Representation of music magazines

Costume - She is wearing a very seductive and typically sexy outfit which connotes mystery and therefore creates interest in her as an artist. It could also be a stereotypical reference to the genre of music that she is famous for. The costume a coverstar models is essential in setting the tone of the feature about them, so for my magazine, I will think carefully about the kind of tone I would ideally like to have.

Hair and makeup - Her hair is slightly windswept and tousled which adds interest to her personality and causes her photo to fit into the codes and conventions of the cover. As for her makeup, a base of darker colours have been used which again, hints towards the idea of her being percieved as a mysterious and intriguing figure.

Pose - her casual pose allows her to come accross as being playful and almost entices potential readers to purchase the magazine.

Facial Expression - She is looking directly into the camera lens with an intense facial expression and this engages the readers. I will use techniques like this in my magazine to make readers feel as involved as possible and engaged within the publication.

Framing - A medium long shot (MLS) shot is used to show a large proportion of her body, which shows more of her costume and her stance rather than just focusing on her face.

Font - The font is actually quite a standard almost plain style. Although it works for this particular cover because it results in the image becoming the main focal point of the whole cover. 

Colours - The colour scheme is of a unisex orientation because of the use of typical ‘male’ colours such as blue becoming entwined with glamorous and typically more ‘female’ colours such as gold. I find that this is very effective as it expands the target audience even further.

REPRESENTATION OF THE MAGAZINE - The magazine represents a very modern and informal style of publication simply because of the way that all of the codes and conventions interact with eachother and allow the theme of the publication to flow and complete the desired style of having a magazine that appeals to younger people because of the trendiness aspect of it as a whole.

Costume - Lil Wayne is shown wearing casual clothes and this gives the idea that he has a very laid back personality. Also, it could be interpreted as conveying the idea that fame has not affected him which would then allow the audience to connect with him more and feel like they are infact part of his career. 

Hair - His hair appears to be styled in the same way as it always is so then this gives the impression that he might not be bothered about the whole idea of fame and this feeling would possibly make him out to be more normal like the readers of Vibe which would yet again engage the audience and promote a positive appearance for Lil Wayne.

Pose - His pose is not of a standard issue which immediately promotes originality throughout the publication and promotes a ‘fresh’, new, modern look for Vibe. The crouching position on the ‘throne’ could show a lack of respect for authority and then promotes a ‘badboy’ reputation and backs up the genre of music that Lil Wayne is made famous by.

Facial expression - Again, he is looking straight down the camera lens and engages with the potential buyers looking at the the cover on a magazine stand.

Framing - A medium long shot (MLS) is used to show the whole of his body language.

Fonts - There are lots of variations of the sizes and colours of the same font rather than using lots of different types of font.

Colours - The colours seem to have a ‘summery’ feeling about them simply because of the amount of different bright colours and shades of each.

REPRESENTATION OF THE MAGAZINE - This magazine cover is yet another example of  of a publication that is all about portraying a young and trendy visage for a younger audience. I feel that this is very effective as the target audience is a very affluent and easy to please so this technique of breaking the stereotypical idea of what a teenage magazine ‘should be’ appears to be a very popular choice amongst teenagers.

Hair - His hair represents the band’s personality and the style that they aim to create so the cover has a  continuing theme and ties in with the genre of the arctic monkeys.

Pose - The unconventional pose of not looking down the lens to the readers could usually be interpreted as non-professionalism but if you look deeper into the style and genre of the  band, them you will see why that original idea fits in really well with the theme of the arctic monkeys.

Fonts - The fonts that are used for things such as the titles and the puff words are quite plain and sophisticated, compared with the whole of the background which is composed of a messy handwriting style font. The handwriting is actually used to display some lyrics from a various selection of the bands songs and this give it a very personal feeling, almost as if it’s designed to make the readers feel that they were personally involved in the writing  and designing of their songs. I could use this technique whilst designing my music magazine because I find it to be very effective and also results in music magazines being viewed in a different, unusual way.

REPRESENTATION OF THE MAGAZINE - The way in which the magazine company has opted for such an unusual cover makes the company come accross as being confident in their own ideas and what they do which in turn, makes them look professional and established.

From this I have learnt that although elements such as eye contact are commonly viewed as being essential for a successful magazine, other, more individual and personal ways of presenting cover stars etc can be just as, if not slightly more effective.