Existing Magazine Cover - Fangoria

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The main image on this cover is a close up on the characters face but he is not looking directly at the audience which is therefore indirect mode of address. Although he is looking away, the audience still feels very involved with the emotions portrayed by the characters expression.

It is clear that some editing and special effects have been used to create the red colouring of the eyes, this colour connotes danger and death. The characters general facial expression with the frown, the gnarling teeth and the glaring eyes shows aggression and unease.

The masthead is coloured red which links to the red eyes in the image, there is also red blood splats to relate to the film genre of horror/thriller. The font used for the masthead is very gothic and is shaped at the edges to resemble fangs, the masthead itself is 'Fangoria' so this links together with the genre of horror to create cohesion to the cover overall. This font is also a larger size than all the other text seen on the page, this is a common convention of magazine covers and draws attention to it immediately, therefore people will recognise and remember the magazine name.

All the coverline text is either white or a light yellow colour. Both these colours are very neutral and so do not draw emphasis away from the main focus of the image and the masthead. The font size of all the coverlines is also considerably smaller, though smaller, some of it is in bold and in capital letters which makes it stand out very slightly more than the white text below it.

The main coverline is centered at the bottom of the page and contains the word 'exclusive'. This makes the audience feel really involved and as if they are getting a preview into something no one else knows about. There is also an exclamation mark which builds excitement within the reader to read on. This coverline is also very mysterious and doesn't give much away about what the story will be about.There is also a play on words where it says 'A Darker Twilight'

The left third holds some coverlines and the bar code, this composition is typical on any magazine cover and therefore this follows the codes and conventions of existing media, this layout adheres to the expectations of the audience.

We believe the target audience of this magazine cover to be teenagers aged between 13 and 19 that are interested in the fantasy genre and who like to use the media as a form of escapism.