Textual analysis - Music magazines

Mojo
This magazine first appears sinister, with the image of a band dominating the front cover. It has huge impact as the eye contact with the people in the image is intense, attracting the public to the magazine. The image of the band stands in front of the magazine name 'Mojo', this tells the audience that music comes first, that it is not about image, but about music content. The band also covers up half the name 'Mojo' suggesting the power of the band and that the magazine is aimed at people that are serious about music, the seriousness is also elaborated in the band's eye contact. The image is of a band called Oasis, because the band is of the genre rock. The band is represented as moody and challenging which fits in with the persona of the band Oasis. The eye contact is direct and striking blending in with the bold font and mod theme colour.
From the magazines appearance, it shows that it represents the rock/mod genre of music and the magazines contents will contain information relevant to this music.

Q

Simple blocks of primary colours are used in an eye catching way to attract the reader. The clear red, white and black font contrasts with the animated images and gives a simple direct message. The main figure is looking directly at the reader and pointing, as if it is say to the reader that they are personally involved. The bands are in the largest print to show the reader what to expect. The language is persuasive, using the selling point of FREE music and the COMPLETE U2 story.

This magazine is aimed at someone interested in a wide range of music, as inside you can get information on people as diverse as Lily Allen to Kylie. It is for someone who is quite sophisticated as there is an article by Tony Blair. This magazine is trying, successfully, to sell itself as a stylish magazine, building on already known quantities, such as GQ and James Bond.

Contents page:

Front cover for student magazine:

This was my initial design for my school magazine, however I feel that it needs adapting and changing to be made more suitable to be a student magazine. The image I chose to use of a girl smiling will relate to the students that my magazine is aimed at, but there is no eye contact with the reader, which is the convention of many magazines. The title of my magazine is called 'Whatever!' This language can be harsh on students and the word is a negative one. The images that I incorparated of a top and skirt are quite bland and do not suit the fashion trend that college students aspire to. The highlighted font is far to garish and the positioning of text and images needs to be re-thought. My final school magazine front cover...