Magazine Analysis

A Brief History• 1967 – Rolling Stone Magazine is

founded by Jann Wenner, a rock music journalist based in San

Francisco.

• 1969 – After only 2 years in circulation, it is widely recognised that Rolling Stone is the best magazine of its type in the world.

• 1989 – The parent company of Rolling Stone, Straight Arrow Publishers, is now worth an estimated $250 million, over thirty thousand times what it was worth back in ‘67.

• 1990 onwards – Rolling Stone is still one of the biggest magazines available in general, and on average sells over 1 million copies a month.

Rolling Stone magazine was the starting place for many famous writers including

Hunter S. Thompson, Cameron Crowe, Lester Bangs, Greil Marcus and many more.

Throughout its history Rolling Stone has featured top Hollywood actors, musicians

and other famous personalities on its covers. According to the book “1,000

Rolling Stone Covers,” compiled by the magazine’s editors, Mick Jagger is the leader in most Rolling Stone magazine

covers with 27 total.

Rolling Stone magazine lead the way on many now standard magazine industry

practices including writing, photography and politics.

This cover featuring John Lennon and Yoko Ono, from 1981, is one of the most controversial issues of Rolling Stone, due to the nudity. Despite this, this was the first ever issue of Rolling Stone to completely sell out.

Front Cover AnalysisThe language and typeface used is very formal, mainly in order to

promote the event to the audience.

Selling Line/Strap-line

Main photo covers title, showing the importance of the article from which the photo is from is large.

Skyline, shows readers what other artists are mentioned

inside, makes you want to read it.

The masterhead, the main aspect of the front cover, stays the same colour and typeface through virtually every issue, showing its consistency.

The background is white, not just putting a lot more emphasis and attention on the image of Bob Dylan, but it also makes the magazine stand out compared to other music magazines available. Due to its simple design, it looks professional.

This ‘kicker’ can serve as an introduction to an

article, as to entice the reader in and want to

read more on it. The fact it is in a black box on a

white background makes it stand out and just as noticeable as the main

image.

The main headline/cover-line is the main focal point

for the reader. This is what the target

audience are meant to be appealed by.

The main photo of Bob Dylan is in black and white – the fact that the only colour is coming from the title makes the imagery seem formal and much more old-fashioned, which is easier on the eye than loads of colours spread across a page.

Contents Page Analysis

Here is the page number, magazine name and website. These are here so that if the reader be lost, he can use the contents to match up the page number. The website will be there to continuously remind you to have a look until you eventually do.

The use of a specific date tells you how old

or new the magazine is to a very accurate

measure.

Sub-headings used to split the contents into different sections and

make the magazine look more easy to read,

cleaner and professional.

The line is there to split the sections;

give the magazine a cleaner more

professional feel.

The use of a white background continues

the simple traditions shown from the front

cover.

The use of the page number on the photo is to entice readers to look at those articles, as the photos are there to catch the eye in the first place.The use of images of different size is indicating what might be of more importance to the reader. Bigger the image, the more expected interest inn that article.

The use of a red masterhead makes the title CONTENTS stand out and also is one of the main focal points on the page, which makes the contents page easier to find.

The various articles use a bold title and a

formal typecast, making them look more professional

and much easier to read.

Article AnalysisNote: This is only the first page of this article, and I could not get any more

imagery of it.

The title is in all capitals – showing

the seriousness behind what is to

come. It is also in a very formal font,

which is used throughout the

magazine, showing its consistency.

The page number, title and website are still on the bottom corner of each page,

showing its consistency to make you visit the webpage.

The photo’s main focus seems to be this man in the foreground, suggesting that it is him who the article is focused on. His image goes across both pages, showing his dominance in the picture.

This sub-heading gives

the reader a bit of a teaser into the article they

are about to read, making them want to

read on.

The use of black and white

images, as on the front cover I

analysed, creates a sense of formality and professionalism, as well as an old fashioned ideal.