Sunday, 29 October 2017

Magazine Cover Deconstruction

Media is definitely a platform which has the ability to alter the way we see things, whether this is with Photoshop or how they layout the text. What is on the cover can foresee the content of the magazine and immediately tells the viewer what type of magazine it is, whether it is music, fashion, lifestyle etc.

As we have focused on 'The Big Issue' this past term, it was only fitting to deconstruct one of their own front covers which regarded the situation with Brexit.

Image result for The big Issue magazine brexit abba

The cover displays the following politicians; Nicola Sturgeon (Scotland's prime minister), David Cameron (Britain's prime minister), Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage who were prominent leave campaigners. 

Already knowing about the views of 'The Big Issue', it is very obvious that they would be against the idea of Brexit and they express this by using the politicians in a mocking form by using an inter-textual approach and replacing the ABBA members heads with theirs. The reason they could've done this is because ABBA was a Swedish band who were very popular in Britain in the 1970's and you could say that the EU really brings together Britain and Europe the same way ABBA did.

They have also associated famous song lyrics with a politician which also corresponds with the referendum. Nicola Sturgeon says "Breaking up is never easy, I know" this quote links well to the idea that if the UK leave the EU, Scotland will then be able to leave the UK meaning she gets something beneficial from Brexit. David Cameron has the quote "Knowing me, knowing EU" which is a play on the word 'you' again supporting the idea that 'The Big Issue' doesn't take the referendum seriously.

The cover includes gold, glitter floor where they stand upon. You could say it could just be a dance floor, however the connotations behind the gold could represent wealth and glamour. This detail could imply that if we were to leave the EU politicians like them may barely be affected by Brexit compared to the general public.

Overall, 'The Big Issue' has painted the idea of Brexit in a very negative light so that they can persuade you with more of a bias perspective. This is a good example because when you deconstruct the cover you can pick out all the ways they get their messages across.


Another magazine cover we could deconstruct is from 'Q' magazine where their focus is more towards the music industry.


From this magazine cover you can first see Jay-Z who is a very famous rapper and music producer meaning that this issue could concentrate on rap and hip hop, or even maybe new artists who are now on his label.

Another feature of the cover which is almost as prominent is the 'Q' logo. This allows us to instantly identify what magazine it is when purchasing. The typography of the cover is mainly red and from the colour theory post, red could symbolise importance. With many names printed in red shows that they are famous and are special features of the magazine. The font is also in a plain bold theme allowing words to be easily identified when reading above of the large image.

To conclude this post, I have found that magazines can hold a lot of implications if you pick apart various features and how they lay out on the page. Different magazines have different ways of getting viewers to purchase their product as well as appealing to their interests and this is done by colours and images.




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