Textual Analysis Of Image

Vibe is a music and entertainment magazine which was launched in 1993 by its founder producer Quincy Jones. It is a widely known mainstream magazine and has previously had features of many famous music artists for example Beyonce, Mary J Blige, Chris Brown and Kanye West. From the front cover of this magazine you can see that the target audience ranges from the ages of 16-25. The magazine also looks as if it is mainly targeted at men; this is shown through the main focal image of an R&B singer Mariah Carey in a 2-piece bikini. The main focal image also portrays sexual connotations as bikinis often represent a sexy image. The main focal image of Mariah Carey is also effective as she is using direct address by looking at us to engage with the audience. Although the main focal image is appealing to men, feminist wouldn’t share the same opinion as they would think the image is too revealing and is representing women in a negative manner. The magazine also is a summer addition as it was issued in June and has an image of a beach in the background.

The front cover of this magazine has a lot of sell lines. The sell lines include a fashion section; this is very appealing for the younger generation as they are mostly the ones that are known to be fashion conscious. On the right side of the front cover the sell lines include a couples section for example Jay-Z & Beyonce do the ‘I do’ and Are Chris Brown and Rihanna next? These sell lines are valuable as the younger audience like to know gossip on celebrities. The right side also includes sell lines of music artist which more or less produces the same genre of music.

This specific front cover uses bright vibrant colours which correspond with the background image of a beach. The layout also only has a few colours: yellow, orange, red and white, although only 4 types of colours are used the text is clear and standout in front of the background image. The typography in this front cover varies as the main focal images name ‘Mariah Carey’ is in a much stronger and bolder typeface which is easy to spot. The numbers are clearly in a different type of typeface which Vibe magazine editors tend to apply in most of their magazines.

The front cover also subverts typical conventions of magazine front covers as the masthead is placed behind the focal image and has a conventional layout with a limited amount of colours. Another way in which it adheres to typical conventions is through the use of barcode and website.