This is the front cover of the 'XXL Magazine' which I have selected as an inspirational piece. I have strong reasoning behind my selection, from the ranges of colours used to the angles of shots. Firstly, the colours in the background of this front cover are bright and vibrant. This is unusual for the front cover of any magazine, as a result of a bright background it means that anything that is in the foreground will stand out with emphasis. This is because the the bright colours in the background will make the colour in the foreground look darker than it actually is. Although the masthead is also a bright colour, the colour of the background also makes the large white and red masthead stand out from the page. This brings me to my next point, the artist on the front cover has been made to look extremely powerful and high status. This is because, the portrait close-up of his face is placed at the very top (in layering terms) of the page. This means that there is nothing on top of it and therefore it is in front of that masthead which is not what usually happens with magazines as branding is crucial (seeing as the rate of magazine sales is on the downfall). Finally I would like to discuss the text-based information. This is because it has been very well thought out, in terms of placement, colouring and sizing. The placement of the text is faultless, there is no text which overlaps the artists portrait. Also the font (on the right side of the cover page) is nice and clear. This is as a result of suitable colour and size choice, the neutral colours white and yellow stand out on both bright and dark backgrounds. This why these colours have been used for the text, and as a result of this smart selection there is no difficulty when trying to process information.
Here is the contents page for the same 'XXL Magazine' as the one used for the front cover analysis. The same colouring has been used for the background of the contents page and this is also another sensible technique, this is because it begins to show a trend and it also means that colour schemes are stuck to. As a result of this, it means that they can keep the same text colour and size throughout the whole magazine without having to worry about change in tone etc. One other thing this contents page is that the image used is not like the usual one used for a rap artist in a rap magazine. This is because, usually in a rap magazine, the codes and conventions are that the rapper will usually have a mid-shot/close-up of themselves looking as if they are intimidating, wealthy and controlling which is how they require to be seen by the people who follow their music. This contents page on the other hand, shows a photograph of the rappers full body (which is also referred to in media as a long-shot). 'XXL' have done this so that they are not referred to as mainstream or regular, by taking the photo's of the rapper at distances which are not normal it makes them individual. As a result of this their magazine will start to stand out from the others (because they all follow the same codes and conventions). This is a big risk because it could either really promote their audience appeal because they are different to the others, but on the other hand it could also lead to a plummet in audience appeal, due to the fact that the magazine is so different to the normal rap music magazine.
Here is the double-page spread from the same 'XXL Magazine' as the one used for the analysis of the front cover and contents page. This is very similar to every other double page spread in a rap magazine apart from one specific aspect. This aspect which is different is the differentiation between the two sizes of fonts on the page with the text-based information on it. There is a paragraph on the top half of the page which is in a large and bold font, followed by two small paragraphs beside one another which have a font which is not as bold and which is smaller than that used at the top of the page. This suggests to me that the information on the top half of the page is more significant than the information towards the bottom of the page. This in my opinion is a very smart technique for getting more important information across before the less significant information is presented to the reader. The portrait of the artist on the page opposite (which is a long-shot of the artist) is also slightly abstract for a rap magazine. This is because an image of a rapper is usually taken in mid-shot or close-up whereas this one is not and instead shows the rappers whole body. The colour scheme has been strong throughout this issue of the magazine and once again has been used to its full potential for this article in the magazine. This is because, the colour in the background of the image on the right is bright and therefore creates a contrast between the two pages in the double page spread. As a result of this contrast, both the photograph and the article of textual information are emphasised and they stand out more because the two pages look so different from one another.
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