Main Task: Front Cover Textual Analysis

In this assignment I am going to do a textual analysis of the Front cover above.






Denotation: In this front cover of 'The Source' I can see a grey back ground with red and white cover lines around it. I can see a young afro american man holding a gun, he has countless tattoos onb his body.


MastHead: The masthead of this magazine is 'The Source.' 'Source' Is in a bold red font with white outline to make it stand out even more and they also edited it to have a drop shadow. The 'the' is small and hangs on to the source which suggests that there is alot hanging on to this magazine showing there is alot of information in this magazine.


Costume: You cannot really see the costume being worn by the main character but u can see that he is wearing a plain white vest, this shows that it is hot and also that he doesn't care much about he's appearance because he didn't care about wearing anything over the top.



Props: There is only one prop used in this front cover, which is of a gun. This shows that the main character is a gangster and ready to kill someone. Because the gun is pointed to himself it showed he is ready to kill himself. This juxtaposes with the cover line which says 'suicide is not an option' but then the image is saying otherwise.



NVC: The main characters head is pointing up as if he is in a desperate situation and is seeking God's help. He eyes are squinting to show that he is scared o what he is about to see or that he is holding back tears.


Setting: This looks as if it is set in front of a wall. It is very dull and not excited, this keeps the attention on the character. The gun is the same colour as the background which makes it blend in.


Dateline: The dateline is just above the barcode. It says the month first which shows that this magazine will be sold monthly. It's very small and in a dull black font which shows that it isn't the main attraction of the cover.


Main Image: In the case of this front cover there is a single image of the rapper The Game. The image is very big in order for the main character to stand out, with the singing closing his eyes to show that he is hiding something.


Cover-Lines: The cover lines on this article are very bold and clear and use bright colours to make them stand out. They are all in good positions and do not overlap each other or overlap the main image. Also the colour used does not clash with the background decided to use so it fits in with the whole magazine front cover.



Main Cover-Lines: The main cover line is very large and just a little bit smaller than the masthead. It consists two parts one with the main characters name and the second a punchline which is smaller but underlined so it also draws a lot of attention. The main cover-line is only over a bit of the main image and does not cover the main aspect of the image, but is still big and clear enough to see.


Left third: In this particular magazine the left third is quite important as it contains a lot of valid information such as: the barcode which is used to scan the magazine in shops. The date so the customers know if this is the latest edition out. And the main cover-line so they know what the main story in this magazine is about and if it catches their eye.


Barcode: The barcode is in the bottom left of the magazine front cover and it is very plain and simple and doesn't draw much attention towards itself.


Selling Line: The selling line of this magazine is directly below the masthead and it seems as if the main image has cut off the end of the selling line. The selling line is 'The Bible of hip-hop music' this shows that this will give you every bit of information you need for hip0hop music in this magazine. It is very short but does the job it is meant to do.


Website Link: The website link is very small and is at the bottom of the barcode. This shows that the magazine is not bothered about their website being advertised on the front cover but it's just there for policy.


Conclusion: To conclude this cover has focused on different codes and conventions of a cover to make this as successful as possible. There are a lot of aspects that i can use for my cover to make it as successful as this one especially as i am doing the same genre.

Main Task: Introduction

My name is Jay Rabess. I am an AS media student. I have been asked to complete a music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread. To complete this task I will need to pick the genre of music that I am going to do. I will also do some mini tasks to understand the conventions of a magazine, such as a front cover textual analysis and a front cover conventions diagram, this will show me all the things that I need to add to my magazine to make it more realistic. After that I will do some audience research so I can see what my target audience expect in this magazine and what would make them buy my magazine. I may do a questionnaire add include questions such as, what artist to incelude in the magazine, what colours to use, what to call the magazine etc. We will also complete a mood board and upload the unmanipulated photos to get a before and after effect. We will then do our Magazine cover, contents page and double page spread. The genre I am doing is Hip-Hop.

Preliminary Task: Contents Page FINAL

Preliminary Task: Front Cover FINAL

Preliminary Task: Front Cover & Contents Page Mock Ups

Preliminary Task: Front Cover Conventions Diagram

Preliminary Task: Front Cover Textual Analysis

In this assignment i am going to analyse the 'college lifestyle' magazine front cover.

The main character is wearing a casual black jacket with a plain white t-shirt. This connotes that he is just a normal 'college boy' that is not trying to stand out from the croud but just get by with college life peacefully. Black and white are both bland colours but they both go with everything so this connotes that the character gets along with everyone and is easy going.

The character is holding some law and society books which show that he is an intellegent man and that he cares about his education because he has been bothered to bring in his school books. In school life today it is said to be 'un-cool' too carry books around so I believe that this magazine is attempting to bring some coolness to carrying books around and to make students that do carry books around feel more comfortable in them selves. The pendant he is wearing is a cross which shows that this may be a catholic school or he has his own relationship with God.

There is not much to the background because i feel that they wanted the main focus point to be on the character. From the background it looks like this shot has been taking in a studio. They have added a little bit of editing to the background by making the middle of the cover a lighter shade then the edges of the cover and they have made it fade together.

The background of the front cover is very dull and dark where that have just used black, but this contrasts with the text which is in bright broad colours such as a lime green and pink. It is as if it is showing too sides to college life. Where the dark background is showing the boring stuff such as coursework and so on, and the bright colours are showing the fun side of college. Also the books are a bright colour which shows that maybe doing bookwork can be fun at times.

The main character has a little grin on his face which shows that he is having fun at college. He is standing upright and strong which shows that he is happy where he is at the moment.

The masthead is bold and in bright colours so the audience can clearly see what the magazine is called. The main cover-line is used to attract the youth because alot of college life poeple like to party. The barcode shows that this magazine is not free and that they will have to pay. The dateline shows that this magazine was released in summer 2009 which shows that it may have some tips on how to revise during your holidays and what equipment you will need to buy for the next college year. The cover-lines are very youth orientated for example 'Why we love blackberry' because currently there is a bbm buzz going about that it is said to be cool to have a blackberry eventhough the target audience are working class adults.