Mainstream Magazine Analysis

I am going to a break from poster analysis for a while and concentrate on looking at the front covers of magazines (I will put further posts up about posters, including potential photos and detailed sketches when I've conducted a bit more research).

I have now decided that I want my magazine to be a mainstream magazine, similar in content and design to existing magazines such as Empire and Total Film. I will now look at three magazine front covers and analyse them in terms of layout and content. This will help me when creating my own magazine cover, to give me an idea of the content I can include and the design and layout I want. I am going to look at covers from popular mainstream magazine, Total Film.

•  Masthead at the top of the cover - colour stands out prominently against the background
• Image of recognisable character on the front - in long shot
• Price - near the masthead
• Barcode - towards the bottom of the cover
• Issue number - near the price
• Bright colours - reflecting the kinds of popcorn movies the magazine promotes - helps the magazine stand out on the shelf
• Large blocky and bold fonts - colours also stand out against the background
• Reference to "25 Greatest Horror Movies", possibly an Action/Horror edition
• Tagline "The Worlds Best Movie Reviews" shows its wide audience
• Cover lines are mostly related to mainstream Hollywood movies (they use the word "movies" rather than "films")
• Banners - help the cover lines stand out

• Masthead takes up the top quarter of the cover - white against a dark background making it eye-catching
• Recognisable stars and characters on the cover - all from mainstream movies. Main cover star (Martin Freeman) is shown in medium close up
• Large blocky and bold font - choice of colours reflects the films that are mentioned (for example gold font for The Hobbit) - help them stand out against the background
• Bold, busy colour scheme, reflecting the kinds of CGI driven films covered by this type of magazine
• Price
• Barcode
• Issue number
• "Biggest Preview Ever" creates anticipation ahead of the release of well marketed Hollywood blockbusters
• Cover lines all advertise well known stars or films that could be classed as mainstream Hollywood movies (The Avengers, Dredd, The Hunger Games)
• "Exclusive" shows that its a well-known magazine with access to exclusive features, helping create a further buzz ahead of the release of mainstream films

• Masthead takes up the top quarter of the cover - white against a dark background making it eye-catching
• Price
• Barcode
• Issue number
• A-list star on the cover - Tom Cruise is arguably the world's most recognisable actor - appears in medium long shot
• All the films advertised on the cover lines are recognisable and famous - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, W, Valkyrie and Eagle Eye are all mainstream Hollywood movies featuring well known a-list stars
• Large eye-catching, blocky and bold font
• Colours stand out
• Website
• Bottom cover line references some of the world's biggest and most famous A-list actors - including Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio