Magazine front cover analysis

Cosmopolitan

Around 3,021,720 people subscribe to Cosmopolitan every month. The first issue of Cosmopolitan was published in 1886 the United States as a family magazine and then was later transformed into a literary magazine. In 1965 the magazine then turned into a women’s magazine. When looking back at the olden time Cosmopolitan magazine you can very clearly see what has changed through many years. The masthead has a totally different font. The older magazine is a magazine of poetry, short stories and many more and the fancy font connects well with the genre of the magazine, for example; old English. The masthead of both the magazines is at the top but even the way the font has been warped is different. I think if a magazine now a day was to have a warped masthead it would look unprofessional and messy. Looking at where the articles are on the front cover of this magazine to the left is very different to the original. There is more colour and the fonts are a lot bolder therefore catching your eye more and encouraging you to buy it. The articles on the old magazines have a very small font and aren’t very easy to read whereas the fonts on current magazines are very bright and attention grabbing. 

Kerrang:

The first ever Kerrang magazines were a lot different to the current magazine design. The masthead is totally different. The font is bolder and a block colour of red in the earliest Kerrang magazines. As you can see, the cover on the left is a much thinner font with lines running through different directions. The current magazine masthead is all different colours. I don’t meant the masthead it rainbow coloured, I mean depending on the magazine, the title colour matches the magazine colour so that it doesn’t look out of place. The main images on the front cover are still very similar in the way the musicians are either an action shot or posed. The music of the magazine is still the same genre. The genre is rock. The covers are big rock stars and the bands which are massive at the time. Kerrang have an up to date, fully working website which has the latest and hottest music on there. They do not have an app for phones etc. There is an app for Kerrang radio. It currently has 8 ratings with 4 ½ stars. You can easily identify the target audience of the magazine by looking at the type of bands which are on the front cover. Also the colour scheme which has been used. Different colours are associated with different meanings. For example, pinks and purples are girly colours therefore show that it is a girly magazine whereas reds, blues and blacks are more manly, rock colours.