Coursework Magazine Analysis and Research Part 1

Masthead

The masthead denotes the words 'Sun' and 'Magazine' in a basic serif font, as well as a conventional use of captions. The mastheads use of colour is interesting, the washed out cream colour is used. 'Sun' and 'Magazine' are essentially self explanatory, due to the large font size it's recognizable as the title of this particular magazine. What's more interesting however is the use of a serif font. Being as this is a folk magazine; the serif font could connote how serious the editors and readers will take that particular genre, perhaps leading us to say that this magazine is quite upmarket, due to its specialist audience. This point could also be backed up by the magazines anchorage as a folk music magazine, a genre stereotypically defined as 'hippie' perhaps. Whereas the serif font does connote a degree of precision and professionalism, perhaps going against the grain with what we typically think of folk music. 

CVI

This is the CVI of the image. It denotes 3 people stood smiling. What is interesting about this use of the CVI is that it goes against the usual conformities of a music magazine. Typically a glamorous woman that is presented as sexually available and thus objectified. If we take that conformity into account, this particular CVI is striking, due to the absence of models and or well known personalities. This I believe is due to the anchorage in genre. Being a folk music magazine cover, we could again say that the audience is very specific, as opposed to a mainstream celebrity obsessive magazine audience. What is also noticeable is the apparent lack of Photoshop on the CVI, in particular the absence of the spot healing tool. Connoting to me, that the focus is on the music itself, rather than the appearance of the musicians