I had a little trouble formatting this correctly so I apologize in advance for the layout.
The name of the magazine, NME is written the same on each
magazine, and in the same place. It uses the same font and font colour is kept
behind the front feature to not take the focus from them. The magazine follows
the poular Z format. The top of the Z is the title and a few puffs. The line
across to the bottom of the Z is the picture. The bottom of the Z is the main
title of the band’s name and some puffs. The bold magazine name is eye catching
and noticeable, the background is plain grey; this makes the band the main
feature. The colours are kept to a minimum and the colours that they do use
focus their key audience. The band is the main feature of this magazine issue.
It is features on the whole band, but made Hayley Williams the main focus as
more people know who she is and know what band she is from. Puffs are on the
left side following the Z shape of the magazine format. It is more information
on what will be in the issue of the magazine.
The heading “kerrang” the logo is the kerrang heading cut K
it is shown at the top left so it is viewable in stores. The clothing of the
members is also similar to the title and headings instead of bright colours
that clash. There is large bold font with the cracked style design to show the
style of the music. The Kerrang magazine focuses on the same 3 colours every
issue, the main one is magenta black which they use mostly on the headings.
Other big headlines are shown at the top left just underneath the masthead so
the readers will know to check there after they are done with the image. The barcode is a little out of place as it
cuts off parts of two images which isn’t good however it’s only a small part of
the images so the effects are minimal. I will avoid doing this when I make my
magazine cover.
The title is in cracked font, this is stereotypical for this
theme. The band members are dressed in black with black hair, which is keeping
with the theme of the magazine because it is stereotypical of rock/punk bands.
This shows the genre of the magazine. Green day are shown as a large picture
and the large title, this shows green day being the main selling point. The
posters are in red borders to bring attention to them. Special features which
are a unique selling point as it shows posters that can be downloaded,
interesting the fans and the consumers. Alone the bottom is another marketing
ploy, if the other selling points don’t get any attention they have added bold
yellow (contrasting) PLUS! To draw attention to that.
The use of picture signifies that this magazine is related to
one sort of music such as punk, emo etc. Good use of colours to emphasize the
most important buts within the contents page such as the titles of the page.
Also the contents page is in bold writing to show what page it is. There is
also the yellow with the background of the black showing the subtitles on the
page. Good use of pictures to try and get the reader interested within the
first couple of pages. There is a good picture of a band performing which may
be of interest to the consumer. There is also a use of another bands picture to
show competition. There is a magazine advertisement with them showing how they
can purchase the magazine for cheaper than it is being sold in the shops. There
are vast amounts of stories which the contents page shows that the magazine
covers a huge area of music. It also makes the reader want to read the rest of
the magazine. The layout of the contents page is good because of the way the
writing is laid out; it doesn’t make it boring for the reader, it makes it
interesting because it has the detail of the magazine in small detail and the
consumer is not missing out on what is inside of the magazine.
The title of the pages stands out which will attract the
audience, it also informs the reader as to what the page will consist of. The
font is bold and in capital letters, which draw more attention to the title.
The page is informative and is easy to read to find out what the magazine will
contain, the main headings are in a flowing font which makes it stand out from
the rest of the text, because the rest is bold text. This helps direct the
reader into whatever he/she may want to read. The fonts are informal which will
put the reader at ease and it also contrasts against the masthead. The artist
is making clear eye contact with the audience reading this page of the
magazine, which will draw to reader into the magazine. They eye contact is
quite unassuming and mysterious which will instantly attract the reader. The
artists outfit links in with the colours of the contents page, which doesn’t
take too much attention away from the contents of the page. The artists legs
lead up to the title of the page, which is very effective as the legs will
attract attention as they are promiscuous and sexy, it also draws the reader’s
attention up the page subverting the convention of drawing the attention down
the page, making it seem naturally irresistible to human nature.
With this contents page it is much easier to tell what
it is due to the bold heading which ready “Hammer contents” not only Is it
telling us that it is a contents page but is also telling us the name of the
magazine to remind the reader of what magazine they are reading. Words like
feature and regulars help the reader to identify with what they are looking
for. They style of text that has been used is similar throughout the whole of
the contents page; it is also the same style of text that the masthead and name
of the overall magazine use, this helps to promote brand identity. The fact
that each page numbers and heading has been separated using lines to help the
reader to keep on track of what they are reading and where to find it, because
so much text has been used for a contents page. There is more than one image
used and there is no focus image. Overall there is no focus to the contents
page, and is very scattered. This magazine is focusing more on the male
audience; this can be said from the style of this contents page, the artist in
use and the colours.
The main image is taking up half of the double page spread;
it has its own page so it is showing the reader it is an important piece in the
article. The image being the way it is portrays the masthead ‘teen spirit ‘in a
strong way, the people in image are active like typical teenagers and having
fun. This is adapting to the whole grunge look of the article such as the red
and the black colours with un-even lines. The image shows the band to be
kicking and teasing someone in a rabbit costume. This conforms to the
stereotypical view of the music featured in the magazine Kerrang! Which is
violent, destructive, loud, abusive as well as the masthead of this informal
article. Even though there is a lot of text it is easily readable because it
has been places in columns instead of paragraphs, this makes the double page
look tidier and more presentable. The type of font that has been used for the article
text appears to be disheveled and jagged. This type of font conforms again to
the stereotypical view of the genre of rock that Kerrang! Promotes and portrays
to it’s readers.
World exclusive is in use here as a major sell line
saying to the reader that they could only read it here. The main image
dominates the background of the double page spread using the conventional
colours of Kerrang and the colours of their stereotypical audience to convey
dominance; this makes the image look more powerful yet it doesn’t discourage
attraction from the text. A headline is a quote from the band itself again
backing up that they can only read it with Kerrang. There is a mini article to
the side, still talking about the band but about their new songs that they are
releasing, this is good as it does not discourage the consumers eyes away from
the main article.
The headline of the article is clearly visible and the word
BACK is bold and in a different font which stands out. This is most likely
because the reader doesn't necessarily always read the whole article ant they
can just read the headline to understand what it is going to say. The font link
with the genre of music played by My Chemical Romance as it is rocky and bold.
In comparison to the image the article if quite small. This shows that the
readers may feel that they don’t need to read the article to understand what it
is about. The shot type is the same as on the cover-medium long shot and at eye
level. This means that the double page spread and the cover are linked.
