Analysis of Music Magazine - Front Covers

NME is published by IPC Media, which appeals to the younger audience who appreciate rock music.

The magazine appeals to their particular audience. The house style helps a buyer recognise the magazine from the strong bold font where the other text connotes with the masthead. The modal address helps with getting the audiences attention. With the use of language like “In the studio and about to go global” doesn’t bore the reader, makes them keen to read on and also communicates to the reader in the informal language they prefer. Again, the bold words from the banners stating “NME Exclusive” helping the magazine sell more and giving the impression that it has more included than normal.

The use of puffs and cover lines scattered around mentions other news and stories that again would appeal from the use of modal address. The centre image uses dominant ideology that gives the impression of a rebellious character shown from the tattoos. Finally the layout is designed to hide the information, which isn’t necessary such as the barcode and the price and enlarge the information, which is most likely to convince the reader to buy it. Also the layout of the cover lines fills the negative space or background, which is to make it seem packed with, stories, news etc. And well worth the price. 

The magazine, Metal Hammer is produced by Future publishing, which looks at both Metal and other mainstream music. The colours of this magazine appeal to both the genre and layout of this magazine. The centre image is a black and white image of the band “Dimmu Borgir” represented as a heavy metal band from the use of mise-en-scene (black clothes, long hair, make up on faces etc.). The use of the blood red on the title helps the masthead stand out and also reflects on what metal can be about. The magazine has also introduced the Norway flag as part of the centre image, which gives the reader the impression that the bands music will be different as the band are from another country.

The use of language is very short in words, as the audience are of the younger age, as the stereotype of a younger person would state they are not interested in reading a lot. Lastly the use of font varies from bold and clear to more unique and more suited to the house style. Which is part of the modal address to help the magazine sell.

Future Publishing produces guitarist magazine, which is a specialist magazine for people who are interested in or play guitar. The masthead is kept simple, however clear which is to help people recognise the genre of the magazine, this goes with the centre image which is a brightly coloured guitar also used to try and catch the readers attention.

This magazine also uses a house style for this particular issue, which are orange, white and grey. This is so the text and image both connote the magazine to make the layout flow. The use of language is quite formal as ages of this niche audience vary, again the use of cover lines highlight the main words which would jump out to the audience, such as the word “Fender” which people know it’s a popular guitar make. This magazine also includes a lot of advertisement and competitions where the prizes would most likely be items to do with guitar. The magazine also mentions reviewed guitars and interviews with famous guitarists such as Joe Satriani, which would interest almost any guitar player.

Finished Student Magazine Designs

Mock up designs for Student Magazine

Media questionnaire results

 Q1: Please chose one of the following titles for my magazine:

 Q2: What main colours do you think are best for a college magazine?

Q3: What would you like to read about in this college magazine?

Q4: Do you think the language should be formal or informal?

 Q5: What central image would be best for my magazine?

 Q6: Do you think the layout of both pages be packed with images and text or fairly spaced out?

 Q7: What sort of free gifts should be included in my magazine?

Q8: How much would you pay for a student magazine?

 Q9: How often should my magazine be produced?

Q10: Lastly, should the magazine just be about College life, media stories or both?

247. Student magazine analysis

The magazine 247 show colours connoting with the central image and masthead, which are also used to highlight it better. The colour also connotes a sense of youth with the green and also freedom. The background is a graffiti wall, which reaches out to its target audience (students), also gives them a particular stereotype to be rebellious. The name ‘247’ gives the impression that the magazine covers everything, 247 meaning all day every week. They also use the same colours with the strapline making the magazine look more presentable. With headlines with eye catching titles like ‘Street style’ is the sort of language, which communicates better with students and also makes the magazine appear more interesting.  For the contents page the layout and colour have been changed however the same font tile style has been kept the same. The contents page includes a large variety of images of festivals, skateboarding etc. Which again can reach out to any student interested in at least one of these things. Below, the strapline includes information on social networking sites, which would increases their advertisement more. However there is very little text used in the contents page, which could make the organisation a little confusing however the images define what will be inside the magazine. Lastly the background used is very simple and light, which outlines the text and images a lot better.

Second Student Magazine Analysis

The colours on this are mainly red and greens. These are stereotypical colours of Christmas to show it’s the December edition. Also by the use of a red ribbon going across the page which indicates "presents" for Christmas. The masthead of the magazine "Student ID" uses the same font and style to make the reader understands its brand identity. The heading is made out to be a stamp, which is normally red to indicate crime that makes this magazine more exciting.

The images seem to suit the magazine colours and layout, for example the girls red hair in the photo. The images shown are of different events to show how much this magazine has to offer. The images also appeal to the audience more as they look exciting or interesting. Lastly the use of text is kept low, as it is appealing to a younger audience, which isn’t always interested in reading. The magazine is designed to allow students to escape from college and other problems and just relax and not worry about it.

Magazine Analysis

The popular rock magazine Kerrang, appeals to a similar sort of audience to a student magazine. Analysing this title page will help me understand what catches the teenage eye with the use of colour, image, layout, font etc. The masthead, which is usually placed at the top, indicates what brand and can also show what theme/identity the magazine is all about. In this case, the word Kerrang is spelt with an exclamation mark connoting it’s loud, also shown by the way the typography is split up.

The central image contrasts with the masthead to make it work. The image of the band instantly refers to there being a main story, which is use of synergy to promote each other. Their appearance and body language, shows the bands genre of music to be rock/alternative rock, indicated by the long hair and a typical band stance. The image attracts the audience because the lead singer of the band Biffy Clyro is recognisable. The uses of coverlines/links are in a range of different fonts, which are increased in size for a particular word, which catches the eye. Words like ‘Free’ and ‘Plus’ alerts the reader that there’s more included in the magazine, also known as puffs.

Items that the magazine doesn’t like to highlight, such as the price (unless it’s been advertised as cheaper), edition and barcode are usually at a much smaller font/size, and reasons are because they don’t want to fill too much space or don’t want the reader to instantly recognise.  The use of language appeals to the target audience, they haven’t included a large amount. The text is mainly built up of band names, which is to reach out to as many people as possible, a teenager noticing a particular band they like will be tempted to read more about them.

Finally the use of colour is important in this magazine. The main colours used are black and white where the images and text go together. However the use of red as well is to outline the puffs, which are the free items included and other band stories. The colours connotate the rock theme, which is what Kerrang, is trying to give.