Semiotic Analysis of a Magazine Cover

For this task I was asked to create a semiotic analysis of a magazine cover. I used a cover from the magazine 'Top of the Pops' and created a power point to show my analysis and conclusion of the cover.

ANATOMY OF A MAGAZINE



Cover Analysis



Understanding magazine cover design (1) 

Understanding magazine cover design (2) 

Evaluation of the Preliminary Task

COMPLETED PRELIMINARY TASK

My completed student magazine front cover

 Above is my final front cover, including my photo that I enhanced in Photoshop. I designed it using the front cover examples that I researched as well as my mock up version as a guide. I used a colour scheme of purple and white because purple is the college colours and will be instantly recognisable to students. The medium close up that I used is appropriate for the cover because it gives a full view of the model whilst still leaving space for the title and articles. The colours of the models hair work well with the orange and red tones in the background of the photo, creating a theme. The depth of focus makes the model stand out against the unfocused background. The vocabulary I used will appeal to the young audience because it is laid back, but doesn't use slang which would cheapen the look of the cover.

My completed student magazine contents page

This is my final contents page that I created using In Design. I designed it using the contents page examples that I researched and analysed, and my mock up version as a guide. I kept the colour theme of purple to reinforce the brand of the magazine. I also started to use black as a third colour in order to give it more of an edge than the cover. The use of the photos give a preview of the articles that would be inside which could help to pull the reader in and make them want to read on. The use of exclamatives helps to make the articles look exciting and enticing to the reader.

STUDENT MAGAZINE MARKET RESEARCH & PLANNING

I was asked to research and analyse examples of student magazine front covers in order to better understand the audience and how to create my own. 

Student magazine cover examples research
 

I then created a mock up version of my own student magazine front cover based on the research and analysis I have conducted.


My student magazine cover mock up

 

I was also asked to research and analyse examples of  magazine contents pages in order to better understand the audience and how to create my own. 

 

Magazine contents page examples research (1) 

Magazine contents page examples research (2) 

 

I then created a mock up version of my own magazine contents page based on the research and analysis I have conducted.



My contents page mock up

PREPARING THE FRONT COVER IMAGE

Contact sheet of photos taken for my front cover image

The original version of my cover photo

I used a medium close up shot for my cover photo. Using this shot size was appropriate because magazine covers often use this size in order to fit well on an A4 sized page and leave enough space for the magazine title and articles to fit around the model. The model I used was a regular student to reinforce the target audience of students. The composition of the photo uses a natural background and a shallow depth of focus in order to help the model stand out and the background to fade in.

The final version of my cover photo

Using Photoshop, I first cropped the photo in order to fit it to an A4 sized page and I left space for the magazine title at the top. I then used the polygonal lasso tool to separate the model from the background, and adjusted the colouring of the background so that the reds and oranges stood out more. This helped the background colours to correlate with the model because the colours went well with her hair. I also used the blur tool to distort the background further to help the model stand out. I adjusted the brightness and contrast of the model separately, and made this part of the image sharper.

PHOTOSHOOT 1

For this task I had to take photos of events around my college and practise photography techniques such as framing, composition and shot size. I also took other techniques like lines, balance, contrast colour and pattern into consideration.

My contact sheet of photos taken around college

One of my photos before editing in Photoshop

After editing in Photoshop

 

Using Photoshop, I edited this photo to use in my college magazine. The original photo has been cropped slightly in order to remove the person on the left. I have also retouched the image using adjustments to brightness and contrast.

 

 

PRELIMINARY TASK

For my preliminary task I had to produce the front cover and contents page for a new college magazine. I was required to take my own photos, use Photoshop to edit the photos and to design the page layout using In Design. I also had to conduct my own research into the target audience and analyse examples of student magazines in order to better understand how to design my own.