Front cover Analysis

Magazine publishing is a hugely profitable media industry. It is also very competitive. It is therefore imperative that the magazine producers use key techniques to attract and address the audience.
Today you are going to analyse the front cover of a magazine and this will count towards your Assignment 3 research pages. By analysing existing magazine front covers you will find out what messages a magazine is conveying to its audience. To be successful , a magazine must establish a close, personal and almost friendly relationship with its readers. This is called the mode of address.
Firstly we need to learn some new key terminology that will help you to analyse the magazine cover.
· Seasonal theme: when the colours and contents of a magazine relate to the time of year e.g. red hearts in February issue for Valentines Day
· Mise-en-scene: the way in which every element of the text is arranged to create meanings.

· Anchorage text: writing that fixes the meaning of an image

· Buzz word: a word that stands out on the text, for example, ‘Free’ or ‘Exclusive’
· Key signifier: the first thing on a cover that attracts the eye – it could be images or words

· Puffs: the information on the front cover that give snippets of information about what will be in the magazines contents

· Superimposition: when images and words are laid over each other. It is a convention of magazines that the title is covered by the central image – it is assumed the audience will recognise the title anyway.

· Graphic Feature: A symbol that highlight pieces of information, for example an arrow pointing to an image

· Slogan: A piece of information, usually found at the top of the magazine, that boasts about how great the magazine is, like a catchphrase for the magazine

· Central image: The main image on the page, usually with a direct mode of address unless it is an action shot.