Salford City College Eccles Centre AS Media Studies Foundation Portfolio

Masthead

The masthead is a large bold white ‘Q’; on the left

of the page in a bright red box. This bright colour is

used to attract the target audience of teenagers and

young adults, and is unisex.

Main image

The main image is of deceased pop star Amy

Winehouse. She is on the right hand side of the

page and she is wearing a low cut leopard print top.

Her hair is backcombed which is her signature look

and she has a fringe covering one of her eyes. She is

wearing thick black eyeliner and a lip piercing. We

can also see her tattoo.

Model credit

‘AMY’

This heading relates to the cover image of Amy

Winehouse. The font used for her name is the

largest font on the cover with the exception of the

masthead, suggesting that her story is the most

important in the magazine.

Coverlines

The cover lines use a variety of serif and sans serif

font is different sizes and also different colours,

including white, orange and one example of red.

The cover lines also use a variety of bold and italic

font in order to make the cover more interesting

and pleasing to the eye. The contrast of colours and

sizes makes the magazine seems quirky and unique,

which is appropriate for the genre and target

audience.

Main cover line

The main cover line uses large white bold serif font

which stands out against the dark background. It

also uses a smaller contrasting orange font in order

to grab the readers attention and draw their eye to

the main story in this magazine.

Colour

The colour scheme of the magazine is black, orange

and white with some red. These colours are typical

of the alternative rock genre and work well together

in order to grab the reader’s attention and also be

pleasing to the eye.

Typefaces

The typefaces used are a variety of serif and sans

serif. They are simple and classic computer font,

which is formal and looks sophisticated and official.

The use of these fonts is effective and they are

uncomplicated and do therefore not draw away

from the rest of the cover.

Photography Lighting

High key lighting is used on Amy’s face which shows

her in a positive way which has connotations with

innocence and beauty and make her appear almost

angelic which is a highly positive representation

following her death one year ago. The surrounding

area and background of the image uses a low key

lighting and is mainly dark, juxtaposing the two

areas of the cover and making her stand out more.

Design Principles Used?

The cover uses the Guttenburg Design Principle. This

is effective because the primary optical area and the

terminal area are filled with text and information,

which are the areas where the eye first and last

sees. The weak fallow area originally included a CD

which came free with the magazine. This is useful as

this area is the weakest area on the page which the

eye pays the least attention to. The cover image of

Amy fills the majority of the page, but mostly the

strong fallow area which is the second place the eye

will observe on the page.

House Style

The overall house style of the cover is quirky and rebellious, with a rock and roll edge that

links to the genre of the magazine and the cover image. It is appropriate for the target

audience as it quite youthful and current.

Salford City College Eccles Centre AS Media Studies Foundation Portfolio

Salford City College Eccles Centre AS Media Studies Foundation Portfolio