Textual Analysis - Front Cover 5

5. Rolling Stone Magazine

The masthead shows the magazine name “Rolling Stone”, which is a very iconic and well known magazine. The dateline is in the top right above the masthead. The main image is of the actor Robert Downey Junior who is very iconic. Model credit is shown in front of the image as the main coverline. The coverlines are all to the left to give the cover depth and so that the reader can see all the stories. The main coverline is to the bottom left of the main picture. The left third if full with the coverlines and half of the masthead, this is to attract the reader to the magazine. The person in the main image is a very well known celebrity, this will also attract the reader to the magazine and the stories it contains. The target audience is for the more general population as it contains a variation of stories. The clothing is an orange hoodie which is saying that the story is going to be cold and dark; this is to subliminally tell the reader that the story is going to be interesting. The background is white to show that the person is more important than the background. The language used is quite informal to make people feel like a friends talking to them so that they’re more interested in the magazine.  The main image is slightly to the right to give the cover a stylish look and to give the picture more presence. Overall, the magazine has a more general style and appeals to a wider target audience and you could also say that because it’s very popular and iconic then it almost sells itself with its quirky, generic style.