RESEARCH AND PLANNING - Magazine Covers- Similarities and Differences

Similarities:

As you can there are many similarites between different magazine covers. I have chosen to analyse the similarites between magazines so we can see the common features of film magazine covers and include these features on our own cover. These similarities include:

• The barcode is alsways shown so the shops they are bought from can scan them through their tills. The bar codes are usually at the side of the magazine as they are not a special feature the audience really wants to look at.
• The date of the issues are shown so the reader knows which month it is released. Magazines differ in their release dates, some are released monthly and some weekly etc.
• The title of the film covers the whole line across, and is the largest text on the page, making it stand out, to grab the consumers attention.
• They tend to have text about the features inside the magazine above the title and in columns either side along the cover, which are placed around the main images, of the actors from the main film featured in the magazine.
• They have colour schemes, such as the same two colours used for all the text and they may match the title of the magazines text. Only two or three colours are used to keep it simple.
• The main pictures of the actors/ characters blocs out a bit of the title of the magazine.
• Capitalised text is often used to make it bold and stand out.

Differences:

As you can see, as well as many similarities there are clear difference in these magazine covers. This is because they are made by different companies, who want to make their covers unique to grab the consumers attention and interest. These include:

• The amount of information crammed onto the cover. The Entertainment one has less text on it so its large picture of thw two characters in Star Trek is its main USP. Whereas, the Total film magazine is trying to sell what's inside the magazine by writting about it on the cover in bold text.
• Where the text is place differs between magazines. The most important feature is placed at the top, but the rest may be placed in the bottom, or all along the sides. Some covers keep the text on one side and the main image on the other.
• The size of the images used differ. The Entertainment one has the two actors taking up the whole cover, whereas the Total Film magazine has a grey background, with the two actors pushed together as a small part of this cover.

Nikki Stock