The first magazine I have chosen to analyse is “Rolling Stone”. The magazine is one of the worlds most prestigious and well known. After a quick scan of the most recent covers of the magazine it is immediately obvious that nearly all of them feature alluring images of the months biggest feature star. A relatively equal combination of men and women stars feature, which allows its target audience to widen because of its appeal to both sexes.
The provocative nature of the images is a clever marketing ploy because the editors know that sex sells. As a customer who would walk past this magazine in a shop, the appealing images would grab my attention and I would be enticed to look inside or buy the magazine. It is also evident that the cover image dictates the front page as it spreads over the entire length; there is no other image distracting from the main article, only writing. The images also overlap the title which allows a fuller picture to be shown but also advertises to the world that “Rolling Stone” considers itself influential enough to not advertise the title, they are confident people will relate to the magazine with just a snippet of the title.
The colour schemes are very simple but effective. The colours are mainly black, white, reds, blues and the occasional variation. The simplicity allows for a less cluttered and tidier viewing on first glance, the image can be seen clearly and is the main focus, and the headlines are also made clear without distracting from the cover image. The simplistic scheme also allows a consistency to be maintained throughout different issues so that the magazine forms its own style and look that people associate with the magazine. The headlines use clichéd phrases such as “heart throb” and “bad girls” but in doing so gives just enough information for the reader to have a curiosity to look inside and read. Compared to other magazines the headlines are very minimal, there are not many at all. The majority of the writing is simply listing celebrities so that if the consumer sees the name of a celebrity they enjoy following or are interested in they will pick up or buy the magazine to see the latest news on that particular person. The front cover hosts the magazines website, issue number and date, the price and a barcode.
The provocative nature of the images is a clever marketing ploy because the editors know that sex sells. As a customer who would walk past this magazine in a shop, the appealing images would grab my attention and I would be enticed to look inside or buy the magazine. It is also evident that the cover image dictates the front page as it spreads over the entire length; there is no other image distracting from the main article, only writing. The images also overlap the title which allows a fuller picture to be shown but also advertises to the world that “Rolling Stone” considers itself influential enough to not advertise the title, they are confident people will relate to the magazine with just a snippet of the title.
The colour schemes are very simple but effective. The colours are mainly black, white, reds, blues and the occasional variation. The simplicity allows for a less cluttered and tidier viewing on first glance, the image can be seen clearly and is the main focus, and the headlines are also made clear without distracting from the cover image. The simplistic scheme also allows a consistency to be maintained throughout different issues so that the magazine forms its own style and look that people associate with the magazine. The headlines use clichéd phrases such as “heart throb” and “bad girls” but in doing so gives just enough information for the reader to have a curiosity to look inside and read. Compared to other magazines the headlines are very minimal, there are not many at all. The majority of the writing is simply listing celebrities so that if the consumer sees the name of a celebrity they enjoy following or are interested in they will pick up or buy the magazine to see the latest news on that particular person. The front cover hosts the magazines website, issue number and date, the price and a barcode.
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