Magazine cover analysis
Dazed & Confused
This magazine cover for dazed and confused features Beth Ditto, seemingly naked wearing nothing but a wired necklace consisting of over twenty cut outs of what seems to be the mouth of the iconic Andy Warhol- Marilyn Monroe print. This also used to cover her own mouth to make it look as though the mouth is hers although slightly out of proportion it does at a glance look like it could be her own. The pop art element to the cover relates to the idea that audience would be avant- guarde and alternative. It also bring the reader back to the sixties by pairing the lips and a modern take on the iconic sixties make-up. Also the hair style that she is sporting is again a modern take on the original crop haircut of the 60s. The front cover image is very effective on using vintage ideas and modernising them.
I have noticed through research that the more sophisticated magazines are more likely to use on main image for the cover and not use images to show the supporting stories that have been used. So as my magazine incorporates a similar target audience to dazed and confused I think will choose to only have one image on the cover as I think it makes the magazine look more artistic and classy and less commercial and pop. This is another magazine that keeps to a limited number of colours and fonts because it creates a much more artistic and sophisticated tone. Yes the use of font is still very modern and urban especially in the ‘kiss this!’ title. Also the background of the image supports the tone of her skin and doesn’t detract from the main image.
The use of colour and contrast shows clearly the target audience is a young one, and the support bands on the cover are other bands that will appeal to this audience. The use of the fading font which graduates into a solid colour could be symbolic of the idea that the people that read the magazine are the sort of people that don’t want to fade into the background.