Textual Analysis (3 front covers)

XXL
Oct 2010

Awaiting Scan!
The cover is crisp; use of colour is a big part of XXL's smart look. The photograph of Kanye West has been manipulated into grey scale. Kayne West has been manipulated and mirrored within the image on the front cover; this lifts it off the page almost like a 3D image. The cover lines are all in red, white or black. Keeping a white background is highly effective due to making Kanye West the central focal point of the front cover. It’s a simple design but it’s been designed to its maximum performance. The name of the magazine is partly hidden by the photograph; this perhaps is done because the music magazine is a well known name. I think the celebrity status cover catches the attention of people because they wonder if more celebrity orientated stories or appearances are inside the magazine.

Kerrang!
2007

The masthead is large but is arranged to the back since the image overlays the masthead. The font is bold and black but has a “scratched” effect into the text. The cover lines are arranged around the photographs, which makes the design layout cramped. The barcode is situated down the right hand-side at the bottom. The main photograph runs the whole page and acts like a background for other layered photographs and cover lines, mast heads and strap lines. The clear colour co-ordination for the magazine is black, white and yellow, which makes the front cover more suited within its environment. The use of highlighted text adds to the colour scheme, with it being a light blue.

Q

Q has a main photograph on the front cover of which is brought to the front making it the centre focal point. The masthead is near the top of the page but to the left hand-side and is quite large. The barcode is situated at the bottom of the left hand-size. The design is kept simple with only one main image of importance, this changes the dimensions and target audience of the magazine because of its cleaner layout. The strap line “the UK’s biggest music magazine has a black background along with white text and is situated at the top of the magazine. The colour scheme is kept simple with only 3 font colours: red, black and white.