Front Cover Research

Kerrang! Magazine

Target Audience

·         Young people aged 12-25

·         Those who enjoy alternative music

·         Men and Women. Equally as interesting for both genders

Purpose

·         Insight into a rock star’s life

·         Feature on someone who has died – remembrance

·         Make the reader feel closer to their idols

Meaning

·         The main feature is Billie Joe Armstrong wanting to be secluded

·         He could feel drained/pressured by his lifestyle

·         James Dio is dead and it is clearly shown

Genre

·         Alternative – Rock music and all sub genres of it, e.g. Metal

Construction

·         Subject covers up the mast head of the magazine

·         Competition at the very top of the page

·         Text boxes are used

·         Name of the band is in large writing

·         Black, yellow, white and blue colour scheme

·         Font is in capital letters and very bold

·         Lighting effects on the image

·         Numerous images scattered across the page

Q Magazine:

Target Audience:

·         More appealing to mature audiences – Aged 18-40

·         Those who enjoy alternative music but don’t necessarily reject the pop world

·         This particular front cover would appeal particularly to men or homosexual women due to the provocative image of Beyonce. It has been used to draw in particular attention to her figure and facial features

Purpose:

·         Has a wide amount of interviews with various different people to show different perspectives on the music industry and past experiences that are specific to their band/genre

·         Emphasis on “20” due to the 20^th anniversary of Q Magazine, e.g. 20 Interviews and “Top 20 Greatest Albums and Tracks of Q’s Life”

Meaning

·         20^th anniversary of the magazine marking a milestone

·         Significance of the 20 being shown in the articles (or number of them)

Genre

·         Contemporary rock mixed with current alternative rock and pop music. My reason for coming to this conclusion being that they have a lot of front covers with various ‘icons’ but then the next week they may have a current pop star on the front, e.g. Beyonce

Construction

·         The text is focussed around the main subject (Beyonce)

·         Again, there is a lot of emphasis on the ‘20’ – it is in a larger and bolder font than the rest of the typography

·         Traditional ‘Q’ colour scheme of red, white and gold

·         Gold symbolising and furthering the 20^th anniversary importance

·         The magazine logo is traditionally in the top left corner of the magazine allowing space for image and text

·         Important and significant words and lettering are shown in bold or in a different, larger font size

NME

Target Audience

·         People aged 15-30

·         Those who enjoy alternative music

·         Men and Women. Equally as interesting for both genders

Purpose

·         Highlight a return of a significant figure in music

·         Express the magazine editors’ top 50 albums of 2008

·         Give the reader an insight in to the reunion

Meaning

·         The main feature is Blur being reunited

·         Rekindled friendship

·         Editors’ opinions are shown with the top albums feature

Genre

·         Alternative – Rock music and other denominations, e.g. “indie”

Construction

·         Subject covers up a large portion on the front page

·         Secondary feature at the very top of the page

·         Text boxes are used

·         Name of the band and ‘reunited’ is in large writing

·         Red, yellow and white colour scheme

·         Font is in capital letters and very bold

·         Black and white effects on the image gives a ‘vintage’ effect

Rocksound

Target Audience

·         Young people aged 13-21

·         Those who enjoy alternative music

·         Men and Women. Equally as interesting for both genders

Purpose

·         Simon Neil (Front cover subject) states ‘the revolution starts here’

·         Expresses the band’s opinion that they’re the ‘best’ band in the world

·         Introduces audience to this band

·         Expose new bands

·         Variety of bands featured to show the magazine’s diversity

·         Excites the reader – ‘revolution starts here’ etc.

Meaning

·         Highlights a particular band’s brilliance

·         Rock star ego is evident

·         This musician wants to be heard among others

·         Powerful persona as shown by the sword

Genre

·         Alternative – Rock music and all denominations of it, e.g. metal, punk, industrial

Construction

·         Purple, green and white colour scheme

·         Uniform, column text

·         Subject covers the masthead

·         Writing over the image.



Metal Hammer
r

Target Audience

·         Quite a broad age group: 16-40

·         Fans of Metal/Death Metal

·         Men and Women. Equally as interesting for both genders

Purpose

·         Marilyn Manson is on the front cover to express his 'death and resurrection'

·         The ghostly look of Marilyn Manson acts a symbol for the headline

·         Highlights Marilyn Manson's debatable insanity and death like presence

ff      Variety of bands featured but they are all within the genre of 'metal' - Not a diverse magazine

·         Could potentially scare but at the same time excite the reader - use of make up and lighting

Meaning

·         Highlights Marilyn Manson's persona as being scary, unapproachable and at the same time     an icon

·         Manson's ego is evident

·         This musician is craving attention by wearing this make up and speaking of his manic past

·         Powerful persona as shown by the dirty hands, devilish make up and lighting

Genre

·       Metal/Death Metal

Construction

·         Black, red and white colour scheme - similar to halloween/horror colours

·         Centred text focuses reader's attention on the centre

·         Subject covers the masthead

·         Text over the image.
  'VIP' pass is a creative feature of showing other bands that are included in the magazine