Semiotic Analysis of front cover

The magazine that I am going to analyse has a sub genre of mainstream, it targets a specific audience which is teenage males and females aged around 14-25. I think this because the bands that are shown to be featuring in the magazine are bands which stereotypically both male and female teenagers who enjoy rock would listen to such as The Used, and 30 Seconds To Mars. The lead singer of 30 Seconds To Mars is based in the centre of the front page, it is a medium close up so that the reader can clearly see his facial expression which is anger. The eyeliner he is wearing is stereotypical to those who read the magazine and also conotes anger and darkness of a male. His face is a very light colour which conotes innocentness which when juxtapositioned with the eyeliner it therefore adds to his 'strangeness' and the confusion that he embodies. He is wearing a white top which conotes youth as it is young people who read the magazine, the colour also conotes purity which in this case is used in order to be ironic and sarcastic as rock bands aren't stereotypically innocent. The reason that he is placed in the centre and without his band is because people recognise him more than the other members as he is the lead singer in the band. The masthead is black, the font appears as though it has been ripped or broken, attracting the readers attention. The word kerrang is to appeal to the magazines audience because kerrang is a cord on the guitar. The exclamation mark at the end emphasises the word and conotes anger. The main cover line reads 'Inside the cult of 30 Seconds To Mars' this is in bold, light blue writing in order to grab the readers attention and also because they are the band that is more popular in the magazine, and so they want to make the readers aware of who the main band is and therefore appealing to more people. Also the word 'inside' makes it seem as if the magazine holds key important information that know body else knows about the band and so targets your curriosity. Other bands such as The Used and Turisas are featured on the front so that if the reader doesnt like the main feature band, they have other bands that may appeal to them. The Used all look rather serious apart from the lead singer who is placed at the front and is titling his head in order to look commical and sexy which appeals to female audiences, who would view them as being their ideal partner. The magazine looks like a pin board with the pictures placed slightly titled. The sub heading 'Free posters' in my opinion is aimed at both the male and female target audience as stereotypically teenagers like to have posters of their favourite atrists around their bedrooms.