LIIAR analysis of first magazine cover.

LIIAR analysis of two magazine covers.

I am now going to analyse the front cover of two magazine covers. The first magazine cover that I am going to analyse using LIIAR, is going to be a TopGear magazine from April 2008.

Language – the masthead on the magazine in big and bold in a dark orange colour. The orange coloured text used on the black background makes the masthead stand out. There is also a black, blue and white background behind the car. It is slightly blurred out, I think this is done to emphasise that the car is moving at a very high speed. However if it was featured on a still background you wouldn’t be able to tell if the car was moving or whether it was stood still.  There is a selling line below the masthead “ NEW LAMBO “, this invokes the readers to buy to the magazine because it features new images and information on new model of car, being the Lamborghini. The main image featured on the front of the magazine is of a Lamborghini car, this will entice the fans to buy it. It is also an indication that the magazine is a car magazine.The headlines which have been used on this issue are typical with this style of magazine, they are about stories which readers will find interesting.

Institution/Ideology – the ideology of this magazine front cover is that they want to promote cars and new things that are coming out in the car industry. This is related to the name of the magazine being “ TopGear “.

Audience – this magazine is obviously aimed at people ( mainly males ) who have a keen interest in cars and other motor vehicles. The audience is targeted using a well know top of the range car such as the Lamborghini on the front cover to draw the readers attention. The way the car is positioned on the front cover so that you can see the front and the side of the car, the car looks fantastic, speedy and something that most car fans would dream of having parked on their drive way.

Representation – the magazine is representing well know cars within the car industry. The magazine uses images to represent the cars, for example the Lamborghini which is featured on the front cover, it is the main part of the cover, it is interesting and makes the reader want to purchase the magazine. There are several subheadings on the cover of the magazine, they are represented by being bold and highly attractive headlines, they stand out and catch the eye of the reader.

Using LIIAR I have been able to see the key conventions of a car magazine in place. When looking back at this post I will be able to create ideas for my college magazine front cover from what has been used here.