Existing product research

Kerrang-Front coverKerrang is a rock/metal magazine that is published by Bauer Consumer Media publishing house and their target audience is people who listen to rock/metal music. The colour scheme for this cover bright colours on dark colours or vice versa to create contrast and grab the attention of consumers this is good because that is what a front cover should do it does this because the colours stand out more also dark colours are commonly associated with the genre of music they cover as is standing out. The text/ picture ratio is heavily leaned towards pictures as there is a lot more space taken up by pictures but the pictures are bigger than text which grabs the consumers attention. Something I picked up on is the writing style of this cover is to use a lot of exclamation marks as if they are shouting at the audience this is also backed up by the fact that all the text is written in upper case and some are also bold this fits in with the stereotype of this genre of being loud & noticed, Another good way the cover grabs the consumers attention is that any headings, sub-headings and the title of the magazine are in upper case and bold. The photography on this cover is of these to singers posed in that position to fit the stereotype of this genre of being loud and aggressive so it is more appealing to it’s target audience also the photo is placed in the centre and is quite big so it grabs the consumers attention

Kerrang-contents pageThe colours on the contents page fit the colour scheme of dark colours on bright colours or vice versa. The photography is a mixture of posed and live both types are used to draw attention to a specific article about the band or artist in the picture the use of a live picture at the top instantly lets the reader know that the article is a live review as the picture is of a band playing live in front of a crowd also the bold upper case text draws attention to the type of articles that the magazine has, these things are good techniques because it quickly lets consumers know what is in the magazine without having to buy it like a try before you buy to draw people in this is also backed up by the advertisement in the bottom right to buy a subscription by having this on the contents page people can know about it without buying the magazine. There is more text than pictures in this contents page because the purpose of a contents page is to inform the consumer/reader of the articles in the magazine and what page they are on the only pictures are used to further explain articles and draw attention to the text.

Kerrang-Double page spread The writing style in this double page spread is like a commentary of what happened when they interviewed the two singers and isn’t really aimed at any one based on their literary capabilities for example the use of the word “antipodal” not everyone who reads this will know what this means. The image in this double page spread takes up much more space than the image and the image has been set up to reflect the personality of the singers. The colours on this double page spread fit with the colour scheme as it has a white background that makes the text stand out more as it is mostly dark red and black also there is a good use of red to emphasise certain parts of text (like the question asked and the band names) as they are important pieces of information.

Metal Hammer-Front coverMetal Hammer is a heavy metal magazine published by future publishing and their target audience is people who listen to heavy metal music. The colour scheme for this magazine is bright colours for the text and dark colours for the background this is used especially on the cover as it grabs the consumers attention so they notice and pick up the magazine, the large image is also effective at grabbing consumer attention, also black/dark colours are associated with the metal genre as is standing out. The cover is mainly covered by the large picture which is a good technique for a cover as it draws attention to the magazine more than it would if it were the other way around. The style of writing uses all upper case letters this is good as it fits with the fact that most metal music is loud so the upper case letters make it seem like you are being shouted at, also by using upper case letters it makes you look at the text so you can get a brief summary of the articles in the magazines. The photography is a posed picture of this singer so he fits in with the genre’s stereotype of being loud and aggressive so it is more appealing to it’s target audience also the photo is placed in the centre and covers the length of the cover so it grabs the consumers attention

Metal Hammer-contents pageThe colours in this contents page are mostly white, red and black and if the text is black the background is white and of the text is white the background is black and red text is on both this technique makes the text stand out more so it is easier to read and it grabs attention more effectively. The heading of the articles are written on upper case so they stand out more this allows the reader/consumer to find out what articles are in the magazine quickly without having to buy the magazine. There is more text than pictures in this contents page because the purpose of a contents page is to inform the consumer/reader of the articles in the magazine and what page they are on the only pictures are used to further explain articles. Also in the bottom left there are pictures of text so they stand out more probably because they want you to see the articles more than the other ones or they are articles they know their target audience will want to read.

Metal Hammer-double page spread

The writing style in this double page spread is rather informal as it has several expletives in it but you can tell it is meant to inform as it has facts and opinions as well. The image takes up most of the double page spread and is a posed picture to show the bands image and personality but it has a background edited in that fits in with what the article says about the band being the future of metal and the background is futuristic. The colours on this double page spread fit with the colour scheme of standing out as the background uses dark colours and the text is written in white or yellow not only does this idea fit in with the genre’s stereotype of standing out but it also fits in with the article as it says that the band stand out in the metal world

NME-front cover NME is an Indy magazine published by IPC media and their target audience is people who listen to Indy music. The colour scheme is lots of bright colours this is used especially on the cover to grab the attention of consumers so they pick it up and possibly buy it, The size of the text at the bottom and the image dominating the background and centre are also effective at doing this yet another way of grabbing consumer attention is by using all upper case letters. The picture is a posed picture of the band that fits in with the Indy stereotype of being out there doing outlandish and rebellious things

NME-Contents page The colours on this contents page fit with bright and standing out as the entire background is white. The contents page is mainly dominated by images that are quite large so they draw your attention towards the article they are associated with, there is also quite a lot of upper case text so you are drawn in to read it after the image has grabbed you this also makes it easier and quicker to read, these things summarise the article quickly and this is a good technique as it quickly lets consumers know what is in the magazine without having to buy it like a try before you buy to draw people in this is also backed up by the advertisement in the bottom right to buy a subscription by having this on the contents page people can know about it without buying the magazine. Also the way the page is composed and the font size and type they have used make the contents page make it seem like the contents page of a newspaper so you know instantly that this page is going to inform you of something

NME-Double page spreadThe writing style of this is very descriptive as it is a review of a gig and it has quotes from members of the bands as well as describing some of the stage set up. The image takes up all of the page as it is the background, the image is a live picture as the article is a review of the gig the picture was taken of. The colours on this page fit with the bright colour scheme of the rest of the magazine it also uses neon pink and blue to highlight the names of bands and people in the description at the top of the article to make them stand out possibly because they are important pieces of information about the article. Also the heading for the article is in upper case and is bold because it fits in with the stereotype of hardcore being aggressive and loud so when the text looks like it does it is like your being shouted at. Also neon pink and blue are strange colours and being strange fits in with the Indy stereotype of being out there doing outlandish, strange and rebellious things