top of the pops analysis

Front cover analysis:

On this particular example of magazine, when following the route of the eye you see nearly every part of the magazine. Starting with the most important bit, the masthead to show the reader which magazine it is. This is very unusual because usually just the most important bits are put where the route the eye would follow is.

The masthead of this magazine ties in with the colour scheme of the whole front cover. The style is quite a complex font, but at the same time is it very read-able. Top of the pops magazine used the same font for many years and this has help to create an identity for the magazine and it is now very well known and recognised.

All of the storylines on this front cover are roughly of the same size and are in the same font so none of them are classed as the ‘main storyline’.  However the ‘You can be like Cheryl!’ story line is probably the main one. This is because it is in a pink circle which is a different colour to the rest of the page and it also relates to the main image.

The main image on the front cover is one of Cheryl Cole. This would automatically catch people’s attention if they were looking at the magazines in a shop because she is in the public eye and most people know of her, especially young teenage girls, as they may look up to her as a role model. There is a lot of other pictures, all of well known celebrities of which people would want to read about. All of these images are sectioned off to keep the cover organised and readable.

Although each story line is sectioned off, the cover still has a cluttered look about it. There are 8 main stories on the front, showing untidiness, like a stereotypical teenager. This shows that the audience is teenagers.

The colour scheme used on the cover is very basic, with mostly purple used and the odd bit of pink. The background is white to avoid people paying too much attention to the background and not the information that is on the front. This magazine would automatically catch the attention of a girly girl if she walked into a shop purely because of the colour scheme.

This magazine doesn’t have a separate contents page, but it does have page numbers on the front showing the reader where each article is that appears on the front. This is a unique feature to the magazine. Each number on the front is in a small black or white circle, and the only reason the magazine is able to do this is because of the amount of stories that appear on the front cover. Articles start straight from page 2.

Double page analysis:

The double page spread catches the audience’s attention straight away due to the title ‘behind bars’ this title makes the reader want to read the article because they will want to know what The Wanted have been doing to get a title like that. The title of the article links in with the band name because when someone if wanted they have usually committed and offence and warrant being sent to prison. The title is also in a very bold but basic font, it is slanted across the page and both of these factors add to the boldness of the title.

There is a very obvious colour scheme used on this double page spread, they use a grey background with red, white and black around the page. The outfits The Wanted are wearing fits in with this colour scheme and the whole theme of being behind bars.

The language used in this article is very informal like a teenager would expect from a magazine they would read. The sentences are short and sharp showing enthusiasm about the topic and a lot of punctuation is used to emphasise this.

The image created on this double page spread is that of fast pace worry like they are panicking about something. This is created through the theme, use of pictures, punctuation and the use of words.