College magazine front cover analysis

In class, we had to find a college related magazine, as out upcoming project will be a preliminary task on doing a college based magazine. I selected this magazine front cover, because I wanted to analyse the convention which are shown in this front cover as well as to gain an insight on what I can include when I start to prepare my own front cover.

 

 

The masthead is named “College”, this relates to the magazine as it is about college which makes it clear that the target audience are college students, as it is a college magazine. The font of the masthead is bold and big, this makes it clear to read. The masthead is in yellow, and as the background colour of the magazine is black it makes the masthead standout, the colours used also show binary opposition as they contrast well.

In this image, the cover star has props, such as educational book with his hands, this then shows the audience that he is a student and is enjoying his education in college, His facial expression also gives away the fact that he is excited, and ready to learn. His pose is straight, which shows he is a professional student as his posture gives a positive, eccentric atmosphere.

In this magazine there is a skyline, a skyline is a teaser which is the just above the masthead. This is used to give content, names or display competitions/giveaways in the magazine. In this magazine, it talks about giving hints and tips on what’s happening, this entices the audience as it makes them want to know what’s in the magazine.

The cover lines around the magazine is there to entice to audience in to content, it reveals content which would persuade the audience to read it, and as it is a college magazine, it will make students wonder what may be in the magazine. One of the cover lines in the magazine states “Make money on campus”, this engages the audience, as in college everyone wants to know how to make money as it’s a sole purpose of education which then helps students towards getting jobs.

The house style in this magazine contains the 3 colours yellow, black and grey, it is shown through the text which is displayed on the front cover, containing the following cover lines, masthead, skyline and anchorage. The house style is effective, as the colours of text is displayed evenly which gives an illuminating effect throughout the cover. The cover star is also blending in with the house style as he is wearing 2 colours of house style, these colours are white and grey

In the magazine, it shows a barcode, barcodes are important for a magazine, as they’re usually placed next to the cost of the magazine. This is important as it helps navigate towards the price of the magazine.