Textual analysis of Magazine front cover Denotation and Masthead:

The magazine I am analysing is a college magazine and the Masthead of the magazine denotes College magazine. The masthead says College this instantly tells the reader that the magazine is aimed at students in college. The title helps the magazine to be easily recognised among other magazines and the masthead is behind Mike Posner, portraying that Mike is the main focus. Its in rather a formal presentation giving off the idea that its professional and sleek. The tagline is directly aimed at the reader, with the use of direct language Mike Posner is cooler than you. The language gives a more youthful touch to the magazine and portrays the audience as being adolescences. It specifically makes the reader think How is Mike Posner cooler than me? And so makes them want to read the magazine, it is also in reference to his previous music video cooler than me in 2010. When the reader instantly looks at the magazine they can instantly relate to the photograph of the celebrity Mike Posner, who conveniently once studied at the school, since he is eye line to the audience. The photograph is medium long shot, as it is from the head towards the knee. One can instantly know that Mike Posner is the main topic of the magazine, since he is in front of the title/ Masthead, this can symbolize power and success, as he is the main focus of the magazine. The left third of the magazine has the interesting topics that the reader might want to read, since usually in shops; the left third of a magazine is the first thing the reader will see. The editor has used snappy cover lines on the left third, should I break upwith my major to create a sense of wonder to the reader, specifically to entice them to want to know the answer and read the magazine; by putting snappy cover lines so it will be quicker to read. Also the magazine fits perfectly to the rule of the thirds, so the reader is instantly drawn to the centre of the magazine which is Mike Posner. The different range in cover lines us tells us that the magazine covers a range of topic, not just about Mike Posner and his success. The language used in the text, appears rather up to date, using youthful language, e.g. Get the (411) to relate to the students who would want to read the magazine.It creates the idea that the magazine is recent and modern. The colour of the clothing Mike Posner is wearing is in black and this could symbolise mystery, formality and even elegance, which could give the magazine an air of professionalism and as they see the photograph of someone famous like Mike, they may want to read it especially as it looks formal and encouraging to read. The fact that next to the barcode, it says 100% free allows the magazine to be aimed at many college students, and so does no alienate any students. It shows the companys website, this makes the magazine more professional and makes it easier for anyone say if they wanted to look up the magazines website. Connotation The colour blue in the magazine is a very pivotal colour in the magazine and could symbolise power and success, which I am sure the college wants to portray to the students. There is a very urban, yet professional look about the magazine that makes it look encouraging to the reader, by using only a limited range of colours it prevents the magazine from looking childlike and more modern to the reader. Significantly the magazine stands out, in which it does not have a puff, this makes the magazine look less childlike and fun, but again more urban.

The inclusive look of the magazine is in sans serif, this makes it again more professional, yet laidback to the college students, for e.g. by using the colour orange in the texts, this connotes freedom and relaxation. This can create a more approachable cover for the magazine, as if the font was more serif font, then it would look rather too laidback and more like it was aimed at a younger audience. The use of Serif font could connote that the audience is older and professional enough to read this sort of magazine. This again gives a more free and relaxed presentation of the magazine. So it gives the idea that the audience is aimed at adolescences. The vast use of different size of fonts, still gives it a playful touch to the magazine, this could connote the youth which is reflected by the front cover. The colour black worn by Mike stands out amongst the colours in the magazine, as it is in the centre and instantly draws on the idea of self-confidence and power. This is ultimately empowering for the college students to look at and makes them look up to the success of Mike Posner. If this was aimed at a different target audience, such as younger children, this would not look as interesting to them, since children prefer brighter colours and texts to look at, and would want more than one focus to look at, to make the magazine more fun for them. The themes of the colours shown here all represent power, elegance, pride and achievement which is very significant throughout the magazine, however say the magazine was to be published somewhere else like Western Africa, the colours like black could symbolize sadness, death or to some people the colour blue could symbolise sadness like the blues music. This could mean struggle in Mike Posners life to get to where he is. So the magazine itself would not appeal to some audiences in certain countries. Mise-en-Scene The cover photograph is of the American singer Mike Posner. Who wears simplistic costume which denotes black, this gives off the idea that he is relatable to the audience and him wearing simplistic clothing can connote that he is very humble. Composition- His position demonstrates gratefulness, since his hands are closed together in a downwards position; with his facial expression seemingly happy. This could connote his pride in where he has got to so far. His costume- As stated is very simplistic and he is wearing a black t-shirt and trouser. Again this could symbolise how he is just being himself and there is nothing false about him. Thats possibly why the photograph itself and the background of blue, has as little effects added to the image. NVC- His eyes are at eye level with the reader, and his mouth is slightly ajar because he is smiling towards the camera; giving us the idea that he is confident. Lighting- In the front cover, there is evident lighting around Mike Posner to focus on him alone. However the lighting does not have a direct spot in the photograph, there is a contrast between the darkness of his shirt and the light on the blue background behind him. Setting- There doesnt seem to be much of a setting, except a deep blue background that looks almost like a wall/ a door behind him; this could connote him being successful. The ethos appears to be about pride and working hard to be successful, e.g. Mikes hand gestures as stated before could symbolise being thankful. Also could connote happiness. Target Audience Overall, the target audience is definitely aimed at those in college or even university, from the age of around 16- 21, e.g. The big 2-1, which gives us an impression of whom the magazine is aimed at. The audience would be most likely to have an interest in music, such as pop. And interested in reading.