Front Covers

Masthead: KERRANG’s masthead is covered up by the main image, however its just visible to notice the brand of the magazine. In most of KERRANG’s magazines they have something covering it up whether it be the main image or the cover lines. This is because they are a well known brand of magazine and music oriented company. The KERRANG logo is the masthead as it is iconic with all of the cuts going through the masthead. I believe they used this text to remind people of KERRANG with the font they use.Main Image: The main image stands out very well on this issue of KERRANG as it has the gaze into the readers eyes. The image also takes up most of the magazine instantly drawing readers eyes towards it. The man (Biffy Clyro) seems to be screaming to the readers of the magazine which isn't something you always see on a magazine, so again, it will draw you into seeing what the magazine is fully about.Cover Lines: On this magazine there are a load of different cover lines. One of which give the word ‘win’ in large capital letters standing out on the middle of the right hand side. When people see the word ‘win’ it seems to draw them in to see what item they could get. Another cover line is the ‘ten amazing stories we never dared to print’. Using this sentence makes people want to know more about the mysteries of the stories, leading them to purchasing the magazine. House style: in this issue of KERRANG there is a lot of blue as the background colour. However, throughout all of the KERRANG magazines there is it seems to be that red and yellow are the main two colours, I feel as if this is because they are two VERY noticeable colours when put to the human eye. Also, I believe that it could make people think of a brand associated with the colours, for red and yellow this could be McDonalds.

Price: Giving this magazine a brief look over you cant really see the price standing out. The price is actually hidden next to the barcode, It is really small. In my opinion this is the only downside to this magazine.Target audience: I feel as if the target audience of the KERRANG magazines are people aged 16 -30 as the brand of magazines have a lot of modern rock music. I also believe it is aimed at both males and females, it more or less just depends on whether they like rock music.

Masthead: The XXL magazines masthead is simple and compact, however it stands out to show the brand of the magazine to the customers. The mastheads text is white on a red background. This is great for this specific issue as there aren’t too many bright colours allowing the masthead just to stand out. Also, the fact that the box is red means the attraction of the audience is stronger as red is a lot more noticeable compared to other colours. The masthead also has a little slogan above it. ‘Hip-hop on a higher level’ is what it says. This could mean they are the best out there for all things hip-hop. There is also repetition of the letter ‘H’ for this slogan which is something just to point out.Main Image: The main image takes up most of the magazine. It has 50 cent as the main image indicating this edition is about him. Something that will be reoccurring is the gaze towards the audience. In this XXL magazine it seems to be a less ‘crazy’ facial expression. Instead of screaming, it’s a more serious face with a hint of intimidation in there. The camera shot is a close up as its focusing on the head and the facial features and expressions. As 50 cent has a dark skin colour because he is an African American he himself stands out from the backdrop which seems to be a bright white halo surrounding his head. This ‘halo’ effect could suggest that he is the higher power in the hip-hop/rap sector of music.Cover Lines: For this edition of the XXL magazine, there aren’t a lot of cover lines. That is the reason I chose it, for the diversity of the different magazines. In the top right hand corner of the magazine it says lots of different artist names. I believe this indicates that there will be sections of the magazine dedicated to them and their music. For this magazine there is no cover lines showing any type of thing you can win or any other stories that will be inside of the magazine to draw you in. This edition of the XXL magazine is bare but bare in a good way.House style: The house style of this magazine (excluding the masthead) is mainly darker colours such as black, white and brown. I guess this benefits the masthead as it is bright red and white. I feel as if the darker colours allow the magazine to look more sleek.Price: The pricing of this magazine is located on the barcode, just like the previous magazine. I feel as if this is a repetitive thing throughout the music magazines. They are not like the average gossip magazines that show the price in a cover line.Target audience: The target audience for this magazine would be male 16-30 year olds as again, linking with the last magazine, the music is quite modern.

Masthead: The VIBE masthead has the same effect as the KERRANG masthead, the fact that it is covered up by the main image. VIBE across the top easily allows the reader to instantly know what brand of newspaper they are looking into. The kind of text that is used is sharp and curvy at the same time which in this instance gives off a really clean and positive effect. VIBE magazine doesn’t have a tagline at all to go with the masthead.Main Image: The main image of this magazine is again, directly in the middle, centre of attention and taking up a lot of the page. However for this magazine it is a female who is the main image. The shot of the image is a medium shot, this is mainly to show the fact that she is naked but covering up her breasts. The fact that she is doing this gives off a provocative vibe, it gives off a sexualised look. Also, following a regular theme of the magazines is the fact that she is giving the gaze directly into the consumers eyes. The gaze and the facial expressions link back to the provocative look she is giving off. A sexualised stare. The reason she stands out is obviously the nakedness, but the house style of the magazine allows her to flare out. The house style is pink and white. As she has brown hair and bright skin it allows her to stand out. The reason she (Kelly Rowland) is on the front cover is because she is the main attraction of that specific issue as is with every other magazine having a singer as the main image.Cover Lines: For the VIBE magazine it seems that there are a lot of cover lines. Not really any pictures to come with them but there is a lot of writing that really stands out. There is the cover line that links to the main image which is Kelly Rowland. It says ‘Finally bares all’ linking to the fact she is naked. On the right hand side it shows a bunch of different names indicating that they will be included within the magazine. This is similar to the XXL magazine in the slide before this.House Style: The house style to this magazine is pink and white. I feel as if these colours give a soft feeling off. The fact that pink is usually associated with girls is great for this edition of the VIBE magazines as Kelly Rowland is in the middle with pink all around her. Also using pink really stands out on the cover lines in this magazine.

Price: The pricing of this magazine is also located on the barcode, just like the previous magazine. However the barcode this time is located on the left hand side compared to XXL and KERRANG where it’s on the right.

Target audience: I believe the target audience are both genders around the ages of 25 – 35 as it has the main image as someone who is in their early 30s and the fact that there is a fashion section as a cover line. Males don’t usually go for the fashion aspect of a magazine as girls might do. However on this cover, there Kelly Rowland more or less naked, leading males to pick up this product to see if they can get more.

Masthead: The masthead of the Q magazine is similar to the XXL magazine. A large red box in the top right hand corner with a white text. Being different to the XXL magazine, the Q’s masthead is covered up partially by the main image which is a group photo of the Arctic Monkeys. The masthead in this specific issue stands out really well as there is a lot of dark colours, again, similar to the XXL magazine.

Main Image: The main image is this time, of a group of people, a band to be specific. This band is the Arctic Monkeys. For this image, only one of them are giving the gaze into the consumers eyes as the rest are just looking off aimlessly. They are taking up most of the magazine as most main images do and they have text and other images overlapping them. The fact that the main colour is black allows their faces to stand out as they are Caucasian. All four males have slick and shiny hair which is something to point out, if you like their music you might idolize them and want to be like them, leading you to buy this magazine.

Cover Lines: The cover lines in the Q magazine are at the top or the bottom, there is no middle ground. At the top it shows that this issue is a ‘17-page special’ with another magazine bundled with it. Going down to the bottom of the magazine it shows two stories titled ‘white lies’ and ‘Richard Branson’; if these interest someone, they might get the urge to purchase the magazine. A similarity to the XXL and VIBE magazines, the Q mag has some artist names down the side of the page showing that they are also included within this edition. Lastly there is the main story about the Arctic Monkeys, this is an interview by the Q magazine. This gives the Q magazine a voice to share opinions and facts with the audience.

House Style: Q’s house style throughout all of their magazines seem to be different, however they keep with the red and white themed masthead all the way through. For this issue seems to be just a simple black and white. Black images and backgrounds but white text to overlap that and stand out completely.

Price: The pricing of this magazine is also again located on the barcode section of the front page as it is with all of the magazines.Target audience: The target audience for the Q magazine would be both genders as there are different pieces od the magazine that link to each gender. I feel as if there isn't much of an age rating for the Q magazines but anyone under the age of 40 would seem appropriately linked to this magazine.