2nd magazine cover analysis

This front cover has a lot of different, contrasting colours. The colour scheme consists of quite dull, dark boring colours e.g grey, white, black, brown and grey in the main image and the background. The text on this page contrasts with the main image and is what makes the magazine stand out through the use of more vibrant colours e.g. light blue, yellow and red.

The name of the magazine 'Vibe' is placed at the top of the page, it spreads across almost the entire width of the front cover and a gap between the name and the top of the page is left so that a skyline can be input, the font is in block capitals and is highlighted in blue, this colour contrasts with the background and image colour scheme and therefore catches the eye of the audience, even though some of the text is situated behind Ushers head it does not matter as the magazine is already a big name brand, therefore the designer of the magazine feels that there is no risk involved in having part of the magazine name obstructed. 

The main title of the main story is placed underneath 'Vibe' to the left of the page, this overlaps the title 'Vibe' slightly which shows the use of layering on the cover, by doing this it enables certain/specific text or objects to stand out more than others, the main title is highlighted in black with a yellow outline which corresponds with the plain, dull and darker main image.

Other sub-stories are placed on the right hand side of the magazine in a column, most of this text is highlighted in light blue with a white outline, at times this alternates and white is used to highlight the main text with a blue outline, the use of these vibrant colours makes it easy for the reader to read and pick out specific or important information . Just like the title VIBE they contrast with the colours of the main image. These substories are situated in front of the main image and cover the left shoulder of the singer. One sub-story ' 15 shocking celebrity 'sex scandles' is however highlighted in black and is bigger than all the other smaller stories, this tells the reader that this is a big, important and very interesting section in the magazine, second to the main story about Usher.

The music magazine website address is displayed at the bottom of the page on the right, the text is highlighted in white has been made slightly transparent, even so the text is still clearly readable but it doess not grab the readers attention immediatly.

The main image is of popular R&B singer Usher, he is wearing a white shirt, grey jacket and dark sunglassses. He poses with his ring finger sticking up, this would most probably catch the readers eye as they would at first think that he was making a different, rude gesture.

Straplines have not been used on this cover to contain advertisements, instead the text is simply highlighted in black with a yellow outline and is placed at the very top of the page, this is clearly separated even though there is no strapline.

The barcode is placed in the bottom left hand corner of the page, it doesn't stand out to the reader as it blends in with the background colour of the main image, this is a clever idea as this doesn't make the audience think about the price.

I feel that this frontpage is quite good, the contrasting colours of the main image and the text make the magazine look interesting and attractive.