Big Issue Analysis

The Big Issue is a street newspaper founded John Bird whose mission is to dismantle poverty by creating opportunity, through self-help, social trading and business solutions. It is a weekly magazine, which vendors buy from us for £1.25 and sell it to the public for £2.50 and keep the difference. The Big Issue is an alternative to dependency and our vendors are working for living. The target audience for The Big Issue it is hard to assess due to the unique distribution, this is hard as it is unclear why a person may be purchasing the magazine to begin with. The Big Issue appeals to the Puritans as they want to feel like they have done their bit for the world, so by buying the magazine they feel as if they have given to those less fortunate. In addition it also appeal to both the Utopians as they want to make the world a better place and the Innovators as they want to make their make on the world. The magazine gives the audience this and allows them to fulfil their wants and desires through the distribution of the magazine.

As soon as you see the cover, it gives you a sense of positivity due to the vibrant colours and the smiles on the people’s faces. The cover line is in the centre of the page in a bold large serif which is surrounded by images in a collage type of form to create like a U form around it. The writing is a pink with a yellow border which is a good contrast. Most magazines tend to have the image as the main focal point, but with the big issue, they tend to go against the popular conventions of a magazine by making their cover lines bigger and the focal point of the magazine. Image wise, I believe that they have taken mid shots and then cropped them out and turned it into a collage in a u shape, to fit the cover line in the middle. The magazine looks “homemade” since anyone could have cropped and edited into a collage, so it goes against conventional magazines. A reader that is in that position may have felt positive connotation which implies hard work and love that has been transferred from the creator. Also, all of the people seem to be from different places showing the diversity in the UK .This is representation of unity and is also reinforced by the different ethnicities and age gaps showing that there’s togetherness and no one is left behind. Regarding to the mise en scene, they all seem to be wearing some type of red uniform. The photos looks like they were taken in natural lighting instead of artificial lighting, so it makes the people look natural.
The language / anchorage used in the cover line shows a sense of togetherness. This is shown by the word ‘we’ which reinforces community, so again, anyone is welcomed.