MAGAZINE ANALYSIS Chloe Kyriacou

Masthead

Lead ArticleBarcodeBarcode

Cover Lines

Cover Lines

Headline

Drop Cap

Kicker

GuttersBody Text

Caption

KERRANG- Issues No 1491, November the 9th 2013

TARGET AUDIENCE

The design and layout of the magazine as well as the figures that appear on the front cover, allow us to assume that the magazine will predominantly appeal to those interested in heavy metal/indie rock, therefore making it attractive to a very niche group of people.

Conventionally this type of music appeals to males thus the ‘dark’ colouring which is stereotypically both associated with men and the musical genre, therefore making them the core target audience. The comic book style cover makes me believe that they’re aiming to attract those between the ages of 13-24; their friend, hobbies and attitudes will all be reflected within the magazine- this is done through the articles that appear in the magazine as well as the advertisements. Having flicked through it , the advertisements that appear within it are a reflection of our audiences income as well as their ‘personality’ and ‘interests’- we see festivals, hair spray, offers and predominantly male fashion. All things that lead me back to believing that 13-24 year olds are the core demographic.

Having a price of only £1.89 further determines the target market as they wont have access to a lot of money, therefore placing them within the C1-E band on the social scale.

Like most print media layouts, the Guttenburg design theory has been applied- this is a general pattern that our eyes use when looking at a piece of print media such as a movie poster or the magazine on the left hand side. The theory divides our page into four parts, the primary optical area, the strong fallow area, the weak fallow area and terminal area- as well as this, we have the axis of orientation.

The theory suggest that our eyes will sweep across the page in horizontal movements in a path referred to as the reading gravity. Important elements- such as the kerrang logo and artists face- are placed within this path and are visually emphasized with bright colouring. The less important it is the lower down it will appear.

GUTTENBURG DESIGN THEORY

Primary Optical Area

Strong Fallow Area

Weak Fallow AreaTerminal Area

The masthead is typically one of the most prominent aspects of a magazine and the first thing our eyes are drawn too since it features the companies logo and name; hence why it’s placed in the primary optical area and continues over to the strong fallow area- by using up two key points of the page, they’re making a statement and emphasizing it’s importance.

However this particular magazine issue of Kerrang has placed the articles leading person of interest right in the centre of the Masthead. They’re the anchor point of the page and the probable factor that will cause readers to buy the magazine. The axis of orientation leads us to the lead story as well as a competition, both key factors on the cover, hence why they take up such a large space. A bold font and bright colouring is used, making the text very confrontational in order to attract the eye. Keeping within the theme of it being aimed at 13-24 year olds, the cover has a very comical feel to it, somewhat similar to that of a beano magazine.

The most prominent aspect of the masthead is the actual name of the magazine- kerrang. An onomatophia has been used in order to represent the sound of an electric guitar which reinforces the idea that it’s of the rock genre, this same idea can also be applied to the fact the lettering has a ‘cracked’ effect. The masthead is acting as a reflection of the music by conveying it as loud and grungy genre- which is a typical convention and stereotype.

Although on certain issues of the magazine the masthead is fully visible- such as the example below- this particular issue allows the typography to fully blend in with rest of the front cover. Conventionally the genre is viewed as very ‘out there’, ‘loud’ and ‘crowded’ which is what the cover is representing. Kerrang can afford to do this since they’re an established magazine within this genre and well known to audiences.

The colour red of the masthead typography is a very emotionally intense colour which is conventionally how rock music lyrics are viewed as by society; it’s also a very extreme colour making it very confrontational and again ‘loud’.

The weak fallow area and terminal are the least prominent and aesthetically pleasing aspect of the page, hence why they’re the last part we’re drawn too. This typically means that the ‘unimportant’ secondary aspects will be place here. This includes cover lines as well as the barcode, issue number and date.

As expected by the title of the magazine, ‘Teen Vogue’ is aimed at those between the ages of 13-17. It’s a typical girl’s magazine that showcases stereotypical feminine elements from the use of the colouring right through to the article topics. On a social scale I’d say it’s aimed at those between C2 to E due to the fact that the target audience will not have a steady income, hence the cheap price of 2.99 in dollars.

The use of a beautiful young model further determines this as her purpose is to anchor in girls- they’re made to feel as if they’ll be like her if they read the magazine.

Within the primary optical area we see the masthead. Bright, feminine colouring has been used in order to both catch our eyes and showcase the intended audience. The masthead is a way for readers to familiarise themselves with magazine as well as provide an indication as to what’s it about; in the case of this product it also determines who it’s aimed at.

The weak fallow area is the last place our eyes are drawn too and typically the space of the page which will either be blank, or in the case of this particular magazine, contain cover lines

The masthead continues over to the strong fallow area in order to showcase it’s prominence. As well as this we see a reference to social media- this is a marketing strategy in order to build the magazines popularity amongst other teens by using them.

The terminal area, although it typically showcases cover lines in order to appeal to a multitude of teens in terms of their interests, this particular magazine has placed the aspect you’d expect to fin in the weak fallow are within this space- barcode, date, and issue number.