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Overview

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KirstyMaeHarragan

The six magazine front covers all follow typical conventions like featuring a popular pop artist as the main image and including additional photos related to content inside. There are also repeated visual patterns across the covers like the artists smiling casually dressed and the masthead appearing in the same place with pink or white colors. Additional shared elements are feature article photos promoting posters, fashion or interviews, bold colorful fonts, and a consistent layout with images on the left and main text on the right. These repeated visual elements help maintain Top of the Pops magazine's recognizable brand identity issue to issue.

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Overview
Front cover overview All front covers are from 'Top Of The Pops' magazine and so they have all been designed with the intention of attracting fans of pop music. Through carrying out an investigation of them and comparing them to each other, it is possible to identify shared features within them and to establish repeated patterns. The six front covers all feature typical magazine front cover conventions. We see expectedgeneral and layout conventions, such as the main image dominating the front cover, sell lines surrounding the main image, feature article photographs which relate to the content and artists inside the mag, and a masthead in an appropriate style and font. In addition to this, we see other repeated patterns. Each of the front covers features a popular artist from the pop genre as the main image. This would attract a potential audience to the magazine, as they would see faces of their favourite artists and want to pick up the magazine and find more about them. This is emphasised by the fact that the main image consistently presents an artist who is generally popular, like One Direction, or popular at a given time due to a new single or TV exposure, like Cher Lloyd. When a band is featured in an image on the front, the artists usually fill the frame equally, showing that all the members of the band are equally important. We can see some other similarities in the mise-en-scene elements that are presented on each front cover; in terms of costume,the artists are usually all united by the fact that they're all wearing fairly casual choices of costume and tend to avoid wearing too many dark colours. For example, One Direction are wearing t-shirts, Cher Lloyd is wearing a bright blue top. Bright, feminine colours are used for pop magazines; this reflects the fun and upbeat genre of pop, and relates to the target audience of these magazines, who are fun, feminine and vibrant individuals. On the front cover featuring The Saturdays, all the members are wearing the same colours,but with differentstyles of costume;this links them as a band, but shows that they're individuals with their own unique sense of style. This is commonwith bands in pop magazines. Artists on the front cover are usually smiling, or pulling a fun pose,while making eye contact with the audience; they usually look relaxed, giving the magazine a friendly feel. Hair is usually kept fairly natural, and make-
up kept to a minimum. This relates to the youthful audience who would be reading Top Of The Pops,and wouldn’t be wearing excessive amounts of makeup. When bands are featured, a long shot is usually used in order to fit the whole band in, whereas a medium shot is used for a single artist, or a duo. The image of them usually fills the whole cover, and sits in the middle,or slightly to the right. Another shared feature among the six front covers is that they all include feature article photographs. Generally, these show artists that are going to be in the magazine, posters,or fashion sections.The fact that images are dominant on the front cover reminds us of the young pop audience who would be disheartened by a large amount of text, but respond well to visuals. Space on the front cover is devoted to presenting the posters, which illustrates how the typical pop fan likes to decorate their walls with pictures of their favourite artists. In each instance, there seems to be a fairly decentnumber of posters for the target audience to choose from. This vast selectionserves to suggestthat there are a lot of artists for the audience to enjoy in the magazine. On each front cover, the masthead appears in the same place. However, as Top Of The Pops has evolved the masthead has changed with the magazine. Making changes to the design of the front cover is something that magazines do in orderto continue drawing in audiences, and keep the magazine fresh. Pink and white are usually used for the masthead, with the exceptionof one magazine, which uses orange and white. The head of the band members is placed underneath the masthead; this suggests the success and popularity that Top Of The Pops has achieved as a publication, as it would be unwise to do this if the magazine was new, not established,or didn’t have a loyal fanbase. However, this only applies when the modelis above the masthead, not underneath. Another repeated feature comes in the form of the skyline at the top of the masthead, which is used to draw attention to the magazine, and gives a sneak-peek of an article in that issue. The main sell line is usually placed in the middle right, with a bright and bold font and colour scheme;the main sell line also links to the artist featured on the front cover, and is usually in the form of an interview. The most enticing words within the main sell line are biggerand bolder, for example, 'secret' and 'shock' are emphasised,and in a different
colour to other parts of the sell line. This is a good feature of the magazine as it allows the audience to see,at a glance, what will be featured in the magazine, and pull them into that issue. In relation to font, bold and feminine fonts dominate the front covers of Top Of The Pops,reminding us of the target audience, and highlighting the most important parts. Colour-wise, Top Of The Pops tends to stick to a similar colour scheme in each issue. Pink, yellow, orange and blue feature most consistently throughout each issue, and these colours are bright and fun which reflectthe pop genre, and the fun and feminine persona of the audience. Layout is also consistent across these six front covers, with images and sell lines placed on the left, the main image in the middle and the main sell line towards the middle right, usually in some sort of fun shape. The pug usually features near the main sell-line, directing the readerships’ eyes to it next. Having carried out this overview, it’s obvious that Top Of The Pops has its own unique brand identity and signature look that can be easily recognised byits target audience. This is maintained through the repetition of layout and style that features from issue to issue, and is a wonderful way of helping the magazine to sell and succeed.

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Overview

  • 2. Front cover overview All front covers are from 'Top Of The Pops' magazine and so they have all been designed with the intention of attracting fans of pop music. Through carrying out an investigation of them and comparing them to each other, it is possible to identify shared features within them and to establish repeated patterns. The six front covers all feature typical magazine front cover conventions. We see expectedgeneral and layout conventions, such as the main image dominating the front cover, sell lines surrounding the main image, feature article photographs which relate to the content and artists inside the mag, and a masthead in an appropriate style and font. In addition to this, we see other repeated patterns. Each of the front covers features a popular artist from the pop genre as the main image. This would attract a potential audience to the magazine, as they would see faces of their favourite artists and want to pick up the magazine and find more about them. This is emphasised by the fact that the main image consistently presents an artist who is generally popular, like One Direction, or popular at a given time due to a new single or TV exposure, like Cher Lloyd. When a band is featured in an image on the front, the artists usually fill the frame equally, showing that all the members of the band are equally important. We can see some other similarities in the mise-en-scene elements that are presented on each front cover; in terms of costume,the artists are usually all united by the fact that they're all wearing fairly casual choices of costume and tend to avoid wearing too many dark colours. For example, One Direction are wearing t-shirts, Cher Lloyd is wearing a bright blue top. Bright, feminine colours are used for pop magazines; this reflects the fun and upbeat genre of pop, and relates to the target audience of these magazines, who are fun, feminine and vibrant individuals. On the front cover featuring The Saturdays, all the members are wearing the same colours,but with differentstyles of costume;this links them as a band, but shows that they're individuals with their own unique sense of style. This is commonwith bands in pop magazines. Artists on the front cover are usually smiling, or pulling a fun pose,while making eye contact with the audience; they usually look relaxed, giving the magazine a friendly feel. Hair is usually kept fairly natural, and make-
  • 3. up kept to a minimum. This relates to the youthful audience who would be reading Top Of The Pops,and wouldn’t be wearing excessive amounts of makeup. When bands are featured, a long shot is usually used in order to fit the whole band in, whereas a medium shot is used for a single artist, or a duo. The image of them usually fills the whole cover, and sits in the middle,or slightly to the right. Another shared feature among the six front covers is that they all include feature article photographs. Generally, these show artists that are going to be in the magazine, posters,or fashion sections.The fact that images are dominant on the front cover reminds us of the young pop audience who would be disheartened by a large amount of text, but respond well to visuals. Space on the front cover is devoted to presenting the posters, which illustrates how the typical pop fan likes to decorate their walls with pictures of their favourite artists. In each instance, there seems to be a fairly decentnumber of posters for the target audience to choose from. This vast selectionserves to suggestthat there are a lot of artists for the audience to enjoy in the magazine. On each front cover, the masthead appears in the same place. However, as Top Of The Pops has evolved the masthead has changed with the magazine. Making changes to the design of the front cover is something that magazines do in orderto continue drawing in audiences, and keep the magazine fresh. Pink and white are usually used for the masthead, with the exceptionof one magazine, which uses orange and white. The head of the band members is placed underneath the masthead; this suggests the success and popularity that Top Of The Pops has achieved as a publication, as it would be unwise to do this if the magazine was new, not established,or didn’t have a loyal fanbase. However, this only applies when the modelis above the masthead, not underneath. Another repeated feature comes in the form of the skyline at the top of the masthead, which is used to draw attention to the magazine, and gives a sneak-peek of an article in that issue. The main sell line is usually placed in the middle right, with a bright and bold font and colour scheme;the main sell line also links to the artist featured on the front cover, and is usually in the form of an interview. The most enticing words within the main sell line are biggerand bolder, for example, 'secret' and 'shock' are emphasised,and in a different
  • 4. colour to other parts of the sell line. This is a good feature of the magazine as it allows the audience to see,at a glance, what will be featured in the magazine, and pull them into that issue. In relation to font, bold and feminine fonts dominate the front covers of Top Of The Pops,reminding us of the target audience, and highlighting the most important parts. Colour-wise, Top Of The Pops tends to stick to a similar colour scheme in each issue. Pink, yellow, orange and blue feature most consistently throughout each issue, and these colours are bright and fun which reflectthe pop genre, and the fun and feminine persona of the audience. Layout is also consistent across these six front covers, with images and sell lines placed on the left, the main image in the middle and the main sell line towards the middle right, usually in some sort of fun shape. The pug usually features near the main sell-line, directing the readerships’ eyes to it next. Having carried out this overview, it’s obvious that Top Of The Pops has its own unique brand identity and signature look that can be easily recognised byits target audience. This is maintained through the repetition of layout and style that features from issue to issue, and is a wonderful way of helping the magazine to sell and succeed.