Front Cover Analysis

 Essence is a monthly magazine for African-American women between the ages of 18 and 49.

The magazine covers fashion, lifestyle and beauty. 

The Masthead which is bold and is the Same typography with all the different Issues in the Essence Magazine which allows it to be recognizable to the readers, the colour's Pink, yellow, white complement the Image of Solange Knowles, allow her to stand out instead of being washed out by the colours also the use of these colours insinuate that the magazine is girls only.

The Picture of Solange is underneath the title which tells me that if the masthead was covered it would not be as recognizable as it is now visible to readers. The bold typefaces draw the reader’s attention with the rule of direct mode of address making the dominant image look to the audience. ‘Essence’, it is necessary to create a catchy headline that hooks your target because with a busy schedule ahead of us almost nobody has the time to read the whole article. This magazine cover has different type font’s as fonts can give visual clues about the order a document should be read in and which parts are more important than others.

All of the sell lines are in white so it stands out as the background image is blue. These simple uses of colour make a significant impact on the person browsing the magazine, they help illustrate and accentuate the contents of the issue and they help us keep a pulse on what professional designers are doing with colour. The word ‘BLACK HAIR NOW’ is in the colour pink so it stands out to the reader’s to show importance of the issue. The profile shot of Solange Knowles is the main image of the magazine cover. Connotations are Black Beauty, health, Natural Beauty. This magazine is for one’s who admire her and her beauty or want tips on few things. The front cover is very effective because it has the various strategies needed for a magazine cover to stand out.

 The dominant image is the background and the close up shot gives a closer look to her face and emotions, this is a way the magazine speaks to its audience as the image is also looking directly at the reader’s. This gives a good indication of what’s inside as it has the continence of a story.