Magazine Front Cover: Analysis.

‘CLASSIC Rock’ is a well-known magazine for its articles involving Classic Rock bands; such as the above image, ‘ACDC’.

The masthead in this case is featured behind in image; the work ‘Rock’ is larger, and contains a small silhouette inside the ‘O’. The bold, white text has a styled font, which gives a classic genre to the front cover.

The main cover line is ‘WHOLE LOTTA ACDC’; the colours being red and black/white. The title is featured central; and half way down the page-underneath the band member’s faces. The text ‘ACDC’ is in its original, CD text format, with its original colours. This represents the band, and attracts the audience’s attention. Also, the red text, ‘WHOLE LOTTA’ is in thick, bold red; which stands out and attracts the reader’s eyes. Other text features on the page are in white and gold font, and are featured in other Cover lines, including the ‘10^th birthday special’  that is placed on the bottom of the page, and along the sides of the cover.

At top of the masthead, there is advertisement on ‘4 free gifts’. The huge, red colour and the images of free items grab the reader’s eye, and persuade them to pick up the magazine and purchase it. The items such as ‘5 guitar picks’ are based around classic rock, and suit it’s genre well.

The image behind the text is a black and white photo of the featured band, ‘ACDC’. The five members close in for the photo; which suggests that they are quite close in their band, and they work as a team. Their expressions are mixed: bored, happy, curious, which may symbolise their personalities; one may be laid back-second from right-, while another may be outgoing-far right-. The guy at the front of the image perhaps suggests he’s the band leader; perhaps the singer. Whereas the guy at the far back-who struggles to get his face shown over the other members-, suggests that his part is less important in the band. The choice of black and white perhaps emphasizes the classic touch, and the audience are able to relate to this through their own memories of the band. They’re clothing in this photo is difficult to see, however some parts show classic and old-style clothing.

The lighting in this shot appears to be coming from high up on the right hand side, which then hits the faces of the band members-however not the one at the back-. This lighting may suggest the importance of the members. Also, shading is left around the eyes of the two members of the far right. This may symbolise mystery in their characteristics/personalities.

Lois.

Submitted by Lois.