A study of contemporary front covers

 

What is The Observer's House style?

Body copy: Written in a serif font, making it easy to read and traditional for newspapers.

Use of Language: Headlines are written in a journalistic, formal style.

Images: Uses full colour photography, which brings variety and visual interest. Most images are of politicians, celebrities and ordinary people. 

Some are close ups; most are mid or long shots to connote a news orientation àan individual's, audience's, or organisation's specific pattern of consumption, interest or approach toward news media.

Colour: 3 Colours are used throughout the main newspaper to brand different sections.

Typography: All fonts are designed as serif and the masthead is slightly more rounded. Font uses a mixture of bold and elegantly thin strokes, connoting confidence and elegance. House style is achieved through this being used throughout.

Values: Liberal values: tolerance, fairness and progress through media language, which makes it mainstream.

It’s designed to connote that the newspaper is packed full of news, which celebrates the value of information.

Front cover analysis:

How do the stories reflect the contexts of the 21st century?

Identify stories from the contemporary covers, that reflect Britain as a multicultural 
society.
On the March 2025 cover, the main image shows Chelsea’s women’s team lifting a trophy after winning the league. The anchorage supports the image positively, highlighting success in a sport traditionally dominated by men. The players pictured are from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds, and the mention of a French manager reinforces themes of multiculturalism. On the February 2025 front cover, a cover line in the bottom corner refers to “the far right’s xenophobia,” emphasising the need to challenge it. It is written by Musa Okwonga, whose non English name suggests a diverse range of writers contributing to The Observer.

Identify one story and one journalist from the contemporary covers that reflect a feminist 
society.

On the cover of February 2025 the main image of 'Pamela Anderson' which refers to her as an

actor rather than an actress which shows her as a more serious actor and she takes her work seriously. In the main image she is wearing no makeup and it's not a sexualised image of her its just her smiling in a natural way with soft lighting. Whereas in her early days she was sexualised on magazine covers and tv shows. 'Shanti Das' a women journalist writing about "revenge porn" highlighting that revenge porn abusers get to keep explicit images of their victims on their devices.

Identify elements from the contemporary covers that reflect consumerism.
The Free Food magazine advertised on the Feb 25 cover, is aimed at The Observer's middle class readership. The 'urban wineries' would appeal to those middle class readers as something they might want to do. 

The March 25 cover has a cover line about how the 'incessant demand' for consumers to leave feedback is a 'plague' on our inboxes. This cover line reflects the huge amount of online shopping we do now, and the relationship companies wants to establish with customers by asking for reviews or feedback, but this is backfiring as we (the consumers) resent the amount of emails coming in to our inboxes.

Find your own story, that reflects a context not mentioned in Q1-3: Feminism? Mental 
Health?

The March 2025 cover advertises the front page of The Observer Magazine which shows chef Heston Blumental with the headline 'The bipolar diagnosis that saved my life'. This shows a prominent, male figure discussing their battle with their mental health in a positive way without any stigma or shame attached. 

Homework: