Magazine Front Cover Analysis

The 'Rolling Stone' font maintains the house style of the magazine due to it being used in each series. This allows the magazine to adopt an iconic look and is recognisable within the target audience, and also becomes recognisable to those who are not that familiar with it - simply due to the maintained style and layout of the magazine.

The main cover line 'Hanging with Leo' allows us to believe that the inside article is going to be a casual, informal interview. The phrase 'hanging' with a particular person is something we relate to our friends. The cover line then goes on to describe Leonardo DiCaprio's life to be 'not so carefree' which is connoted by the facial expression – portraying a serious reflection of his life – linking with the statement.

Leonardo DiCaprio is shown wearing a white T-Shirt with the sunlight beaming on his face, this connotes one aspect of his life- the 'carefree' side. The white portrays a god-like purity, almost presenting him in an angel-like fashion. This then contrasts with the red 'Rolling Stones' writing and the un-amused facial expression portrayed on DiCaprio's face - making the 2 aspects of his life very clear. The red font connotes seriousness and an almost dangerous ethos. Both of these factors added together allow us to believe there is a devil-like element to him. Adding both the angel + devil together give an even balance of character, allowing DiCaprio to remain level-headed; as the interview would suggest.

The colour scheme of this cover is very basic; the house style of red, white and black is maintained. DiCaprio’s white t-shirt contrasts with the red ‘Rolling Stone’ masthead. It also links with the white writing of the cover lines in the right third of the magazine cover. The same font is used throughout each individual issue of ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine which also demonstrates the used of house style, it also adds to the iconic look of the magazine. The ‘Rolling Stone’ text has almost adopted the look of a logo, simply due to the consistency of the use – this is another aspect which enables us to recognise the magazine, and its effectiveness.

Rolling Stones are the institution for this magazine; they focus on publishing material which features music, albums and the latest artist news. They also publish movie reviews, political/ economic issues & pop culture commentaries. Their focal point for this magazine is celebrities and the endorsement they have on the product. This supports the fact that the product uses high end models. The target audience for this magazine is typically 60% male and 40% female; which is targeted from the age 18+. This is surprising due to the fact the ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine is typically known to use male models, as a result we are lead to believe the female percentage should be slightly higher. Also the 'Rolling Stones' font is slightly curly. This would connote feminism, another reason why I believe the female percentage of the target audience should be slightly higher. 

Pull quotes are also used on the front of this issue, ‘The Climate Bill Is Dead’ is used to entice the audience into purchasing the magazine. Also those interested in the particular topic may be persuaded to buy the product simply for that reason. Or, for those curious about the topic, may be convinced into buying it anyway.

I devised a PowerPoint enabling me to go into more depth with regards to analysis of the Leonardo DiCaprio issue of 'Rolling Stones'. Within this I have identified valid codes, conventions and connotations that relate to the magazine cover as a whole.

Technology used:

• Google Images (www.google.com)
• SlideShare (www.SlideShare.net)