Sight & Sound is a more pretentious, slightly ‘up market’ magazine (the ultimate glossy for film fanatics), aimed at movie buffs and film directors. The magazine reviews all film releases each month, including those with a limited (art house) release, as opposed to most film magazines which concentrate on those films with a general release. The magazines format is similar to that of a newspaper (particularly the interior layout and design of the magazine). The overall composition of the cover’s layout is neatly structured and formatted into a wellordered and clean appearance.
Some of their covers appear to look slightly similar to newly or soon to be release films teaser posters, revealing very little information only key material and facts such as actors and directors names. This shows that the magazine must have a specific targeted audience which knows what the magazine has to offer without necessarily providing a lot of awareness of its features. Also by ‘name dropping’ well-known names in the film business is surely enough to attract their audience of a slightly higher ‘knowledge’ of films, their creators and potentially how good/worthwhile they are to buy/read the magazine for
Overall, it is clear that “Sight & Sound” understand two very important things, the consumer magazine format and its audience. It is an interesting magazine for those who are interested in the analytical side of film study rather than being told what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’, therefore it does not need to include unnecessary clutter as only needs executive information to attract its target audience. Sight & Sound keeps this ratio as balanced as it can, never siding between mainstream and art-house, or focusing on high or low culture as a form of entertainment.
The overall choice of colours on their covers are moderately directed towards the warmer hues, which in contrast with the muted shades of the background bring the selected areas headfirst and highlight significant featured information that could possibly prompt a purchase.