Analysing Magazines

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Masthead-The masthead is in white, which can connotate to light, good and honesty. This stands out against the red background, behind the masthead, which can connotate to passion, energy, danger and anger. This makes us think that this magazine is portrayed as powerful honest magazine that is also dangerous and energetic. Which supports it’s genre, which is Rock’n’roll.

Selling lines/cover linesIt stands out by being lighter then the background. The white connotates to good, purity and freedom where the red connatates to danger, energy and passion. This tells me that this magazine will be based around this connotations since the colours mostly used are these and yellow which could be connotated to happiness. Also there is black which can connotated to power, mystery, evil. This tells me that this genre of magazine is going to quite dark. This may appeal to readers because they might like these colours since they stand out before you actually see the image.

The cover lines mention band names that link into the genre of the magazine, they are also in yellow so they standout to the reader, this can catch the attention of the reader since just by reading it they can aspect what the magazine’s content is going to be about.

Main image-The mid shot image is of the ‘Oasis’ presented in the headline, they are dressed in white, the colour which is mainly used in the masthead and some of the text. This tells us that it is an important aspect of the magazine since the masthead and the clothes match. The colour white connotates to pure, good, light and honesty, therefore, tells me that this image of this artist is a n honest and good image of this artist. However, this is an opposite to the facial expressions they are showing because, the two males don’t look very friendly also, one isn’t looking at the camera while the other one is. This makes me think that these guys must be dressed up to look nice but, are not actually nice, which also supports the genre of this magazine, Rock’n’Roll.

Barcode-The barcode is placed on the main image. This shows us that the barcode has a visible meaning in this cover since, barcodes are usually not placed on the main image (below the main image) this makes it easier for the reader to purchase this magazine and also shows that this brand must be a high brand because not most magazines do this.

House style- The house style of this magazine is the red usage which is very common in ‘Q’ magazines and white. This suggests that the magazine is honest, passionate, dangerous and also very good.

Heading-The heading contents is located in the top left corner followed by the date of the issue. The heading is in red, which is the same colour for font used mostly in this page. The font looks very simple but, very bold so, it catches the yes of the reader so they know what page this is.

Issue number-By having the issue number at the top suggests that this is a big magazine company since it lets the reader know what time this magazine is issued and mostly , ‘Q’ always has its issue numbers in noticeable places so the reader can check what date it is and can also look it up online if they wanted to.

Page numbers- The page numbers are in red where as the text is in black, this suggests that the numbers have a significant role in this page and the red suggests danger and passion where as the black suggests power.

The main image-The image is a long shot of a man. The image is not in colour therefore, makes the text stand out against the light background. The man is positioned the camera while facing away from it. This breaks the usual magazine convention of direct mode of address where the person looks towards the camera. This makes the magazine seem different and interesting to the readers.

The layout-The layout is set very clean and understandable so it can be easily read by the readers which like this genre of magazine.

The colour scheme of this magazine is the main three ‘Q’ colours, which are Red, black and white. These colours are very eye catching and will most likely catch the attention of young adults and teenagers that prefer this type of genre of magazine.

Heading-It is very noticeable since it is in red and the background is in white, these colours are mainly used throughout ‘Q’ magazines and are very eye-catching for their target audience and readers.

Issue number- The issue number is next to the heading this shows us that the magazine wanted to make it easier for the reader to see what date it is.

Sub-images-These images are shown with page numbers shown with the images so, it can help the readers find the pages easily. The images all look very relaxed and majority of them doesn’t include performing except one, this tells me that unlike other music magazine, which prefer doing images of close-ups of artists, this magazine focuses on the artist naturally, which may appeal to the reader.

Sub-heading- ‘Every month’This section is layed out on the left this makes the layout of the magazine more appealing since it makes it more simple and readable for the reader.The numbers are not bold or have any bright colours on them except black, the text beside them is also black and bold, the colour suggests power and strengths.The language used in this is informal, this makes the reader feel more comfortable since this is a Rock’n’roll genre magazine and they would aspect it to informally typed. Most of the text do use direct mode of address by addressing the reader as ‘YOU’. This makes the reader feel the magazine is directing at them and this makes the reader want to engage in this magazine more.

Heading-The heading isn’t in an orderly manner, it just looks like an ordinary text. I suggest this because the text usually are few lines long where as this one, goes on until more then half of the page. This suggests that this magazine is different and by the font being in black, mostly used in this magazine page, it suggests power and strength. This makes the synergy between the genre and the presentation of the magazine, because Rock’n’Roll connotates to power and other things.

Quote-This grabs the attention of the reader since they might not want to read the whole story, instead they can read this quote then debate on whether they want to purchase and read it or not.

Main image-This image is a close-up of the main attraction of this double page, which is the main artist. The image is in dark colours while the artist’s face is light, this suggests that the magazine wants the reader to focus more on the artist then on anything else, also supported by the fact the image takes up more then one page, almost nearly half of the left page. This shows its importance and it being the main subject of this double page.

The colour scheme of this magazine is black, with a hint of red and some colours on the main page. This tells us that it wants to present power and importance of these double page. It also shows us that this magazine is related very much to its genre because the most colours used are black, red and white, which ‘Q’ is very well known for .