Analysing existing magazines

Analysing Existing Magazines

Amber Foster

Masthead: The name of this music magazine in NME, the masthead is positioned in the top left hand corner of the magazine. The font is bold and is sans serif as it has no flicks. The strong boldness of the masthead, used with the contrast of white on flame red makes the masthead one of the most eye-catching characteristics of the magazine cover.

Colour: Every colour that is used on this front cover contrasts with its partners. The colour of Florence's hair is a trade mark that fans will instantly recognise. the use of such a vibrant primary colour attracts varies audiences as it is such a powerful colour to pair with the boldness of the title.

Picture: The close up of Florence's face fills the entire canvas of the front cover with the articles position to emphases her features; this is the technique used to highlight her cheekbones. Furthermore, the use of a close up suggests that the audience is going to get up close and personal with Florence in her featured article. In addition to this the image used very clear and well light, showing that this magazine cares about its appearance. Her facial expression is relaxed with a slight pout showing to the audience that this article is about her music/singing career. In addition to the above, the eye contact shows that the magazine is directed at the reader.

Font: Firstly the fonts used are all similar, showing that this magazine find the articles equally important as the title but the boldest articles are the ones that will interest this particular target audience. ‘Florence’ is in a bold black font to contrast with the paleness of her skin, the white of her top, and the vibrant red of her hair; the boldness shows that this is the most important article/ the one that will sell the magazine.

Both of these are the same magazine but they have different target audiences.

Target Audience: The target audience of this cover is people aged 16+, both genders who are fans of ‘Florence and the machines’ music genre.

The barcode is located on the front , but subtly done, allows for a back page promotion.

Masthead: The name of this music magazine is Vibe. This masthead is stretched across the top of the magazine (left to right) with the models head (Nicki Minaj) and costume covering the majority of the lettering, this proves that this is a well known successful magazine. The font of the masthead is bold and san serif, in addition to this the colours of the masthead contrast with the blue of the background and the orange and pink of the costume.

Colour: The colours that are used are clashing, vibrant boastful colours. Due to these colours the magazine attracts its target audience and has an extremely youthful but mature feel about it. Moreover, Nicki Minaj is wearing a contrasting costume, which applies to the colour scheme of pink white and blue. The pink suggests that this issue is primarily biased towards woman but the blue applies to Nicki’s male fans also. In addition to this, the articles are coloured pink ,white and black with the pink and white articles being the more attractive there for the most interesting for the audience.

Picture: The picture is centrally placed with cartoon figures placed around it. Furthermore, the cartoons match with the youthful feel of the image ,also the costume she is wearing makes her look like a cartoon herself. A funny face is being pulled to show that she is youthful, doesn’t care what people think about her and doesn’t take life too seriously. The colours of the images are bright and vibrant showing that Nicki Minaj is confident whilst also attracting the target audience.

Font: Firstly the fonts used for the articles vary, but all of the fonts used are sanserif and clear, as to draw attention to the articles context. Furthermore, the bolder the font the more the audience would find this article attractive/interesting.

Target Audience: The target audience of this magazine front cover would be a youthful audience of 16+ and for this issue the sex would be females.


Masthead: The name of this music magazine is Q and is located just off the top left hand corner. By having the masthead partially hidden and in the background shows that this magazine is confident that it is successful and popular. Following this, the only thing that draws some attention to the masthead is the contrast of the natural scenery to the red and the white on the rich red.

Colour: To start with, the colours that the magazine uses are all relevant to the promotional American CD offer they have at the bottom and top of the magazine. Everything from the clothes the ban are wearing to the colours used on the articles match the American theme/offer.

Picture: Firstly, the main image of the ‘Kings of Leon’ fills the entire width of the canvas, but doesn't fill the length, creating a slight border. This border highlights the image by using contrasting colours. The band members are stood in order of most recognisable, with the lead singer standing first as most people will recognise him as being apart of ‘Kings of Leon’. Their facial expressions are casual showing that they aren't interested in ‘modelling’ for the magazine they are only interested in their music. Furthermore, the background image is of a road with a landscape which fits with the ‘Kings of Leon’ genre and general appearance.

Font: There are vast range of fonts used on this front cover, but the most eye-catching font is the ‘Kings of Leon’ this is bold and strong as to draw attention to the band and their reputation for successful music. The type and feel of the fonts used are all relevant to the magazines target audience .

Target Audience: The target audience of this certain magazine/issue is both sexes (mainly biased towards males) of aged 16+.


Masthead: Unlike many other magazines, this one doesn't have ‘contents’ as its masthead; showing that they are confident that people will automatically recognise this as the contents page. The masthead is stretched across ¾ of the top of the page, also the logo has been cleverly used within the masthead. The red, black and white all contrast each other to draw attention to the top of the page.

Colours: Firstly, the colours that match the masthead are the most important features, such as subheadings, certain articles and the offer for a subscription at the bottom of the page. The colours appeal to the target audience of the magazine: 17+, those who are interested in the featured bands.

Picture: The picture is a low angled shot to make the building appear grander and more important. This links in with the article ‘our photo tribute to three decades of gigs and one of the worlds greatest music venues’; the low angles shot visually proves its greatness. Moreover, the photo has been captured at night, so the white building contrasts perfectly; the lack of light from within the building shows that it is been closed down.


Masthead: The white masthead is located in the top left hand corner, on a black background and next to the magazine logo. The font is bold and large so the audience know what page they are currently on.

Colours: The colours used for this contents page are varied, the most obvious distinct colour being the red as it contrasts with the other colours perfectly. Furthermore, red is used on the most important features, such as subheadings, the logo and page numbers.

Picture: There are 2 pictures used on this contents page, the largest of the two is located on the right, it fills the majority of the page showing that these are the featured band. The faded colours, and scenery fit there genre but the dull sky and colours aren't very appealing. The second picture completely contrasts with the first as this is bright and clear and has a positive atmosphere.

The logo accompanies the masthead so the reader knows that this contents belongs to Q magazine.


Masthead: The masthead is located in the right hand corner, it is quirky and unique giving it a certain authenticity. This links in with the celebrity (Kanye West) as his music and music videos are always unique. Furthermore the font is bold as to draw attention to the fact that this is the contents page ,but it doesn't draw any attention away from the image.

Colours: The contents page is colour black and white with grey variations, the acceptation to this is the red heart, which is extremely contrasting with the rest of the page, this is used to represent his song ‘heartless’ and could also suggest that he’s going to be personal in the featuring article.

Picture: The image is the most eye-catching characteristic of the page, emphasising the celebrity. His facial expression is one of seriousness showing that he is serious and down to earth about what is being said in the article and about his career. Also there is direct eye contact so it makes you feel that this is directed mainly at you.

The faded V in the background shows that this contents page belongs to Vibe music magazine.

Target Audience: The target audience of this certain magazine/issue is both sexes but is mainly biased towards females, with the feminine font. Aged 16+

Picture: The image used is a medium close up of Lady GaGa. Firstly, the image is in black and white to contrast the vibrant red L cleverly concealed within the article, also the fact that she is naked (apart from the chains) shows that she is expressing everything in her article, and she is making her self very vulnerable and open towards the readers/fans. Her facial expression shows is a slight pout, showing that she is beautiful resulting in woman idolising and aspiring to be her. There is also eye contact which makes the reader feel like this article is aimed at them, also it gives it a personal feel.

Masthead: The masthead of this double page spread is located in the top right hand corner, of the second page. You would expect the masthead to be the main characteristic of both pages but it is insignificant and plain showing that she doesn’t need a name to be recognised.

Colours: The colours used are enormously contrasting, from the black and white tones to the red L covering the article, this shows that lady gaga is giving away her most dangerous secrets in this article. In addition the this she herself is very loud and boisterous and this comes across in the red colour use.

Article: the layout is in a typical column form

Target Audience: The target audience of this certain magazine/issue is both sexes, but due to the celebrity I would say that this is aimed at females aged 15+

Colours: The colours can be considered rather vintage, and faded. Firstly, the most contrasting colour of this double page spread with the bright, vibrant blue on the faded colours, this is single sex orientated suggesting that most of their fans are males.

Picture: The image used could be considered as a medium close up. Firstly, the image is in faded colours, nothing really stands out apart from the paleness of their skin contrasting with the darkness of their clothes and the red of the but this fits in perfectly with the genre of the band. Yet again they are ordering from the most recognisable to the least, as the ‘face of the band’ always has centre stage. All of the band members are making eye contact with the camera showing that they are aiming their music and this article at the reader.

Masthead: The masthead of this double page spread is located in the top right hand corner, of the second page. Firstly this masthead is the second most eye-catching (apart from the picture) characteristic of the double page spread, its is bold and in a strong block colour so it contrasts with the faded off white background.


Target Audience: The target audience of this certain magazine/issue is both sexes, but due to the band and use of colours I would say it is slightly biased towards males of aged 16/17+

Picture: The picture is located on the left page of the double page spread and spills on the 2nd page to show that they are related. Firstly the image is very dominating, bold and sexy showing that Florence is a role model to woman. Her facial expression is one to emphasise her beauty so woman are in awe of her, her facial expression and makeup make it seem that she is amongst celebrities and their ‘flawless beauty’, but the eye contact that is made suggests that she is just like the reader.

Colours: The primary most dominating colours used in this double page spread are red and black, the red is considered to be Florence's signature colour and the black contrasts this perfectly. Furthermore the red is also used in addition to the ‘USA’ faded into the background.

Masthead: The masthead ’USA got the love’ is a play on words from one of her most best selling songs ‘you've got the love’. The bold USA in the background shows that conquering the music industry there is a huge achievement. Also the font of the ‘got the love’ is sophisticated, matching the image on the joining page.


Target Audience: The target audience of this certain magazine/issue is both sexes, but due to the celebrity I would say that this is aimed at females aged 15+