This cover was taken from an edition of Rolling Stone magazine published in May 2003. Although I have chosen a rather dated example to use, I thought it would add thoroughness to my research and show how covers have changed with time. Additionally, Rolling Stone is generally classed as a music magazine even though the main focus is more famous for his acting and legendary TV show 'Punk'd' but I thought I would make an exception especially for Ashton Kutcher, for fairly obvious reasons... ('eye candy', much?)
Moving swiftly on, the cover shot of Ashton Kutcher is focused mainly on the top half of his body - maybe even more so than his face - making us instantly feel welcomed and close to him intimatley making the reader feel comfortable to read the article since it now seems relaxed and informal. His body is exposed by the star lifting up his vest top in a nonchalant manner to show off (obviously) his body which will hook female readers onto it once they spot it on a shop shelf. He is already a popular male sex symbol among females of many ages which creates a larger target audience for the magazine. His picture links into the title of his feature being 'Prankster of Love' and by using this wording, it immediately connotates the image of a male shovanistic who enjoys female attention and lures them in with his looks but gives nothing in return, known these days as a 'man-slag'. Further description of his interview uses the phrase ' The Newly Single 'Punk'd Star on the Non-stop Party He Calls Life' links with his picture and suggests his life is filled with partying with girls seeing that he is now on the market and can do what he wants now that he's 'free' from the burden of being in a relationship. In another sense it can also be giving publicity my mentioning the name of his TV show which you could argue isn't essential to add to his description, it actually stands out for differing from the other choices of words which all add to his chosen image which is a typical male with alot of sex appeal to women. Therefore this again widens the audience if someone who watches his show notices the shows name on the cover which may just make them want to buy it if they are fans of Ashton Kutchers show.
Still focusing on the picture but now incorporating the colour scheme with it, you can see his vest top matches the background colour and logo colour - maybe just by fluke or for a reason. On the other hand maybe his vest colour was picked purposefully to link him more to the magazine, suggesting again closeness and acceptance.
The background of the photo of Ashton Kutcher is blurry but I think its an outdoor setting with trees but mostly sky. The outdoors has a classic association with someone who is energetic and enjoys being outside, someone who maybe enjoys keeping fit, playing sports or just enjoying nature. The more obvious reason is that Ashton Kutcher likes to keep fit and get out and about staying busy - linking back to the quote of 'Non-Stop Party He Calls Life' proposes the idea hes never indoors and always busy doing something - which is usually partying. The 'keeping fit' aspect is highlighted more as he is showing off a toned and muscular body in the picture which creates another link with the reasons for the setting he is in.
Other aspects that feature on the cover are descriptions of the main articles in the magazine. These include the small box near the title in the top right of the page. It stands out on the page by the box itself being a stand off bright white against the dull blue background with a thick black border. Apart from the visual devices, it also uses highly influencing words 'EXCLUSIVE HIS FIRST INTERVIEW IN TEN YEARS' anyone who see's this will immediately think 'wow, ten years, I must read this!' this gives the magazine a huge advantage for the fans of Eddie Vedder as this is the only magazine hes featured in for such a long time and they will want to find out ASAP whats been happening for the last ten years, why he's been hidden away for so long and why he's decided to return after all that time.
Underneath that, a feature titled 'ALL GIRL SMACKDOWN - INSIDE THE WORLD OF PRO CAT FIGHTING' this is a device used to now attract male readers rather than female as was shown before with the graphic. This time it uses the image of girls fighting in a 'smackdown' which gives the impression of girls having a scrap against eachother as a competition which wil no doubt provoke male reception.
The last main feature I will focus on is the 'VOODOO ECONOMICS How Bush Is Looting America'. This now jumps from talking about celebrity gossip and music to something political that is linked to society and therefore is aiming at a more sophisticated and mature audience who take an interest in polotics and whats going on in the world - the more serious stuff. It just so happens this has been put next to what appears to be a bandanna sticking out of Ashton Kutchers pocket on the photo which has an American flag print on it. This is being used as a semiotic to link Ashton Kutcher to America maybe suggesting he takes a patriotic approach towards his country and likes to get involved in the know-how, contradicting his previously quoted 'Non Stop Party He Calls Life'.
Overall, I think a fair amount of thought went into arranging this cover to make links between the graphic aspects such as the matching top with the background and joining political stories with it too. It is similar to the idea I will make in my final design for my own magazine cover and has given me more knowledge of not only how, but why magazines use presentational devices to lure in their target readers. They try to reach the demographic by having each headline or visual tactic to coax as many people as possibly to pick up the magazine and spend their hard earned money on it.
No comments:
Post a Comment