Contents page analysis: Kerrang

This is the contents page from Kerrang and features Greendays lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong. The contents page is very simplistic compared to how the front cover is very busy and so i thought it would be a theme running through the magazine. This is perhaps to attract to a wider and older audiance, looking more sophisicated would appeal to older audiances but the main cover will still appeal to their target teen audiance.

The main title of the page is 'CONTENTS' this is a simple and clear way of representing what is going to feature in the magazine. There is one main image on this page, placed to the far right and taking up the length of the page, obviously dominating. The picture is of Billie Joe Armstrong, wearing a leather coats, striped scarf, big and chunky earphones, he is also sticking out his tongue to the camera while amking direct eye contact. There are no other images scattered on the page and the only image really capitivates the audiance and draws them in. The colour of Billie's clothing matches the colours used in the text, there by showing a structure and leading your eyes around the page, for example black and red striped scarf compared to Black to red to black text layout.

The page information is catergorised in sections related to context. The page numbers in the sections are in cronilogical order. The page numbers are a RED which is very clear to read against the white background. The titles of the pages are very suited to the target audience. Eg; 'DONT ROCK THE VOTE!'. The play on words add interest and share a sense of fun. Most of the titles end in ! or ? or ... this punctuation emphasises and creates excitement.

Double Page Spread Analysis: NME

This is a double page spread from the NME magazine. It features a band called the Teenagers and speaks about who they got together and how they started. I believe this is a good example of a double page spread becasue it gives the fans a chance to know more about thier band and to get to know them better instead of just liking thier music. Every issue of the magazine has a double page entry about a new and up coming band and so this gives them more publicity and advertisment.

The main colour theme on these pages in white, blue and black. This is simple but bold and so the parts in blue attract the eye staright away as they are important. Again, we see example of layering in the title, 'The Teenagers' with the bold and bright blue background in contrast to the dark and striking back text. Creating a great impact and drawing in the reader. To show divides throughout the page, they have used white too show structure and to make the text clear and not to look to cluttered as the focus is on one main topic. With reagrds to the colours in the picture, the black and white corrispond well to the text and background but the orange hanging pictures do grab your attention. I believe this is good becasue pictures can give far more detail than text and so it could suggest the hokme lives of these artists, in which fans are intrigued to know about.

With regards to the picture itself, the artists are staring into the camera which suggests that they are inviting the audiance to read more about them. Also by drawing attention to the hobbies of the stars, its showing the fans the realist side to their icons and showing that they do in fact have normal lives. However, i feel that to make more of a positive impression on the auduiacne, the picture should of shown the artists being happy and smiling however this would clash with the bands 'image.'

The smallest font is a simple legible style and is used for the text in articles through out the magazine. The characters names are in bold and have a masculine suitability, this font is only used for that appeal on this double page spread. The sub headings are in bold, capitals and are larger than the smaller text. This makes it very clear and allows the reader to read it quickly. The fonts schemes are repeated on this double page and through out the magazine.

Analysing Cover Two: NME

This is my second cover in which i am going to briefly analyse. This magazine is NME, which stands for New Musical Express. This magazine is again of rock genre and i will be looking into the reasons for this magazines appearance to help me with my ideas.
The first thing that appeals to me is who the magazine is aimed at. I believe it to to both genders becasue it has the dark background and yet the bright yellow cell name which is a convention of female likes. Also, the males in the picture have obviously been made up to look more attractive to appeal to females but the crazy faces and the clothing might interst males for fashion ideas and icons.
I think that the magazine targets teenagers from 16 - 21. I believe it is the poses and the sturcture that suggests and supports this.

The colours are bold and there is a theme that is shown throughout the cover, yellow, white and red, as shown. With these colours on the dark background of clothing and then behind them a pale background shows a sense of layering and this makes it look busy and intersting. The way this magazine makes its text stand out is by making a border inside the text colour with another, creating a 3d effect and making them look bolder. I like how the main headline is at an angle, i think this makes more of an impact and emphisis on the main feature band.

The text is used in many ways throughout this cover. Its used for emphisis but also for information. for example 'MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE - NEW ALBUM: THE ULTIMATE REVIEW' is written in bold but in quite small text size and so it creates a dominating look but doesnt over bare the entire page.

Introduction

This is my Media A/S Main Task and within this unit i have to Analyse two front covers, one contents page and one double page spread all from my chosen genre. I will also flatplan a front page, double page spread and contents page with my own ideas and then i will be completeing my own designs and printing them. I will be using InDesign to create my magazine and will be writting an online blog to document my achievements and to anaylse my work. I have chosen to study the ROCK genre and so will be creating a Rock Magazine. For my final task i will be writting a final evaluation about my research and my final project.

Analysing Cover One : Rock Sound

The magazine is mostly based around the Rock genre and all the sub genres within Rock. The word 'Rock' ammediatly attracts the target audiance because of its simplicity. Rock also has connatations of being very loud and noisy and so by the use of 'Sound,' it relates very well. What also woks well corrisponding to the title is that the name attracts the audiance because its clear to us what the magazine is about and so the audiance will focus more on what is in the magazine instead of finding out wat the magazine is about.

The font on this magazine is very important because the magazine has a set genre and so has to fit within that. Its tall and thin, being simple will attract the audiance more because they like to focus on the more important things however it still grabs your atention. The font also has randomly places cracks that represents a 'gravestone' effect, which also relates to Rock because it is occasionlly associated with death.

The cover is targeting boys and you can discover this when you look at the colour conventions of this cover. The main theme is blue and so this may appeal more to male rather than females. Against the blue background, white is used in the title, this is used to help it stand about as it is the thing that the audiance will ammediatly focus on. Using the red with the gloves also suggests that it is appealing to males becasue it is playful and boystroius. I have also come to gather that the colours on this page are all American Flag colours and so it shows that the band featured are American or that the magazine is.

The picture in general is set to show the main band featuring within the magazine. There is a large proportion of the magazine shown on just them 'Fall Out Boy' and so all the attention is drawn to them, this is also done by the way the picture is in all the frame and the head blocks out the title showing they are more important. Again, this is appealing mostly to males becasue the picture is of two male, with boxing gloves (a generally masculine sport) and they are making threatening faces rather than how if they were going to appeal to females, they would be looking more suductive.

I think the target audiance is to males in thier teens and who are obviouslt into rock music. This is made blatent through the many ways that the contents are mostly boys interests, for example boxing.
The structure looks cluttered which creates that snese that the magazine has a lot to offer and that it will take a while for the reader to finish. I like that fact its giving away a CD, i believe this is good way to get loyal buyers becasue its always good to give something back to your buyers instead of just feeding them gossip. The magazine includes a date and issue number as well as a bar code and price. This is good for my research because now i know that i should include these things.