House Style (fonts, colours, layout)

The House Style of VIBE magazine employs the colours red, white, and black throughout the magazine. This includes the contents page, front cover, and double page spreads. Maintaining a particular colour palette makes the magazine look better whilst also establishing the brand.

In a similar manner, the typography used for the subheadings is recurrently the same in order to maintain the magazine’s house style. As we can see in this other contents page of VIBEmagazine, there are similar designsused. For instance, both have contentdown the sides, large numbers for more significant content, and a similar proportion of the page is takenup by the use of images.

Imagery

Images on the contents page take up around two thirds of the A4 page, and grab attention quite well. They are in squares and central to the page, with the text naming the content down both the left and right sides. There are two images which look very tidy and controlled, in contrast to the multitude of images and graphic features used by Kerrang! The models wear stylish clothing which is used to display their music genre (R&B and rap) as well as to appeal to the target audience of the magazine. They are both photo shoot images with music stars which may be well known to people who know the magazine. Therefore, the images are likely to sell the content of the magazine and people are more likely to read the main selling articles.

Design Balance

The majority of the page is taken up by two large images which are framed by text in a small font. The weight of the page is spread evenly which means that the content is easy to gather, read, and understand. Approximately two thirds of the page are taken up by photos, retaining the professional outward appearance.

The Guttenberg Design Principle

The primary optical area is where the main text starts. This means that the reader will quickly be able to start looking through the contents of the magazine. From here, the axis of orientation carries the attention of the reader across the page to the terminal area, where the text ends on the other column of the page. Text is split into two thin columns across either side of the contents page and the main body is taken up with two captioned pictures. As the text is larger, we can assume that the pictures symbolise key articles in this issue of VIBE. The strong fallow area of the magazine contains a reiteration of VIBE's symbolic masthead 'V', which is part of the magazine's house style. Although there are gaps, the main content of the page is spread evenly and effectively.

Target audience and need

The target audience of VIBE magazine is mostly older people who prefer the rap and R&B genres of music. This is evident through the imagery. We can see two models who clearly display elements of this music type. The hats, sunglasses, and stylish clothing show this. The titles used, which include "Dressed to kill" and "Style points" seem to place emphasis on fashion and style. These are attempts to appeal to people who like this type of content. Notably, it is likely that the people who are interested in fashion are the same people who are interested in the genres of music that VIBE magazine contains. The use of black and white in the magazine's house style can be seen as stylish too which would appeal to the magazine's target audience. It has a professional aesthetic which older readers would prefer.

House Style (fonts, colours, layout)

Kerrang! magazine has a house style which utilises an abundance of black and white colour contrast. The graphic feature with the page title 'contents' is in the top right corner of the magazine in an informal font, reflecting the genre of the magazine as heavy rock and metal. Various different fonts are used which takes away from the professional appearance of the magazine, but appeals more to the magazine's young demographic. This also reflects the carefree and reckless nature of the musical content. As such, this would be less likely to sell to olderpeople. The layout is not set in stoneand can be seen to look verydifferent week to week, evident here.However, some issues do follow similar structures.

Imagery

The contents page of Kerrang! magazine generally contains an abundance of different images. This is to appeal to their younger target audience.

The images generally shows bands and close ups of artists. The biggest image on the page is an image of a band, where the dominant colour is black. The page uses a large amount of black on the white background to create a striking effect which conveys the music genre. These pictures seem to mostly be good quality, which will appeal to the reader. However, the layout is quite disorganised and the images in the bottom right corner are tilted slightly and imposed over one another. The layered effect emphasises the magazine's informal approach.

Design Balance

There is minimal balance in the design of this contents page, text and images are spread around the page unevenly. However, it appears as though the majority of the page is taken up by images. Photographs are used to lead articles in order to make them seem more attractive. The dominant use of imagery attracts the younger target audience.

The Guttenberg Design Principle

Kerrang! magazine has a very busy contents page on a weekly basis. In order to not waste space, the magazine designers have considered the Guttenberg Design Principle. This is evident in the way that the graphic feature which labels the contents page is in the strong fallow area of the page. This isn't where a reader would naturally look for content, so using it in this manner preserves the stronger space for the actual magazine content. Content is spread widely across the page, but is numbered in order following the axis of orientation across the page. Furthermore, the primary optical area contains a large image of a band, which we can assume is a key article in this issue of Kerrang! The terminal area shows a collage of less important images relating to another article in the magazine. Most content is central to the page.

Target audience and need

This magazine uses a number of different typefaces and graphic features. Whilst looking less professional and tidy than the contents pages of magazines with an older target audience like VIBE's, this appeals to the young and dominantly male demographic of Kerrang! There is a wide use of colour, informal language and imagery that meets the target audience of the magazine. For instance, underneath the page title, it says 'Everything in the mag. Right here'.

Another thing that young readers will find appealing is the imagery displaying pictures of popular rock and metal bands. As with VIBE magazine, these photographs work as an incentive for somebody to read the content of the issue.