, linking with the 'sultry' description and her seductive look towards the camera. Altogether, this provides a certain feel to the magazine and the artist and their music. I would like to incorporate this technique into my magazine to give it a certain feeling and attract my particular target audience.

Finally, I was also interested in the way the magazine cover displays names of other artists that it is featuring in that particular issue. This also provided examples of the 'rising stars' that are being featured in the article and other popular artists that the target audience of this magazine may typically enjoy. I would like to take some other artists of my genre and place their names in a particular are of my magazine that does not take up a lot of space, but it quite clear to the audience as this will draw them in and receive a good idea of the genre of my magazine and the artists it focuses on, hopefully meaning that my magazine front cover will encourage my targeted primary audience to purchase the magazine.

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In order to gain a more enhanced understanding of magazine concepts and features, I will be decomposing several example pass fro various music magazines to gain ideas on what I would like to include on my Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread.