Textual Analysis cover page - TOTP

Top of the pops is a music magazine that is very much targeted at a young audience. The masthead is bright pink therefor it stands out a lot and also indicates that the magazine is predominantly aimed at females, also on the on the masthead are stars which connote fame and stardom.

The main cover line reads ‘Oh Boy, Its Bieber!’ this links with the main image of Justin Bieber. The use of Justin Bieber on the cover is extremely effective as it will appeal to the target audience of teenage girls. In the image he is wearing casual clothes that suggest that the magazine is a ‘casual’ read as appose to a really informative, overwhelming text. Also he is facing towards the camera and is almost smiling, this connotes that the magazine is light hearted, also the text; ‘the secret side of the superstar who just wants a cuddle’ will definitely attract the target audience as lots of girls are interested in his personal life.

There is also lots of images of famous celebrities surrounding the main photo, this is appealing as it shows that there are multiple things to read inside the magazine as appose to just one article. Some of the celebrities include Harry from 1Direction, Jay from ‘the Wanted’ and Tulisa. The male celebrities used will attract the target audience and also female celebrities will appeal because most teenage girls aspire to be like them.

The layout is quite random and scattered, this gives the impression that the magazine is informal and quite casual this is because it is aimed at a younger audience as appose to an adult audience who would be more interested in a formal, structured layout. The layout links with the colour scheme as the colours are very bright, bold and contrasting. The main colours are pink and blue which work quite together as they both stand out and contrast, also the blue links with the colour of the clothing Justin is wearing. The use of pink and blue is quite effective as the pink generally associates with girls whereas blue is commonly associated with boys, this could broaden their market as boys are less likely to buy something that is completely pink. On the other hand the main audience is girls so the use of pink and other more female orientated colours such as yellow is valid and will appeal to the target market. The text is mainly black and white so it is legible against the bright colours on the magazine.

The cover seems to work as a contents page as it has a lot of information on it about what is in the magazine, this works well in some aspects as it advertises the contents of the magazine to the customer without them opening it. On the other hand I think it makes the cover extremely clustered and compromises the visual aesthetics.

Overall I think the cover will appeal to the target audience very well and communicates the contents of the magazine effectively even though it looks really clustered and Informal. I think the colour scheme is really bold and will stand out to the consumer, and also appeal to the target market. I think the images used are really effective, as the use of famous celebrities will appeal to the target audience.