Analysis of Second Magazine (VIBE)
description
Transcript of Analysis of Second Magazine (VIBE)
Analysis of VIBE magazine
Analysing a second front cover, contents page, and double page spread of VIBE magazine as
part of my ‘Research and Planning’ stage
MASTHEAD
The masthead is very clear. The bright yellow colour that is used on the font contrasts very well with the grey scale background
and because of this we can read it well. The font used is all bold, and the masthead is very predominant on the page, thus
allowing us to recognise this as the title of the magazine.
COVER PICTURE
The cover picture is centered. This is unusual in magazines as photographers often use the rule of thirds when taking pictures, however it is a common
theme in VIBE magazine that the model in the picture is dead centre. This attracts the audience directly to them. The Artist in the picture also uses a
direct mode of address so that when you are drawn to him he almost ‘looks you in the eye’ creating somewhat of a ‘relationship’ with the reader.
COVER LINES
Once again, the cover lines are aligned right and left according to which side of the page they lie on, this is to
keep the middle of the magazine free so not to draw attention away from the direct gaze of the cover model.
SEMIOTICS
The plus sign is often used as a semiotic because people often look at a plus sign and thing, positive, or more, a higher value. If there is more inside, then the audience is attracted by the use of this symbol
and will buy the magazine.
VIBE CONTENTS
Analysis of a contents page that VIBE magazine used in one of their production pieces.
PICTURE
Only one picture is used on the contents page to stop any over crowding of the page due to the magazine
being heavily text rather than pictures.
SPLIT PAGE
The contents page is split about two thirds of the way down by an intricate design which is more than likely part of the house style of the magazine. The top section of the page allows us to discover what features are inside the magazine and the bottom section shows us features from the VIBE website
where you can access news and galleries online.
CROOKED TEXT
Something very commonly used in VIBE magazine is the way in which they split the word ‘CONTENTS’ into 3 different lines. It gives it a ‘jagged’ look and also connotates to what hip hop is
all about. It is about going against regular things in society and by not having the word in uniform they are conveying this
convention.
PICTURE CREDITS
Written in a very small font on the picture is the picture credit, notifying the reader who is responsible for the photography so that
they know who the photographer and stylist was for the photo shoot for this picture in the magazine. It is meant to take up
minimal space on the magazine and is therefore written in a very small font size in order to not take attention away from the image
itself.
DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD
Analysis of a double page spread written by VIBE magazine
IMAGES
The photos on this double page spread are similar to those of that I have already analysed. They take up only one section of the page and are not placed right in the middle, for example. This is a good use of the page furniture by VIBE because as I mentioned earlier, it is very text heavy, and buy having the photographs to one are of the page allows them to maximise the amount of space they need for the body copy.
THE LEAD
The lead is used well here, it is a small paragraph that allows us to get an idea of what the article is about
before going into the body copy.
BODY COPY AND DROP CAP
The body copy in this double page spread I would say was around 1000 words in a size font between
8-10. Very commonly in magazines you will notice that the first letter of the first paragraph in the article will be maybe 3 lines big. This is known as a drop capital and just lets the reader know where to
start reading from which is why VIBE have used one.
RULE OF THIRDS
For some reason, VIBE magazine choose to ignore the rule of thirds in their photographs. They very often centre
their artists and because I have seen this a lot in my research I will look to also ignoring the rule of thirds in
my final production.
FIN