Magazine Covers

On magazines the Editors main concern is what is on the cover. This is because the cover sells the magazine to the public, tells us what the magazine is about and it creates a brand image for the magazine; when we walk into a shop we can easily identify the magazine.

The Editor of Kerrang! appeals to the whole of its readership by including different sub-genres of rock, from indie to punk, this ensures everyone has something to read. As Kerrang! is generally read by teenagers , its main sell points are the free things they give away eg stickers, posters, calenders, exclusive interviews with favourite famous bands or musicians and the chance to turn a magazine into a collectors item eg. collect all five My Chemical Romance Covers, one member on each cover.

Sometimes Kerrang! features a CD, this is desirable to the general public and boosts sales up about 40,000, most of which are casual readers, the Editor then has to ensure that the magazine can keep the new readers. Mixmag magazine has a CD mounted cover each issue, however this pushes up costs of production which is passed on to the consumer, and also a huge amount of employees and work time so the CD is not low quality.

On a front cover of a magazine, the most important parts are the logo (title) and the sweetspot as this is where our eyes are drawn to first, they confirm the brand image and sell the magazine to us. Magazines have to be reassuring but different on each of their covers so the readership can identify it and also not get bored by repetition.