Main Task: Front Cover Textual Analysis

Denotation -This magazine cover consists of a colour photograph of a man with tattoos and a lip piercing, standing, seeming to look directly into the camera. The main image is a medium long shot, showing the man standing with his hands in his pockets, the image is not central - it has been placed towards the right of the magazine. Behind the man is the XXL magazine masthead and logo. The colour scheme is red, white, and yellow and black which are all quite bold colours. Altogether there are five cover lines including the main one, which are all different sizes varying.

Masthead - The masthead on this magazine cover instantly stands out; the dominant bold red colour catches the eye as it is mainly the only red used on the cover. The simple text used is sans serif which has more of a modern appeal to it. The background to the photograph is a plain white; however the lighting has been staged in a way in which the subject is made to stand out. The name "XXL" for a magazine may seem strange, however the term extra extra large fits in well to show how successfully large this magazine has become from when it first started.

Character - The cover photograph is 'Lil Wayne' a successful American rapper from New Orleans

Composition- He is posed in a very confident and casual pose his body language is quite relaxed and his clothing is again casual.

Costume- His costume has been chosen to appeal to the right target audience who are possibly most likely to be male. Similar to the modern day clothing worn his costume has a connotation to the present era. Although the background of the image is very plain, his clothing connotes something more - a open and exciting personality.

NVC- His non verbal communication shows he is confident and relaxed from the facial expression he gives and his body language.
Lighting- The lighting in this comes across as artificial, suggesting it has been produced in a studio.

Cover Lines - The main image relates to the main cover live which says "LIL WAYNE EXCLUSIVE INTREVIEW LARGER THAN LIFE" making reference to his recent release of his album, being at his most successful point in his career and almost unstoppable.

Target Audience- All of these points taken into consideration, the likely target audience would be male and female (mostly male) roughly aged around18-25 having a wide knowledge on hip hop and rap music.