Analysis of Spin Magazine Front Cover

Target Audience- The primary target audience for Spin magazine is for both genders aged 17-25 as this is the age range that are getting involved with current music and want to know what is happening now. The majority of people reading this magazine would fall in the audience demographic at band C1 down to E.

Masthead- The masthead here is effective because it uses the bright red colour to stand out against the white background. This makes it clear to the reader what the magazine is and makes the magazine title stick in their mind, especially with the fact that the magazine’s name is short and snappy. It also sticks to the common convention of a masthead taking up 1/8 of the page which makes it a decent size so that it is clear and easily readable. All these things make this masthead fit for purpose and appealing to the target audience. It is appealing to the target audience because it looks up to date and bold so that their eyes instantly are directed to it meaning they have a clear understanding of what they are looking at.

Layout- The overall layout of this magazine is fit for purpose as it sticks to common conventions such as the use of one main image as the focus with text fitting around this image. This layout ensures that the front cover doesn’t look too busy and keeps a professional feel to it. The text that is overlaid on the image is effective because it is all laid out in separate sections so that it doesn’t look overpowering for the reader and the different font sizes adds another element of interest. Also the fact that there is a slight border around the model herself so that none of the writing is too close to the main focus of the image making it all look confined and in the right place. All these aspects to the layout link to the target audience as it looks appealing to them because the layout looks professional without looking busy, but remaining the different aspects of interest with the different stories featured.

Colour- The colour used on this front cover is just a simple colour scheme but it’s effective because it again keeps the professional aspect and stops it from looking overpowering with garish colours. The simple colour scheme of having the masthead red and white makes this the focus so as to inform the reader of the magazine and keep this fixed in their mind. While the rest of the writing is black and light blue standing out nicely against the background giving the cover a theme and separating the sections of writing without using colours that seem to in your face. This overall simple colour scheme links back to the target audience and the fact that they want the magazine they read to look current and up to date. This colour scheme links into this idea with the fact that it remains modern looking and appealing to the eye of the target reader.

Images- The use of one main medium shot image on the front cover here sticks to the common conventions of magazine images with usually one main image either being a medium shot or close up shot. This is effective because it means the reader has one main image to focus on rather that lots of little ones all put together and making the front cover look too busy. One thing that can be noticed about the actual image itself is the fact that the female model is presented in little amount of clothing creating an image of sex appeal. This links into Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze with the idea that women are presented in the media for just two reasons either as an object of desire for the other male characters in the image with them or as an object of desire for the audience that are going to be looking at them. I think in this case it’s the latter as they aren’t any other characters in the picture with her but from the clothing and pose that she is doing this certainly implies an object of desire for the audience looking at this front cover. This links back to the target audience but it mainly puts a focus on the male side of the audience. As the connotations of this image could be that it’s trying to attract in this male audience by presenting a women on the front in a desirable manner.

Typography- The different uses of typography on this front cover are effective for giving different areas of interest for the reader and make them look at all the different stories that are going to be included in the contents of the magazine. The main masthead itself uses bold typography and is a larger size which makes it stand out separately from the rest of the text. While all the snippets of information to get the reader’s attention into actually reading the magazine are all different sizes and slightly different fonts. The use of different sizes means some areas can catch the reader’s attention more than other while also being used to give a slight title or introduction to each little section of text. This means that the reader might see a large title maybe about an artist they like then read the bit of information underneath to see what it is about them. Also the use of different fonts works well because it separates each section but as they are all similar it still keeps a flow going between all of the text.

Conclusion- Overall from looking at this magazine front cover I have noticed that the use of common conventions assists the look of the magazine therefore making it fit for purpose. This is demonstrated through the fact that these common conventions create a professional and current magazine that meets the need of the target audience. The things that I have found that work most successfully here are the use of one main image so that the reader has something to focus on easily and the image needs to attract their attention in some way. Another thing that is effective is a simple colour scheme that adds to the professional aspect of the magazine and fixes the brand identity further in place continuing from the bold masthead.