Empire uses a large masthead at the top of their cover in a bold colour that contrasts the cover of the image and sans-serif font to draw attention to their brand. They also use coverlines that mention a "first look" and "world exclusive" to entice the audience with their exclusive information that limited people are aware of. They want to suggest that they are offering the audience something no other magazine is. They use direct address with the characters so the audience can connect as feel seen by these recognisable characters that they may idolise. The body language seen with their strong, tough stances and serious facial expressions as well as the bold, saturated colours used depict the genre of the film; These elements present the movie as a blockbuster as it is "star-studded" which means that the cast is filled with recognisable and reputable actors that the audience will already know/be familiar with. They have a diverse cast as both actors and actresses part of multiple ethnic groups play these characters that work together as a team which presents them as equals to the audience.
The characters slightly overlap the masthead which shows that Empire is a highly recognisable magazine and has the ability to mix up its house style as its viewers will still recognise the brand. This is also why Empire is able to change its colour palette with each issue. They also include information about other current projects on their cover lines in order to increase their readership as they will attract people that are interested in them and by offering information on these new and relevant projects, they will be .
Empire's contents pages typically suit their house style more than their front covers through their use of colour palette as they stick to red black and white with their masthead and cover lines. This is most likely done to show consistency and represent the brand which makes the viewer easily able to identify that the magazine is Empire and not another brand. They often include a large image background that relates to the front cover with clear cover lines overlapping the image. The logo is also featured at the top of the page the same way as it is on the front cover making it easily identifiable. The title "Contents" is a large sans-serif font that is red and white, these bold colours not only fit the house style of Empire magazine but have also been used to stand out from the main image that covers the page. Furthermore, the red colour matches the red lining of the costume Bale is wearing which is visually pleasing to the viewer. Empire places Bale off-centre in order to show that he is not the central focus of the page as the "Features" overshadows him and is placed on the left-hand side so the audience is drawn to it first. Additionally, the cover lines are white which contrasts the image's dark, warm tones and draws the viewer's attention to them. Bale is the only visual representation on the contents page, he is captured with a serious facial expression that suggests that the project being promoted is serious of a drama, however, it also shows him wearing otherworldly clothing which indicates that the genre is a fantasy of some kind.
Similar to Empire, Total Film positions its mast head at the top of the cover in a larger sans-serif font. Additionally, theiy both position their model (in this case it is Scarlett Johansson) infront of their logo which shows that Total Film is easily recognisable to their audience and a successful magazine as they have the ability to adjust thier house style and partly cover their logo without it affecting their reputable brand. Furthermore, their colour palette for this issue is red, white and black which is similar to the house style of Empire however, Total Film is using it as an intertextual reference to the Black Widow movie that is being promoted as this is the colour palette is linked to the main character as black and red are the colours of the Black Widow spider that the character is related to. Total Film also uses straplines such as "Exclusive" similarly to Empire in order to grab the viewers attention and make them believe that this magazine will offer them information that other brands can't. It is a competitive strategy to increase their audience. They also place Johansson in the centre of the cover to show that she is the central focus and that all attention should be on her. Additionally, the characters name "Black Widow" is placed under her face in a large and bold serif font which shows the importance of the character. Furthermore, by placing so much emphasis and focus on this female character, Total Film depict women in a strong and positive way, the cover line "Marvel's first lady will come back fighting..." furthers this idea as it focuses on her position as the first female superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but also that she is a fighter which presents her as a strong and independant woman that can be a role model for other women, and in particular, their female audience.
Total Film's contents page also uses a black, white and red colour palette which not only is similar to Empire, but it also reflects their house style. Furthermore, "Contents" is placed at the top of the page in a black serif font along side the date, issue number and image of the front cover which differs from Empire as Empire on shows the title "Contents" and their logo at the top of the page. The image used on the contnts page is off-centre and comes with a coverline stating the page number of the magazine where content related to the image can be found which again differs from Empire's Contents page. However the other coverlines are placed on the left side of the page which is the same layout that Empire uses in order to draw attention to the content first before the image. The colours black and red have been chosen as for the coverlines as they stand out against the white background well and make them clear to the audience.Total Film also depicts Johansson (the woman in the image) as strong as she is wearing a warrior and fighting costume that does not sexualise her or objectify her like lots of female representations do. Furthermore, her hair has been pulled back and braided which supports the idea that she is strong as it looks like a viking warrior haistyle. Additionally, another good representation of women from Total Film is the inclusion of the character Enola Holmes in the bottom left corner of the page as Holmes (played by Millie Bobbie Brown) is a character from a Netflix movie that is the sister of the character Sherlock Holmes, and it focuses on the intelligence, power and strength of Sherlock's younger sister and is regarded as a feminist movie.
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