Analysis of Big Issue covers

1. THE BIG ISSUE
- COVER ANALYSIS

2. The masthead of the magazine is
fairly large in the top left-hand
corner of the page. It is not a
large as is conventional, however
it is larger than the other text
around it. The colour of the
masthead is black and white
which is vivid against the more
colourful background, meaning
the audience can see it more
easily.
The main image of the magazine is Liam Gallagher (a famous British musician). He
was chosen for the main image because he is well-known and so people who know
who he is and have listened to his music will want to read the article about him. It
may be especially attractive to people who were fans of the him when he was in the
band ‘Oasis’ in the 90s.
The anchorage text on the cover of the
magazine links with the main image. The
image is to attract visual interest in the
magazine, while the anchorage is to create
intrigue for the content of the feature article
based on this text. ‘Liam’ is in a large font size
so it attracts more attention. There is also a
quote (sell line) to accompany this which
makes the possible buyer want to find out
more information and context to do with the
quote.
The date and issue number are a
convention of any magazine. They
allow the reader to know that their
copy is up to date so they do not buy
an old, out of date copy. The price is
also included so the buyer knows
how much they should be charged.
This means they can’t be
overcharged. There is no barcode,
however, because The Big Issue is
not sold in shops, only on the streets
by homeless vendors so there is no
need for one.
There is a plug at the in the top right-
hand corner to act as incentive to
purchase the magazine. It acts as a
reward for anyone that purchases the
magazine.
There is a tag line under the mast head,
above the price. The tag line reads: ‘A hand
up not a handout’ making people feel as
though they aren’t pitying vendors but just
giving them a helping hand. This is a unique
stance on helping the homeless and is what
The Big Issue stand for. The colour scheme of this magazine is
very clean and light. The colours
connote spring time as they are clean
and fresh which is unusual the time of
year that the magazine was released
(October). The colours used are
attractive for the reader and stand out
against grey city landscapes, where
the magazine would be on sale. The
use of blue and pink also appeals to
both men and women because,
stereotypically, pink is a female colour
and blue is a male colour - meaning
that the magazine is not gender
specific but rather gender neutral. The
masthead and anchorage, however,
are not the same colour scheme. They
are black and white which is
conventional of magazines.

3. The masthead of this issue is in the top-left corner and is fairly
large. It is not as large as other magazines may have it, however
it is still obviously the masthead and stands out against the rest
of the page. usually, The Big Issue mastheads are in black and
white button this issue, where the black would normally be it is
white and where the white would be it is transparent. This
stands out on the page, yet also blends seamlessly into the
background of the cover.
There is a tag line under the mast
head, above the price. The tag
line reads: ‘A hand up not a
handout’ making people feel as
though they aren’t pitying
vendors but just giving them a
helping hand. This is a unique
stance on helping the homeless
and is what The Big Issue stand
for.
The date and issue number are a
convention of any magazine. They allow
the reader to know that their copy is up to
date so they do not buy an old, out of
date copy. The price is also included so
the buyer knows how much they should
be charged. This means they can’t be
overcharged. There is no barcode,
however, because The Big Issue is not
sold in shops, only on the streets by
homeless vendors so there is no need for
one.
The anchorage text on the cover is very
large and takes up a large part of the
bottom third of the page. It is in yellow
which is different to most of the other text
on the page. The anchorage, and the rest
of the text on the cover, is in a very artistic
font that represents ‘Morrissey’ as artistic.
This is true because he was a famous
singer-songwriter in the band ‘The
Smiths’ in the 1980s.
The main image on the cover is a large,
black and white photo of Morrissey when
he was younger. The colouring of this
photo means that it stays out against the
coloured background and text. He was
chosen for the cover of this issue
because he is a famous musician and so
would attract people who know him to
purchase the magazine. It would most
likely appeal to adults who listened to The
Smiths when they were current in the
1980s.
The colour scheme of the magazine is
very autumnal which seems a bit early
for the time of year that the issue was
published. The magazine is from early
August which is in the summer, so
brighter colours could be expected
from this time of year. These colours
are very gender neutral so the
magazine is able to appeal to the
majority of people, as long as they are
also attracted by the image of
Morrissey.
The background of the magazine is filled with sells. They are one or two-word phrases, possibly
from the article about Morrissey, that describe him. They are obviously about him o anyone that
knows about him. They make the page seem more artistic and express which then represents
Morrissey in the same way. The sells are all in different colours, they’re different sizes and they are
different fonts. There are also a few drawings with some of the phrases which adds to the
representation of creativity.

4. There is a tag line under the mast
head, above the price. The tag
line reads: ‘A hand up not a
handout’ making people feel as
though they aren’t pitying
vendors but just giving them a
helping hand. This is a unique
stance on helping the homeless
and is what The Big Issue stand
for.
The date and issue number are a
convention of any magazine. They allow
the reader to know that their copy is up to
date so they do not buy an old, out of
date copy. The price is also included so
the buyer knows how much they should
be charged. This means they can’t be
overcharged. There is no barcode,
however, because The Big Issue is not
sold in shops, only on the streets by
homeless vendors so there is no need for
one.
The masthead on this cover is the usual one seen on
most Big Issue covers. It is in the top-left corner and has
a black border and black text with a white background.
This is the well-known logo for The Big Issue and so
would attract customers that had previously bought the
magazine. The bold colours of the black and white stand
out against the background and the rest of the magazine
so it is obvious that this is a Big Issue magazine. The colour shame of this issue is fairly
neutral and there aren’t many bright or
vibrant colours. Instead they are quite
dull. This may be because of the time
of year that the issue was released
(January) because it was the middle of
winter. Also George Michale had
passed away only a few weeks before
the release of this issue so it wasn’t a
positive thing for him to be on the
cover. The yellow strap line adds a
pop of vibrant colour on an otherwise
dull background.
The anchorage text on this issue is
very large and is in the bottom-right
corner. The anchorage stands out as
it is in white writing on a black
background. This brings attention to
the main focus of the magazine and
links to the image like it should. It
focuses the perspective customer
on what the feature article will be
about and because George Michael
was in the news at the time and so
this would attract customers.
There is a pull quote
underneath the anchorage
that tells the customer what
the article will be about and
that it will be other people
talking about George Michael.
There is a plug underneath the
pull quote that gives an extra bit
of information about what is in
the magazine and will give more
incentive to buy the magazine.
The main image on the cover is George Michael when he was younger.
This is because the feature article was a tribute to him os a picture of his
younger self fits the story. The image fits with the colour scheme of the
rest of the cover. The image is very large and takes up the majority of the
page. It is the centre of visual interest.