Magazine Cover Review

     The first magazine that I found interesting was the Rolling Stone feature with Lil Baby, and how the magazine utilized their influence to advocate for political change in the form of social justice. The magazine was a very left leaning article and utilized powerful image from peaceful protests, and from those turned more violent. They chose Lil Baby as the feature for this article because of his song “The Bigger Picture,” where he brings up many points as to how difficult it is for the way of life to change. As for the feature article in this magazine, it is less oriented towards Lil Baby’s success in 2020 but uses Lil Baby as the link between the music industry and social justice so the magazine can more impactfully voice their opinion. In relation to the article by Michael Scherer, the feature article does elaborate a lot and is very in depth on the protests, which many readers will not have the patience to read such an elaborate article taking up multiple pages. As Scherer puts it, this may lead to “subscribers who are not really interested in your magazine. This magazine used less color to go with The Bigger Picture, and to give a historical feeling to show that the issues he is addressing have been affecting people for hundreds of years.

    

The second magazine that was interesting was the Travis Scott GQ special issue. The very first thing one notices when seeing this magazine is that Travis Scott is not dressed like most cover icons in GQ, as they are usually dress elegantly, but he is dressed in a casual outfit with no shirt, like how he could be seen at a concert. The magazine uses phrases on the cover like ‘Change is Good’ and references the activists who are fighting to build a better future. GQ clearly uses a recognizable voice to the people to represent their stance on this issue: that man is Travis Scott, who is a fashion and music icon with his unique style in all areas of his life. As for the feature article, the magazine does focus more on Travis Scott’s success in 2020 despite the pandemic, and he has made his impact in partnering with other brands, like having 27 million people viewing his virtual concert in Fortnite, and the recent Travis Scott meal from Mcdonald’s. However, the feature article is very extensive into his success to the point where it may bore the reader beyond the first paragraphs that give an overview of Travis Scott’s success. Like Scherer states, “It is crucial to reach out and grab the reader,” and the article is successful in doing this, but Scherer’s main point is that people do not have the patience to read this entire article, and this is applicable in this GQ feature article. This article used special fonts to draw the reader in, and the lighting of the cover image of Travis Scott reflects his dynamic spirit he performs with and combines well with the textual color.

The next magazine that I liked was Southern Living because it is able to be creative even with a very specific topic, which is all things southern. The edition we saw was the food edition, but there are much more variations like furniture or housing. I liked this magazine because it cannot possibly bore one with long articles because it has image based content to help the reader imagine what the experience of southern living would be like, because many readers of southern living are people from other places that envy the way of life exhibited by this unique magazine. In addition, the cover of this magazine is very attractive to the reader as it exhibits the food that we enjoy in the south and the presentation that is valued in food adds a pleasing image to the magazine cover. 

Another magazine that was intriguing was the GQ edition featuring Channing Tatum, which was definitely a more traditional GQ cover containing a sharply dressed man in a suit and tie. This edition of GQ’s headliner was the men of the year and they obviously thought Channing Tatum was pretty remarkable. This feature article was likely not individualized towards Channing Tatum’s success but rather focused on the most popular men in modern culture. The feature article is image based around Channing Tatum’s personality and focuses on his rise to the top of culture with many successful movies. The article is very well done to the extent where it has the perfect amount of visual aid and content and will not test the reader’s patience as It is easy to follow. 

The final magazine that I would like to elaborate on is Forbes, which is a magazine that is not particularly targeted towards any gender, but is based around showcasing the lives of the richest people in America and on Earth, and also provides trends as to how prosper in the current economy. The Forbes edition that we observed had 4 different covers, most of which were preceded by an advertisement for an expensive watch. The literary contents of most Forbes magazines shows the success stories of new entrepreneurs in 2020, and the articles are accompanied by pictures of the rich lifestyles that these people live, in an effort to inspire the reader to create and execute their own vision and definition of success. 

As for my project, I am very much leaning towards doing a magazine because I feel that a picture must be accompanied by words to be properly interpreted, and a magazine can better allow this as opposed to a short film. For the topic of my magazine I would enjoy making a magazine about how basketball influences culture, in ways such as the fight for social justice and gender equality, and in less tense ways such as modern fashion, where many basketball players such as Allen Iverson and Russell Westbrook have become fashion icons, and the legend of Michael Jordan and other big names have pioneered the new generation of footwear, and Jordan himself has been present in all areas of culture around the world, even the big screen.