OUGD501 / COVER ANALYSIS / DESIGN

Following on from analysing the language, I began to explore the design aspects of the publications. 

The first thing that is noticeable from looking at this magazine is how busy the composition appears. It is not obvious to me where the reader should look first, as there is a lot of information contained on the page. In doing this, it bombards the reader with information to reel them in through the use of large point type. An example on the 'That's Life' magazine cover is the dominant news story "Docs SWAPPED my baby GIRL for a BOY", here you can see the usage of capitals to excentuate certain words and shock the reader, alongside the large type. The large type also communicates a certain volume to the discourse. 

Similarly is the cover for Chat. Large type used throughout with one main headline to draw the reader in to buying the product to see more. There is a clear trend of using bright red in the colour palette of these magazines. Red, as well as yellow, can connote danger or anger, and the combination of this colour with the nature of the article headlines creates an intense concoction. 

The use of imagery with this publication, and the previous, is particularly interesting as real life family pictures are used. This is to implement a sense of reality and allow the consumer to be put in the family's shoes, and provide a sense of emotion. The consumer will imagine their own family in one of these situations and be met with sympathy, empathy and compassion.

Heat magazine is also heavy on type and imagery. Again, this bombards the consumer with information, in this case about celebrities. It is noticeable that there is unflattering imagery of Cheryl Cole alongside the very bold, large headline, with the key noun 'pressure' highlighted with the neon pink colour which dominates the composition. Highlighted words are a key way of filtering what the user sees first, as the page is very busy. Cheryl looks very rushed and 'scared', reinforcing the drama of the headline, prompting the reader to be more inquisitive to read into the story. The pink is another method of attracting the readers attention, and is a stereotypically feminine colour. The yellow also used for this publication further fortifies the dramatic effect of the layout, again forcing the readers eyes to be caught when shopping.

The imagery used takes up most of the layout and contains various well known celebrities in pop culture. It is a showcase of the various news stories inside and gives an extensive taste of what the user can read about.

Overall, the type is consistently a large, sans serif, clearly to allow easy readability and access. Sans serif communicates a modern aesthetic, however when paired with some of the imagery and colour in the first two examples, this cheapens the overall layout.

Through analysing the design decisions for the previous publications I have gained a clear knowledge of what is used for this calibre of magazine and why. The principles applied to these magazines are clearly a way of attracting a lower class alongside the use of language geared towards them. The magazines do not have a luxurious quality to them, rather, they are a dramatic and busy way of drawing in a reader interested in pop culture, to perhaps distract them from an unfulfilling status in society.