Research: Front Cover Analysis 3



As seen in many magazines the main central image is overlapping the mast head.

Hyper reality has been utilised as Keith Urban has been photo shopped to have less wrinkles etc. note that he has no creases in the skin at the age of 45 which defies human nature hence its term "Hyper Reality."

 

Keith Urban is an ideal inspirational figure to the country music fan base as he himself is middle aged much like the country demographic from my questionnaire and possesses a successful marriage bond with Nicole Kidman and has two kids. Clearly he is a family man and is a desirable male for females and a inspirational male for middle aged men as he is successful artist and lives a happy life with his family bearing in mind most middle aged men already have kids and are married inspiring them to do more for their family as Urban describes in his songs. This is supported by the magazines description of him as a "Country Idol".

As mentioned before artists that are mentioned on the front page are inspirational figures in the industry which are the country music demographics' idols according to Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs theory, in this case giving to charity is something country music fans like, hence why it is on the front cover. This also supports the fact that the country music fan base are simple & unmaterialistic as shown in songs and is pushed as part of their "ideals".

The three colour palette of choice in the Country Weekly varies between issues but the Masthead remains the same as white but in this issue the colours used are red, white and grey again not vibrant sharp child like colours but more mature darker noir colours excluding white. This use of colours  is becoming consistent in my analysis of country magazines and i am seeing a correlation in dark mature adult colours in country music magazines. This suggests that in order to cater to the country demographic, colours must be dark and not too vibrant or child like but noir and nevertheless still interesting.

The main article that anchors the main central image is coded via its use of white, and other articles that surround the main central image are coded in yellow. This helps give the magazine the feeling of being crammed with content.

Country fans obviously want to have detailed information about their favourite artists like Keith Urban as he is talking about his past etc. and also other artists and their personal life e.g. "What's your favourite song Keith?" (example of one of the gossip questions).