Four Four Two Analysis

Signifiers;

-         Red Writing; Red symbolises the anger, tension and fervour with which the fans/players of the two clubs see each other when this match comes around.

-         White Writing; the white writing immediately creates a link with the club ‘Real Madrid’ White is associated with Real Madrid and is their home kit.

-         Yellow Background; The yellow makes everything stand out so all the emotion is brought to the fore but also the yellow links with the clubs badge again linking the cover with club.

-         The Players; the players on the front look assured, confident and at ease, perhaps they do not feel the tension of the derby ahead. This could be reassuring their fans that they feel confident enough to win the match.

-         Also ‘James Rodriguez’ is standing in front of the other two (Ronaldo and Bale) symbolises that he, as the new star, has the power and is now the main man at the club.

-         The Title; The title “Real Madrid” is in the forefront of the image, the players take a minor role; it’s all about the clubs name.

Media Features;

-         Mast Head; The mast head features at the top of the magazine. The title “Four Four Two” is also a football formation so it creates a link with the sport and is obviously targeting football fans.

-         Central Image; On the cover your eyes are drawn straight to the main picture of the footballers. The image links with the Real Madrid theme as the image features their best players. The title takes a back step while we are drawn to the players.

-         Cover Model: The front cover features more than one cover model. We have Ronaldo, who is one of the most famous players of the game, and Gareth Bale both are known worldwide in the game. By featuring these two players Four Four Two is enticing us in. We all want to hear their story.

-         Anchorage: The anchorage is “Europe’s maddest ever strike forces” Seeing the players behind we can fully believe that. It links the players to an article. These players score 30+ goals a season so we want to find out why they are the “maddest” strike force and how they became to be so.

-         Secondary Images; the secondary image is much smaller than the other pictures. It shows an alternative front cover of the magazine that shows Barcelona’s new players. This reawakens the derby tension between the two clubs and forces the reader to choose; do they support Real or Barca?

-         Cover lines; The cover line is displayed against a red background and is displayed in bold white writing “Real Madrid” white is their signature colour so it links in with that. But white on red makes the article stand out a lot more than the normal yellow background.

-         Mode of Address; the magazine communicates in an “In your face nature” All the text is big and bold, whilst the images are in your face. It is a very direct way of getting their message across. It is simple and effective.

-         Pugs and puffs; N/A

-         Barcode, Price, Edition; The barcode is placed at the bottom of the page where it does not get in the way. The price is just above that but in small writing; with it costing £4.75 you don’t what readers discovering that first. The edition number is on the spine of the magazine as it does not need to be a major part of the magazine.

-         Use of colour; The yellow page colour allows the red, black and white texts to stand out better and catch the readers eye. They do not fade into the background but instead stand boldly out.

-         Font; The font used is in standard block form to catch the eye of the reader. Also the target audience being football fans doesn’t need to be fancy, we just want to get on and read the articles.