Magazine Analysis 3

Magazine Analysis 3

General

• The company that produces the magazine is VIBE.
• The target audience is around 16-25 for people that are interested in the urban/rap genre of music as most of their information and models on the covers are urban rappers.
• It costs £3.99 which is around the average cost of most music magazines.
• It has been published monthly since 1993, however it was shut down in 2009 but the founder Quincy Jones insisted she would keep the magazine alive as an online publication. 
• As of June 30, 2012, Vibe had a circulation of 300,943, of which 202,439 was paid, and 98,504 was non paid. 

The Cover

• The title/name of the magazine is called 'VIBE'. Originally, the publication had been called Volume before co-founding editor, Scott Poulson-Bryant gave it the name Vibe. Vibe is a very dominant and simple name but it gives people an insight to the genre of the magazine as the people who use the terminology like 'vibe' are associated with urban and hip hop. 

• The masthead/title logo is bold and stands out as probably the second most eye catching feature on the front cover because the model has to dominate the page. The use of bright red makes it stand out distinctively. Part of the masthead is covered up by the models head which could suggest the company are very confident that people already know the name of their magazine as it is such a well know magazine. 

• The magazine doesn't have a specific slogan or strap line, however it says at the top "All that was cool, crazy and crass". This headline at the top is basically summing up the year of 2010 and giving a brief insight/description to white happened in that year. 

• The main image on the front cover is of TI and he is a rapper which immediately ensures the customer what the genre of the magazine is. The posture and look that TI is giving is very intriguing, as he looking directly at the camera when the photo was taken. The way his hands are grasped together gives him a very stern, bold look. The lighting effects on TI's face and his shoulders are very effective as it look as if the camera shot has had some artificial light shining onto his face and shoulders. 

• There are no other images on the front cover which benefits the main image as there are no distractions when people are drawn to the magazine. The main image dominates the cover and there are no other images to look at, only the cover lines and title. 

• The content that is promoted by the cover lines is an exclusive interview with TI, News about Jay-Z's New York Takeover, Keri Hilson being a 'bad girl' and the miseducation of Waka Flocka Flame. Plus they are promoting free giveaways inside the magazine. 

• The typefaces (fonts) used are simple but effective as the colours of the fonts are white and red which stand out well on a blue background and they compliment each other as well. The sizes of the fonts vary which makes it more interesting to look at, also the fonts that are bigger than others are made bigger so they stand out more. Some fonts are bold and some are regular which they use to make the more important headline stand out. 

• The language features and devices I can identify on the cover of the magazine are quite informal which fits in with the genre and style of the magazine, which is urban/rap. The way the cover lines are used in various text sizes and colours are effective as they draw the customer's eye to the headlines. 

• VIBE does follow the same style/trend as other magazines such as RAP UP and RWD magazine, however VIBE have their own style but are only associated with the other magazines because of the genre that they all fall under.