Magazine Cover Review

     Rollingstone magazine made me think that the publication wants to be perceived as edgy
and radical. The magazine uses its color scheme and text font as the first part of this. The front
cover contains provocative imagery of the aftermath of a protest turned riot, open political
attacks on the president, and other political statements. Rollingstone is openly supportive of
rather left-wing political ideas which helps the publication get the wanted perception. The cover
article contains photos of more protest/riot sites as well as photos of CUP Foods in Minneapolis.
The issue contains a list of what the publishers believe are the greatest protest songs. This ties the
magazine’s musical topic and political nature beyond just using certain musicians’ political
views. This makes me feel that the magazine uses its radical image and current events to
maintain relevancy and to appeal to men with left-wing ideologies as a manifestation of
aggressive and masculine left-wing expression. As is outlined in “Chances are you won’t bother
reading this”, magazines need a way to capture audiences especially magazines with longer
length articles such as Rollingstone.
 

    Southern Living magazine is a lifestyle magazine that markets itself to upper-middleclass
women who either live in the American South but primarily those who enjoy certain aspects of
the South. The issue looked at was a travel edition that show cased various destinations in the
South. The issue was focused on autumn and Southern locations where autumn could most
readily be enjoyed. Southern Living displays a very high-class part of Southern life and attractive
areas of the South. The magazine overlooks less desirable aspects of Southern life, less desirable
parts of the South, and glorifies Southern things without recognizing negative parts. For
example, the magazine regularly glorifies the horribly unhealthy delicacies of Southern cooking
and romanticizes antebellum era estates and plantations. I feel that this magazine is for people
who want to enjoy a slightly different culture but do not necessarily want to spend much time
thinking critically about that culture.
 

    Forbes magazine is a staple among business magazines. The brand wields an image of
professionalism and credibility among readers with interest in business. Forbes conveys this first
on its cover. It features a well-dressed businessman. In the world of business focused media
appearance is very important. There is nearly a uniform dictating how businessmen are supposed
to dress. Seeing this reflected on Forbes’ cover gives me the feeling that the magazine embraces
this perception of the business world and does not lean towards more unconventional business
ideas, thus increasing my trust in the publication. The articles are fairly standard and are a mix of
general business topics, investing, and business-related economics. The advertisements are
mostly for various Swiss watches. This makes me think that the target audience is at least
somewhat wealthy otherwise these watch producers would not advertise in Forbes.
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition is probably the simplest publication at which I
looked. The issue, despite being published by Sports Illustrated, does not contain a particularly
sports related topic. The issue sells mostly for its sex appeal among men. The magazine displays
women who meet American beauty standards, though women who differ from these standards
are also in the issue. I feel those women are included just to give the appearance of diversity and
tolerance, but that the target audience does not appreciate their presence.

    Condé Nast magazine is an upscale travel magazine. I think that the cover displays this
well. The cover is very colorful containing much design and work. The process of both designing
and then printing this would be expensive. This makes me think that the publication has a wealth
reader-base to start with. The destinations listed within the issue are targeted towards an affluent
audience. The articles are not about budget hostels in Bangkok or cheap eats in Montevideo, but
about private mansions for rent and family getaways in the Aegean. My impression of the
magazine is that it is for affluent family travelers