Cover Analysis #3

Analysis of PASTE cover

Another Indie magazine of which is not particularly dominant, yet popular, is Paste. I really enjoy this cover, which is my reasoning for choosing it to be my third cover analysis of this genre. Again, this was not a magazine I had heard of before finding it on the internet. It is not as simplistic as the previous cover, but far more than NME. The target audience is & primarily female age 16-26, as the magazine is youthful and contains conventions of which appeal to this particular audience. They would be stereotypically intelligent too, as multiple books are present on the cover, a feature of which would attract this audience. This cover targets people of white origin, as the male used in a positive way is white. Females tend to listen to this particular band more than males, hence the primary target of females. Though, I feel as though a lot of males in this crowd would look up to the front man, and so, the secondary target audience is males of the same age and origin. Again, the social grade is B-E. The feature represent the target audience in a positive way, of which they are pleased with and feel as though  the magazine represents them correctly; therefore the features are able to attract the correct audience demographic.

Against generic conventions, the masthead is not 1/8 of the page, but it is still obvious that it reads as 'PASTE' when half is covered by other magazines, which means that the audience is able to see it easily without hassle, regardless of the fact that it is not solely in the 1/8. The masthead resembles both a dip dye jumper and dip dyed hair, due to the dark to light gradient, both relating to Indie fashion, reflecting the fashion choices and appearance of the people who enjoy this genre. Through this, a large number of the audience will see themselves in the magazine and what they desire, and so they will purchase it. It also mimics a sunset, as it is dark towards the top and curves around, acting as the sun and rolling with the theme of the sun going down in the background. This is a connotation that when the sun goes down, people of whom are considered to be Indie come out. It is a common stereotype that they are nighthawks, having their fun during the evening and night. As Indie is associated with vintage fashion and old typewriters, the font of the masthead looks as though it has been typed with a typewriter, appealing to the stereotype surrounding the Indie scene. Something that surprised me and is not particularly common concerning this group of people, is the backwards 'E' on Paste. Usually, this is a device used to attract the young, particularly young teenagers, as there is a common misconception that they believe it is 'cool'. Though, this magazine, in my opinion, does this successfully, as it is sophisticated rather than tacky. Often with magazines that use the masthead to head the magazine like so, they will overlap the picture so it anchors the title, allowing attention to be focused on the subject of the magazine, as the magazine itself must already be quite well known to use this technique.

In terms of typography, the colour palette is suitable considering the genre. The main cover line is a warm shade of yellow, portraying the typical colour associated with the sun and summer, rolling with the theme. It is also a colour of positivity, igniting optimism within the viewers and encouraging them to listen the happy music. The font is, again, slightly vintage, portraying and representing the stereotype that people who are Indie are also interested in vintage clothing. There is a certain aspect of the text which looks as though i,t could have been written by a typewriter, an object often featured in 'Indie' photographs. The white and black text stands out in the way that it shows up well on the light background, and even though the lexis 'Death Cab' is a similar colour to the background and runs with the colour palette itself, it still manages to stand out due to the low opacity black lining which fades out.

The image chosen is a long shot and exceptionally busy, and I personally have not seen one so crowded on a magazine. There is a lot to look at, but they each connote different things of which are relevant to the magazine itself. The leaves and colour palette, (warm oranges, browns and yellows) connote the weather and season: autumn. This is often a season of which is associated with Indie, as different genres take on different seasons. Spring: Country, summer: Hip Hop, autumn: Indie, winter: Metal. Each season has a different tone and mood,and music to go with it, perfectly portrayed through this image. The front man of the band which is being featured appears to be intelligent with miss-en-scene, for instance, his glasses and the books surrounding him. This represents the target audience as intelligent and differentiating from the mainstream audience, which pleases them as a lot of indies are spiteful towards mainstream music, fashion, and anything that goes in that direction. His hair is also smart, though the target audience are commonly known to have hair that is different to this, though that is his personality shining through and attracts fans of the band. His posture brings me back to Mulvey's 'The Male Gaze'; both hands are in his pockets pointing towards his crotch, connoting sexualisation of the male. Though 'The Male Gaze' focuses on females being placed in the media for the pleasure of men, this theory has been reversed in this case. The male model has been used to please females, going against Mulvey's theory that it is solely females who are targeted. Though this is not as extreme as a vast majority of females on covers, it still embeds the theory reversed into its reasoning. Curtains as miss-en-scene suggest that it is the beginning of a show, an entirely appropriate prop concerning his career. It also invites the reader into the magazine, an important aspect every magazine must include; if they do not invite their readers in, their readers will not feel welcome and will not purchase the magazine. Contrasting to the previous magazine analysis, the subject of the article gazes directly into the camera to ensure when the readers see the magazine, direct eye contact is made, forming a relationship between the reader and magazine.

Typical concerning layout, the main image of the male has nothing interfering with the face. This ensures that the readers know exactly who it is, and that the model can easily be viewed, rather than the face being covered by writing. An unusual aspect, I found, is the barcode horizontally placed on the left of the magazine, as magazines commonly have this feature located to the right. Text lines the side of his arm, again not interfering with the model too much, giving a certain feel of three dimension, even though it is not 3d. I noticed that the lexis 'Death Cab' draws the eye of the viewer towards the male models crotch, which goes against Mulvey's theory that women are the ones who are sexualised and put in the eye of the media for the viewing pleasure of men, and in this case it appears to be the opposite, as the front man is the one who is being sexualised. This placement of cover line could also connote that men look up to his success.

In conclusion, I feel as though this magazine cover would be a brilliant style model for my own magazine. As I think that this cover and the previous cover contained features which would both be more than suitable to adapt and incorporate into my cover, I will use both of these as style models, and take specific aspects that are successful in appealing and representing my specifically chosen target audience. I would like to use a warm colour palette such as this, and attract intellectual beings.

Death Cab for Cutie- You Are A Tourist

THE INDIE BAND FEATURED ON THE COVER