Textual Analysis For Front Cover Of Music Magazine

 This is an image of the front cover of an “XXL” magazine that has a high key lighting, medium close-up photograph of a celebrity (P.Diddy) who is the main image of the magazine. As everything in the photograph is in focus, the image of the celebrity has a wide depth of field. The photo has been edited to create a black and white effect, taking away any other colour. In the photo of P.Diddy, the props he is wearing represent his wealth; the pinky ring and the “Jesus Piece” chain have diamonds and jewels in them.

The setting is a plain white background which helps to make the audience focus on the main image, the celebrity is well-known which also contributes to grabbing the audience’s attention. The font has been placed behind the celebs head and chain, this type of jewellery denotes riches and connotes the celebs pride of his money and fame. The costume that the celeb is wearing seems to be a t-shirt and a jacket on top, this casual type of clothing may connote the type of character P.Diddy is. The NVC of the celeb shows confidence in his career as his hands are pulling his costume as if to show it off.

On the “XXL” magazine, the masthead, which is “XXL”, is behind the celeb which may be connoting how big the news of the music artist is. The “XXL” sign is denoted as the masthead because of its distinctive colour and size between it and the rest of the magazine. The masthead of the magazine is boldly in red, which still makes the brand of the magazine stand out. The font is in a san serif style; this connotes the modern day type of magazine it is. The selling line is just above the masthead that reads, “Hip-Hop on a Higher Level”, this connotes that the type of magazine “XXL” is a music magazine, more specifically a hip-hop magazine. The selling line is in a small san-serif font in the top left hand corner of the magazine.

Below the main image of the magazine lies the main coverline, “Diddy” with the kicker underneath which reads “Mo’ Money. No Problems”. There is another kicker above the main coverline that’ reads, “Hip-Hop’s No.1 Mogul”, which was in an italics style along with the main coverline and the kicker above it. The word “Diddy” is in large capitals letters in bold, san-serif font, the word denotes the celebrity’s name, which is P.Diddy. As the main coverline is in bold it may connote the importance of the celebs story.

The kicker above the main coverline denotes a label for the P.Diddy, this connotes the how successful the career of this celeb has been. This kicker is not as big as the main coverline and is not in bold; this may be done just to keep the audience focused on the main coverline.  The rule of thirds has been applied here to avoid the kicker being unseen. The kicker below the main coverline supports the connotation of the other kicker as this one denotes that because he has more money, his problems are gone. This kicker is bigger and bolder than the other kicker above the main coverline.

The other coverlines are located at the top right hand corner and the middle left hand side of the magazine. They are also in san-serif font and although they are quite small, the bold font help the coverlines to be recognised along with the use of the rule of thirds, which helps to get the audiences attention because of the coverlines position. The celebrity names that were used in the coverlines also help to get audience attention to the magazine.

The “XXL” magazine was released on June 2010, the dateline of this magazine is found on the barcode at the bottom left hand corner. As the dateline had only contained a month and a year, this may connote that the magazine is published monthly. A barcode is displayed on the magazine, which denotes that the magazine is a purchasable item, which may be bought off newsstands; this magazine can be bought for $4.99. The currency of the price denotes that the “XXL” magazine is published in America as the currency is dollars.

 This “XXL” magazine has a website which is has to recognise, but it has been put in, using a vertical style of text, “XXLmag.com”. The magazine may have put the magazine website in such small font so that people will not realise it, this may have been done to avoid the loss of customers who buy the magazine.