Analysis of Music Magazine covers

This is the front cover of the popular music magazine called Kerrang!
Kerrang! appeals to many audiences, but is mainly aimed at teens and young adults who are interested in music genres such as rock, heavy metal, punk, indie and nu metal.
In this issue, there is an interview with My Chemical Romance, an American alternative rock band, who are very popular in the UK and overseas. They are the main focus of the magazine cover, which will help to attract people to the magazine as they are well known. By putting 'Exclusive' and 'The Inside Story' it makes us, the audience, think that we are going to be told something no one else knows- something we couldn't find anywhere else. By putting these in banners it helps them to stand out. The one main, central image also helps to attract us, as he is a well known member of MCR. The eye contact we have with him also helps to engage the reader and catches our eye as we think he is looking at us.
The use of 4 main colours (yellow, black, white and red) makes the front cover stand out, but not become too confusing. They are also neutral colours, allowing the magazine to appeal to any gender.  There is a lot to look at and read, if there was a variety of 15 different colours used our eyes would get distracted when we're trying to read something, and it would make it look unprofessional and tacky.
The barcode, price and issue number is placed on the front cover for a few reasons: it is quick and easy to find and scan; it makes it easy for the consumer to see what issue they are going to buy, and how much it will cost. This means people won't have to stand and look through the magazine to find these things, which would be very time consuming.

By having one main image accompanied with some smaller images helps to draw eyes in- the right balance of text to pictures will make magazine covers most effective. If there is too much text, a cover would look boring, if there were too many pictures a cover would look too busy and confusing.

This magazine front cover has many conventions other magazine covers have. For example, it has the title in the biggest font at the top of the page- meaning that it will stand out. Also, but always having the title at the top in the same font and same colours, consumers will start to look out for these things when looking for the magazine. By having the title at the top it means that it will always been seen. Due to how magazines are stacked, if the title was at the bottom it would most likely be covered up by the magazine that was stood in front of it.
The magazine also has things a certain phychographic would be interested in, for example, a 'gig guide', the people buying and reading this magazine are going to be interested in music, and there for interested in seeing the bands they like live.

TASK: Create a Music Magazine

 

Our task is to create a music magazine that appeals to a target audience.

 

We must produce:

Research into music magazines

Analysis of music magazines

A Survey

Plans of what we are aiming to produce

1 Front cover

1 Contents page

1 Double page spread

 



Draft Contents

This is a draft of my contents page. I have tried to keep the colours similar to those on the front cover, as in my research of different types of magazines I noticed many people did this to their magazines.
If I made a real contents page I would include images relating to the articles, and the school logo (large in one corner or along the bottom banner).
I think it's important to keep the same range, or a very similar range, of colours, as it makes it look professional and neat. I would also have contact details, for example the school phone number, in the bottom banner, so it's easy to find.

 

This is my final front cover for my Post 16 magazine.

I have included magazine conventions to make it suitable and appealing to my target audience. I have done things such as put the main, important points in a circle and placed it on the 'sweet spot' (where your eye is naturally drawn to). The use of a circle also makes the text stand out. I have decided to choose colours for the text that compliment the colours in the picture- all the colours fit well together and sit nicely on the background image. I decided to add extra things that are included at the bottom, and I put it in a banner so they were still noticable and stood out, even though they are slightly out the way and with a smaller font size. I kept all the fonts similar as too many different fonts confuse the eyes and make things look tacky and unproffessional. Next time I make a front cover I will try and take more time editing and maybe try some more complex things, like blurring the background and adding multiple front cover images.

Magazine name ideas

Here are a list of names I came up with that I could call my magazine.

- Post 16 Life
- +16 Life
- +16
- Your +16
- Step Forawrd
- The Step Forward
- The Next Step
- Stepping Out
- The Final Step
- Final Step






I have decided to call my magazine  Your +16.
I think this is a good choice as the magazine is for people over 16, and so it automatically applies to the target audience. I also like how it's short, and would look good in the corner of  my magazine cover. If the title was too long (eg Post 16 Life) it would take up too much room, and could look unprofessional. Most magazine titles are short and catchy  (eg Elle, Mode, Vogue, etc). I think my title is effective as it is short and memorable, and applies to the type of magazine I am creating.

Front Cover Images

 These are a selection of images I have taken. I will use one of these for my front cover of my Post 16 Magazine.

They are all mid shots as the brief says you must have a mid shot image on your front cover. I thought I would position the model to be doing things that will apply to my Post 16 magazine- so I had her do things such as read and go on her laptop. I thought these poses would be more appropriate than her just sat around or just standing there.

I like this image, but I think the colours are slightly off, and her hair fades into the background colour. I could edit this on photoshop and change the levels so the picture looks like it's the right colours.

Again, some of these coulours are slightly off, but I can edit it so it looks correct and professional. I like how the model is on one side of the picture. This would leave room for writing on the left hand side and at the top and bottom so I wouldn't have to write over her.

Contents page ideas.

I like this style of contents page, as it is simple and there is nothing to get distracted by.

 

The use of only two colours (red and black) makes the lay out simple but effective, and these colours link well with them picture (also black and red).

I also think they lay out makes it simple and easy to read. The use of two columns is an effective way of making a contents page look neat and professional.

Audience.

 

 

Find out what audience your product is for is important, because it will help you to identify key features/things you could include to make it appealing to your target audience.

 

There are many different types of audiences, and they are grouped in certain ways.

For example:

• Age
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Interests
• Income
• Occupation
• Religion
• Education
• Where you live
• BSGS (British Social Grading Scale)

 

 

For example, if you were writing a book that's audience was meant to be young children, you would include certain things to make it appealing to them. Things such as bright colours, words that aren't too complex and long, a catchy title, a simple but effective plot, etc. If you were writing a book for educated adults, you would have longer more complex words, a more adventurous plot, and overall a more sophisticated feel.

What appeals to adults doesn't often appeal to children, and vise versa.

 

Income is also important. For example, if you wrote a very complex book, and it was expensive to buy, but you tried to sell it in a place of unemployment and poverty, you won't make as many sales compared to if you sold it in a very rich area.

 

 

My Post 16 magazine will be aimed at people between 16 and 19, as this is often the age of people attending post 16 education.

Because of this I can use quite sophisticated language, but not too complex other wise they may not understand. My front cover will be eye catching and look proffessional to draw people in. The articles on my front cover will appeal to post 16's, things that relate to exams/exam practice, things happening in the school, news etc.

I'm aiming to make quite a fun magazine that will be interesting and people will enjoy reading it. 

Post 16 Magazines

 

Here are two examples of Post 16 magazines I have found.

 

First of all, both the magazines have very catchy titles (Sixth sense). The fact that the word 'Sixth' is in bigger letters makes it stand out, and gives us an idea of what the magazine is about.

 

 

The magazine on the left has a very distinctive image, and the image itself would appeal to young adults- the fact the leaf is graffiti makes it more appealing to the younger generations. It also makes the front cover more interesting, as if there was just a picture of a leaf it's quite boring (it's been done before) but the fact it's been gratified  makes it new and different. The image also links to one of the articles inside, titled 'Eco Action'.

The use of white writing on a darker background make the writing stand out, and make it easy to read. If the writing was a bright, vibrant colour (for example bright pink) the writing would be very distracting, and would look busy and scruffy.

The over all simple lay out of this front cover makes it aesthetically pleasing, and there aren't many distractions so it's easy to look at. The way the article titles are laid out along the bottom make these simple and quick to read.

 

The magazine on the right has many of the same conventions as the one on the left.

The white writing on a black background makes the writing stand out most of all. This would be done so people could read the writing quickly, or at a glance, and know what the magazine is about. Larger writing is often used for titles as titles are one of the most important parts of magazines- people need to know what brand they're buying, and by knowing the brand you'll know roughly what the magazine is about. For example, a magazine titled 'Green Life' would probably be about gardening, or outdoor activities.

The main article, titled 'Student Parents' is also in a large font, in order to attract the audience, and make it easy to read at a glance. A short sentence is used so it is quick and easy to read, and so you know exactly what the article is about- if the sentence was descriptive and long winded you wouldn't be able to read it at a glance. If the writing was small and in the corner, people would have to spend time finding the article title and then reading it. Also, the fact that that the main article is in the centre left of the page makes it easy to spot- if it was in the corner in small letters it wouldn't be as impacting as it is.

The image relates to the main article, as the article is about student parents, and the image is a child. The image is very interesting and eye catching, as it is not something you often see (a baby made out of words). The words the baby is made out of also relate to the article, words such as 'Childhood' and 'Money' are most visible, and most eye catching, which would have been done intentionally.

 

Other articles have been put in a banner along the bottom of the page. The banner is white so it stands out from the background, and the writing in the banner is black so it stands out from the white. They have also kept to these two simple colours to not make it look too busy, and so it looks near and professional.

 

Both these magazine covers are good examples of Post 16 magazines, they are both laid out clearly, look professional and attract readers attentions through their use of colour and layout. I would like to achieve a front cover of this standard.