Textual Analysis of Magazine Front Cover :)

The 'College Lifestyle' magazine denotes a coloured mid-shot photograph of a man holding two text books in one hand, posing and smiling while looking directly into the lens of the camera. It is a mid-shot because its a shot from the waist (we are not able to see his legs) to the top of his head. The background of the photograph is plain and grey. The photograph takes up the majority of the magazine cover.

The masthead of the magazine is in a large serif font at the top of the magazine and below the masthead in tiny little font is the magazine's website.

'Dancehall's bright future...' is the magazine's main cover line because it has the biggest and boldest font compared to the rest of the cover lines. Below that three more cover lines, they are all in smaller font than the main cover line. All the cover lines on the front page have a heading, E.g. 'WHY WE LOVE BLACKBERRY' followed by a sentence in relation to the heading, E.g 'And why it's all the rage on campus'.

On the right hand side of the magazine are four more cover lines with the same concept (the heading, followed by a sentence in relation to the heading).

On top of the magazine's masthead is the magazines selling line 'Your exclusive guide to everything hip, hop and happening...' Like a typical magazine, the selling line is in small font and does not really stand out. On the bottom of the left hand side is the magazine's barcode and below that is the price of the magazine, showing the amount in both US and Canadian dollars.

The magazine's masthead is interesting because the magazine is called 'College Lifestyle' by the word college is in a bigger font and more eye-catching colour (bright green) than the word lifestyle - which is in a smaller, white font. It brings to attention that the magazine's main focus is about college and education and the magazine is  public for anyone to read. The effect of the colour choice on the masthead is that it draws people attention immediately as the bright green allows it to stand out from the grey background. The green and white colour scheme is followed through the whole front cover of the magazine - the selling line, all the cover-line and website link.

The magazine front cover's main image is a photograph of black male that appears to be in his early/mid thirties. He is wearing a plain white t-shirt, dark denim wash jeans, he has a black blazer-type jacket with silver rings around the buttons and he has a long silver chain that reaches just above his belly-button; there is a large cross pendant on the chain. In this picture, although the outfit is simple and understated, it's still quite fashionable and draws attention. I would say that the chain draws the most attention. I think the outfit was made to be understated so that it does not over-shine the green and white colour scheme on the front cover.

The photograph used in the magazine does not convey the typical idea of college and education. The model is not represented to be 'geeky' with the glasses, sweater vests, acne etc. Instead, he is confident, cool and stylish. This goes against the stereotypical idea of people in education. He looks neats, tidy and well-kept. All these things would be in favour for a college magazine. The model's outfit or the way he is posing is not sexually provocative and would not be a cause for concern in an education institution.

The fact that the model is holding texts books immediately shouts out 'education'. When people take a closer look and see that one of the text books is titled 'laws, business and society' it confirms that education is someway involved. The way that the model is holding the books and poses shows that he is motivated with his education & is pro-college.