Masthead- the title of the magazine. The title is portrayed in a sans serif font which is a relatively formal style. The title Kerrang! Is a fairly unusual name to use for a magazine. The magazine name Kerrang! is used in order to express the noise a guitar makes when it is dropped on the floor through an amp, which relates to the rock genre of the magazine. The white font matches the black background and therefore is suitable for the magazine.

Main cover line- the main cover line is written in capitals which stands out to the reader and therefore is eye-catching. The use of the word of finest indicates the superiority of the band on the front cover. Displayed in the middle to stand out and appeal to the viewer.

The use of the word free is a great incentive to buy this particular magazine as it adds a value for money factor. Advertising bands by including free posters for the reader themselves is a great way for the bands to distribute themselves.

The barcode is positioned in the corner by the publisher purposely to avoid its interference with the subsidiary stories. It shows the audience the price of the magazine. The price is generally tucked away unless the magazine is of sensational value for money.

Subsidiary images- these images are used in order to show the reader some of the other features included within the magazine. The images give the reader an incentive as to what the will find inside the particular issue.

Skyline-the skyline at the very top of the magazine is very important as it is more often than not, what draws the audience in. Normally, competitions and giveaways will interest the audience. In this case, the publisher has included many famous bands within this genre in order to attract the target audience. The skyline must appeal to the genre of the magazine and if it does not the magazine may lose potential sales.

Puff-the puff is used in a magazine in order to boost or promote the content. It is important as it helps entice the reader in with over exaggerated words such as PLUS!

Logo-the logo of the magazine is positioned at the top in order for it to be easily recognised and seen by regular as well as new readers of the magazine. The cracked title with the broken glass effect incorporates the theme of anarchy.

The price of the magazine is placed here for a reason. It is positioned here so that the price does not stick out in the face of the audience as it is expensive. A magazine like GQ here for example is a monthly magazine where there is generally a large amount of content in each issue. Because of this, publishers have to charge a higher price to still make a worthwhile profit.

Main image- the main image is placed in the centre of the magazine so that the main image stands out to the audience. The clothing worn has been chosen purposely so that the foreground matches that of the background.

Logo- the logo is used in order for regular as well as new customers to recognise the company publishing the magazine. A logo is important as it helps audience recognition. The red , white and blue colour scheme and layout could be used to explain the origin of the magazine, i.e. America, or used to indicate the nationality of the main character.

Emphasis on the words laugh, loud, funny attracts the reader in by making the magazine seem superior and overwhelming.

Masthead-the masthead is otherwise known as the title and is used in order to show the audience the company it is they are familiar with. The publisher of the magazine has used the opacity tool for the masthead so that the letters of the title blend over one another.

There is emphasis used by the publisher. The words funniest, jokes and dirty connote the theme and idea of comedy which may attract the target audience of males.

Coverline-the coverlines are used in order to promote some of the subsidiary stories featured within the magazine and therefore inform the audience of what can be read inside the magazine without the inconvenience of them having to flick through every page of the magazine.

Could be seen as the main cover line. Despite its size comparison to the rest of the coverlines, it relates to the main cover story. However, as a viewer, we can see that the comparison of the size of the coverlines and main story are the same, meaning that if the audience were to be unfamiliar with the protagonist on the cover of the magazine, it may mean the loss of potential sales if they cannot identify a name with the image.

Masthead- the magazine title of GQ generally has a different colour scheme which alternates between two different colours in the majority of issues. For this particular issue, the colours grey and white have been used in order to match the colour scheme applied to the rest of the front cover of the magazine. The GQ masthead is easy to recognize amongst the audience and therefore links to the idea of audience recognition. For the masthead, the opacity tool has been used in order for the two letters to have an effect by which they lap over one another.

There is emphasis on the two words oh behave, which has been written in block capitals in order to draw the audience in. The text underneath is related to the same story however has been placed underneath because of its position of importance within the story. This cover line relates to the target audience of males as it implies tips on how to act like a 21st century gentlemen, giving us proof that the predominant target audience is withheld in the male gender.

Main image- the main image is of actress and model Megan Fox who is considered by some people as a ‘sex icon’. Therefore, by including her in the magazine, and particularly on the front cover, not only does it more than likely increase the amount of readers, but it also applies to the male gaze theory as men would quite likely be enticed into purchasing the magazine possibly just down to the fact that the front cover model is posing in a seductive manner and also is showing slight cleavage. Because of the amount of the front cover taken up by Megan Fox, it would stand out clearly to the consumer of the magazine as the main image stands out vastly against the background.

The price is shown at the bottom on this particular front cover as it is a monthly issue as appose to a weekly issue. Therefore, the publisher can include mass content from within time window of a month. Because of this, it means that the price is fairly high as the company publishing the magazine would still need to make a large profit margin.

Coverline- the coverline has been placed in its most common position for this particular front cover. It is generally positioned in this way because people of the western world read from left to right. The coverlines are not regarded as the predominant focus of the issue, however, are regarded as an important and are therefore visibly featured on the front cover.

This front cover is a very controversial front cover for a magazine. The masthead starts with the name of the magazine NME, using their familiar red, white and black colour scheme. This is used on a regular basis in order to help audience recognition. Underneath the masthead, we can also see the words ‘new musical express’ which helps the person magazine understand what the name of the magazine stands for. There is a pug featured in the top-right corner of the magazine, which is used in order to attract the audience to an exclusive story or for free give-aways, and or competitions. The colour scheme is white, black, orange, red and yellow. This color scheme has been used possibly due to the way in which these colours correlate, i.e. Black and white, yellow and orange. The title is written in a sans serif as well as serif style font. The coverlines are all written in a red-white format. This maybe done so that the stories stand out, but do not majorly clash.

The main image of the piece can be considered controversial as the image is not a stereotypical representative of what would generally feature on the front cover of a magazine. The gestures and posture of the main cover artist indicate a sexual indication, which is proven by the nudity of the front cover model. Without heavily criticizing the front cover artist, as someone analyzing the magazine, we could most definitely insinuate that the cover artist Beth Ditto, especially with a lack of clothes, is not a particularly attractive, nor expected image to be used on the front cover of the magazine.

The image in itself powerfully contradicts the male gaze theory which was incorporated by Laura Mulvey. The general reader of a magazine, (especially one which generally is brought by those of a male gender), would, if a female character was to be featured almost expect a main image of a female character to be somewhat appealing and possibly in a seductive pose. The lipstick on the leg of the main image connotes relation to the main quote associated with the piece. The quote in itself followed by the lipstick and the lack of attire suggests that the main cover line shows how the artist is against the whole concept of all magazines and posters needing to feature someone of great looks and mass appeal. Because of the possible controversy this may raise, the magazine may enhance its sales as the audience may want to read what this artist, who is clearly out there to create controversy, has to say.

The barcode in the right bottom corner is shown in a fairly clear manner. Despite publishers taking a thorough disliking to barcodes on the front of magazines because they feel is does not look appealing to the audience, the particular publisher here has placed the barcode clearly on the front cover in order to attract the reader into buying the magazine because of the cheap price. If the magazine is being sold at a fairly low price, publishers feel great need to advertise and endorse the fact that their magazine is cheaper than that of their competition.

This particular double page extract is taken from music magazine Kerrang! The double page features the band all together in the main image. The title used has a mixture of font style by the usage of the words being in both serif and sans serif style. The main colours used as part of the colour scheme are black, red and pink, with the use of the colour pink being a non-stereotypical feature associated within the advertisement of an all male rock band. In addition, there are subsidiary images which accompany the main image showing each band member individually. The title of the double-page spread has been chosen purposefully as it relates to the largest selling song from the band ‘Dirty Little Secret’. In addition, not all readers would understand the creative choices made for the magazine as only fans of the band and those aware of the songs release would truly get the idea in which the publisher is trying to incorporate. This particular layout is done in a introduction, followed by questions and answers format. The writer of this piece has created a layout by which the general text and answers are in white, the questions are in pink, and the writer has also chosen to differentiate each band member speaking and by doing so, has done it in red.

The images used for the piece are generally black and white all by the main image. This effect has been used so that the main image really stands out. The clothing worn by the bands members represents their genre as they are wearing low cut t-shirts, converse trainers and tight jeans which are a stereotypical feature in rock bands.

The top of the page sees a small banner stretching across both pages which is part of the colour scheme. This small banner familiarizes the audience with the band they are about to read about, as well as introduce the reader to who is writing the piece and also, who has taken the photos for the piece.

This double page spread is taken from Kerrang! Magazine in 2011. The spread is a story on Pretty reckless front woman Taylor Momsen. The predominant colour scheme used for the piece is black, white and red. The use of the colour red is used creatively in the design process and within the portrayal of the word ‘Wild’. The font used for the title of the piece is serif for the word ‘wild’ and sans serif for the word ‘CHILD’. The word wild is used in a different colour to the rest of the title used to emphasise her wild lifestyle. The typography of the word wild is also used in a lipstick drawn style.

There is an opening paragraph to draw the reader in top the story written in a sans serif font which is much larger than the rest of the text. The paragraph is mainly in white colour however, the words ‘Taylor Momsen’ and ‘The Pretty Reckless’ are written in pink font emphasising the fact she is a diva as well as emphasising her name and band she fronts.

The main images of her takes up the left-hand side of the page and a small minority of the right-hand side. The background being black emphasises her peroxide blonde hair and because of this, incorporates the Laura Mulvey theory of the male gaze.

The colour scheme used relates to the genre as it incorporates the colours of red and black which stereotypically, are associated with the rock and ‘gothic’ look.

The double page spread is laid out in a interview style with the questions in pink and answers in white to show the audience who is speaking in the article. The text starts with a drop capital which is a generic convention within double page spreads.

This example of a double page spread from the popular culture magazine - Rolling Stone. The article is on pop star Katy Perry, each page of the spread focuses on something different, the first page is the article and the second is a photograph of Katy Perry. The main colour scheme of the spread is black, white and blue. This gives the spread a classy and professional design, as Rolling Stone is considered a high quality magazine. The clothing worn by Katy Perry is particularly sexual and is exposing a fair amount of flesh. This is to attract a male audience, with Katy Perry having recently been seen as attractive and a sex icon. In addition to this, it allows a female audience to aspire to look like the artist and be like her, gaining both the artist and magazine an audience. The clothing despite its minimal amount is of a denim style which was fairly popular in the time of this piece being written. She is also wearing a cross which represents her religion and beliefs, which she frequently discusses in interviews and in this one. The cross and her beliefs contrast against her sexual image, although she teases and flashes a bit of flesh, she is still respectable and infact does have limits.

The text and typeface is kept simple and professional, this is to shown the magazine is quality and professional, it may also to be contrast against Katy Perry's flamboyant and controversial image and personality. The layout is very effective. The double page spread is split in two, an image of the artist on the right and the text on left. This makes it easier for a person to read and understand it. However because all of the text has been squeezed onto one page, it has to be written in a very small font. A lot of the writing is bunched up together, this may put the reader off. There is a kicker used to make up for this. There is a good technique used where the main headline is placed between the articles, it draws the reader’s attention to the headline. It also stands out due to the font size.

There is a lack of vivid colour within this particular piece. The colour scheme is black, white with minimal blue meaning the lack of audience focus on the text is withdrawn from the writing so that they focus directly on Katy Perry. The font style is mostly the same, maybe if there were a variety of fonts used it may make the text look more appealing.

This particular magazine double page spread is taken from music magazine NME. The double page spread is an article on the band The Teenagers. From the immediate emphasis on the band featured being named The Teenagers, it immediately gives us a an audience an incentive as to which particular target audience we are going to be focusing on. The layout of the double page is fairly straight forward with the main image taking up the vast majority of the left-hand side, followed by the right-hand side being taken up by text. The colour scheme is predominantly black and blue possibly being a reflection of a male teenage target audience as black and blue are stereotypically considered colours which relate to the male gender. The title of the piece in itself is written in block capitals- a type of serif font. This particular style lacks originality and is a fairly simple style for a title. However, it is straight to the point and gives a clear indication to the audience who they are going to be reading about. The main image of the piece in itself seems to express 3 relatively ‘scruffy’ teens whom are placed in what seems to be a bedroom location- thus once again being a relation to the target audience. They seem to be in a relaxed posture exemplifying the possible laid back nature of their ‘teenage’ audience. The text in itself seems to be written as more of a conversational style as appose to the ever typical questions and answers layout featured in the vast amount of double page spreads. The piece is clearly divided into columns of text along with an additional column which is not so evident to the reader.

The piece is sub-divided by a quote in the middle of the text which has been placed there in order to attract the reader in with what they may find intriguing, interesting or comical. The quote is also highlighted in a light blue colour to help it stand out. The piece starts with a drop capital- a feature which is present in almost all double page spreads. There are subsidiary boxes which accompany this particular story. On the right hand side of the page, there is a related column which is talking about others bands who have garnished recent media attention. In addition, the ‘NEED TO KNOW’ box at the bottom left of the page seems to be included as almost a factual element, almost increasing the knowledge of the reader who may be unfamiliar with the artist by introducing them to basic facts.

This particular contents is taken from magazine Rolling Stone. The contents seems to be portrayed in a very formal manner and complies to the general expectation of what would be featured within a magazine of this type. (i.e. a magazine of a social categorization). The layout features a main image which is more than likely correlating to the main cover line. In this case, the image is in a black and white possible sepia tone, which has been done, at least in my opinion, to link and match up with the basic black and white colour scheme enforced into this particular contents page. We as a reader can clearly identify the page number of each story being highlighted in rather a bold black typeface, or in the case of the subsidiary stories, in small orange font. The main stories are featured in a black font colour in order to stand out without mass appeal. In comparison to this, the smaller stories have been highlighted in a bright orange colour to make them stand out still under the eye of the audience. There is clear division between the stories on the page- they are arranged via evident paragraphing. The stories are also highlighted in a much bolder colour with a description of what the story includes to follow. In addition to this, we become aware of a small amount of details which have been crafted onto the page to garnish media attention. For example, if you look at the left-bottom of the page, we can see that there is placement of the magazine website in a blue font which does not match up to the colour scheme of the contents. Therefore, one can only presume that it has been placed in a blue colour to endorse and market the companies website. Further to this, at the very right-bottom of the page, we can see that the issue date and issue number have been placed onto the contents page.

This particular contents is taken from rock and metal music magazine Kerrang! The colour scheme of the contents seems to follow an ordinary example with the main colours being black, white and yellow. The layout of the contents in itself seems to be fairly jumbled, with many images. However, despite the clutter of images, we as a reader can still easily differentiate between the image for the main cover line and the images which make up part of the subsidiary stories. At the top-left of the page we can see the editor’s note. An editor’s note is generally found slightly tucked away on the contents page and there is nothing particularly exciting about this section. However, the editor’s note can create a small sense of a personal connection between reader and writer, which can be considered a nice touch. At the top right of the page, we see there is a quote from a featured artist. This can cause a personal connection between the artist and the band member as they may be able to relate to what he/she may be saying. In addition to this, many readers may be attracted to read the magazine as they may want to know the thoughts and views of their ‘idols’.On this particular contents page, it is interesting to note that the name of the magazine is not actually featured, which is slightly odd; but there is the issue number and cover date featured underneath the contents title in itself. The actual contents in itself seems to be divided into sub-categories which may have been used to make it easier for the reader to highlight the individual story it is they may want to read. The colour scheme of yellow, black and white seems to be applied throughout and the page numbers are indicated on the left, in a much larger font.In terms of layout, the layout of the contents is very grid like with no square boxes or overlapping showing a clear, neat and structured contents page. The images bordering the main image are all the same, possibly suggesting equality between these bands. One of the images is in a black and white style, possibly connoting a retro feel. In terms of the main image, it has its own border around it, making it stand out from the rest of the images. It’s larger size almost seems to be a reflection of the images superiority also.

This particular contents page is taken from music magazine MOJO. The title of the magazine has been used as a masthead for the contents in order to enhance the name of the magazine as well as make it more memorable for the reader. Underneath the masthead, we see a divided section which has a faint border surrounding it. This has been done to highlight the issue number and date of this particular issue of the magazine. The red on the purple/grey background does not seem to stand out or be anywhere near as effective as the previous colour scheme used for the Kerrang! contents. Within the contents, band names and individual artist names have been highlighted in a much bolder font in order to attract the audience. In addition to this, there is a description of each story. Because of this, it gives the reader an insight as to what they should expect to find in each story. The personal quote from Alice Cooper above his image is particularly effective as indicates forthcoming happenings in the magazine. In addition, the concept of stating ‘as long as we had beer we were OK’ almost seems to be a suggestive of a moral panic by incorporating stereotypical ideas about the traditional rockstar. The colour scheme used (i.e. red, black and purple) seems to be a fairly modernized colour scheme by which it may stand out to the reader. Furthermore, the lack of text and imagery may also be a concept which is trying to express modernism. The layout of the contents seems a lot more professional that Kerrang as it is less cluttered. We see consistency through this contents use to the fact that the font stays the same throughout. The fact that Alice Cooper seems to be staring at the reader also gives a personal connection between him and the reader and almost creates a sense of intimacy between them visually speaking. It is interesting to note that this particular contents goes totally against the Laura Mulvey male gaze theory by the placement of what a majority of people would consider to be an unattractive male. His more or less naked positioning and posture seems to reverse the ‘eye candy’ concept which women portray on magazine covers, making the male almost objectified in this particular case.