Analysis of The Source

I am now going to analysis this front cover from the magazine The Source.

The artist featured on the front of the cover is The Game.

Bold typography is used so the masthead is clear and easy to read, the masthead is also the biggest text on the cover making it stand out and easy to recognise. The masthead is at the top which shows its importance.
The main colours on the cover are red and white. The colour red connotes blood and violence, which is stereotypically apart of the Hip-Hop genre. The white text stands out against the red, and also suggests an opposite to the violent lifestyle suggesting that there is a good and bad side to Hip-Hop.
Most of the text on the cover has a black shadow behind it, which helps it to stand out and makes it more eye-catching.
The name of the artist on the cover is also in a large font which grabs you’re attention and attracts people to it making it a main selling point.

The text explaining the stories inside this issue of The Source are placed around the sides of the image and they alternate in colour, they are put at the side in small font so that they don’t over-power the artist on the front but they are there to catch your eye and make you want to the buy the magazine so you can read more.
The text ‘Under New Ownership Pg.17′, is positioned above the title of the magazine, this shows that the story is important, the text is also in white which really stands out next to the red title.

On this front cover there is only one image and it is of the artist The Game, he takes up most of cover showing that he is the main feature of this months issue; meaning that there will be a important story involving him inside. The fact that The Game is on the cover shows that the magazine is good because if it wasn't then The Game wouldnt associate himself with it.

In the image The Game holding a gun to his neck, the gun is a typical convention of the Hip-Hop genre, so The Game is showing he is part of this. His facial expression shows sadness and the text below his name says "Suicide Is Not An Option" which suggests that the story inside the magazine is about him thinking about suicide and deciding against it.

The artist is wearing a white vest which exposes his tattoos fitting in with the sterotypical "gangster" image. Tattoos are a form of art (like music) so his creativity is coming across from the art he has tattooed on his body, he has "Love" and "Justice" tattooed which would not be expected from a Hip Hop artist sterotypically but it suggests he does have a good side to him, he also has a tear drop tattooed under his eye and in some tribes in america it is a sign that you have committed a murder.

The beard helps to put across his possible rough character growing up with and being used to a life of crime and violence.
The wall The Game is photographed in front of gives us the impression that he is trapped and is out of options. Although the image portrays violence and has violent aspects to it it actually shows no real violence, this is done with the purpose being to attract readers to the magazine and article.

The bar code is positioned in the bottom left corner of the cover and is very small this is too ensure it is not a main focus point and to ensure that it doesn't distract the reader from looking at the main selling points of the cover.
In the bottom right corner there is a small logo saying ‘20 years’, again it is small to ensure it is not a main focus point and to ensure that it doesn't distract the reader from looking at the main selling points of the cover but it also shows readers that it’s a respected magazine that has been around for a long time it could also attract new reader’s as they will see that it is well known and popular.