analysis of exixting magazines covers

This is the may 05 issue of Smash Hits, the masthead is large at the top of the page and is in the two colours that it is remembered by; yellow and white. The magazines target audience is young teens and people who are interested in pop music.



The main image is of "son of dork" and the main sell of this magazine is that its comparing the two bands "son of dork" and "Mcfly" with the sell of "why Mcfly should be afraid. Very afraid", this makes the viewer want to read the article. another main sell is "Mcfly the weirdest habits you'll ever read" the issue is clearly from the time when "son of dork" and "Mcfly" were very popular and they were being compared and thought to be quite similar.



The main image of "son of dork" has one of the group (James Bourne) and the words beside "James Bournes new band" inferring that its his band and not the whole groups... however the rest of the group are in the background.



The pictures next to this are of Gwen Stefani and the heading to this is "10 incredible celebrity make overs " the use of number to catch the viewers eye and and the images to make the reader want to know more about the celebrity transformations. in today's society people are very celebrity orientated, they interested in how the celebrities live, look and what they do, as people try to copy their styles as well as their lifestyles.



There is also on the left hand side a "win" section, this is written in pink so that the viewer notices it and the rest is written in yellow so that they stand out from the other text on the front page. This is done to attract the reader, they think that they have a chance to win something.


The font styles chosen are bold and simple, they stand out. They main colours that are used are yellows, blacks and whites. a simple colour scheme is used as it is more effective and adds to the simplicity and the design of the front page.
The front cover features a barcode,magazine price (£2.00) and website details.


The bar along the bottom tells the readers what else is in the magazine and and makes the reader want to know hat the magazine is going to say about them.





This is the September 07 issue cover of Top Of The Pops magazine, this is clearly targeted at a young teenage audience as it features some of the cast of high school musical.

The masthead is large at the top with the logo from the TV program Top Of The Pops so that the viewer can identify with it

The main sell is the "you're a STAR" exclusive interview. The front of the magazine is quite busy and eye catching. The main colour scheme seams to be purples.

The BBC are clearly named on the front of the magazine so that the reader is aware of the company who owns the magazine. This also helps to promote other magazines and programs made by the BBC.

They have given the magazine the name "Top Of The Pops" as it follows the TV show that was a music show and very popular in the past. The font that has been chosen was chosen because it will help to promote the sales and it was also a the TV show was big and it is the same font that was used for the TV program. it is also big and bold so that it stands out.

There are the large numbers "56" to catch the viewers eye and make them want to know what there is "56" of, in this case it is "hot buys" this promotes other products and if they are featured in a magazine then young people are more likely to go and buy them to fit in or to be cool.

All four of the models on the front of the magazine have eye contact with the viewer and the pose is friendly and seems as though they are all friends, the magazine has exclusive interviews with the cast (these four characters) from High School Musical, to fans of high school musical or the younger readers this would be interesting and they can identify with.

Another main sell is the "celebrity love secrets exposed" this is because the young teenage population are interested in everything about their favourite celebs as they want to be like them. The magazines get hold of these stories so that young impressionable teenagers buy them and they act this way as they think that what the celebrities do and at like is they way they need to act to be cool or popular.

The front of the magazine features a barcode, the issue number and the time that this magazine is on sale and next to every sell there is the page number that that article is on.