My Research Into Magazine Covers

What Is A Magazine Cover?


(Sounds obvious I know) A Magazine cover is the main attention grabber when buying a magazine, its like the magazines own promotion. It is the front page which contains both image and txt which sums up the whole magazine including the articles within. For the magazine producers its a way to get people to buy the magazine, for film producers its a great advertisement tool.

Why Are They Made?

The main purpose of a magazine cover is to promote a oncoming or recently released film by flooding a existing audience that buys the magazine. It is also used to attract new buyers to the magazine. (A win, win)

How Do They Work?

Magazine covers often use main or recognisable characters from the film and display them in eye catching style to quickly make readers want to see the film. Alongside the imagery for the film they use reviews, quotes and text to further the excitement for the film.

Where Do We See Them?

Magazines are displayed and on sale in many shops, waiting rooms and websites. As they are on the front of the magazine they are the first thing seen when they look at the magazine, this makes they a desirable location for advertising.

When Are They Released?

There is no set time for a magazines releases, in terms of displaying certain films however the magazine is realised periodically and often the film will be put on the cover as close to the films release as possible. often they coincide with the launch of trailers or other promotional elements.

Who Are Magazine Covers Aimed At?

The upside to advertising in a magazine is that you can easily reach your target audience as the magazine will want to show films that their audience want to watch.
E.G. Magazines aimed at SCI-FI fans will display SCI-FI films on the cover.

How Do Magazine Covers Help To Fill Cinemas?

Much like the Trailers and posters , the main and most important reason why and how Magazine covers attract people to the cinema is because they target those who are likely to watch the film and tell them about the film as well as often showing reviews and ratings from respectable critics.