COLOUR The Rolling Stone logo has been adapted into a hot pink colour which adds to the

femininity of the artist on the cover and reinforcing the appeal to their female audience. This cover defies the conventions of using the colour of the masthead onto the cover lines as well. By only using black and grey on the cover lines this draws attention to the colourful centre image and the magazine logo. Black is used on the more central selling points of the magazine as it stands out and draws attention to them first, with the grey giving an insight into the context. The white background gives it a sophisticated and modern look to the magazine. It also enhances the main image and the cover lines. The three colour palette of this magazine is hot pink, black and grey.

COVERLINES The primary cover line is Lady Gaga Tells All which attracts the audience because they are interested in celebrity perspective; this lures the audience in as they would want to know secrets about her life which suggests are only available in this magazine. The smaller cover line Obamas General | Why hes losing the war lures the audience as it suggests that the magazine know reasons other people dont. Summer Double Issue is a cover line above the masthead and indicates the magazine has more to offer than usual which is a selling point. Another cover line Wet, hot loud | 4 days at Bonnaroo relates to the music news which the magazine is famous for as Bonaroo is a U.S. music festival. This also leaves an enigmatic sense because listing the names of artists who were present will attract fans of their music: Elton John | Eminem.

AUDIENCE From this issue we can tell that the audience for the magazine would be adult men as they would be attracted by the nude woman on the cover. However, since Lady Gaga is an icon it would also draw in her female admirers since she is recognised for her flamboyant artistry. Rolling Stones target audience age is from 20+ since it often features controversial artists and news coverage as well as being politically informed (see Obamas General). Rollingstone focuses on pop culture and liberal politics which is published every 2 weeks. The magazine has built up a reputable magazine brand since the 1960s which draws in a regular readership. MAIN IMAGE The main image here is a recognisable music artist Lady Gaga which correlates with the music side of Rolling Stone which it is renowned for. This image is controversial as the artist is nude and only wearing a bra in the form of a gun for which she is holding. However this controversial and innovative image relates well to Rolling Stone who have always featured controversial images on their cover, the most famous for instant being John Lennon and Yoko Ono. This striking image aims at both a male and female audience who would be interested in the meaning why the artist chose such a niche pose and who are fans of her previous work.

FONTS The font used on this cover goes against the conventions of a magazine which corresponds to the typical rules of having a mixture of fonts and sizes. The font is nor male or female orientated and is all in upper case despite the height of the font so pragmatics wise is shouts on the page and grabs the attention of a glancing customer. The smaller cover lines use the same font which has been expanded in width and reduced in height to create a bulkier font to address the more persuading lines. Although this is not noticeable and may be mistaken for a different font it allows the same style on the tips of the font. This style conforms to the original 60s style of Rolling Stone, which the masthead font is in since its founding in the 60s..

BY SIAN LYNES THE MASTHEAD The central image of Lady Gaga is covering the masthead of Rollingstone which suggests that there is a certified readership and that it is still recognisable even if it is obscured. By having a bold and spaced out tag line of Summer double issue above the magazine masthead it draws immediate attention since the logo has been moved as it looks out of place. This is also a unique selling point as the audience feel they get more for their money and should be drawn to buy it as it is a special issue in comparison to other ordinary issues. The masthead logo creates the letter R as an ascender to give it a striking look. The close kerning of the masthead letters give it a theatrical look. The banner is placed directly right underneath the masthead so the audience can draw quick information about the specific publication of this issue such as price, website, and date and issue number.

SPACING & OTHER COMMENT On this music magazine, negative space is used such as near the main images knee and shoulder and legs. This allows the text not to look so intrusive to the image. It also adds exclusivity or rarity to the icon on the cover who remains the main focus point whilst conforming to the rule of thirds. Leaders are also used in the form of dashes between each cover line to move the audiences eye onto the next feature swiftly. The balanced look of the text and colours overall makes the magazine appeal more to a customer as it is not too busy and would not put them off buying it since it is not cluttered. I should use a similar approach when creating my magazine.