Textual Analysis - Life Magazine Cover

Textual Analysis - Life Magazine Cover

Published on December 24, 2004

Masthead:

The masthead creates visual branding which is a very iconic logo for the magazine. The masthead is in front of the main image which makes it stand out among other magazines on the shop shelf which jumps out more to the audience than other magazines since it is easier to find.

Cover lines:

Life magazine doesn't use many cover lines over their magazines because they focus more on the main image because it focuses on 'life' - the person or people in the magazine. The little use of cover lines Life magazine uses doesn't run over the image, they are very minimal and are kept in a space away from the subject of the image. The cover lines on this cover utilises the enigma code which makes the reader want to read on what Bill Murray has to say in an article within the magazine. A reason why Life magazine probably doesn't use man y cover lines is because of how well-known it is, they don't need cover lines to get people to read it, there are lots of people already reading it. Another reason why they don't use cover lines is because of the main image. "a picture speaks a thousand words", the main image immediately creates a sense of intrigue to the audience as they would ask question like why Life used the image?, whats the significance of the image?, etc.

Main Image:

The main image lets the reader know who the majority of the magazine is going to be about. Also, using Bill Murray's face on the front of the magazine will make it appeal toward the fans of his work as well as making the magazine stand out as the image isn't a traditional type of image, the image represents his personality as he is pulling a funny face on the cover which reflects his comedic personality. It invites the audience, the image isn't something to worry the audience, it is something to invite the audience into reading the magazine since it isn't threatening them.

Who would buy this magazine?:

The magazine looks to appeal to older audiences, between 30-50, since it is a well-known magazine from the 1930's so the older audiences would of read it from that time onwards. The main image is also Bill Murray so that would make it to appeal to older audiences since he was more all known in the 80s so people who are in their 30s would like to read about where he is now.

Life magazine is appealing to both genders since the articles in Life magazine are very broad between different issues - one issue will be more appealing to women and another will be more for men. This particular issues looks to appeal more to men than women since the majority of Bill Murray's fans are men. 

On the socio-economic scale, this magazine is targeted at C1, B and A's since the magazines have in depth articles which more intelligent people would benefit from and doesn't have gossip in them like other magazines such as Hello! and OK.