The target audience for this film magazine is both male and female, but it leans more towards the male readership. This is signified by the use of dark and masculine colours, and simple and solid fonts. Also the main film that is also the main image is a more masculine film as it involves a lot of action, fighting and guns which is not something that most women would enjoy. It lures in the target audience by the simple conventions they have followed.
The layout of this front cover magazine is the typical layout of any magazine. Masthead above the main image, the title of the film that is featured is below the main image. The only thing that has been done a little differently on this front cover is that the sell-lines are not framing the whole main image; instead they have been placed only on the left hand side.
The main image of this front cover is of Hellboy from the film ‘Hellboy’ who is played by Ron Perlman. He is dressed in the character roll costume he plays, which promotes the film and helps the franchise grow bigger. Also readers who are fans of the film ‘Hellboy’ will be more inclined to buy this issue of ‘Empire’ as it features the second film of ‘Hellboy’. Ron Perlman’s costume is very interesting and detailed which I can image takes hours to get on. As the name of the film is ‘Hellboy’ it makes the readers understand why it is that he has horns, red skin, one big rock fist and yellow eyes, signalling the readership that he came straight from hell. Because his horns have been cut off, it gives the audience a hint that he may be good and not the villain of the film. The fact that he has his rock fist in his other hand signals that he is about to ‘kick some villain butt’ and the genre of the film, which is action. His eyes being yellow tell us that he is not human, which is pretty clear from the first glance, but it makes sense. He also has rosary beads tied to his wrist, showing us that he is the good guy as he has a Christian faith, and even though he comes from hell, he is good and is not going to follow his ‘destiny’ which I assume would be to be the bad guy.
The masthead is placed at the top, center of the page, some of which is behind Ron’s head meaning that it’s a well-known magazine and the whole masthead doesn’t need to be shown to be recognized what magazine it is. The colour of the masthead is red and on fire, linking in with the main image, Ron is red as it’s the colour of hot and hell, which is why the masthead is also red. All the colours link in together; there is red, black and white, red being the main colour that connects with hellboy and hell. The magazine keeps a brand identity by using the same font and size for the masthead, but always links with the main film featured and makes every issue unique. The fire represents the burning of hell and the story of the film ‘Hellboy 2’.
The sell-lines have been placed on the left hand side, not following the most common convention of a magazine making the cover look even more unique. The way these the sell-lines drag in audience’s attention is by using different colours for the titles of the sell-lines, and then the extended information in a smaller font and a darker colour. There are ‘plot secrets revealed’ about the new Indiana Jones film, and fans of the Indy films will be excited to read that article. As the magazine is mostly targeted at men, they will see the sell-line ‘Natalie Portman Vs. Scarlett Johansson’ both sex symbols and will be inclined to buy the magazine to vote who they would choose and red an article about two very sexy female actors. The sell-lines also include ‘five star review inside!’ which again grabs a reader’s attention and convinces them to buy the magazine so they can be fulfilled with quality and five star film reviews. ‘FIRST LOOK!’, ‘YOU AND WHOSE GOLDEN ARMY?’, this is the main sell-line, really grabbing a reader’s attention as its first look and asking the audience a question. Fans of ‘Hellboy’ will be inclined to buy this issue to find out who will be the leader of the golden army in ‘Hellboy 2’ and as ‘Empire’ got the first look, it will get the target audience excited to find out what is inside the magazine about the film, making it all a lot more exclusive.
‘Guillermo Del Toro goes epic’ is also the language the male audience could relate to, and as he is the director of ‘Hellboy’, the audience will want to know what it is that makes him ‘Epic’. On the right hand side there is a puff, which says ’40 movies that will get you SEX!’, this will be something that both the male and female audience will want to read as sex is something people are always very interested in, and the way ‘Empire’ made sex and movies link together and tell you how you can get sex will grab audience’s attention and will make them buy the magazine to find out how to get sex.
The font used on this front cover is simple, bold and easy to read; quite masculine connecting with the male audience. The colours used are mainly red, white, black and a sandy brown. The red links in with the film featured ‘Hellboy 2’, the white stands out and grabs attention to the title of the film and the sell-lines, and the sandy brown is the next colour used for the rest of the writing. The font is also similar to the masthead and is all connected to look familiar and to keep a brand identity. Additional information like the ‘Empire’ website is on the top right corner under the masthead, it’s in a red and small font, still visible to the eye. Also the price and date of the issue is in the same font and colour, that has been placed in-between the ‘M’ of ‘Empire’. Again, still visible, but not too obvious as it’s not that important.
I believe this front cover is very effective as it sells well, and I would definitely buy it. It has a lot of effective sell-lines and definitely grabs my attention.
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