Year 12 Media Studies

1. How do the covers of Lego and Romesh support the statement that The Big Issue is 'hybrid and unpredictable' ? The Big Issue is 'hybrid and unpredictable' in the Lego cover it is uncluttered and focuses the readers attention on the cover lines, whereas the Romesh cover is cluttered ,in a cartoon and informal style despite it being a formal topic about money ,reinforcing The Big issue being unpredictable. The masthead also migrates across the page, varying from edition to edition, the Lego and Romesh cover supports this by migrating the masthead from top left on the lego one to centred on the Romesh cover. This shows The Big Issue doesn't have a house style and has an upper-hand on other magazines as it can be openly hybrid and unpredictable, which is unusual as many magazines have house styles to make them recognisable on retail shelves. Although similarities in the highly saturated colour themes can be seen the actual colour used in these themes are different,

The Big Issue does not follow a house style as faithfully as more mainstream magazines, making it unusual in its media language. Layout varies from one edition to the next, as the Lego cover is not cluttered with only one cover line whereas the Romesh cover seems cluttered with many cover lines around Romesh's head, yet his picture stays the focus of the cover. The masthead migrates across the top of the page from top left (Lego) to centralised (Romesh) to top right ,in other editions.