Front Cover Overview

1. XXL
Rap Magazine
Overview

2. These are my 6 differentfrontcoversthathave appearedinthe rap magazine thatisXXL. Thisisan
overviewof the rapmagazine XXLinwhichI am goingto coverthe similaritiesanddifferences
betweeneachmagazine.
One similaritythroughoutXXL’smagazines isthe logoXXL.You can see thattheyhave the same text
typesineach issue.One example isthe titleof XXLandthat in eachissue itis placedinthe same
place and isthe same colour,textsize andtextstyle.Thisisto create and keepabrand identityso
thenthe target audience andcustomerswill knowwhattolookforto know it isa XXLmagazine. As
youcan see fromthe images the XXLlogois a reoccurringtheme tothe magazine.Furthermore
because of thistheyhave createda brand identitysotheycanplace hiphopartistsin frontof the
logobecause people are still goingto know itis the magazine XXL.
Anothersimilarityof these magazinesare thattheyhave a reoccurringtheme of the textbeingbig
and boldwiththe use of black andred mainly.Thisisbecause the magazine ismainlyaimedtowards
youngmalessoin orderfor the magazine toappeal toa youngmale fromthe workingclassitshould
have masculine coloursbecause thisiswhattheypreferoversaya popmagazine withbrightbubbly
colours.Sothe coloursredand blackdo thisjobwell andthe magazine usesthese coloursmainlyin
each issue.
From lookingata lotof rap magazine frontcovers,mostartistshave a straight,plainface withthe
emotionsof aggressionandserious.Thisisbecause rapartistswantto be takenseriouslyandwant
to be seenas a strong andtough male figure.Havingthistheme throughouteveryartistonthe front
coverof mostXXL magazinestheycanreallyrelate tohiphopfansand so people willknow thatthat
magazine isa rap one.In additiontothis,there isa commoncostume theme of the artistsineach
issue of XXLmagazines.The costumesusuallyfollow darkclothingorplainwhite t-shirtsandlotsof
jewelleryandtattoos.
HoweverXXLsometimesbreaksawayfromthe commontheme aswe can see in the firstimage with
Dr Dre playingchess.Thisshowsusthat he isa tactical playerinthe game of rap and that he controls
whatgoeson in the hiphopsociety,whichhe isbossso to speak.Alsoonthat particularfrontcover
because itisthe endof the year issue youcan see thatit says“2010 Eye Candyof the Year” which
mostmagazinesdon’thave.Thiswill addadditionalfeaturestothe magazine andwill appeal tothe
target audience evenfurtherbecausetheyare mostlyseentobe youngmales,sotheywill be
interestedinthissellline.