1. MAGAZINE COVERANALYSIS | BySianLynes
THE MASTHEAD
The central image of ‘Lady Gaga’ is coveringthe
m asthead of ‘Rollingstone’ whichsuggests that
there is a certified readership and that it is still
recognisable even if it is obscured. By having a bold
and spaced out tagline of ‘Summer double issue’
above the magazine masthead it draws immediate
attention since the logo has been moved as it looks
ou t of place. This isalso a unique selling point as
the audience feel they get more for their money and
shou ld be drawn to buy it as it is a special issue in
com parison to other ‘ordinary’issues.
AUDIENCE
From this issue we can tell that the audience for the
m agazine would be adult men as they would be
attracted by the nude woman on the cover. However,
since Lady Gaga is an icon it would also draw in her
fem ale admirers since she isrecognised for her
flamboyant artistry. Rolling Stone’s target audience
age is from 20+ since it often features controversial
artists and news coverage as well as being politically
informed (see ‘Obama’s General’).
COVERLINES
The primary cover line is ‘Lady Gaga Tells All’ which
attracts the audience because they are interested in
celebrity perspective;this luresthe audience in as
they would wantto know secretsabout her life which
su ggests are only available in thismagazine. The
sm aller cover line ‘Obama’sGeneral | Why he’s losing
the war’ lures the audience as it suggests that the
m agazine know reasons other people don’t. ’Summer
Dou ble Issu e’ is a cover line above the masthead and
indicates the magazine has more to offer than usual
w hich is a selling point. Another cover line ‘Wet, hot
lou d | 4 days at Bonnaroo’ relates to the music news
w hich the magazine is famous for as Bonaroo is a
U.S. music festival. This also leaves an enigmatic
sense because listing the names of artists who were
present will attract fans of their music:‘Elton John |
Em inem’.
COLOUR
The Rolling Stone logo hasbeen adapted into a hot
pink colour which adds to the femininity of the
artist on the cover and reinforcingthe appeal to
their female audience. This cover defiesthe
conventions of u sing the colourof the masthead
onto the cover lines as well. By only using black and
grey on the cover lines this draws attention to the
colou rful centre image and the magazine logo.
Black is used on the more central selling points of
the magazine as it stands out and draws attention
to them first, with the grey giving an insight into
the context. The white background gives it a
sophisticated and modern look to the magazine. It
also enhancesthe main image and the cover lines.
MAIN IMAGE
The main image here isa recognisable music artist
‘Lady Gaga’ which correlates with the music side of
Rolling Stone whichit is renowned for. This image is
controversial as the artist is nude and only wearinga
bra in the form of a gun for which she is holding.
How ever thiscontroversial and innovative image
relates well to RollingStone who have always
featured controversial images on their cover, the
m ost famous for instant being John Lennon and
Yoko Ono. This striking image aims at both a male
and female audience who would be interested in the
m eaning why the artist chose such a niche pose and
w ho are fans of her previous work.
FONTS
The font u sed on thiscover goes against the
conventions of a magazine which corresponds to
the typical rules of having a mixture of fonts and
sizes. The font is nor male or female orientated and
is all in upper case – despite the height of the font
– so pragmatics wise is shouts on the page and
grabs the attention of a glancing customer. The
sm aller cover lines u se the same font whichhas
been expanded in width and reduced in heightto
create a bulkier font to address the more
persuading lines. Although this is not noticeable
and may be mistaken for a different font it allows
the same style on the tips of the font. This style
conforms to the original 60’s style of RollingStone,
w hich the masthead font is in since its foundingin
the 60’s..