The background is a soft blue/purple colour which gives the cover a soft feminine feel which is appropriate as this is the “Annual women’s issue”. The colour of the font is white which also makes the cover look light and almost airy or cloud like. The combination of these colours makes the cover soft and gentle which are things typically associated with females being the ‘fairer’ sex. The colour also connotes soft jazz which is often the type of jazz women perform. The writing is sans serif again continuing the soft feminine feel of the cover. The white writing is bordered by black to allow it to still be visible and not lose the light airy effect. The hairstyle of Norah Jones is soft and curly to best showcase her femininity and again emphasize that this is an issue for women. She is not over sexualized, with little make up and her white clothing (probably dress) giving a pretty girly look. This also fits in with the music genre as Jazz isn’t typically over sexed and the artists allow their music to speak for them and the music is the real focus.
The masthead is big and bold and draws the eyes giving it a very aggressive ’in your face’ kind of attitude which is typical to the metal genre. The masthead is also one of the few things on the page in colour which makes it seem more important and dramatic than the rest of the page. The other things in colour being the red splash at the bottom right corner of the cover which resembles blood, this kind of symbolism of violence is common in the metal scene as the music is considered often violent. There is also a Norwegian flag on the cover which connotes the subject of this particular issue, it is again one of the few things in colour which implies this to be the main focus of the issue, the flag is also tatty and distressed which follows the theme of the genre almost making the flag look like it has come from a war zone which again connotes the violent and destructive undertone of metal music. The band on the front are a typical metal band with painted faces and long hair (except one) they have taken up an aggressive stance and frightening and intimidating facial expression appropriate to their ‘metal image’.
The first impression of this cover is that it has a lot going on, lots of things jumping out at you for your attention with a lot of colour. The most important bits of information are at the top and are ordered and clear. The masthead is big and bold which is how ‘alternative’ artists aim to be and so it emulates them. The cover uses the colours black, white, red and yellow which is a mix of colours to symbolize how ‘alternative’ is also a mix of many different varieties of music group but still belong together. The main image of Florence and the Machine shows Florence in glittered clothes surrounded by flowers, this contradiction between nature and fashion/ modern world is a symbol for how different and abstract the artist is, she also has her tattoo displayed which adds an edge to her image. The other images are a variety of different shots to best suit the band/artist and their own personal image, the mix and busy feel this gives shows how different and unique each artist is which is the point of the label alternative which can mean, different, unusual and unconventional.
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ReplyDeleteYou have completed some sound analysis of magazine front covers.
To improve further you need to analyse three front covers, contents pages, and double page spreads from music magazines similar to the genre you intend to produce. Consider the effect of connotation (e.g. of colours and fonts) and signifiers (e.g. props and costume). You need to ensure you meet all future deadlines.