Magazine Textual Analysis

At the top of the page, the masthead, in capitals, reached across the page in bold red writing in a sanserif font "PRIDE".  The red writing draws attention which correlates nicely with the connotations of the word "PRIDE". Like Hall's theory suggests, the connotations of the word "PRIDE" are what makes up the meaning toward this magazine and represents the magazine as supportive of the British female African, African- Caribbean community.

Across the whole page is a photo of "Nicole Scherzinger" in a medium close shot. She's looking over the shoulder directly into the camera, a typical convention of magazines, whilst wearing a dark smokey eye and a bold red lip to match the masthead, giving the impression she is strong and powerful yet feminine and seductive; this again represents the magazine as supportive and empowering toward Africa, African- Caribbean women. The direct eye contact with the camera allows readers to believe she is strong and independent as she looks quite intimidating and femme fetal. The airbrushed finish to the photo would appeal to women and make then wonder how "Nicole Scherzinger outgrows her dolls" in hopes to become a powerful yet seductive woman like her.

Throughout the cover, there is a colour theme of red, black and yellow. This technical code represents the page in a distinctive way to make it project above the other magazines. The red matching Scherzingers lips and the black matching what she is wearing with yellow as a contrast colour makes the magazine very feminine yet noticeable and denotes it in a captivating way. There is also the use of white to pick out important text for example, the main feature on "Nicole Scherzinger" is printed in a white serif font. Like Barthes extension of the theory of the sign suggests, the denotation of these colours; bold red, yellow and black; along with the connotations; strength, hope and sophistication; created an eye catching cover with a large amount of meaning.

A technical code placed half way down the page on the right tells us the magazine is international " UK vs USA the land of opportunity debates. This allows us to understand that the magazine isn't only supportive of British African, African- Caribbean women but women around the world.