The Big Issue 'We Are Here' Mini-Essay

The cover I will be analyzing is the 'We Are Here' issue from 9th January 2018. The overall composition has the traditional Big Issue aesthetic of looking as if it were homemade; with all the vendors cut out onto the cover. Making it seem as if the vendors had an influence on the creation of the cover. It's text based which is typical of the big issue, but not of most magazines. This is a unique selling point.

In the Masthead we can see the iconic Big Issue logo, this is consistent in every issue. It is bold and established and always at the top. In the main cover line we see the words 'we are here'. Smaller cover lines which are about the vendors. There are smaller sell line at the bottom that says 2018 year of kindness, this links back to their values of being kind and creating a voice for the homeless. In the center there's large pink text that says 'WE ARE HERE' this is promoting their inclusivity, the text is highlighted with yellow (in 3D) to make the text pop out. Then underneath this we have ''#CELEBRATEYOURVENDOR NOW MORE THAN EVER' this reinforces the idea of community and is also bringing in a younger audience by allowing them to use the hashtag. It's all in a sans serif font which connotates that it's modern and up-to-date.

The images are all mid-close up shots, but they all seem to be cut out of their original backgrounds which gives it the homemade look. This reflects their lifestyle of surviving and making things with the bare minimum by themselves. As for the mise-en-scene they're all wearing the red big issue vest. The location is unknown as the background has been cropped out and replaced with a bright blue background. High key lighting which sends out a very positive bright message. A key prop would be the dog, as it makes the audience sympathize for the vendors, they see the dog and they get emotionally drawn.

The language is promoting kindness with ‘2018 the year of kindness’, also celebration is further implied with the hashtag. Only anchorage here is the ‘#celebrateyourvendor’. The narrative established is to not only show the success of the magazine but to also show the success of their vendors. It's a positive story about the homeless, proving the stereotype of homeless people use the money given to them for bad things wrong.This cover is very hard-hitting in relation to the political, social and cultural context. Homelessness is increasing, this is shown by the amount of people featured in the magazine. But this is telling a positive story. The people on the cover do not look stereo typically homeless either.

Brand identity is established with the slogan right at the bottom 'A Hand Up, Not A Hand Down' but their slogan is also metaphorically represented on their cover too. The logo in the masthead also helps to establish brand identity. When constructing and appealing to it's target audience, the big issue brings in the younger audience by using a hashtag and then an older audience by mentioning Bowie in the top right corner. Some of the models appear to be older and some younger, there is a lot of diversity.