Textual Analysis: Music Magazine Front Cover

This front cover consists of a bar code with at the far, left hand side, bottom, corner of the magazine. It also consists of a gospel and secular artist posing with his hand on a white piano. He is looking directly into the camera. It is a long shot showing the whole body of the artist standing as if to surprise the audience or to introduce something to the audience; this immediately catches the attention of the audience and enables them to read on. The colour of the main image is mainly white with a hint of black which also looks very attractive and eye-catching. The masthead, behind the main image, and the cover lines of the magazine are colour coordinated, with the masthead as red and some of the cover lines as red also. The main colours for the fonts for this music magazine are red, black and white. Behind the artist is the masthead “UPTOWN” in capital letters and a lot of the fonts used are in bold to emphasise meaning.

The font of the masthead “uptown” is in san serif which stereotypically connotes a modern and hip magazine, this is good because it helps the audience the content of the magazine and who it’s aimed to. The artist posing is a very well known artist and is known for his popularity in song choices and writing this is very beneficial for the target audience because as soon as they view the front cover they begin to get a clear idea of the quality of the magazine it also leads to the connotation of why the artist poses with one of his arm out and the other with his hand on the piano, present to the audience originality and excitement. It could also connote a surprise for the audience, especially those who have heard his music and enjoy it. The masthead “uptown” also supports this because the word uptown originates in the time when the New York City was restricted to growth. Uptown was introduced to describe the residential area growth at the southern business centre. Therefore this masthead connotes growth and the ability to live and grow even in an environment that seizes to do so. (big site of amazing facts.com)

The costume the artist is wearing looks smart however it’s fit to his style. For instance, the shirt sleeves have been rolled up, but the sleeves usually cover the arms. This connotes individuality and independence; it also encourages the audience to be themselves because if a popular individual can do it anyone can. It encourages ordinary people to shine and not worry about what others think. The NVC of the artist face is very high maintenance and connotes confidence, strength and fearlessness. The high key lighting connotes happiness because it’s bright and it wakes you up as an audience. You can see that the bright light compliments the artist pose because wherever the bright light is, there happiness and joy is found also. This is effective to the audience because is gives them a excitement and a curiosity to read the magazine.  The main image has a theme colour of white which suggest purity and peace and causes the audience to think that there is something in the magazine that can lift them up and keep them interested and encouraged. The colour of the cover lines are main red and black, which complements the house style of the magazine by keeping it colour co ordinate and stylish at the same time.

The main image backs up the mast head because the main image shows a new, fashionable and trendy artist who is popular in the music industry and is loved by the majority of people, and the fact that the mast head is called “uptown” connotes the same thing the image shows. This is effective to the audience, especially if the target audience are young people because this magazine very easily shows the audience that the magazine will show modern and trendy topics and themes. Furthermore the word “Jamie Foxx” is placed on the bottom right corner of the magazine, in a big and bold italic font to stand out to the audience and give the idea that if this artist is in the magazine it means that the magazine is worth reading also it cause the audience to be curious and see how good and worth it is to read the magazine. The font colour of the cover lines and the size of the cover lines also co ordinate as they go down the magazine this makes the magazine more attractive and easier to read. Also the fact the colours, black and red, differ as the writing goes down connotes order and the lack of confusion for the audience. Considering the key things in the magazine such as, the italic bold writing used to attract and convince the audience that this is the magazine to read, the san serif font that has frequently been used in the magazine to connote a trendy and modern generation, the high key lighting that connotes happiness and new beginnings, and other features that have been used in this magazine, it is clear and easy to say that the target audience will definitely be drawn to this magazine. This front cover is successful in its aim to attract their target audience which is 16 and over.

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