Magazine Cover Review

 My initial impression of printed magazines is that the cover image and featured article are crucial parts of printed magazines. They often go hand in hand with the featured article being hinted at with the cover image as well as with text on the cover. Both of these can be used to develop interest in the magazine as well as keep readers interested with new content. Advertising is also huge in the printed magazine industry with advertisements on what seems like every other page. 

    The cover is extremely important when it comes to printed magazines. It provides a lasting first impression that can develop the interest of new audiences as well as cultivate brand loyalty. In the Vogue magazine, they chose to feature Rihanna as the person for their cover. She is big in both the fashion and music industry which can draw a large number of fans of hers to become interested in the magazine and perhaps even become fans of it. In the Cosmopolitan magazine they tend to feature attractive stars, such as Joey King who was on the September issue of the magazine, as the cover to really capture the attention of the audience. Using stars for covers such as these can also influence big advertisement deals as companies and brands want to be associated with the likeness of the magazine as well as the star. In the article titled “Chances are you won't bother to read this article. It is just one long block of text, after all, unbroken by alluring pictures, snappy captions, or eye-grabbing infographics. You can't click it. You can't flip it. All you can do is read it. (Does Size Matter?)” it says, “Nonetheless, the increase in options has made it more essential for magazines to win readers' attention.” One can see from this that magazines try to capture readers attention often doing this with flashy magazine covers with bolded words and big stars on the cover. 

The featured article is also very important when talking about magazines. In the Rolling Stone magazine, an artist by the name of Lil Baby was featured as the main attraction of the magazine. This is huge because Lil Baby has a large audience who will most likely be interested in the article which will turn into interest for Rolling Stone. In the article previously mentioned Michael Scherer states, “They are filled with color, oversized headlines, graphics, photos, and pull quotes.” He is referring to feature articles which need to grab the attention of readers on the cover as well as in the article itself so that readers continue to read. In the Southern Living magazine, the feature article is not an article but rather a compilation of recipes to get their audience ready for the Halloween season. This can also bring in a plethora of advertisement opportunities for the magazine for cooking brands as well as food brands. The Better Homes and Gardens magazine also does this with Pinterest like ideas to get women with time and money prepared for the Halloween season. 

My current position on selecting a magazine for my portfolio project is that I definitely have a rising interest in it. When we recently looked at the magazines, I became tempted to pick magazine as my portfolio project. I am very familiar with magazines as I have read them my entire life and would probably be comfortable doing a magazine. I have always been a big fan of the GQ magazine and enjoy reading it. I am decent at writing and am pretty good with words and vocabulary. I’m sure I could figure out how to produce a good cover. However, with all that being said, I am still uncertain on whether I want to do a film or magazine for my portfolio project.