3. Historical Changes
To show you an example of how magazine covers have evolved throughout the years, in terms of how their layout,
design and other general ways in which covers have been modified to keep up with public demands. I used the
‘Empire’’ official website. In there is a magazine cover archive option which really helped me put this timeline
together. I thought it would be quite interesting to see the amount of transformations front covers have made from
1981 to our current period of time.
2011-Current
2007-2010
2001-2006
1996-2000
1981-1995
As you can see, its evident that through out the year a change in its style has
taken place. it seems like each generation has brought something new to the Brief evaluation: There are some consistencies, the masthead has pretty
table making it better then the previous one. Some speculate that the modern much stayed the same except from 2007 onwards it has become more bolder and
more sharper, the colours of the masthead are exactly the same although it does
internet age will in the future take over hard copied items and people will buy or
appear to have gone brighter looking more professional. The layout has become
browse through the internet rather than going to local stores and physically
more compact and busy giving it a more detailed appearance compared to the
paying to buy i.e magazines or albums, but if the quality of magazines carries first magazines where it was really plain.The enhancements have been helped by
on improving each month or year then it will most certainly challenge the idea the improvement of softwares like photoshop, more developed cameras or higher
of online stores taking of the traditional way of buying or viewing magazines. quality printing material.
4. Main features of front covers
Masthead: The masthead has to be one Skyline: referring to some of the
of the most striking part of any magazine other features inside the magazine.
cover, firstly is establishes the Company’s Placed on the top. In this case it tells
name so consumers begin to recognize us the genre of the magazine
the brand and secondly, it instantly places “Action’ .
the magazine into a specific category.
Alway big and bold, formatted in a way so
it is easy to remember i.e ‘Empire’ the font
used is really iconic, it once again Main image: The main image is
reiterates on brand identification. really important and a key factor to be
considered. The image should be
chosen for a reason, it links in with
Cover line: Giving a glimpse of other features such as the ‘pulled
what is inside ( mostly material which quote’,’ leading article and the overall
is most interesting). Images can be the theme. They should all be relevant
included as well as text. and well suited in corespondent to the
main image. It also ties in with the
‘star’ featuring the magazine;
Pulled Quote: Direct quotes highlighting their statues, in/off
made linked to the main image character and possible interviews.
or the leading article gives it an
establishing look. Barcode: barcode reader included
for purchasing reasons, often it
includes the ‘release date’ important
Leading Article: Usually the second notice for consumers.
biggest font after the masthead, it
shows the audience what the main
article is about and because it is the Advertisement: Key component of any
leading article, it will be covered in magazine, it gives an opportunity for companies to
great depth inside advertise their products. Front covers of magazines
Bottom left third: This is the section
visible to costumers whilst browsing are known to be successful marketing aid because
through the shelves so it is really of the number of people who purchase magazines
important to ensure it is printed on daily basis. Films who invest in franchising sales
also have the chance to display their lineup as it is
relevant to the main image and other aspects.
5. This is the same magazine but i have lettered seven
Here is an original cover of ‘Total Film’ circles (A-G) to help me explain each sections of the
issued January 2012 front cover
B
A
E
F
C
D
G
6. A - Main Image: is the key focus point of this cover, it shows the two featuring characters from the hit movie ‘Girl with the
dragon tattoo’. Considering the size and positioning of the main image, i would say it follows the conventions of traditional
magazine covers (Historical changes) because it is placed fairly in the center and is scaled to be larger than any of the other
images or texts, plus it is the most striking focal point, of which the audience can instantly identify. Film Featured magazines
tend to always use the actors in character rather than the actors being themselves, a style which separates the two types of
magazines. Their positing is quite interesting because it can have several meanings. One being that Daniel (male figure) is
the more dominant character making him the protagonist or having the more dynamic role in the movie. Another meaning it
could be that Rooney (female figure) is purposely behind Daniel because she is the big twist in the storyline. Both of their
expressions are perceived to be quite poker-faced meaning it is hard to judge their exact facial expression. They both seem
to be standing sharp and erect which works well with their facial expression. Judging them on their clothing Daniel seems like
an average man with his grey knitted jumper. The female figure on the other hand comes off as the more sinister character
who has could possibly have a dark side about her. Overall I feel the main image is persuading and i like the fact it includes
two characters, it has a real serious tone to it maybe it is a reflection of what the movie could be like.
B - Masthead: It is in our nature to examine an item starting from top down so the masthead plays a big role in order of
what the audience see when taking a first look at a magazine. ‘Total Films’ is the name of the magazine, it is widely
recognizable because it is in large, bold letters and has over the years almost formed into a sort of brand for the
company, after selling millions of copies. Even though Daniel’s head is blocking the last letter, the audience can still
recognize which magazine company it is. This is harder for film featured magazine companies who are beginners starting
in the market to use their main image in a way that it covers half of the masthead because their magazine name has not
been established yet as a well-known brand. If my group were to come up with a name which is long in terms of wording
and is hard to fit into the positioning of the page then we would have to mimic the style of what Total Films have done,
they have placed the word ‘Total’ (smaller size) into the first letter of ‘Films’ (F). This alternation with the words is very
creative and it just looks more professional, more balanced and also makes them the first magazine company to use such
an effect resulting their cover to look more unique. It is placed accordingly to follow the norms of typical film magazines,
top third of the cover. Ideally the most noticeable feature of any magazine cover.
C - Leading Article: For me the leading article is somewhat surprising in terms of how they have laid it out. ‘The
girl with the dragon tattoo’ text is much smaller than the ‘2012 awards preview’ which I think should be like an extra
article because if we were to put the two on a hierarchy scale, the 2012 awards preview should be the least bolder
and smaller font out of the two. On the other hand the second part to the leading article is really eye catching, the
colour ‘yellow’ seems to be almost over taking the page. it reflects on Daniels character in away because yellow
connotes wisdom and intellect and having seen the movie he does incorporates both qualities but this may not
have been a direct intention on matching his character with the font. The warmth of the yellow however, does
match the background, almost creating a beaming light in the dark affect which is quite stylish. It is no surprise that
they have included ‘2012’ in the front cover, being it is a January issued cover, keeping up with the latest events.
7. D+E - Cover lines: D has obviously taken up the bigger space and is has a larger feature to it making it more
detailed (several photos taken from different movie clips) whereas E is mainly about ‘Harry Potter’. however they both
are very similar in the way they been created, a framed photo with red background, white and yellow texts above it
altogether creating a rectangular box. Red is very common colour to use in film featured magazines because it is
suitable to nearly every single genre from Horror to Sci-fi. D is placed in the bottom third of the cover, theoretically the
least eye catching position but the use of colours have heightened its aims to deliver to the audience. E is commonly
placed on the middle left hand side, much smaller in relation to the main image. both cover lines are for those who
are not necessarily persuaded by the main image or the leading article. I should note down that the cover line should
always be diverse and try to not make it relevant to the main image but can include the same style in regards to its
appearance.
F - Barcode: This feature is included in every magazine cover, their positioning does
change but in this case it is just to the right of the main image. Barcodes cannot be
considered as a selling features because it is just a requirement to have one which has to
be obeyed due to official rules. They have merged a promotional logo ‘Future’ alongside
the barcode. We must have a barcode as well because it is a conventional feature.
G - Bottom third: From the name of it, it is clear about its positioning. This cover have gone with
a very simple text (white) separated by yellow blocks. Once again this a conventional feature to
have in every cover because it is the section which the buyers can see magazine shelves.
Background: I think the background of this cover has to be commented on it because if you actually focus and
zoom in, you see the amount of details, layers of different black inked tattoo, designed very artistically to give it a
very gothic and edgy tone to the whole cover. It also links in with main image and leading article because of
mentioned word ‘tattoo’ it has become a theme to the overall front cover. This is very smart and strategic because
not only it looks good but it also portrays Rooney’s character, giving clues as to her link with the title of the movie.
If you were to take out all the other feature and only leave the main image and the background, it can almost
qualify for a film poster meaning it is real promotion for the movie.
