Section 1:
Elle magazine
The first thing I chose to look at was contrast. Above is the front cover and everything circled in pink is all the contrasts. Number 1 looks at the background and main title/header, the white background makes the black text stand out so you immediately notice what the magazine is called. Number 2 contrasts because they are two completely different fonts which have noticeably different widths. They have made the name “Katy Perry” stand out because she is the woman on the cover, so you know who she is. Although number 3 is the same font and size, they have made the width of the letters different to make the writing a bit more interesting. Number 4 has two different colours: red and black. The colour red is quite bold and goes quite well with white and black. Also, they have done the word “NEW” in bold red lettering to make it stand out. With number 5 they have used the colours white and black which are complete opposites, the white text is a lot bolder than the black text and is a different font as well. The black text is a lot thinner and narrower so doesn’t stand out as much. Number 6 is the difference in font sizes, the title “Elle” is extremely large compared to the text “September 2013”. This is because the date has less importance than the title. With number 7, there is black text and red text and a difference in font size which again is to give it more variation. Although number 8 has the same style font and size, they have used different thicknesses. Number 9 looks at the white background compared to the model’s (Katy Perry) hair. Another contrast is how saturated the model is compared to how desaturated the background is.
The second thing that I chose to look at was repetition. I circled number 1 because the colour black is used a lot on this front cover. However, that style of font used for “Elle” isn’t used again for any other text. I circled number 2 because apart from the text “Katy Perry” the rest of the text circled is used quite frequently on this cover. Although that text is used frequently, they have still altered the width, height and size of it to add variation and make it more interesting. Number 4 goes with number 6 because the colour red is used a lot as well, however, not as much as the black. Number 5 was circled because it had the most used style of font. Finally, number 7 was circled because it has the same font (style and size) used throughout apart from the numbers at the end of each sentence which have repeatedly been made bold.
The third thing I looked at was alignment. Number 1 shows the centre alignment and as you can see it goes straight through the the middle of the main title “Elle”,through the models eye and down the centre of her body. Number 2 shows that the website and the date of the magazine are in line with each other. Number 4 shows that all the text on the left is in line with the main title. Also, number 5 shows that all the text on the right is in line with the end of the main title. Apart from the main title most of the text has either right alignment or left alignment. There is different amounts of text on each side on the centre line, this makes is asymmetrical.
And finally I looked at proximity. All the pieces of text that are in close proximity should be read together. As you can see I have highlighted all the different pieces of text that are in close proximity and that your eyes would naturally read together.
Next I looked at a double page spread inside the magazine, here it is:
I found it a bit harder to label the alignment on the double page spread because there was a lot more content to consider. Number 1 on each page shows the centre line and as you can see the graphic designer has put an equal amount of images, boxes and text on each side of the centre line (apart from the two main photo on each page). Number 2 shows that the bottom of the text “hair” is in line with the top of the first small photograph. Number 3 shows that the bottom of the third photograph is in line with the the top of the next box of text. On the right page number 4 highlights that the top of the first text box is in line with the fourth photograph and that all the boxes of text alternate (higher or lower) in between.
I then looked at all the different contrasts. Number 1 highlights the different contrast between the background in the photograph, and the bright white background of the page. Even though the background in the photo is quite a light colour. Number 2 shows that both models (especially the one I’ve circled) are wearing quite dark clothes. This contrasts with how light the background is so makes the models stand out. In number 3 the boxes of text are complete opposites; there’s a black box with white text and then a white box with black text. This gives it variation. Number 4 is similar to number 3 in the sense that they have used black text with a white background and a black box with white text on top again. Number 5 shows that the designer has used different thicknesses with the same font to quite a big extent. This makes the page look more interesting as it would be boring to have the same font style, font size, thickness and colour. Number 6 is highlighting something similar to number 5 apart from there it is a different font. Number 8 shows that both the models have dark hair on this double page spread, I circled this as I think it was done on purpose to contrast the white background because I don’t think they would stand out as much if they had light hair. Finally, I circled number 9 because there are two different fonts used and different thicknesses also. However, because they are in close proximity of each other it is obvious that they should be read together.
As you can see here, nearly everything is in paragraphs. So you can see what is in close proximity and what isn’t. Another thing that is helpful is that at the bottom of the left page and the top of the right page the boxes are labelled “Step 1,2,3”. This makes the reader know what order to read the boxes. I have highlighted separately all the the different pieces of text that are in close proximity so should be read together.
Finally, I circled everything that was repetitive. There has to be a bit of repetition because the pages would look untidy if everything was different and it wouldn’t look right. I was unable to circle everything that was repetitive as it would be hard to understand the picture. So I only circled some. There were 5 different fonts used on this double page spread, so there was less repetition of fonts used then there was on the cover page.
Cosmogirl
The first thing I analysed was repetition. Number 1 shows a repeated font and a repeated colour throughout this magazine cover and so does number 2. Number 3 shows repetition of the colour pink which is one of the most dominant colours on this magazine cover. However, each piece of pink text has a different font so there is some differences. Number 4 shows the repetition of a concordant font. And finally, number 5 shows repetition of an image of a star, the same colour also.
Next, I looked at proximity. I had to highlight in two different colours because a lot of the boxes are overlapping and it would be confusing if I had used just one colour. A lot of the text that is in close proximity has the same font aswell so it is easy to see what is meant to be read together. Also, each piece of text has a lot of space around it so again you know what is meant to be read together.
Next I looked at contrast. Number one shows the contrast between different fonts. One is sans serif (cosmo) and the other one is script (girl) which gives it a more handwritten effect. Number 2 shows the different text colours used and the fact that the designer has changed the size of the font as well to give variation.With number 3 the model has a yellow skin tone and the background is purple, this means the graphic designer has focused on complementary colours which makes the cover look better because they complement each other. Number 4 shows the difference in font sizes that the designer has used. Number 5 shows the different font styles that have been used, these two fonts contrast each other which looks good and makes it less dull. Number 6 shows the different text colours used. “Jessica Simpson” is in white and the other piece of text is in black, these shades are on opposite ends of the scale so that is why they contrast. Number 7 highlights the different font sizes used because as you can see the number eight is a lot bigger than the rest of the text that is in close proximity. Finally, number 8 shows that the model has a yellow tinge to her hair and the background is purple, these are complementary colours.
The last thing I looked at involving the cover was alignment. Number one is the centre alignment and as you can see it goes straight down the models face, the designer has purposely done this because they obviously wanted the model (Jessica Simpson) to be exactly in the middle.Number 3 shows that that the line drawn underneath “cosmo” is where the top of the text box that says “8 true shockers”. Overall you can see that the designer has carefully planned everything out and has used right and left alignment.
The first thing you notice with this double page spread is the photograph. The photograph is in black and white so that is a contrast. The model has very light hair and the background is quite dark so it makes her stand out as you can see in number 1. The dark background of the photograph also contrasts with the light background of the page on the right as you can see in number 2. Another thing that contrasts with the photos dark background is the white text that is labelled as number 3. This makes it easier to read because it was be extremely hard to read if the designer had chosen a darker colour for the text. It also makes the text stand out. The model has extremely white teeth which is another contrast with the background and with the darkness of her eyes which is labelled as number 4. Again her white shirt contrasts with the background in number 5. A white background with black text makes the text stand out because it contrasts in number 6. In number 7 the designer has used different size text, different colours and has made the the subheading bolder. Although the text is concordant the designer has made the text more interesting by making some bold, some italic and changing the size. This is shown in number 8.
It was easy to see what you were meant to read together because the page was an interview, so it had the questions in bold, a bigger size and a different colour (either purple or pink). However, each question and answer has been put into paragraphs so you can easily see what is in close proximity and what isn’t.
All the text on this page is contrasting, this means there is either 2 or more completely different typefaces. The typefaces used on this double page spread is serif and sans serif. Number 1 shows repetition of the black sans serif text that is used for all the answers to this interview. It is the majority of the text. Number 2 shows repetition of the serif typeface that is used for all the questions. The colours used are pink and purple which is repeated throughout the page. And finally number 3 shows repetition of the colour pink that is used.
The alignment was pretty straight forward. The text on the right page was put into columns and had left alignment.
Section 2:
Elle Magazine
The first cover and double page spread I chose to do was the magazine Elle. The target audience for this magazine is women mainly from ages 18 to 49. It is a magazine that focuses on fashion, health, beauty and entertainment. So it covers a range of different topics.
The layout of the cover page is quite simple so isn’t very cluttered or busy. However, the double page spread has a lot more content, which is to be expected. There is a lot of white space used on the cover and the double page spread because all the text is spaced out so it is very easy on the eye.
On the front cover a lot of the text is in line with each other and the designer has used a lot of left alignment and right alignment. There is no centre alignment apart from the main title “Elle”. The model is the hierarchical figure as it is the first thing that you notice when you look at the magazine. The second thing that you notice is the main title, it is important to make the main title stand out so people remember what make the magazine is. The main colours involved in this cover are cool colours apart from red. The colours used are black, white and red. Most of the text is black and red with some white. And even the model is wearing black and white and is showing the bottom of her shoes which are red so everything is well co-ordinated. Even her hair is black. Little use of graphic ornamentation has been used. There is inclusion of institutional information such as a barcode and a website. The main colour scheme used is black and white, with a small amount of red. I think this is a very bold colour scheme.
On the double page spread the hierarchical figures are both the models as that is what the reader tends to see first. The designer has laid everything out on the page well because as I mentioned before there is a lot of white space and although there is a lot of content on the page, it doesn’t look cluttered. Unlike the cover page the only colours used for the text are black and white. I think that the designer has done this because there is a lot more text than there was on the cover so too many colours would make the page look too busy and wouldn’t be very easy on the eye.
Overall, I think that the designer has laid this magazine out really well. They have designed carefully and taken a lot of things into consideration such as: white space, fonts, contrasts etc.
Cosmogirl magazine
The second magazine I chose to analyse was Cosmogirl. It is a teenage spin-off of the women's magazine Cosmopolitan. The target audience is teenage girls, and the contents of the magazine is fashion, celebrities, advice and beauty.
I didn’t like the layout of the front cover. I thought that it didn’t have much order and everything was cluttered on the page. This means that white space wasn’t being used efficiently. There is institutional information included on the cover because there is a barcode. I definitely prefer the style and layout of the front cover of Elle.
The colour scheme for the cover page was purple, yellow, pink and white. Purple and yellow are complementary colours so the designer chose them carefully. I think that they also chose those colours because some of them are seen as quite feminine which is ideal for a young girls magazine. However, I think there were too many colours used and it just looked messy. Ornamentation has been included as there is random shaped text boxes like circles, and the “girl” in “cosmogirl” has been handwritten. The hierarchical figure is clearly Jessica Simpson she is positioned exactly in the centre of the cover. Different styles of typography were used as well. There was also some use of drop shadow on some of the text on the cover.
On the double page spread, the designer used contrasting typefaces this made it more interesting because if the designer used a concordant typeface the spread would look extremely dull. The hierarchical figure was again the photograph because it took up more than one page. So it’s obvious which path the readers eye would travel first. Pink, purple, black and white were the main colours on the double page spread which is relevant to the target audience because this magazine is appealing to teenage girls and pink and purple especially are the colours that you would associate with teenage girls.
Overall, I think that the designer laid out the double page spread better than how she laid out the front cover because I thought that the front cover looked cluttered because there wasn’t much white space. The magazine Elle’s front cover and double page spread was definitely laid out a lot better. Both magazines have airbrushed the photo’s of the models to make them look more attractive and hide some imperfections that the models might have. Both covers and double page spreads are asymmetrical because the graphics and text aren’t identical on each side of the centre which I have labelled when looking at alignment.
