Front cover and Contents page Analysis 1

I am going to analyse three music magazine front cover pages. In order to do this I need to get a clear understanding what the main common conventions are and what the target audience is. This would then help me in the creation of my own magazine front cover.

Masthead – The masthead in this magazine fits the correct connotation of men and women aged 15-24 but maybe also older.  It is very big and clear so the target audience can easily see what it is called and easily recognisable. The denotations of the word “KERRANG!” shows that it is a magazine for 15-24 year olds. The white back colour of the word Kerrang connotes purity and cleanliness, however in this it has a black background, this connotes gothic and death so the reader can easily see that this is a rock magazine.

Colours – on this magazine front cover they have used a good colour pallet. They have used a minimum of 3 to 5 colours; this is one of the common conventions. They have used white and black to indicate that it is a rock magazine, however they have used yellow to bring out the writing so it is easily recognisable and easy to read. The use of the colour blue to connotes negativity, which goes with the whole theme of rock.

Layout – The overall layout fits the general layout that you would see on any magazine as it has 3-4 images that have been taken with a good quality camera and it makes in not to busy. This magazine has one main image that is clear to see; also it has a few little ones that give you a rough idea on what is in the magazine. This magazine has texts and teaser so that it gives the target audience little ideas on what is in the magazine so they know what they will be reading. This magazine fits well with the target audience because they will be viewing a good quality and professional magazine, as it grabs the audience’s attention and brings the closer to the magazine.

Therory - Laura Mulvey coined the term ‘male gaze’. She believes that the film and magazine audience have to view characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male. The gaze can also be directed towards members of the same gender for several reasons, not at all of which are sexual, such as in comparison of body image or in clothing. Hall's theory "adolescence is inherently a time of storm and stress when all youth people go through some degree of emotional and behaviour upheaval" links in with this because the images are rock star which connotes rebellious so this links in with hall's theory.
Typography – this magazine has a issue number so that you can recognise what issue you are reading and what you haven’t. It is a common convention to have this.

Overall I think that this magazine fits well with the target audience because this magazine is what men and women aged 15-24 would see. I feel that a lot more people would reed this magazine rather than the other one would read this magazine because it has teasers so that you know what is in it and what it is about. However I wouldn’t personally choose the colour pallet for it, id rather a brighter magazine but that is truly my opinion. Out of 5 I would give this magazine a 4.

I am going to analyse three music magazine contents pages. In order to do this I need to get a clear understanding what the main common conventions are and what the target audience is. This would then help me in the creation of my own magazine front cover.

This contents page is the same as the front cover analysis and has the exact same target audience and has the same institution. They have used the same masthead on it to indicate it is the same as the front cover, but on the contents page it has a title saying ‘contents’ to show it is the contents page. Although on the magazine it hasn’t gave much detail on what is on the magazine because this is what the contents page does. Also there are much good quality pictures on the contents page to give an understanding of what sort of things are in it.

Layout - Overall layout fits the general layout that you would see on any magazine as it has 3-4 images that have been taken with a good quality camera and it makes in not to busy. It has one main image that is big and clear, this is a main convention because most magazines have this.
Therory - Laura Mulvey coined the term ‘male gaze’. She believes that the film and magazine audience have to view characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male. The gaze can also be directed towards members of the same gender for several reasons, not at all of which are sexual, such as in comparison of body image or in clothing. Hall's theory "adolescence is inherently a time of storm and stress when all youth people go through some degree of emotional and behaviour upheaval" links in with this because the images are rock star which connotes rebellious so this links in with hall's theory.

Colours – on this magazine contents page they have used a good colour pallet. They have used a minimum of 3 to 5 colours; this is one of the common conventions. They have used white and black to indicate that it is a rock magazine.
Typography - They have used lots of typography as this is very important on the contents because the contents needs to tell the reader what is in the magazine but not giving much detail.