1. Firstly, the mast head (also known as the title) is featured in the topleft corner of the cover, most obviously as the reader will look to this place first to begin reading, and will spot the name of the magazine instantly. It is metallic in colour, which is coordinated with the main cover line lower down on the front cover. This helps connect the magazine with the latest story in the reader's mind, as well as suggest a professional edge to the magazine.
Above the title is a strapline, which is not a slogan as such but provides additional promotion for the main storyline. being in bold font and large in size (though less eye-catching than the title), this strapline will be read easiy as it is segregated from the image and the rest of the magazine, and suggesting the uniqueness of the magazine through its layout. The fonts are sans serif, like most of the front cover, to keep the formality down and impress the eye (explained in detail later).
2. There is one central image on the cover, that of Batman in the latest film 'The Dark Knight Rises'. being large and positioned in the centre of the page, this helps to take up the main focus of the front cover, attracting attention to the target audience (film fans most likely to be male and aged 13 - 30) who will no doubt be anticipating storied behind the popular film's production. His stance and eye contact with the reader further grabs their attention, involving them in his story, and when backed up by a quotation beneath it suggests an almost insider's glance and connection to the character - as if you have been given this story from the actor himself. A mystical, gritty backlighting in the background of the image subtly makes Batman stand out even further and adds a vibrant appeal to the front cover.
3. The main cover line is simply the title of the upcoming film. This is enough to make the target reader look for further details. The size of the font is large enough to stand out at a glance, but by being duller in colour and placed over the centre of the image this helps to keep focus on the image. As mentioned the colour is coordinated with the Batman logo in the top right corner and the mast head. The sans serif font choice is no frills and industrial almost, which suggests in a written way to the reader that this new Batman film will be hard-edged and strong - like Batman.
4. There are also several smaller cover lines placed to the left hand side of the cover; and a selection of plugs along the bottom of the cover. The cover lines are a lot smaller in size, and are not placed over the image so as to clutter up attention to Batman. Instead, they are white (so as to contrast against the dark background) and are in bold, suggesting a more informational aspect to the front cover that the reader will notice after the image only. Again sans serif to keep similar formatting with the rest of the magazine. The plugs along the bottom of the page are also in white, coordinating the informative text and contrasting it to the exciting main cover line. These plugs are the same size, but rather than being packed away so that they will not be noticed for a while, they are strectched along the entire cover, provifing a stream of details. These alternate between bold and regular sizes, to make the plugs more interesting and enigmatic, and not seem long-winded.
The colour and font choices for the cover lines and plugs are white and efficient as the target audience will not be attracted to colourful, vibrant lettering. Fans of Batman and the darkness of the comic book universe, the choice of a dark background and flat colours helps reflect their interest in the magazine and not put them off.
5. Meanwhile, there is a lack of short, snappy puffs. The only one of notice on the cover is accented in black over yellow, saying 'Exclusive!'. Other than simply letting the reader know that information on Batman will never have been revealed before, the choice of colours contrast with each other and stand out against all the other text. This catches the reader's eye. So although the smal font will not detract form focus on the image, the colours will still be easily noticed and the exclusive aspect suggested early on.
6. Finally, the last - but important - detail to the front cover is the price and barcodes. These are placed in isolated areas of the magazine - either hidden under the enormous title or squashed to the side of the page - and small in size, so that the main foucs for the target audience is that of the image and Batman's story. The price in particular is so small as by catching sight of this the reader will lose interest in the unique, interesting style of the magazine by thinking of expense. Instead, the magazine rather manipulatively suggests the importance of the story first, and eradicates the target audience worries of price. This adds to the effect of catching the reader's interest in the magazine straight away, as they will want to read on and know about the stories inside first.
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