rolling stone front cover analysis

   

Route of the eye— the route of the eye goes along the masthead at the top through the main picture of ke$ha which takes up most of the route of the eye and along the bottom of the page where there has been no text placed which is very unusual as this is where the cover story  is placed but instead has been placed in the top left corner of the cover.

Layout— the layout  used is a very common layout, the masthead is located at the top of the magazine and is the largest font on the page. The main picture of ke$ha  takes up most of the of the page but is located more to the right of the page with all cover lines down the left side of the page vertically aligned. The picture has been brought to front as the top of her head covers part of the rolling stone logo, this is a common feature of magazine covers to have the  picture cover part of the masthead. There is no text across the  bottom of the page, which is unusual  as many magazines use this space to advertise the cover story.  The layout of the page is ordered  with all  the cover lines vertically aligned down the left side of the page.

Camerawork— a close up shot of ke$ha has been used as the main shot on the front cover, it’s a close up as you can only see her from chest upwards. A close up is used as she is a famous star and so by using a close up she is easily recognisable and is a big selling point for rolling stone.  The shot is in black and white which is an unusual technique for a front cover which is nearly always shot in colour, however it does fit well with the dark colour scheme used on the cover. Another  unusual part of the shot is that you can only see one side of her face which is unusual for a close up on a front cover where  usually the whole face will be shown.

Typography— the rolling stone logo is the largest font  on the cover which is usual as it’s the masthead . The logo is the same as used in every issue. The cover story is the second biggest font on the cover and is  bold and in complete capitals as is the stand first  unlike the rest of  the cover lines which are in  normal sans serif font. All cover lines keep the same font throughout the cover and the same colour which keeps a consistent look about the magazine.

 Colour– the colour scheme used on the cover of this issue is predominately black and white , as the picture has been taken in black and white to fit the colour scheme and all the cover lines are in white text . The masthead is still in red font as this is the colour of the rolling stone logo in every issue and so has not been changed, this also helps it stand out more from a dark background. There are also orange lines used to separate the cover lines from each other but neither the red masthead or orange lines are particularly bright  which fits with the dark colour scheme used.

 Mode of address– the magazine does not directly speak to the audience due to the large target audience rolling stone has it would be hard to direct such a vast and different audience. The language used in the magazine is formal as it also talks about films and politics and so has an older target audience than a magazine like NME which has a young target audience.  There are no words at all  directly  aimed at the audience E.G. You and we. Although the language is formal the word ‘sleaziest’ is used in relation to the ke$ha article which suggest some articles are more aimed at specific target audiences inside the main target audience.

 Mise-en-scene—there are no props used in the shot and no special background used. This is so none of the focus is taken away from the cover artist (ke$ha) , which the editors believe is a powerful enough image to sell the magazine without any props or backgrounds. The clothes used are her own and she isn't wearing a special outfit for the photo shoot, however her clothing is dark which fits in with the colour scheme of the magazine cover.