How do magazine front covers use denotation and connotation to attract their intended audience?

How do magazine front covers use denotation and connotation

to attract their intended audience?

The magazine front cover Vibe, is very bold, strong and eye-catching. First of all we can tell from the front cover that the magazine is mainly aimed at men, ranging from about the age of 15 to 25. The men would generally be interested in rap music, gangs, parties, drugs. The fact that it is rap music shows that it is mainly aimed at men because men are generally more interested in rap music than women. However some people may argue that women would want to buy this too.  We can see that the men would be working class because the front cover looks fairly cheap and doesn’t look like the sort of magazine a rich person would buy. Also the language is very genre specific ‘Vicodim. Valium. Methadone.’ And ‘Swagga Jack.’ If you didn’t know anything about this genre of music then you may not necessarily understand it, therefore would not want to buy it because it would not appeal to you. Because of the fact that the headline is very bold, strong, confident and in your face, it represents how a man would want to be towards other people, therefore the title ‘Vibe’ would appeal to them.

The colour scheme of the front cover is red, black, white and grey. These colours represent danger, especially the colour red. The fact that the title is a very bold, graduated tone of black and red shows a kind of power. The men reading this would want to show that they have got power over other people therefore the title will really attract them.  The font all over the magazine is in capital letters. Capital letters also give the readers a sense of power because capital letters are much more bold and strong compared to small letters. The most important or interesting words are the colour red. This is because red stands out and because it stands out this is most likely going to be the thing that the readers read first. The editor of this magazine wants the readers to see the most interesting bit before all the other writing. All around the edge of the image are little tasters of what’s inside the magazine, it gives hints of the different stories inside. The reader will be able to see what’s going to be included, therefore more likely to buy it.

The image on the Vibe front cover is an image of Eminem, which looks like a professional photograph taken for specifically for the magazine. This is the only image on the front cover and it is centred and the main focus. The image is the first thing the readers will see and because Eminem’s head is centred forward in front of the title, means that the readers will see the image even before they read the title. Eminem’s face is angry looking and very powerful looking, he is staring right at the reader as if he has complete control over them. Also because Eminem is folding his tattooed covered arms this represents the control he has over people. The tattoos on his arms will appeal to this genre of readers because the men viewing this will want to be like him and it is stereotyped that you are hard and can rule if you have got loads of tattoos. The readers of this will also want to feel as if they have complete control over people. Eminem has very strong body posture and this is like most rap artists and rap fans. Eminem is wearing a black vest top, the black vest top matches the colour scheme of the magazine and also the fact that it is a vest top represents a certain powerful status in society. Because generally you only see ‘strong, hard’ men in vest tops to show off their muscles and to show off their body.                                                                                   

The language used is very genre specific and because loads of artists are named on the front cover, this means that if you are not into this type of music then it will not relate to you and you will not want to buy it. Therefore it is directly aimed at male teens and early twenties. Also the fact that it says ‘Is 1998’s rap’s last classic year?’ shows that it is also aimed at those a bit older than teens because there’s a high chance that teenagers won’t necessarily know about rap back in the late 90’s. The editor also uses slang, for example instead of the word ‘and’ they use ‘&’. This creates and informal, friendly, conversational atmosphere for the readers and will make them feel as if they are part of the magazine and involved with it.