Front cover Rock Sound

About the front cover:

Title: Rock Sound                 

Price: £3.99

Frequency of the magazine: Weekly

Pictures: The front cover has the central image put to the right with the lead singer in the center and the band behind him drawing attention to the lead singer of a popular band, then the other band members, attracting a large audience. The front cover also has 5 graphic features, each previewing a free poster you get when you purchase the magazine.

Front cover design: The front cover has a masthead that overlaps and goes underneath the central image, it over laps the band members but goes behind the lead singer suggesting that he is the main focus. It has band names in a large font to draw attention to them so that the reader will be drawn in when they recognize a band. The plugs of the magazine are in a smaller font to the band names suggesting they are trying to attract fans of the band then tell them what the information about the band is. The cover uses one font for the masthead and another for the text on the font keeping a uniform look to the cover, however the cover does not follow the three colour principle, instead it uses 5 colours which makes the cover a little overwhelming along with the central image shifted to the right hand side.

Typography used: The font used is not neat and edgy, this is used to attracted a young audience and suggest the magazine is alternative to normal magazines as the font doesn't look the same as normal yet is still clear to read.                       

Freebies: A free CD with a mixture of different bands and songs as well as 5 free posters.

Target audience: 13 -19 year old   

How does the cover appeal to its target audience? The cover appeals to the target audience by using a font that is different to the ‘norm’ to suggest the magazine is alternative and the bands featured are growing in popularity by are not in the mainstream charts and with their name in bold it draws in the reader and introduces them to bands they may not have heard of. The colours are loud but apply to both genders which widens the fan base of the magazine but the bright colours draw the younger fans attention. The freebies are relevant to the magazine and are at the top which will stick out depending on how it is set up in a shop which would draw in the attention as they get free things of something the like with a purchase of the magazine.            

What are their ‘sell lines’?   “New album interviews” and “all the new bands you need to hear” the sell lines are relevant to the magazine but also allow the magazine to name drop bands to attract a wide audience.     

Connotations of images and words: The colour red of some of the words suggests danger which will intrigue the reader to open the magazine and find out the stories. The style of the font is loud and not neat which creates an alternative view toward the magazine. The way the masthead overlap and goes underneath the central image suggests that the lead singer is the main focus and he is well lit however the rest of the band are in the background and darkened with aggressive facial expression which set the hostile mood for the cover but also matches the ‘alternative’ style the band magazine is after. The Lead singer is facing the camera directly which invites the readers.