Analysis of Front Cover 1

From looking at the front cover, I can see that this is a music magazine, as it has a music artist on the front. Also the title hints that it is a music magazine. I think that the target audience of this magazine would be teenagers aged between 13-18, as Chris Brown would appeal to that age group the most, due to the fact that he himself is a teenager.

The main image uses direct mode of address, in which Chris Brown is somewhat looking straight into the eyes of the reader. In addition, his head overlaps the majority of the title, which suggests that he is the main focus of the front cover and possibly the whole magazine. Chris Brown is on the front cover, for the reason that he is well known and would attract the target audience for this magazine.
The anchorage text states that the main image is that of Chris Brown; the text is a rhetorical question, in which this technique makes the reader want to read the magazine, as the answer would definitely be inside. The use of italic writing emphasizes the word ‘that’ suggests that it is one of the main focuses of the text. Also the way the name of the artist as the main image is larger than the rest of the text, in which it is the second largest font size on the whole of the front cover, which suggests that it is the second most important feature on the page.
The message that the artist is giving the target audience is that he is laid back, very open and keeping his image cool.

The design of the title block indicates that the magazine is a cool, young and fresh magazine, due to the fact that the style of writing somewhat looks youthful.
The title of the magazine tells us that the readership of the magazine is young people, as I don’t think that older people would want to read a magazine called ‘VIBE’. It also gives us a young and fresh outlook on what the magazine is all about.

The puffs suggest that the magazine will contain subjects that are hip pop/R&B music related; this tells us that the type of audience the magazine want to attract are those who favour the hip pop and R&B music genres. The use of colour to emphasize certain words such as ‘CDs ARE DEAD’, ‘30’ and ‘MEGA MUSIC’, advocate that they are important and or the main focuses of the texts. The main colours used are red, white, green, yellow and black, in which I find these colours quite attractive as they are bold, bright and stand out. Moreover, I have noticed that the main image of Chris Brown relates to the colour scheme, as he is wearing a red top and red is the colour that stands out the most, in which it allows him to stand out.