Magazine Research 1

EMPIRE magazine Iron Man 2

The masthead for this magazine is placed at the top of the page and coving about one quarter of the page. The text is large and is in blocked capitals. The reason for doing this is this makes it stand out therefore more eye-catching for the reader. The colour of the text is white with a blue glow surrounding it. This means that it can contrast easily with the main image. The masthead is partially covered by the main image, but this does not affect the magazine as it is such a popular magazine that most people would know it spelt out 'EMPIRE'. Having the masthead covered slightly is a common convention of magazine covers, be it music, film or fashion, as it makes the feature of the magazine stand out. By having the man in an armoured suit in front of the text, it gives the audience the feel that he is coming right at us.

The main image is very effective as the 'man in the iron suit' is looking at the audience making it appear as if he is looking directly at them and so catching their attention. The protagonist eyes are glowing which also makes the reader want to look into them. Because of the expression on the face of the protagonist, the audience look at it and start to wonder. The main image is of the protagonist, the background is a blue colour, meaning that the attention is not taken away from the main image. If, for example, the main image was placed on top of a brightly coloured background or a background that was a place, the attention would go from the main image to the background.

The main image is of the protagonist in the film 'Iron Man'. The main image is there to catch the attention of an intended target audience. For readers that may not know anything about the film but find the protagonist very interesting, it is useful to have the name of the film going across the main image. This is so that anyone who did not know what the name of the film was now knows and may decide that they want to go to see the film

This particular magazine also contains a barcode, date, price but not a website. Having a website on the front of the magazine means that the reader can look at other forms of media, for example the trailer. The website would only have to be in a small font so that it would not deter attention away from the main image but would help an audience gain even more information if they wished. I think this magazine looks professional but think that if the magazine cover had some sell lines in a similar convention to most magazines then this would be even better.

Overview.