Findings on Magazine and DVD covers

After researching both children's DVD and magazine covers. It is clear that the principle of thirds is mainly used for the positioning on DVD covers whereas the route of the eye is used for magazine covers. Less features are placed on the cover of a DVD as it does not need cover lines and smaller images to advertise features inside it. For both magazines and DVD's, the majority of the time the mastheads are the same that are used for the show and also usually follow the same fonts and colour schemes, these are all helpful for creating a brand identity and allowing the audience to familiarize the covers with the show. For DVD's especially, the company logo (such as Disney or Nickelodeon) is used as a means of synergy. On the magazines, there is usually just the main character on the front cover, whereas with DVD's, 4 of the main characters are placed on the cover with the main star being central. I have also found that DVD's use more neutral colour schemes, whereas magazines use a lot of contrasting colours and bold fonts which help make everything on the page stand out. The use of signifiers have an important effect on connotation, for example using words such as 'cool' and 'fab' on the Tracy Beaker cover make the audience feel as though they will become 'cool' and 'fab' for reading the magazine; this is effective in appealing to a wide audience as they will effectively be looking up to the main character as a role model; therefore thinking they are the 'cool' person; if the audience think that the character is 'cool' then ultimately they will want to copy or mimic the character in an attempt to be more like them as the magazines will influence what the children will think is 'cool' and 'fab' and what is not. This is therefore one of the most important aspects of the magazine especially.