Colour
The red in the cover adds to the effect of the word 'vengeance' in representing the anger of eminem which is also shown on his face. The black behind him represents darkness and the unknown. The house style of XXL uses very outstanding and clear colours: White on red which makes it very eye catching.
The National Geographic features a picture with very earthy colours in it such as brown and black surrounded by a yellow border which creates the effect of a frame. The brightness of the yellow contrasts with the picture and creates an added depth.
Design
The picture of Eminem overlaps the title of the magazine which shows that the company have faith in their brand being strong enough for people not to see the whole name. The font at the bottom has no fill which allows the editor to make the font bigger without blocking out the picture of Em completely. The house style of the magazine means the title is bold to stand out along with the bright colours, meaning it will catch potential customers eyes' in the shop. 'Eminem' is typed with the backwards E also which is Eminems trademark and shows how he is making this issue of the magazine his own.
'National Geographic' uses a basic font in white to appeal to its audience who arent bothered by bright colours and fancy fonts. The picture is placed behind the text but there is a lot of space to allow for the effect of the photo to be felt.
Images
Eminem is featured on the front of this XXL magazine because it is a hip hop magazine and he is a successful hip hop artist so the target audience will want to buy it to read about him.In the photo Em is looking quite aggressive (shown by his facial expression) which links to the sub heading about his 'vengeance'. The photo takes up the whole fornt cover which represents how big he is in hip hop and makes sure that theres no mistaking who is in the magazine.
The photo for the National Geographic is of an arabic girl with big blue eyes staring at the camera. It is a very well known photograph and is quite chilling to look at. She represents other foreign countrys and this will appeal to the target audience of people who are interested in other parts of the world.
Pose, style, hair, make up
Eminem is dressed as the punisher in this cover. This represents his entrance back to music to take back his throne after taking a lot of time off. He only has a rucksack on and he looks to be reaching into it to withdraw a gun. You can clearly see his tattoos including a skull on his chest to represent the punishser.
The girl just looks to be sitting down in the photograph while she stares at the camera. She is wearing an arabian robe with a hood up which adds an air of myteriousness. She isnt wearing any makeup which keeps to the tone of the earth and nature in the cover.
Composition and framing
The photo of Eminem is a midshot. The background is just black, representing darkness and the unknown, something Eminem has explored throughout his career. The first thing you notice is Eminems' face as he is in the top centre of the page, covering the title. Your eye then sees the title of the magazine and then the bottom header.
The photo for the National Geographic is a close up of the young girls face. It looks like it could have been cropped from a larger photo. I cant exactly tell whats in the background. It looks like a corridor. The first thing you notice is the girls eyes staring into the camera like shes looking into your soul. Then you notice what she is wearing and then the title and subtitles.
Written codes
Language
The language on the XXL magazine cover is very direct at the reader. It tells them exactly what the magazine wants them to know e.g. 'Vengeance is Eminem'. It also says 'special collectors edition' which is going to make more people want to own it.
The National Geographics only tells the reader what articles are in the magazine. This is them showing more respect to the reader as they are letting the reader make their own decision about wether they want to buy it, there is no fancy slogans or special offers.
Overall impression
The XXL cover does what it has to do. It shows off that there is an article about Eminem inside (even though there is no mention of the article on the cover) and that alone will make hip hop fans (the target audience) buy the magazine. People that may not be a fan of him will probably be turned off buying the mag as there is no mention of anything else inside.
The National Geographic is good as it grabs the audiences eye with a unique photograph, from there they can read the subheadings and find out wether what is in the magazine will interest them. The target audience of people who are interested in global issues will be happy with the cover but I dont think that its more monotone colour scheme and headings will interest any further audiences.
The red in the cover adds to the effect of the word 'vengeance' in representing the anger of eminem which is also shown on his face. The black behind him represents darkness and the unknown. The house style of XXL uses very outstanding and clear colours: White on red which makes it very eye catching.
The National Geographic features a picture with very earthy colours in it such as brown and black surrounded by a yellow border which creates the effect of a frame. The brightness of the yellow contrasts with the picture and creates an added depth.
Design
The picture of Eminem overlaps the title of the magazine which shows that the company have faith in their brand being strong enough for people not to see the whole name. The font at the bottom has no fill which allows the editor to make the font bigger without blocking out the picture of Em completely. The house style of the magazine means the title is bold to stand out along with the bright colours, meaning it will catch potential customers eyes' in the shop. 'Eminem' is typed with the backwards E also which is Eminems trademark and shows how he is making this issue of the magazine his own.
'National Geographic' uses a basic font in white to appeal to its audience who arent bothered by bright colours and fancy fonts. The picture is placed behind the text but there is a lot of space to allow for the effect of the photo to be felt.
Images
Eminem is featured on the front of this XXL magazine because it is a hip hop magazine and he is a successful hip hop artist so the target audience will want to buy it to read about him.In the photo Em is looking quite aggressive (shown by his facial expression) which links to the sub heading about his 'vengeance'. The photo takes up the whole fornt cover which represents how big he is in hip hop and makes sure that theres no mistaking who is in the magazine.
The photo for the National Geographic is of an arabic girl with big blue eyes staring at the camera. It is a very well known photograph and is quite chilling to look at. She represents other foreign countrys and this will appeal to the target audience of people who are interested in other parts of the world.
Pose, style, hair, make up
Eminem is dressed as the punisher in this cover. This represents his entrance back to music to take back his throne after taking a lot of time off. He only has a rucksack on and he looks to be reaching into it to withdraw a gun. You can clearly see his tattoos including a skull on his chest to represent the punishser.
The girl just looks to be sitting down in the photograph while she stares at the camera. She is wearing an arabian robe with a hood up which adds an air of myteriousness. She isnt wearing any makeup which keeps to the tone of the earth and nature in the cover.
Composition and framing
The photo of Eminem is a midshot. The background is just black, representing darkness and the unknown, something Eminem has explored throughout his career. The first thing you notice is Eminems' face as he is in the top centre of the page, covering the title. Your eye then sees the title of the magazine and then the bottom header.
The photo for the National Geographic is a close up of the young girls face. It looks like it could have been cropped from a larger photo. I cant exactly tell whats in the background. It looks like a corridor. The first thing you notice is the girls eyes staring into the camera like shes looking into your soul. Then you notice what she is wearing and then the title and subtitles.
Written codes
Language
The language on the XXL magazine cover is very direct at the reader. It tells them exactly what the magazine wants them to know e.g. 'Vengeance is Eminem'. It also says 'special collectors edition' which is going to make more people want to own it.
The National Geographics only tells the reader what articles are in the magazine. This is them showing more respect to the reader as they are letting the reader make their own decision about wether they want to buy it, there is no fancy slogans or special offers.
Overall impression
The XXL cover does what it has to do. It shows off that there is an article about Eminem inside (even though there is no mention of the article on the cover) and that alone will make hip hop fans (the target audience) buy the magazine. People that may not be a fan of him will probably be turned off buying the mag as there is no mention of anything else inside.
The National Geographic is good as it grabs the audiences eye with a unique photograph, from there they can read the subheadings and find out wether what is in the magazine will interest them. The target audience of people who are interested in global issues will be happy with the cover but I dont think that its more monotone colour scheme and headings will interest any further audiences.