Rock

• The first thing I am going to do for my market research is reviewing a number of magazines of different genres. The first genre that I am going to review is rock. Even though it is not the type of magazine that would be similar to mine, I think it is important for me to take a look at different styles so I gain a better understanding of what differentiates them from one another, what my magazine shouldn’t feature and it might also give me more ideas on things to include in my pop magazine (choosing the best of each)

Colour scheme: The colour scheme on this cover is black, red and white, although a variety of colours have been used. The colours represent the magazine’s individuality and originality. The contrasting colours make the words pop out and the red colour highlights what they are trying to say. The use of these colours are typical for a rock audience which leads us to believe that the magazine is rock-oriented. These colours allow the audience to feel at home with the colour scheme, and draws the reading in. The colours are also eye-catching so this shows that they have picked out colours that will make a potential reader look at the magazine.

Photography: As this is a different type of music magazine – focused on studio equipment, the images are also expected to be different. These photos are of recording studio equipment, some of which is recognizable for us – a software controller, a controller keyboard, etc. However, these are not all that familiar to us, which means that the reader of the magazine is expected to have some knowledge in this area (maybe work in this business, or being a musician).

Writing style: As this is a cover, we don’t have any other writing except for the title and cover lines, but the language seems to be fairly informal and open. There isn’t use of slang, as you would expect to see in rock magazines, which can both mean that the audience is more intellectual or less exciting. Uses of words like ‘Exclusive!’ and ‘Special Issue!’ grabs the reader’s attention but can also cheapen a magazine. There are technical codes that are unfamiliar to most people(‘avid HD Omni’) which again shows that the reader should be interested in this area and should have some background knowledge in it.

Text/picture ratio: As for the cover we have much bigger ratio of picutres than text, which is normal for every cover of a magazine, as the pictures draw the reader in more easily and quickly. However, unlike other magazines this one doesn’t have one particular image for the cover, which could be reflective of the audience and how much they want to find out about the magazine from the cover. Another thing about this type of magazine is that if there was only one image on the cover it wouldn’t look exciting, and possibly wouldn’t draw as many readers in.

Fonts: On this cover there are two main fonts – one for the title and one for the cover lines, as one of them is in italic and the other one is emboldened, but both simple enough to read. The italic font used for the title suggests a more sophisticated and classy audience, also people who are prepared to pay more for a better quality. The cover lines are usually consisted of two lines, where the upper one is emboldened and the bottom one isn’t, which is a good technique of drawing a person’s attention to the whole title of the article.

Overall look: The cover looks like a scrap book at places as there are a number of images put together in the centre of the page. This breaks the wall between the magazine and the audience and makes it more intimate and personal. The use of aggressive and contrasting colours is eye-catching and reveals a more ‘rebellious’ side of the reader. These colours appeal more to men than women, as they create its’ casual mannish look. Just by looking at the cover, it is pretty clear that the audience must be familiar with this type of technology beforehand as this is what the magazine is about.

Colour scheme: The DPS uses white background for the text and black background for the photo of the gig playing live. There is a use of contrasting colours which makes them both stand out, and allows the reader to focus on each one separately. White represents innocence and purity, which can represent the good side of the band, where as the black shows its’ rebellious and dark side. These are colours that are associated to rock and metal bands so they are linked with the type of music they represent

Photography: The picture of the band playing at a live concert. There is only one shot that sums up the whole concert, of a retro band, as the costumes of the musicians look quite old fashioned. In the centre of the DPS there are drums, which take a big part of the picture, which links to the theme of the magazine. The image shows that the band is quite relaxed, playing retro/jazz music and it doesn’t look as intense or dramatic as rock music.

Writing style: The article is about the recording of one of the famous songs of the band ‘talking heads’. The style writing is relaxed, simple and fairly informal. This kind of language has been purposely chosen to create a picture of the band without having to necessarily know of it beforehand. As expected, the article is more about recording music, a particular song called ‘Road To Nowhere’ that was popular in 1985. The magazine takes us back to the 1980s, which shows us that it focuses on all aspects of music at all ages.

Text/picture ratio: In this DPS the text is definitely more dominant than the picture- it takes up a page and a half. This shows that the magazine is relying on the written word more than anything – which is an indication that their audience is prepared to spend more time on reading than anything else. Again this can be a sign of a well-educated audience that likes reading. A short quote, followed by a sub-heading has been used to focus the audience's attention and give an insight of the story.

Fonts: Two main fonts have been used in this double spreadsheet. The first one is larger and simple, with quite a big distance between each word (introduction) but the larger amount of the article has been written in a very small shrift which would be harder for older people to read – this shows that the audience of this magazine are mainly young people, around 25, who can read small fonts. In emboldened font we have titles of the different paragraphs, which is used to section them, to make it easier for the reader to get into.

Overall look:The overall look of this article is quite neat and ordered – text and picture clearly separated by contrasting colours. The side bar on the right hand side of the article makes it more fun and exciting as there is a picture and red font used. The use of distressed fonts makes it look well organised and tidy.

Colour scheme: The colour scheme on this contents page is white, black and red. Of course, other colours are featured but these are definetely the most dominant ones, as the white one is chosen for background and the red and black are for pictures and features mainly. This is the typical style for these magazine and it adds to that rock vibe that we are used to seeing in the magazine

Photography: For the contents page there are a number of pictures which show the various contents of the magazine. There are pictures spread all over the DPS which creates a messier and more exciting look. Also in the middle of the DPS there are two pictures of SOS magazine covers which suggests that these are the next few months’ issues. This has been done to draw attention and make the reader look forward to it.

Writing style: On the contents page there are mainly outlined features of the magazine and a few interesting stuff in the sidebar. The bullet points add to the more formal language style of the page. The writing is very organised as there are sub-headings to help you find what you are looking for more easily, which contrasts with the not-so-well organised pictures.

Text/picture ratio: The DPS relies heavily on text for this contents page. Even though there aren’t any long articles there is a lot more writing (in the form of bullet points) than there are pictures. This tells us that their audience is well-educated adults, who look at the content page and like to know where everything is. This is another reason why headings and subheadings are used to divide different sectionds.

Fonts: there are a number of fonts used in this page and this is because of the fact that there is quite a lot of writing in it. The two main fonts used are standard for this magazine and we have seen them before in the DPS. The titles of the features in the magazine are emboldened so that they stand out easily, whereas the following sentence is in normal shrift which means that you don’t have to read both lines.

Overall: By looking at the page at first it seems as if it is well-messy and disorganised and it is hard to find where things are because of the amount of writing. However, on second glance you can tell that everything has been organised well to make it simple for the reader to get into. Overall I would say that this page has been done well, by professionals who considered people’s opinions and how long they’d look at it.

Photography: For the cover of this magazine we have a large picture of a male celebrity, who we reckon is a musician. This person is wearing a black suit in this picture which has possibly been done to match the black background. His face is in colour, where the rest of the page is in black and white which makes it stand out. The picture isn’t too artistic or dramatic which is probably linked to their audience’s taste, who may prefer less staged pictures. The picture is in the centre of the page, surrounded by cover lines which creates a visual frame, and it is easier for the reader to read.

Colour scheme: Once again, the main colours used here are black and white with hints of red that pop out. This follows a pattern for music magazines, as SOS also uses these colour schemes. From my audience research I also found out that my these are the colours that my audience prefers to see in music magazines. In difference to SOS, Mojo uses very little red and just black and white for its’ cover. This makes it look quite professional, plain and helps things stand out.

Writing style: the writing style is relaxed and plain, using lots of exclamation marks and quotes. This drags the reader’s attention to a particular cover line and shows that the story is meant to be interesting/exciting. It is distant from the audience as the use of bullet points and short titles doesn’t allow the magazine to break the invisible wall between the audience and the writing.

Fonts: there are two main fonts used for this cover – one of them is always used in capitals. Both of these fonts are used for the cover lines of the page, where one in capitals is used for the first line and the normal one is used for the second one. This is a technique that many magazines use to draw attention to the line without making it look tacky.

Text/picture ratio: The ratio between pictures and text is disproportional as the picture is much bigger than the amount of text on the cover. This is done to make the magazine look more interesting and to draw the reader’s attention to the magazine quickly without having to read so many cover lines.

Overall: The cover looks professional and sophisticated. The title is covered by the main picture which shows that the magazine is already well known and familiar to the audience. It draws the readers attention by using cover lines written in capitals and big works saying ‘THE BEATLES’. Another thing about this magazine is that there are more than one pictures on the cover but they don’t distract the readers attention from the main focus and don’t make it look cheap or flashy.

Colour scheme: A number of colours have been used for this DPS. The main ones are our familiar red, black and white, but yellow has also been used for a background and in pictures. The 3 standard colours have been used to add to the fact that it is a rock magazine and that it needs to be a bit more edgier and messier. The colours in the pictures vary from blue to green but there isn’t one main colour for them. The various colours make the article look more dramatic and conspicuous.

Photography: There is one main photo spread on over half of the DPS. It is of a band playing live concert. This picture makes the atmosphere quite relaxed and informal. This brings the audience closer to the article and shows that they prefer live photos than studio ones. This tells us that their audience is very down-to-earth, doesn’t like formalities and prefers real photos.

Writing style: the writing style is informal but quite stylish, no use of swear or harsh words , which adds to the classy feel of the magazine, and clearly establishes the type of audience for it.

Fonts: As in most magazines, there are only two main fonts in this DPS. One of them is the title which is much larger and the other one is the main one for the text. Both of those fonts look clean and simple which adds to the style of the magazine. The use of fonts has clearly been considered to suit the audience and the genre. The use of few fonts makes the magazine look more stylish, rather than dodgy.

Text/picture ratio: the amount of writing in the article is little, on the left side as the picture is covering the bigger part of the page. On the left side the articles involve more writing but always supported with pictures, which shows that the audience of the magazine is not prepared to spend too much time reading, especially if there are no image involved.

Overall: overall the DPS looks like there is a lot in it, but if you look closely it really doesn’t. This effect is created by the large number of small articles, side bars and colours which make it look more attractive as well as more crowded.

Colour scheme: The colour scheme of this contents page is quite different from the rest of the magazine. There are only three colours which have been used and they are yellow, black and red, where the white is used for a background colour. This simple design is eye-catching and interesting looking. What surprised me was the use of yellow that has almost never been used in ‘Mojo’ so far. The colours are engaging for all the right reasons and the page looks nice, simple and clear.

Photography: the use of one image for the whole page is a new and interesting idea and I think it is definitely working for this magazine. The image is of one person looking up to the camera, who is dressed in a red suit. This colour is a contrast to the white background and is making him stand out. His face is looking right at the camera lens which makes him look more confident and it is quite intimidating as you get the feeling that he is looking straight at you. The photo is quite artistic and quite looks like the person has modern views is quite dramatic and interesting. This could be a presentation of the reader of the magazine, or the other way around. It might be the opposite of the reader, so that it makes it more interesting for them.Writing style: Use of complex sentences is quite untraditional for this type of

magazine, especially for the contents page but we can find quite a few examples of them on this page. The sentences are well-structured and interesting, and make the whole article stand out.

Fonts: Use of three fonts in this page – two of them are emboldened which makes the titles of the articles stand out and look more appealing. The simple font is used to add to the titles as description. Although one more font is added the page looks really clean and polished, and it hasn’t affected the look of it. The three fonts are quite similar too each other, nothing too unusual has been used, they are relying more on the larger font and the bold words.

Text/picture ratio: the picture and the text are taking up approximately the same amount of space on the page. They are quite parallel – where the text finished the picture finishes. This has been purposely done to make the reader focus on the photo as well as the text. There is a difference between the DPS and the contents page, as the DPS had more pictures than text, where as here the composition is different.

Overall look: Overall the page looks relatively simple but eye-drawing at the same time. What I like about it is the use of simple fonts and colours which makes it look really stylish and professional, and makes you want to spend more time on it.

Pop

Now that I have looked more deeply at what rock magazines tend to look like, I know how to make my magazine different then that. I know that there are layouts, fonts, colours, etc, that I should avoid, and some that I should stick with.

The next thing I am going to do is review two pop magazines that will give me a good idea of what my magazine should be like. I have chosen to review ‘Blender’ and ‘Rave’. I did a research on the internet and found out that they are the two that would match my style of magazine, as they are quite girly and teen-oriented

Colour scheme: For this particular cover, the publishers have clearly decided to stick to two main colours: orange and black. The combination is good because the black is juxtaposed to a grey background which makes the text pop out, and orange is quite a bright colour that will always be noticed. The lack of colours on the page makes it look simple and sophisticated and makes you focus more on the title and the picture than on the cover line. This shows that they rely on the model instead of the articles (represented by cover lines in this case)

Photography: the image is very much studio-based as there is no background or anything else, but the model. It also is quite an artistic one as the model is posing, she isn’t stood straight up and she an expression on her face (raised eyebrows, teeth showing). The picture takes up the main room in this cover which is another popular thing for pop magazines.

Writing style: Despite the fact the page is lacking text, there are things that make it sound like a pop magazine. The use of words such as: ‘megastar’ and ‘look out’ differentiate if to other genres of music magazines. Another thing about this page is that even though the colours of the cover lines aren’t so much attention-catching and you may not necessarily read them, they are quite interesting and make you think that the article is worth seeing, which is a good factor for any magazine with a good reputation.

Fonts: One unusual thing about this page is the lack of fonts. One of them is used for the title of the mag and the other one is for the coverlines. Instead of relying of different fonts about the second rows of the cover lines they have used bigger fonts which works very well for this look. The use of more colours and fonts can make a magazine look more exciting, but there is also the risk of looking overdone and inartistic, so they have decided to stick to the uncomplicated look which gives an effortless feel to the magazine.

Text/picture ratio: The image is taking the bigger part of this page. It is designed in such a way that covers a bit of both hand sides of the page (due to the posture of the model). Clearly the magazine is focusing on her than on text to attract the reader. The cover lines are pushed as far to the edges of the page as possible, which leaves the model on display and doesn’t interfere with the image.

Overall look: The overall look of this magazine is effortless. It looks as if the people who were making it haven’t tried too hard and that’s what gives it an individual style. They haven’t been afraid to leave certain bits of the page blank and experiment with it. What draws the attention to the model is the way the shadows brighten up around her and darken up round the edges (where cover lines are)

Colour scheme: the colour scheme of this article is emphasising on noticeable colours: black&red. These colours are used to represent the character’s personality, which is free and down-to-earth. The background colours are natural and calm (green, blue) and they contrast with the text colurs. The colour scheme of this page is untraditional, as it is using unconventional colours for this type of magazine. Also there is a very clear match in colours between the artist’s t-shirt and the colours of the text. This shows that they have gone through the process of planning this article in order to make it original.

Writing style: Even though the page may look unconventional at first, the text follows the usual writing style of a pop magazine. With the use of words/phrases such as ‘pop star’, ‘throne’, ‘Center of attention’, ‘glamour’ this magazine appeals to its’ audience of teenage girls.

Photography: this picture is taken out in the nature which is why the background looks peaceful and quiet.The page is separated into two, with the artist on one side and the background left on the other. As the text is placed over the background this automatically drags the focus to the performer, which is cleared of any text, whatsoever. As with the colour scheme, there is a contrast between the background and the model, her standing out and looking punky as opposed to the warm background

Fonts: a variation of different font styles is used on the page. One is for the very first bit on the page saying ‘blender’, which in a way reminds us of the title of the magazine you’re reading and makes you memorize the name. The other ones are for the title, the interview itself and the pull quote. Observing these pages closely has given me the idea that in order to make my DPS look proficient I need to use different fonts, that don’t clash, but compliment each other.

Overall look: The pull quote at the bottom is one of the things that make the article look really professional. It draws the attention to it before one reads the interview itself and it makes the one want to read it. I think this would be a good feature for my magazine. The image is quite relaxed as it isn’t studio based which gives it a nice appearance, however it clashes with the tiny picture at the left bottom corner, which is something I don’t like.

Text/picture ratio: the picture of the artist herself and the text is divided into two equal parts. However, the background image is much larger than the text in the page which shows that the magazine is more picture-based. The outfit of the artist has also text in it which again draws attention to her and gives her a bit more personality. I like the idea of the artist wearing clothes that express themselves, as it makes it a bit more individual.

Colour scheme: the colour scheme in this contents page is very girly and it shows the genre off the magazine. The colours that are used complement each other very well and make the page look really stylish and lady-like. The top bit of the artist’s dress matches the background and make her fit in, as if she is meant to be there. The word ‘contents’ also works as a title and it is in bold black which makes it completely stand out of the page, which links to the title of the magazine on the front page. The studio-based picture makes the page look plain, but not boring because of the use of contrasting colours around the centre.

Writing style: In general the text follows conventional writing style. The use of words such as ‘sass’ and ‘void’ appeal to a younger audience, rather than older. The writing style matches the colours and fonts used for this page as they are quite vibrant and appeal to the younger generation as well.

Photography: this picture is studio-based, and so it has a plain background which makes it look less exciting than the DPS, for example. The idea of having plain background definitely makes the page look more sophisticated and not at all over-done. I don’t think it would t work as well for another page, for example the DPS, unless there was lots of text to cover the blank parts.

Fonts: as with the rest of the magazine, this page varies in fonts. The five main fonts on there work very well as they section different areas of the page, for example there is a particular font for the page numbers (emboldened), another one for the actual features and again, a different one for the pull quote near the model. The pull quote stands out because of the use of a larger font and also its’ placement as well. As for the word ‘contents’ at the top of the page, it is in black so it stands out, and the use of exceptionally large font makes it a key piece of the design of this page.

Overall look: Over all the page looks very simple and easy for the reader to get straight into, for example, if they would like to find where something is all they’d need to do would be looking at the emboldened text on the right hand side of the page. If they wanted to just look at the picture or read the quote they would need to look at the middle and left side of the page.

Text/picture ratio: the picture is placed in the middle of the page, but unlike the conventional cover page, this one starts right at the very bottom of the page and ends half-way through. The body of the model is exactly the same size as the features on the right hand side, which evens the page out and the big ‘mushroom’ in her hand evens out with the large font of the title.

Colour scheme: I chose to review this magazine because of its style- it’s the girliest a magazine can get. For example, this cover page varies different shades of pink, as well as other colours like white, black and brown. The pink colour is juxtaposed against the white background and the black text which is what really makes it pop out. Even though there is little use of colour the magazine looks exciting because there are lots of features to look at. This might be a tricky look to pull off as it might cheapen it, but in this case I think it looks exactly as it should be.

Photography: the pictures starts at the very bottom of the page and ends at the top. The image is quite slim and well-structured so it leaves enough room for the cover lines. What is making the image really ‘fit’ in the page is that her right hand is in a way leaning on the title, without covering too much of it, and also the cover lines are going round her, not on her which shows there is a good structure there.

Writing style: As with every magazine I have reviewed so far, the editors have decided to use words that would appeal to its’ audience. The most common words for pop magazines are used there: ‘latest looks’, ‘fashion’, ‘trends’, ‘teens’. These are giving me a good idea of the words I should stick to for my magazine, as there is a reason why they are always used.

Fonts: There are a number of different fonts on the page, one or two per cover line. Most of the cover lines are consisted of two fonts – one for the first few lines and a different one for the last lines. This separates the title of the article with the actual contents (information) on it and also makes the magazine more appealing and entertaining. This use of fonts evens out the lack of colours and is the main reason why the page doesn’t look too plain.

Text/picture ratio: About 2/3 of this cover page is text which grabs the reader’s into buying it. The text is complementing the photo, instead of covering it so they both look together combined. The outfit of the model is matching the text colours and the background which makes them work so well together.

Overall look: Overall this magazine is very much about fashion and music. It follows the style of a lot of fashion magazines (Glamour, Elle) but it is also aimed at pop music. The magazine has two audiences that are of the same age range which can be a bit risky, or it could lead to more people enjoying it.

Colour scheme: the main colours in this page are pink, black and white. The use of contrasting colours makes the magazine look more professional and more exciting, and keeps it simple at the same time. This separates the title of the article with the actual contents (information) on it and also makes the magazine more appealing and entertaining. This use of fonts evens out the lack of colours and is the main reason why the page doesn’t look too plain.

Photography: the page is divided in two. The top half is taken up by the image and the rest of the space is left for the interview. The image is a mid shot of her body. She is smiling which represents friendliness, and conveys a warm feeling to the reader.

Writing style: the writing style follows a pattern of the cover page with the use of funky words, typically used by teenagers.

Fonts: the two main fonts are working together with colours to divide the article into paragraphs. The use of larger font for the titles of the main sections divides them so the reader can get to whichever bit they want to read pretty easily. Some of the sections are in bold which differs them to the normal ones and makes it look more interesting.

Text/picture ratio: the image and the text each take up approximately half a page. The focus is placed on the picture by adding black background where as the bottom sections is emphasised by the use of an eye-catching colour

Overall look: overall the page looks well-structured and neat. The fact that equal amount of room is left for the text and the image makes the reader focus on both, instead of concentration on one of them.

Colour scheme: The colours in this cover peige are all very much the same colour palette- the main one is brown but there is also use of beige, skin tones, white (for the text) and grey. The background as well as the picture are both brown and the artist’s outfit is goes well with these colours, however it is black and it stands out

Writing style: this page very much relies on famous names to grab attention. These names are in a large font and in white colour so they stand out. The use of a lot of writing is avoided, and instead they have used a number of famous names to draw the attention.

Photography: the model in this image takes up about half of the page, this has been done to make sure they have enough room for the text and to make sure that both the image and the text stand out equally and readers take their time to focus on both.