Magazine analysis 2

Masthead – iconic logo, everyone can recognise this Masthead – iconic logo, everyone can recognise this. The colour of it is usually this bold red, but sometimes white or yellow. Here it is kept red because it fits thematically with colours in the main image – eg lipstick and hair. ‘Rolling Stone’ relates to music – the band – also suggests the magazine is able to keep up with modern music and roll with the times. However rolling stone was originally quite rock based. They have, despite now featuring more pop artists like gaga, the magazine has kept its iconic rock style no matter the artist. Because it is so well known, rolling stone is seen as an important reference for information about music and artists. Colours – red is used as the theme. The only font colours on the mag are black red and white. A neutral, plain bluey grey for the backdrop makes the content on the cover stand out more. Red is an iconic colour for rolling stone, it’s almost their trade mark, so this helps the magazine to be identifiable and classic. The ‘special report’ banner is in white on a black background and this makes it stand out despite being plain and simple - a limited colour scheme makes it easy to make something stand out with out being lairy or fluorescent. Main Image – Lady gag is a pop icon, pop princess even. She is known for being edgy, branching out into many styles of music – rock and country etc. – she is timeless, appeals to a large audience but mainly young females. Her makeup is strong, dark eye makeup, bold lipstick. It’s a timeless look, fifties but made modern. Her hair suggests perhaps that she is fiery, unusual but confident in that. However her dress and the combination of the fact that she doesn’t have a direct gaze (isn’t looking at the camera) may contradict this. She is clearly sexualised, is only in underwear and is on a plain backdrop which may suggest vulnerability. Additionally, her facial expression could imply confusion, distraction? Lady Gaga is know for her controversial outfits, yet this seems uncharacteristically understated. She is a very strong character, and her stance does seem to fit this, back straight and shoulders back. Cover Lines – the font get progressively smaller the further down the page you look. Its all arranged down the left hand side, which is the natural side to begin reading text. This makes it easier to view, and also seems more natural. Additionally there’s less going on on the left hand side of the image, just a straight flow of hair so the text fits neatly next to this, also because gaga isn’t looking in that direction, the whole cover flows left to right and top to bottom quite well. Each item featured in the magazine that is mentioned by the cover lines are separated very clearly, which fits the bold theme of the page. The most crucial and valuable information to the reader is in red, which stands out more. The contrast of red and black font isn’t over done, its very minimal, otherwise the red text wouldn’t be significant, and the page would look too busy. Pull quote – lady gaga – if the image doesn’t catch your interest, ‘MONSTER GODDESS’ will. Immediately relates to lady gaga fans as they are her ‘little monsters’, and intrigues readers who know less about the artist. @wild Week’ uses alliteration which sticks in your memory, and sounds exciting – makes you want to read it!

Double page spread analysis I was unable to find a double page spread from rolling stone magazine, so I chose this one of lady gaga from Q magazine. L in the centre of the page makes it the spread more eye catching, also helps identify the artist. In red which fits with Q’s house style – same as the mast head on the majority of covers. Bold capital letters for the beginning of each paragraph helps to separate the article into more manageable chunks, also gives a sense of style to the page. A lot of magazines also do this, so it’s a classic style. Article displayed in columns, making it easier for the reader to follow the text. Also make the page look neater. This is a classic method used by magazines for large articles. Image for the article – every magazine uses a few photos from a photoshoot to feature in their main article of the artists. Takes up a whole page by itself. This is a more simple technique – text isn’t arranged around the image. Makes the two pages seem more organised. Gaga has a vague facial expression which reflects on the tone of the article. Direct gaze suggests power, she’s not being on looked by the viewer, but rather confronting them. I feel this is necessary considering her outfit – makes her less of an object to be looked at, but more of someone who is confident and aware of the reader which is appropriate considering how much of a strong character lady gaga is. This image also suggests Lady gaga is telling the reader the story – she is owning the article. The nature of the cover image also suggests that the article is for a more mature audience because of her dress and the content of the article. Additionally the colour scheme is very muted and simple (black, white and a pop of Q’s iconic red) which appeals to a mature audience (less teen and younger) because bright colours tend to be more appealing to a younger audience. ‘lady GAGA’ is in a different font to the main body font of the article and at the top of the page. This could be to help distinguish it as the title of the article, and also to mix up the simplistic design of the spread so that it isn’t too boring to look at with out being ott and trashy. I personally thing the contrast of the flowing, dainty text of ‘lady’ and the harsh, capital font of ‘GAGA’ reflects on Gaga as a person, she is both sides of this title, it is her name and her musical identity. She is capable of delicacy, and harsh strength.