RESEARCH AND PLANNING - What I have learnt from analysing magazine covers

From analysing a variety of different magazine covers, I can clearly see the common features used are used and that we should incorporate into our film magazine cover.

I have seen that many covers, have one dominating picture in the middle of the page, or just to the side, with text and/ or smaller pictures to the side. There is always text at the top of the cover, to sell it to the target audience, and key features of what is included in the magazine at the bottom and the side of the cover. They usually have specific colour schemes to make their USP's stand out and attract attention from the other competing magazines. The title of the magazine is the largest text on the page, and stands out by being a bright colour. It usually covers the width of the page, and may have an image covering part of it.

The bar code is at the side or bottom corner of the cover as it is unimportant from what the magazine is trying to sell. The price has to be shown on all products and the date of the issue is usually next to the bar code or near the title of the magazine, to inform the consumers when it was released.

Overall, all magazines differ in their lay out and as a group we have planned how we wish to lay out our cover.

Nikki Stock