Wednesday 5 November 2008
Cover #3 - i-D magazine featuring Bjork
My third magazine cover I chose to analyze was the June 2007 issue of i-D magazine as I am now moving onto looking at magazines that are in the genre in which my magazine will fall into. I would of analyzed more but magazines in this genre are limited. This is my favourite cover out of them all as it has the aspects of a rave magazine that i like, the vibrant colours and the simplistic design of the words and title. i-D magazine is classed as a fashion magazine but has aspects I'd like to incorperate into my own design. I chose this peticular issue of i-D magazine as it was the most colourful one I could find on their archive. It features Bjork and her photograph covers the entire page with no other pictures - just words over the picture. The 'Waaghh' title that covers the picture are in a scattered formation which emphasizes the way you would say 'waaghh' - like something was out of control or going crazy. I think they've chosen this word specifically to link in well with the feeling of the picture and nature of the magazine.
Cover #2 - Alternative Magazine featuring Kat Von D
My second cover is taken from an edition of 'Alternative' magazine from March/April 2008 featuring the famous tattoo artist and model Kat Von D. 'Alternative' magazine links in with my other samples as it is, too, a music magazine but does have a few different distinctive qualities that set it apart from my other choices. I thought by using this type of magazine, it would increase the variation of my research allowing me to get an idea of how different genres vary the layout of out their pages. Kat Von D is the main focus on this cover and fits in with the genre of 'Alternative' as its mainly aimed at fans of gothic tastes and interests - shown by the small slogan in the top right corner 'Alternative music & lifestyle'. Kat Von D portrays herself as such, dressing in dark clothing, her body like a canvas for tattoos and her apparent attitude - all linking in with the dark/gothic image of rebellion and individuality which she freely chooses to follow.
First off, her pose says alot about the emotions in this photo. She is slouched in a lazy manner insinuating she doesn't wish her image to be seen as someone who follows the general conventions of a 'nice' or 'polite' person. She is tilting back her head also, therefore looking down on the reader trying to attempt to look down on people - like she is part of a higher status and class being the 'huge' VIP that she is. In the world of tattooing Kat Von D is seen to be a big deal. Her amazingly detailed tattoos of portraiture she etches on the skin of many people in America is recognized world wide and she knows it, backing up her reason for wanting to look down on other people.
Her outfit, eye make-up, hair and tattoos are all black, a colour associated with death, darkness and just about anything negative. In her photo she purposefully wants to look this way to keep her tough exterior come across as what she really is like deep down. Similarly, the background colour is a slight shade off black - like a very deep turquoise - which makes her entirely blend in with the magazine perhaps trying to let it be known that she fits in perfectly with this scene and she is totally accepted by the media.
The only thing that catches the readers eye in the image is her face which has been purposefully lightened to stand out from the rest of the dark page. One way of perceive this is that she thinks shes almost God like, as big headed as it may seem, from my own personal knowledge I can tell she does think rather highly of herself... Another aspect that could be behind this is that the white face against the black hair looks very gothic and almost corpse like - again fitting in with the target audience of people who live and dress like this.
The font used for the main title of 'Kat Von D' is a font very similar to that of a tattoo linking us back once again to her tattoo origin and reminding us what she has initially become famous for. The subheading tells us about two more projects she is involved with, LA Ink being her own TV tattoo show (after being kicked off the TV show 'Miami Ink' where she starred as the professional tattoist for portrait tattoos, which was abruptly ended by the shop owner Ami James for her cocky and arrogant attitude) and 'Musink' which is a annual festival in America presented by Kat Von D. This plugs her projects to attempt to attract her fans to get involved and spread the word. The word exclusively is used to make people assume the information she gives to this magazine is not obtainable elsewhere therefore they must get this magazine.
Moving on from Kat Von D, we can see across the rest of the cover are scattered some more techniques of persuasion to buy the magazine. In the top left corner there's a fairly small advertisment for a free CD which doesn't really stand out at all and isn't one of the things I noticed at first, in fact it took me a while to spot it. This shows a design flaw made by the editors that maybe their colour scheme doesnt work together very well as it doesn't stand out immediately.
Other persuasive devices are spread over the cover including a 'Missy Malone' pin-up poster probably to draw in the male readers attention. Likewise, another advertisment for the free CD is at the bottom of the page along with an image of the CD that comes free with it, 'Club and gig listings' for people who want to know the latest places to go party and a long lost of bands featuring in the magazine and some include small photos of the bands.
All in all, this magazine cover comes across to me as an amateur attempt with a mish mash of different advertising methods just splayed out in any old fashion, lacking organisation and research into the conventions of a typical magazine cover. I think they put thought into the main image but thats about it, it seems as much has been crammed onto this as possible to grab the optimum amount of buyers as they can get, which to me is too much and would actually make me look for a different and more well set out magazine as the fact it has no structure would make me assume the content is also the same.