Magazine cover analysis

Write a detailed analysis of this 'Doctor Who magazine' front cover using the 12 key conventions from the notes. For each one, explain the purpose of the convention and the effect or impact it has on the audience.

Title of publication: The title of publication is Doctor Who Magazine. The size of the font is relatively big but the main actor's head slightly covers the title. This is because of the huge popularity of the TV show which makes the title recognizable despite it being slightly hidden. The font size of 'magazine' is significantly smaller than 'Doctor Who'  as it is fairly obvious that the print is a magazine and to focus the reader's attention on the fact that is Doctor Who related.

Slogan:  'Celebrating 50 years in space and time' is the slogan used for the magazine. This indicates that this is the overall topic which the magazine would be focusing on. It is short and as the relevance to space and time is always repeated in each of the magazine issues, it will be remembered by the readers.

Central image: The central image used is the current doctor but in the background, two of the previous doctors are also shown. The fact that the current doctor is in the middle, supports the tagline, 'The doctor's past comes back to haunt him...' and assures the audience that the focus will be on the current doctor. As the previous doctors are still in the picture, this shows that they are rather important as well. The facial expressions of the characters on the magazine portrays serious emotions which foreshadows the atmosphere of the particular episode and the content of the magazine.

‘Flash’ / Cover Line / Sell Line: There are several cover lines used on the magazine but the most important one seems to be 'Matt Smith & David Tenant exclusively chat to DWM about the biggest TV event in the history of the universe'. This would attract many people to buy the copy of the magazine as Matt Smith and David Tennant are very famous actors who people would be curious to find out what they have to say about this special TV event. Also on the right hand side of the magazine, free gifts and prizes available to win are advertised to influence people to buy the magazine.

Free Offer: The free offer is displayed on the right of the magazine. The text used are relatively big and they stand out due to the font colour being red which attracts attention. Also pictures are used to show the readers what exactly is inside. All the advertising of free gifts is located inside a brown box which is a different colour to the actual background. This makes it more prominent so the readers will be able to immediately notice the free gifts the magazine offers.

Colour scheme: The colour scheme consists mainly of four colours; black, red, white and brown, with variations of the specific colours being used.The colours used depicts the overall vibe to be mysterious and emphasizes the genre to be sci-fi. The red not only highlights the free offers and important information to know but it also may have connotations of the episode having some dangerous elements to it.

Name Checks:  The names of the famous actors that are going to be featured in the magazine are shown in a different font colour. This draws attention to the names and allows the audience to recognise the actors more quickly which may influence fans to buy the magazine, whether they are just fans of doctor who or fans of the actors.

Language:  The words that are used on the front cover seems to be very scientific which shows the great relevance to the TV show. This means that the fans of the TV show are the main target audience for the magazine. Also, as there are many references to the past, this may mean that previous fans of doctor who, who may be of an older generation may be interesting in this magazine as well.

Competitions: The competition is not specified in the actual front page maybe because if the competition is difficult, it may not attract people to buy the magazine. However the word 'win'  is brightly highlighted in red which will make the readers curious as to what the competition is which may make them buy the magazine, especially since the prize is clearly shown of the front.

Direct Address & Asking Questions: There aren't any direct addresses and questions on the front of the magazine, maybe due to the already largely established fan base of the TV show. However, the word 'exclusively' makes the readers feel that they are very special to be able to read what is the magazine exclusive.

Bar code, Date and Price:  The barcode, date and price are significantly smaller than all the other words on the page so there is not much attention drawn to it. This may be because of the high price of the magazine being £7.00 may drive away buyers. The less attractive features such as the price, unless it is very cheap, will always be quite small to avert the attention away from the price. Also the barcode is not too big so there is space on the page to include everything that is needed to include. 

The ‘Real’ Target Audience: The real target audience of the magazine may be primarily young males around the ages of 13 - 25. This is because, the sci-fi genre is increasingly attracting those of a younger age as it is very interesting and thought provoking. The official target audience may be slightly older such as 17 - 40 due to doctor who being a long running TV show that has been very popular over the years.