Magazine Front Cover Analysis

Empire Magazine: January 2008
The first thing to strike me about this magazine cover is the colour scheme, 'EMPIRE' large, bold and in red, all of which ensure it stands out against the dark background. The information about 'The Dark Knight' film is mainly in green and purple, reflecting The Joker's costume. It also mirrors his psychopathic personality and sadistic sense of humor as a clown. Any other text is simply in white, this is to contrast with the dark background. Like the vast majority of 'Empire' magazines, the background is entirely an image from the main film being advertised, 'The Dark Knight', which is introduced boldy at the top, followed by 'World Exclusive!' to entice readers. Separated by the only other image on the cover, the signature Dark Knight logo, similar to the Batman one. This is immediately recognizable to the reader. The background image portays The Joker's character well, with body language, facial expressions and costume. It is quite dark, which could appear to symbolise his evil and 'dark' mind. A quote is presented across the center of the magazine which supports the impression the reader will get from the image of The Joker, it reads "He's a cold blooded, mass-murdering clown!". There is a sense of irony as clowns are supposed to be funny and cheerful but this is far from the defintion given. This quote follows 'meet The Joker' and 'One-on-one with Batmans new nemesis!', which invites the reader in as if they are 'meeting' him. The other text around the front page, mainly displayed in white for contrast and in the bottom corner, breifly reveal other information from inside the magazine. Following the title 'Plus!' is a list of some of the contents. Around the title of the magazine, in an extremely small font, is information about the magazine, such as the issue date, price and website. This isn't relevant to the main film being advertised or the contents, therefore has been displayed small to not attract the reader's attention away. Other than the barcode, displayed small in the bottom left corner, the only other clues towards what the magazine contains is presented in a bright green circle, complimenting the colour scheme. It simply introduces 2 American filmmakers, known as the Coen Brothers. This stands out due to the bright colour but doesn't appear to be as significant as The Joker.
To conclude, the colour scheme is an important part of the cover, it separates which information is more important and sets a mood.