Mastheads analysis

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M A S T H E A D S

Transcript of Mastheads analysis

Page 1: Mastheads analysis

MASTHEADS

Page 2: Mastheads analysis

The masthead for the magazine “Rollingstone” is brightly coloured red. The red is attention grabbing and appealing to readers. The colour red has connotations of love but also danger, relating to the music genre of the magazine. Rollingstone magazine tends to follow all music genres, therefore the use of the colour red could indicate that the magazine is simply for people who love music.

The font used for rolling stone magazine is quite gentle and curved. It has an old fashioned appearance, relating to the 60s and 70s and the original Rolling stones which was a band during this era. The font is distinctive and always remains the same regarding simple aspects like colour and size. This makes it easier for common readers to recognise the magazine and continuity of the front cover is achievable . The background of the masthead is white whereas the inside of the letters in the word rolling stone are shaded in black giving them a 3D effect, this helps the masthead to appear modern even though its links to the band and other features are quite old fashioned.

The masthead is quite symmetrical which links in well with the properties' and purpose of the magazine. The magazine looks at things from music and politics so by having a symmetrical masthead they are suggesting that the views within the magazine are balanced and unbiased. This will attract readers as they will feel as though they are in control of the publication

Most commonly with Rolling stone magazine the masthead will be obstructed by a famous artist. This suggests that the magazine is well known and that consumers do not need to see their masthead in order to know what they are purchasing.

The masthead of rolling stone magazine also tends to be the brightest colour on the page, this makes the red distinctive when recognising what magazine it is and also makes the publication look more sophisticated

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The masthead for RAP-UP magazine is often very bright and eye catching. The design is quite sharp and bold and features a unique twist on the “U”in “UP”. The “U” has been designed to look like an arrow pointing up, this relates to the name of the magazine and can also make readers think that rap is a developing genre of music that will only continue to develop positively due to the use of the upwards arrow. The use of this feature also gives the magazine a unique edge since the feature is recognisable and easily met with approval.

The colour of the RAP-UP masthead often changes depending on which celebrity features on the cover. The colours will always relate to the celebrity allowing readers to conclude that the interview within the magazine is the celebrity being their true self. For an example, for the front cover featuring Christina Milian the masthead is pink, this relates to her as she's often quite girly and under dressed in her videos and early on in her career she produced a lot of pop music with typical pop videos. The second example features Toni Braxton and although she does not rap she does sing and produces calming music, yellow is often viewed as a calm colour so by using yellow they are showing you that Toni Braxton has a calm personality. Lastly, the last cover features Nicole Scherzinger, Nicole is often very energetic and has a lot of passion for her projects so by using red they are complimenting her personality and showing you this.

The masthead for RAP-UP magazine is very symmetrical which could represent balance. The fact that each serif is perfectly in line with each other can show that the magazine is not biased about artists in that genre of music and publishes balanced views throughout. This is important as a customer would like to feel as though they are not being influenced in to liking or disliking something and the masthead suggests that this will not happen if you purchase this magazine.

The overall appearance of the Masthead for RAP-UP magazine suggests that the magazine is modern and current with todays music within that genre. The fact that the appearance changes regularly in regards to each colour suggests that it keeps up to date with the constantly changing world of music.

The celebrities on the cover of the magazine will often obstruct the masthead to a certain degree. However, the masthead always remains easily readable and recognisable. This suggests that whilst the celebrities and the interviews are important features of the magazine, the magazine would also like to get recognition.

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The masthead for Q magazine is quite simple yet effective. The simple placing of a large, white “Q” on a red background creates character. The soft innocence of the white in contrast to the loud attention attaining red suggests that music is for everybody. In this case I strongly believe that the red symbolises music, red often has connotations of passion and love and can be described as a loud colour. People around the world will often have a passion for music and volume has always had a link to music due to music being sound.

The masthead for Q magazine is always placed in the top left hand corner of the cover. This means that whilst the magazine is on the shelf it will be easy to view and grab people attention. The placing of the masthead is also close to the spine of the magazine making the magazine more efficient to find as it will not have to be completely pulled down off the shelf in a newsagents. The fact that the magazine uses it masthead to cater a more efficient service to its customers will lead them to believe that the magazine is in their favour.

Although Q is a commonly recognised magazine, nothing ever obstructs its masthead. The reasons for this could be that the masthead is a powerful tool in establishing a magazine, a magazines reputation is often symbolised by its masthead and if the reputation is one that gains as much respect as Q magazine it may be possible that in order to establish their publication more publically they refrain from obstructing their masthead as much as possible. By also refusing to allow anything to obstruct their masthead Q is determining its place within the music world. For an example, although the celebrities featured on the cover are often high profile and very current, the masthead for Q magazine will often obstruct them instead. In a way you can interpret this as Q saying it is a privilege to be on their cover.

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