From looking at this front cover we immediately get the impression that it is of an R&B genre because of the colours used; red, blue, black and yellow. Blue is mostly used which relates to the genre R&B as it is known to be chilled and smooth as is the colour blue.
The typography of the masthead ‘VIBe’ is written in the colour blue which is both a male and female colour showing that the magazine will appeal to both genders and so it will attract a wider audience. The way they have written ‘VIBe’ with a small ‘e’ makes it standout as people are likely to notice this immediately. It also makes it unique from other mastheads. The way they have used uppercase and then lowercase in just one letter shows that they are breaking the rules as normally you would not see uppercase letters and lowercase letters used together and so this connotes that R&B is rule breaking and cool.
The main image is of usher suggesting he is the main topic in the magazine, this means usher fans are most likely to buy this magazine as they would be interested to know the latest gossip about him. As he is a well known R&B artist who appeals to both genders and has many fans the magazine is appealing to a wider range of audience. Appealing to both genders is known as being homoerotic, it appeals to women as he is a well known attractive R&B artists recognized by many. He would also appeal to men as some men may find him inspirational or others even emulate him, it would also appeal to gay men who find him attractive.
It is a low angle shot making it seem as though he is superior and as though the audience look up to him making him seem powerful. His head is tilted to the side again emphasizing his power and his confidence of being a successful R&B artist that people look up to. They have used selective focus by blurring the background and focusing mainly on usher making him the main image and again making him seem powerful and important. He is not wearing as much ‘bling’ as other R&B artists usually do but he is wearing sunglasses, a ring and a watch which seems to be a rather expensive watch connoting wealth and a sense of fashion and style as you would see with any other R&B artist. Usher wearing the sunglasses makes him mysterious as he is hiding his eyes, avoiding eye contact making him seem superior to the audience. We can see that usher has a tattoo of a star on his hand which shows his fame and power in the music industry, suggesting he is a star. This could create an abhorrent reading as some people may see it to be rather feminine as it is a star and so some audience although they like usher and R&B may not like the fact that he has a feminine tattoo.
In the main cover line they have used different font sizes, the words ‘USHER’ ‘HE’S NO.1’ have been written in a bigger font to the rest of the text. This makes it stand out most and it is what we first read when we look at the magazine as it looks important because of the font size used. This attracts usher fans as this tells us that the main article is about usher. ‘AND MARRIED WITH A VEGENANCE’ this links to the main focal point in the image of Usher wearing a ring, this tells us that the main story is about Usher’s marriage. This would attract a lot of audience as people like to be kept up to date with the stars and know the latest gossip.
The word ‘swagger’ in written in red making it stand out from the rest of the text as it is the only text written in red. It is also written in graffiti styled text which associates with teenagers and so will attract them more especially as this magazine is aimed mostly at teenagers. Also the use of colloquialism makes it associate with teenagers and so it will attract them as it is language they are familiar with.
Additional cover lines inform the audience of what other topics are included inside the magazine which could attract a wider range of audience for example ’50 cent’ would attract 50 cent fans as well as Usher fans. Also including topics like ‘Keri Hilson strips down’ attracts mostly male audience as they would find this interesting. Repetition of ‘sex’ draws people’s attention and again attracts a wider range of audience as people are interested in reading about this topic, especially teenagers.
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