Existing Mainstream Magazines

The Rock Feature

The red, black and white colour palette used for this particular cover helps to support the idea of power. Red is associated with muscularity and even brutality at times, this almost acts as a motif for Johnsons persona who usually plays intimidating characters in media products. The black colour creates a bold statement and perhaps alludes to his black history, black is also a masculine colour, constructing Johnson as a hyper-masculine individual.

Johnson has a direct gaze at the audience, making eye contact. It's conventionally intimidating and it adds to the more personal approach of this format. The intensity of his stare and timid facial expressions connote a sense of seriousness and solemnity which we should approach with our bodies.

Johnson’s experience as a professional wrestler earned him the ring name, ‘The Rock’, which has connotations of physicality and stability. This name is used prominently here, across the central image, with his actual name appearing in smaller typography and below it. This is to allure the audience specifically, as Johnson is more known for his persona name.

The use of his iconic bicep with a brahma bull tattoo on it is positioned to be comparable to his head, making the muscles appear as a colossal, this represents Johnson as a very muscular and athletic man who acts as a significant figure for those who want to better themselves, he acts as a generic alpha male. The size of the bicep attracts the audience and create an almost shock effect.

This is a positive representation of Johnson because he is labelled as 'Hollywoods most bankable star', the sibilance connotes his succession within mainstream culture, and for him to be above the favoured white culture connotes a sense of equality and how he is subverting mainstream views.

The strap-line on the right third of the cover, “Your ideal beach watch. The best for under £300” is an important aspect of this magazine. Modern print magazines survive predominantly because of their advertising revenue, they are adept at selling insignificant props– a £300 watch specifically for the beach implies a certain level of wealth of the mainstream audience. Further down the page, there is another cover line advertising ‘The Style Guide’, a new section inside. In today's competitive society, there is a colossal focus on fashion and its evolving world, as well as health and body image. The magazine acts as a casual guide to its male target audience, who read it for their personal desires.

Finally, at the very bottom of the page there is a news value mentioned, “The extraordinary truth behind the Viola beach tragedy.” This is an reference to the band Viola Beach who all died in a tragic car crash in Sweden. In my opinion its small typography and irrelevance on the page is quite egoistic of the gate-keepers.

There is a lot of speculation around the crash and this cover lines suggests that GQ has the answers. By including some serious journalism as well as entertainment and fashion advice, the magazine is broadening its range of offerings for its audience members.

The masthead reads 'GQ' and it stands for gentlemen quarterly, it targets a young male audience of 18-25 years old due to its generic male topics and controversial discussions on alpha male stereotyping. The masthead is red which connotes a sense of danger, with the minor attention on specific topics surrounding men e.g. mental health.

Lil Wayne feature

Zuzanna Kalecinska