Textual analysis of a magazine front cover

Denotation
In this magazine we see the main image as a medium close up of Tinie Tempah wearing a
pink suit with sunglasses on. We can see that he is looking straight at the camera in a
serious way. We can also see how they have used a bland grey colour for the background.
They have made the masthead Q very large in the left third of the magazine in front of a
light red square. We see that the main cover line is TINIE TEMPAH in white, which covers
most of the bottom half of the magazine. The barcode has been placed at the bottom left of
the magazine. We also see the cover line #01 of 25 covers to collect in the left third in black
in front of two sky blue box. At the top right of the magazine we see THE MUSIC THAT
CHANGED MY LIFE in black in front of a sky blue box. We also see a list of artists down the
right
Masthead-
Simply for this magazine the masthead is Q. They have made the masthead very distinctive
with the Q in white with a red background. The red background shows that the magazine is
more masculine as red is often associated with such things as fire and blood, which is often
in games such as Call of Duty which has a much bigger male than women audience. Also by
putting the masthead in sans serif font, which shows that it is a more modern magazine as
it, is a simple yet effective font.
Composition-
Tinie Tempah is posed in a sophisticated way as we see him wearing a suit and putting a tie
on which suggests he is intelligent.
Costume
We see him wearing a pink suit doing up his tie and wearing sunglasses. The clothes he is
wearing has been chosen for the target audience which will mostly be male, but as his suit is
pink it also shows a feminine touch which shows that they also appeal to women. By
choosing sunglasses with a suit it shows that it appeals to a younger generation, as the
stereotypical view of an elderly person is someone who dresses smartly but not with
sunglasses.
NVC
His non-verbal communication is very serious, as he is looking straight down the camera.
Lighting
They have used a High-key lighting to make it look natural and make it look like its daytime.
Setting
The have gone for a simple setting with the background a bland light grey colour which
keeps to the seriousness of his look.
Cover-lines
The main cover line is Tinie Tempah X which relates to the images, as its the name of the
person in the image. The cover line The music that change my life shows how music
become a big part of Tinie Tempahs life as thats one of the cover lines that he wanted the
magazine to put on the front cover as it means so much to him. The other cover line 01 of
25 covers to collect2 which relates to the collectors edition cover line as they want
people to know that it is a special occasion for them.
Target audience
Considering all of the other points the target audience would be younger males (aged 15-25)
as they have included a singer that people in that age group would mostly listen to, also
have a list down the right-hand side of singers and bands that mostly males in that age
group would listen to.