This is the June 2008 issue of Billboard, the American chart magazine, featuring The Jonas Brothers as the cover stars. I chose this because this is the exact kind of cover I'd like to make. It uses a prime example of pop music, Disney stars the Jonas Brothers, yet it doesn't connote any cheesiness, therefore a grown-up idea has been encoded very well.
I'll start by analysing the image, as like with the previous Q cover, the image is a vitally important part of the cover, and depending on whether the potential buyer likes it or not, determines whether they'll bother to read the cover lines and therefore buy the magazine.
It's a full length shot, which I personally don't think is effective as a a close-up or even a mid-shot, as it makes the audience feel far away. However, it does provide a very picturesque, perfect idea, and tries to connote that these men are every inch the superstar. Also, for the female audience, it doesn't hide any of them and is almost trying to show off all of their attractiveness. The stances they're in are very casual, cool and mostly open body language where their chests aren't blocked, so the preferred reading is that they're trying to welcome the reader and seem friendly. I think this has been encoded well, as it seems to be quite obvious it's very casual, however it could be interpreted as the poses being intimidating, and may remind some people of the way "cool", mean kids stand at school passing judgement on others, therefore this would have a negative effect on people who are likely the target audience.
I think the fact they're standing at the bottom of a staircase is an extremely abstract concept and is a sign with not much anchorage (except from the fact the Jonas Brothers are standing at the bottom of them). I do think it's part of the reason this cover pulls off a classy tone, as the staircase itself is very elegant with the intricate banister and neutral stone, as it would remind the audience of an expensive house. The meaning could be interpreted in so many ways though, as a straightforward denotation would be that it just connects to the cover line "Step Up" which is simple a pun, but the connotations are endless. A common reading may be that the stairs represent the band's journey to complete success and they're only just starting out, therefore suggesting the magazine's lucky to have this interview with them, "before they were famous" style (although they already are famous), so it implies the reader should want to know more. The stairs could also be negatively interpreted with a similar meaning to the stance (of the mean kids), because it could be saw that it's as if they are on a pedestal compared to normal people. Yet this interpretation would be great for their huge female fan base, as it would be as if someone's relating to how they feel about them.
I think their clothes also play a part in the sophistication of pop on this cover, as their smart blazer, waistcoat, tie, braces and shoes give a tailored edge, really showing how pop has grown up, as these are one of the most talked about boy bands at the minute. It proves the pop genre is just as fashion orientated as rock and indie, therefore levelling it. Also, it is something a normal man could wear so it brings some connection to the target reader.
The colours of the cover lines are, like Q, matching the logo, which keeps it all together and in-keeping, however I think the bright green and blue provide that injection of old-fashioned pop into the cover, which then contrasts with the neutral staircase and clothes of the Jonas Brothers, just like how the old-fashioned monochrome colour scheme contrasted with Madonna's futuristic style. Also the white that makes up the rest of the colour scheme is very effective, especially the WOB contrast. I think the way the logo incorporates both bright colour and white really gives a representative feel of popular music, and I think it would appeal to anyone who remembers doodling by filling in the holes in their handwriting, which is the effect the logo mimics. A convention that is now emerging is the featuring artist covering part of the magazines masthead, to show importance and a good reputation of the magazine.
Similar to Q magazine, simple fonts are all that features over the whole cover, as the cover lines are secondary features in the way a reader will look at the cover. The are slightly rounded fonts, which are softer to look at, but still very clear, making a very comfortable look. Bold and italics aren't used, but the size of the text varies greatly according to importance, but also provides variation in the cover. It does seem to me that this cover is a lot more spaced out than Q, but I found a larger impact came from Q, where there was a lot on the cover, as well as the international star featuring.
The language used is all very basic and in a straightforward tone, except from the occasional pun like "Step Up" and "long road to No.1", and this then reminds me that Billboard is also aimed at music industry officials, so this style of language would probably appeal to them as they probably just want no fuss and facts delivered to them efficiently. However a large range of musical names varying in genre are shown, which would be very appealing to the mainstream music lover who'll be reading Billboard for chart information (it also mentions "chart" on the cover), therefore proving that the magazine is a good surveillance source.
I'm impressed with the overall vibe of the cover, which I think personifies modern pop well, and it also backs up some of the conventions I concluded from the Q cover, like artist overlapping the masthead, simple fonts and colour scheme, but I think this image is much more typical even though it's a long shot, rather than the suspected conventional medium close-up, as it's a generally a plain, open image.
Because I was curious to see what the article for the Jonas Brothers was actually like, to see if it portrayed pop well and to see whether it was serious or quite casual, I searched for the spread of the interview on Google, but I just managed to find an extract, which I shall analyse in detail to get an idea of the writing style I want to use.
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