XXL magazine analysis

By only having one main image on the front of the XXL magazine it straight away tells the reader about the audience which this magazine is attracting. The image used is very bold and immediately stands out. The image also gives off the dangerous sense by the confident strong stance the character is giving and the way he is dressed in full black gives the feeling of danger and threat. Also the way the character is towering over the buildings make him seem more dominant and serious. The colour scheme used on the front cover is quite plain and simple but the bright red attracts the reader’s eye and gives the sense of blood or danger which relates as well with the large image. By looking at XXL you can straight away tell the target audience and genre of the magazine. It is aimed at older teenagers mainly boys but also some girls interested in R&B/hip hop may enjoy it too. The large title has been put in the top left hand corner of the magazine and it seems quite hidden away from the image over lapping it. This makes the front cover look more image dominant as the image seems the most in control. The title instantly catches the reader’s eye and the way the image overlaps the text a small bit makes the reader look at the image after and know what the magazine is about. The artist name Jay-Z has been written in huge text just below him and is bigger and bolder than all the other text showing that this is what the magazine is all about.

The contents page of XXL is very similar to the front cover in which the images and title seem more important than the text. The main image of Rihanna a popular singer takes up the whole top half of the page. The way they Rihanna is standing and posing is quite laid back and chilled and looking directly at the audience creates a sense of rebellion. The title takes up the top part of the magazine making it the first thing the audience reads. The first letter of the title doesn’t have a capital letter and just says “the B-side” by not having a capital letter suggests it’s not a formal magazine and is quite laid back and casual. The headlines of the features in the magazine are in bold so that they all stand out to the audience and are not hard to find. The same colour scheme has been used on the contents as it has on the front cover with the plain background to make everything else stand out more like the image and text. The text is all in one block down the right hand side of the page which makes it seem lots to read however there is images which is bigger than the amount of text as there is hardly any text there. Unlike other contents pages which have the contents in three or four sections and a lot more writing which make it easier to follow and read.

This double page spread features of a stereotypically, male, R&B artist. This is the typical artist which XXL magazine target audience would be interested in. The main image takes up the whole left hand side of the double page spread and it shows the artist dressed casually, also sitting casually smoking a cigarette. This makes the page look very laid back and informal. However this image of Usher fits in well with the stereotype he is portraying. The way he has been positioned with the certain camera angle makes it so you can see his clothing and watch and how he is smoking a cigarette gives off the connotations of wealth. The text next to the artist is in a different font to everything else which attracts the reader’s attention straight to that. The word “GREATEST” stands out straight away which emphasises how important the word is. On the right hand side of the page is an interview with Usher, the whole interview uses lower case letters which makes the interview seem more informal and casual just like the image on the left.