Final Front Cover + Analysis

I chose the title to have a color gradient so that it would reflect the masthead, which is "palette", which implies that this art magazine has a variety of content, and also makes the reader sweep the masthead with their eyes. Blue is used to create contrast and bring attention to the masthead. In one way, this cover challenges the conventions of an everyday magazine due to its minimalist layout, however at the same time this is typical for an art magazine as this sort of style is what my audience responds to the best. 

The choice of image: the model wearing teen hipster fashion immediately appeals to my audience. I deliberately chose to have an Asian teenager pose in this because in my personal opinion, young people, let alone Asians are often underrepresented in modern media and youth culture as people with artistic skill, and as people who are able to deliberately reject the stereotypes instead of having to live under it. Thus, this was part of the reason I decided to write create this front cover and the DPS in a certain way. The model is standing in the middle, looking down and away from the camera, adding to the intrigue and mystery of the magazine. The model is posing in contrapposto which means that her weight is distributed only on one of her legs so that her figure looks more graceful, flowing and dynamic as opposed to her simply standing straight into the camera. She is wearing "hipster" clothes - the audience identifies with this (uses and gratifications theory). 

The background is in fact part of a textile art exhibition, its texture creates visual interest as it's not just a flat color. The caption next to the work of where I took the picture describes the artist's intentions with the work - the red connotes life, the blue connotes decline and the black connotes death. This resonates to my audience because this links to youth issues - the fact that there is a vast amount of red suggests the life and vibrant things ahead for teens, but instead the teen model is looking down at the black. Due to the way the elements are positioned, the visual point of interest is firstly the model and then the black at the bottom, so the eye movement reflects the model's pose.

There is a strong contrast between the blue masthead and the red background, which grabs the attention of the reader. 

The sell lines are brief but concise and specific - this is meant to intrigue the reader to find out more. Alliteration is used in "vintage values" which makes it more memorable and catchier.