Analysis of Rolling Stone cover from December 2009

From looking at the front cover, the target audience could be said to be female, as Taylor Lautner would be an interest for the female gender rather than the male. However, the Rolling Stone’s stereotypical target audience gender is generally male as it is mostly associated with music with particular genres such as rock. Females are most likely to be attracted to the front cover of this issue of Rolling Stone, not just from Taylor Lautner but from the article that will be going alongside him. Teen wolf, and Twilight, is an area of interest for many females. 

The font of the magazine is quite big and bold, making it stand out and catch your eye. With it being red, it also makes you notice it when glancing at a magazine stand or walking past it on a shelf, it stands out from the other magazines and hooks your interest. The red font could also be a signifier to the emotion passion or romance, with Taylor Lautner being an attractive male role model and many females being attracted to him. Taylor Lautner is wearing a simple outfit as his clothes aren’t the reason for him being on the front cover, the main reason is his attractiveness and his muscles, which are visible in the main image, making females want to buy the magazine. The rugby ball could be used as a way of telling the audience that he is very fit and energetic and good at sport.

Even though the masthead is obscured by the main image, you can still tell what magazine it is as Rolling Stones is so well-known and popular that the masthead doesn’t need to be on display for people to recognize it. The coverlines are all very bold and noticeable and each share a similar size of font, even though the “Teen Wolf” words are bigger than the rest of the text, this could be to grab the audience’s attention and make them look at the rest of the text to see what it is about. Taylor Lautner being in the Twilight saga makes him famous for being a teen wolf which could be another reason as to why they have put those words in a bigger font, so people can immediately associate the image of Taylor Lautner and his biggest acting role so far with the words “Teen Wolf”. There is one puff at the bottom right of the magazine which is used to highlight something important in the magazine, in this case Barack Obama. The sea in the background could be an indication that this issue of the magazine will be quite calming and relaxing or it could have been used to place Taylor Lautner in an everyday place and make him seem laid-back and natural. The beach is also where many sports are played which could link him back to the rugby ball in his hands and the idea of him being sporty and a fan of exercise.