Front cover in detail analysis

Kerrang! The masthead of K! is sans serif giving it a

bold strong effect making it standout the page even when covered by the main image. The font style is distressed slightly to give it edge and an original look. The skyline shows the viewer the other bands the magazine will feature inside. They are written in a bold font face which allows the white to stand out even further against the black. The subhead is in serif. On most magazines the style is that most information is on the left so customers would take it off a shelf. So there is a freebie on the left, and a cover line which most people into music will be a little shocked by. They also have a ‘Plus!’ Showing the consumer that there is even more information and bands inside. The main image is well lit and takes up most of the spread. It overlaps the masthead slightly

Kerrang! cont.

. The band members all look out of the page and challenge the reader slightly. They have attitude. Also the type of people they are says something about the age group and type of people that read this kind of magazine. 16-30’s. and interested in rock/metal music. There is a barcode and price on the right of the magazine. The colour scheme is black and white as a base then reds and yellows as colour splash. I like the magazine as you can see the brand straight away. The design also gives a lot of character and attitude to the magazine. E.g. the distressed fonts and ‘Serious’ band images. This coveys a rock music magazine which is serious about the music but will put it forth in a more informal manner.

QThe masthead of Q is very simple yet

very effective it is right on the left so instantly seen and the red box around it makes it stand out a lot from the page. The skyline is the magazines slogan and is written in bold sans serif. The main image still takes up most of the page which is white giving the magazine a simple design. Q is based on red and white with a colour splash of yellow. The red and yellow seem pretty consistent in music magazines. The subhead is in the centre of the magazine and the bands name is highlighted out so the reader will know straight away that there’s going to be a big feature on Coldplay. All the main cover lines are situated to the left to gain consumer attention on the shelf.

Q cont.

The magazine seems like it reaches a larger range of audience age than Kerrang! Because the band in the image seem older. Although the slang used keeps the magazine feeling fresh so the age group is 16-40 maybe even 40+ It depends. The band members look serious yet the twist is their visual appearance they are not clean cut. It gives the magazine a feeling of seriousness about the music yet still maintains a feeling that there will be slang and informal stories too which other cover lines and image promise the reader.

Rock Sound.

• The masthead of Rock Sound is sans serif and is partly covered by the main Image. There are no serif fonts on the cover. The colour scheme is blue and white with a colour splash of yellow. This gives the magazine a young lively feel The skyline advertises a freebie Down the left side of the magazine is all the bands featured in this particular issue. Plus a special feature on Metallica The border of the mag is white stars which give more depth to the cover. The subhead is of the main article in the magazine and is the part of the color splash as it is painted yellow. The main image is two boys from a band pulling faces, thus furthering the fun feel of the magazine.