1. The Dark Knight
Magazine Front
Cover Analysis
Charlotte Page

2. Purpose Magazine Front Covers
• The front cover of a magazine is essential in gaining consumer
attention. If the cover is attractive and eye-catching enough, it
is more likely that the magazine will be bought by the
consumer.
• The style of the front cover will allow the potential buyer to
gain a feel for the magazine overall from its appearance, tone
and the articles that feature on that particular issue. If the
coverlines on the front cover are appealing to the target
audience, this will help to gain audience attention. Similarly,
the image also helps to attract the specific target audience.
• Conventions of a magazine front covers include a striking
image, a masthead with the title, price, date, and perhaps a
website name with bold colours, a main coverline, coverlines,
straplines and an insert. These all help the magazine gain a
professional look and gain a sense of verisimilitude.

3. Empire Magazine
• Empire magazine is one of the
best selling film magazines
worldwide. It is respected for
featuring smaller budget films
alongside big blockbuster and
also covering of various genres
which appeal to different
audiences.
• It is extremely popular due to
content it covers including film
industry news, latest releases,
DVD reviews, as well as cast
and character interviews,
competitions and more.

4. Masthead
• The masthead includes the typical conventions of magazine front
covers such as the title, date, price and also the website address
for the magazine.
• Empire is such a successful brand that they can afford for the
image to cover the title slightly and the magazine still be
recognised when on display.
• The Batman logo has been included as a strapline above the
masthead, by including this iconic symbol will hopefully entice
audiences to pick the magazine up as Batman is such a popular,
well-known figure.

5. Image
• The front cover image is of The Joker, a
character of The Dark Knight film. This
image is particularly striking because the
long shot allows the consumer to see the
whole character including his facial
expressions and body language.
• Firstly his facial expression creates an
uneasy feeling for a consumer as he appears
to be smirking and this typically is
associated with negative connotations
which suggests there is a darker side to this
character as his smile is not genuine. Also,
the way the character is looking directly at
the camera enforces the uncomfortable
atmosphere as he intimidates the reader.
• Furthermore, the real identity of The Joker
is hidden through the use of make-up so
this makes the reader question who The
Joker really is and this encourages them to
buy and read the magazine as the main
coverline suggests “Meet The Joker.”

6. Costume & Setting
• The Joker wears a suit which is a unique choice as this is often
linked to a formal business like image therefore in this prison
environment, The Joker appears to be out of place. This also
creates a sense of confusion as the true identity of the Joker
becomes unclear.
• Similarly, his costume and make-up appears worn, and this
highlights that there is a history to this character.
• The image shows the Joker being in a prison as there are bars
positioned behind him. This instantly creates a sense of danger
as prison is associated with violence and crime. This is
emphasised through the scars of the Jokers face as this suggests
that he has been involved with crime or troubling situations.
• However, it is interesting that the bars are positioned behind the
Joker rather than in front and this suggests that the consumer is
in the cell with him as they have the opportunity to meet him in
the magazine.

7. Language a feeling that the
• The language style creates
consumer of Empire are gaining an unique and
one off experience.
• Firstly, “Meet the Joker, One-on-One” suggests
that readers are individually being given the
opportunity to directly meet the Joker therefore
Empire is individually meeting consumer needs.
• Similarly, language such as “World Exclusive!”
and “World-First looks” connotes that the
consumer is receiving information exclusively
before anyone else and this will hopefully entice
audiences to buy and read the magazine. Using
the word “Plus!” also implies that the reader is
gaining even more information than they would
expect.
• The short summary under the main coverline,
“he’s a cold-blooded, mass-murdering clown”
appears quite shocking as clowns are
traditionally used to entertain young children
yet clearly this is not the case so this may
intrigue audiences they are likely to want to
know more about why he is like this.

8. Text Style
• The main coverline “Meet the Joker” appears
to be written in the lettering from newspaper
cuttings. This is typically associated with
ransom notes and therefore highlights how
dangerous and criminal this character is.
• The short summary under the main coverline
is written in a font that looks like it has been
scratched or scribbled down. This choice of
font can be seen to reflect the childlike side to
this character and his instability.
• The coverlines that are aligned to the right
hand side are written in capital letters which
is a convention of magazine front covers as
usually all coverlines are written in capitals to
ensure that they stand out but do not take
attention away from the main feature.

9. Colour and green on this front
• The use of purple
cover is a unique choice as these are both
bold colours which would make the magazine
stand out when on display against other
magazines. The colour of the text matches
the colours of the characters costume.
• The colour purple is often linked to mystery
and this is most fitting to the character of the
Joker as his true identity is ambiguous.
• Purple can often be associated with
arrogance and this too is relevant to this
character as his smirk suggests his proud and
arrogant of his power. Purple is also linked
with power in which in this image, the
character dominates the front cover.
• Furthermore, the green used here is quite a
sickly colour and connotes the idea of mental
illness which is suitable as this character is
mentally unstable.
• Finally, the darkness surrounding the
character may not only create fear of the
unknown but could be a reflection of the
darker side to this character.

10. Layout
• The layout ensures that maximum attention is drawn to the
main character as he is central on the front cover and even
though the front cover is busy with the main coverline and
other coverlines they do not draw attention away from the
main image.
• The main coverline is aligned to the left whereas the
coverlines are aligned to the right hand side of the page.
Again, to highlight that the centre image is the element that is
aiming to gain audience interest.

11. Target Audience
• Empire magazine suggest that their target
audience is 76% male and are likely to
range between the working and higher
classes. Similarly, they understand film and
are keen to read more into the latest
releases. The target audience is always
kept in mind and this is reflected in the
front cover.
• For example, the insert chosen “The
Complete Coens” implies that the
audience already know that this is
referring to the Coen brothers who have
directed several films. Therefore this is
communicating on a level which is relevant
to the consumer.
• Also, the coverlines all feature films which
are relevant to the male audience. Films
such as Wanted and I Am Legend are likely
to appeal to this audience and as a result
they are more likely to pick up the
magazine.

12. Influences
• This textual analysis has been useful in seeing how a product
outside of the Woman in Black and Paranormal Activity
merchandising promotes their film using various elements to
communicate a message to an audience.
• This Empire magazine front cover is extremely unique in the choice
of colours, and the fact that the image is aligned in the centre is
different as typically images on a front cover are aligned to the left
or right so that the text wraps around it. Here we could aim to
create a front cover that is unique and perhaps does not conform to
all the expected conventions as this will make our magazine stand
out when displayed against rival magazines.
• The text style used here has been particularly influential as the
newspaper cutting style reflects the psychological state of the
character. Therefore, we should carefully consider when selecting a
text style what message is portrayed to the consumer.
• Also, our magazine will be aiming at both males and females
therefore we need to ensure that our coverlines appeal to this
audience. Empire successfully appeals to their male audience by
ensuring that their coverlines will be of interest to their consumers.