Analysis of a front cover three.

Top of the pops is one of the leading music magazines for the younger generations; it has been around since the 1960’s. This front cover is very conventional as it focuses on Vannessa Hudgens and Zac Efron, two young stars that are widely recognized by a younger audience mainly due to the films high school musical. The magazine will appeal to both boys and girls as Vanessa is a beautiful model that boys will find attractive and girls will admire to be and Zac is a typical cool heart throb that boys will try and relate too and girls will have a crush on, making them both the ideal teen couple to be on a magazine targeted at a young teenage audience. Therefore the magazine immediately targets at its target audience. It captures the eye of a younger age range as it is very bright and contains vibrant colours that would attract people to buy it. The colours it uses are all very unisex and playful therefore it keeps its target audience large, the contrast of colours also helps separate different articles and helps to vary the information so the reader is aware of the magazines diversity and that it focuses on a variety of different articles and people.The front cover also acts as a contents page, it is very clear to the younger teen age range what the magazine will have inside For example: 'Sexy Hollyoaks Hunks' with an image of the Hollyoaks stars topless. The words and images fit together well as they explain one and other to identify the story easily, the fonts and lettering are all very fun, bubbly and large so that they are visible to read. The cover consists of varied images that gives the magazine a contrast and shows the readers that it’s not all just about reading into music, but also musical movies and other types of media as well, however music still being the obvious central theme. The front cover image is very busy and has a lot going on although it is noticeable who we are meant to focus on, the main image of Vanessa and Zac looks very summery and relaxed as the pose they are both conveying is almost like they are laying on a beach. The makeup is not very glamorous although they both have a sun tan glow to them and their clothes are very casual so that the younger teen audience can relate to them as they just look like casual teens themselves. As top of the pops is very well known there masthead is hidden behind the main centre image, however because the company is widely recognized due to the fact they used to have a TV show out too they don’t need to highlight their company name as such but they need to focus on what the magazine contains more.
Therefore all the straplines are very noticeable e.g. the main strapline that relates to the front page image is “High school musical special! Zac’s love life + Vanessa’s nude pic…The truth!” As they are insinuating it is a special story it will attract readers to it more and also the words the truth as they may have heard other stories from other magazines but they are advertising it as being truthful which will attract readers to want to buy it to find out the real story. Also they are keeping their audience wide as Zac’s love life will appeal more too adolescent girls who are crushing on the heart-throb, however Vanessa’s nude pictures will appeal to adolescent boys that are curious. There are also other straplines “DANNY: I’m not confident NAKED!” this will attract the girls and encourage them to want to read more, they don't give away too much but they don't give away too little, it’s the perfect amount to have a teen hooked on and left wanting to read more, it also attracts teenage boys that may not be happy with their body image and feeling a little insecure therefore they will want to buy this to read it so they feel like they’re not the only boy out there that is unhappy with themselves naked. The varied use of images gives the magazine a contrast and shows the readers that it’s not all just about reading into music, but also musical movies and other types of media as well, however music still being the obvious central theme. They not only use different contrasting colours but they also use lots of different fonts to accompany each article that they are advertising, for example: - They have included articles on the two high school musical stars and decided to include the original film logo instead of putting the film title in their own font, this works to the products advantage as buyers are able to recognize the film by its famous well known logo title. Another example is the “5 sexy Hollyoaks hunks” headline, they have put the font in white, this contrasts with the colour of the 'hot' celebrities skin colour, showing that they are tanned and good looking, again tripping the readers into buying the magazine. They have outlined the white font with black so that the headline stands out even more, as white can easily get lost on a page and go unnoticed. The magazine includes a good variety of articles on the front page as well as inside.If the magazine was on a shop shelf I would be able to identify the stories at a glance as the pictures plus the bright colours make them clear therefore the magazine would catch the eye of the readers from a distance as the layout is big and easily read which is particularly good as it will boost sales. I feel that this product is highly successful in appealing to its main target audience and portraying just how informative and fun it can be to read. The use of colour, typography, images, slogans, teasers and competition prizes helps to encourage the reader into exploring the product more.