Analysing magazine features and connotations

Analysing magazine features and connotations.

By Josh Williamson

Sky line

Masthead

Cover line

Cover line

Date, line and barcode

Buzz word

Main image

Main cover line (lead article)

Cover line

The masthead shows a bold outline box and a very large font, this is to grab the audiences attention. This follows conventions of typical music magazines as it is in the top third of the page, therefore visible on news stands. Also because it is simple.

The tag line in this magazine states “the worlds greatest music magazine”. This is the magazines selling point.

The main image dominates the page as it controls the middle third and is assisted by the dark clothes battled with the white background. The figures gaze is looking at the camera, therefore he is addressing the audience.

Date, barcode and price is a minor part of the front page, yet very important as it informs audience.

The main cover line links to the main image, as the large font holds the name of the figure in the picture. As well as the main picture, the font stands out from the background as it is a very dark colour, where as the background is light.

The buzz words stand out as they are held in a circle that differs to the background. It involves “album goldmine” which suggests to the reader that these will be the best albums ever found.

Normally projected at the top, the skyline involves various artists names to inform the reader and allow them to look for an artist they like.

This cover line is a list like table informing readers of many artists from various genres. This allows every reader to find something that interests them.

The two top graphics are simply used to allow the audience to identify two artists by facial recognition if they didn’t know their name, or vice versa. Furthermore, the graphic on the far left which is in the main image is used to appeal to the music genre.

The masthead shows that it is the biggest font on the whole page, but also uses the colour scheme according to other font on the page which is either red or black – red in this case.

The skyline is used to inform viewers. In this line, red font is used to distinguish names of stars, whereas, the black font invites the reader into the story based inside.

The date line and barcode is used simply to follow conventions and enlighten readers.

This cover line is used as a quote, and uses suggestive language. It involves a well known band with a large fan base, this will attract a larger target audience for them.

The buzz word used on this magazine cover includes the word “free” to attract a potential buyer. Also, underneath, it shows names of artists that could also be used for fans to buy the product too.

The main image dominates the whole page, as it takes up two thirds of the page. Even though the image is dominant, the main cover line is positioned on top, where normally the main image overpowers and text on the page that overlaps.

Using a quote on the cover line suggests dialogue, or that there is more to the story, this invites the reader to open the page.

In this cover line, it uses a rhetorical question. This as well as quote also invites the reader to open the page to read more. Involving a plus above this list of artists included in the magazine acts as an extra cover line, but also as an additional skyline as it is used to inform readers about artists involved. The plus is important as it approves that the extra skyline is a brief summary.

The main cover line dominates the bottom third of the cover, proven by the way it overlays the main image. Apart from the masthead, the font is the largest on the page and the involvement of violence is used in the title explains its dominance also.

This skyline is unique to a lot of others. It offers only one artist, therefore shrinking the target audience. However, the one artist is well known.

The masthead is positioned behind the main image and is placed in the top third of the page. It is partially covered by the masthead because the brand is easily recognisable (because of its advertisement in world wrestling entertainment) and even though it is partially blocked, it is still easily identifiable if seen on a news stand. Attention wants to be drawn to the title as it is the biggest font on the whole page.

The buzz word involves the theme of the magazine, which is Halloween, and offers posters. The magazine could be bought simply for this aspect.

This magazine uses a clever play on words to inform readers who is “fear-turing” in the magazine. This would humour the audience. This acts as a list educating readers what else is to come in the magazine.

The main image overlays the masthead proving dominance to the readers. Furthermore, gender also rules a part of dominance, as men are portrayed as dominant – as shown in this image. This is a rock magazine and it is showed by typical long hair and madness, in this case being the axe. However, the axe relates to the theme, as it is showing an action shot of the figure about to smash the pumpkin which is commonly associated with Halloween.

Graphics used in this to state the obvious to the reader. Simply by stating that it is “the Halloween issue” and adding effects such of blood is used as eye-candy.

Overall impression: The magazine gives off a very rock feel – which is the genre of the magazine – because it is very packed full of images and text. Kerrang communicate a rock feel to the reader by involving very dark colours and making images and text overlay each other, making it look unorganised and as if they don’t care.

These images illustrate a story of what is to come if a reader buys the magazine, therefore, by making these images action-packed, people would be more likely to purchase this product.

The font used in this magazine is traditionally a very messy one as it based around the rock genre. Although, there is not much text in this edition, therefore it shares messy text with scary fonts.

The word contents is in big, bold letters and is displayed as the biggest font on the page. Also, it is the only white text on the page (excluding “review”), this makes it stand out.

An image containing a caption stating the page number and title. This picture fills nearly half of the page, showing that it is the dominant story in this issue of the magazine and is shown as if this will be the story readers will want to read first.

Continuing from the front conventional font colours. Red and black front on a white background is common among magazines. This is to give a sophisticated look.

The date, issue number and website are used simply for formal and collectable reasons.

Similarly to a range of contents pages, the page numbers are displayed with a different colour compared to the article titles. This is because it is easy to understand for readers.

“oasis special!” is used in a different font and different font colour. This illustrates to the reader that this type of article is not normally involved due it not following the general conventions or colour scheme of the magazine.

Much like on the front, the logo that the magazine is noticeable by is positioned in the top left corner of the magazine. However, it is around 10 times smaller on the contents page because there is not as much emphasis needed on it due to the front needing to be recognised in news stands.

“review” is used in the same way as the contents header at the top in the way that it is in a white font with a grey background and positioned next to the logo.

This means that it is a part of the magazine every week and they want it to be recognisable.

Rather than the contents page being called simply “contents” like many others, it is the name of the magazine followed by “this week” acting as if this page is a catch up or some sort of informing news page.

This shows the magazine advertising their magazine further through subscriptions. This, to the reader, seems like an easier option than going out to buy it.

Only two images dictate the whole page as they both focus on the same story, which seems to be the featured article. By only including one article's imagery, this puts emphasise on it and shows the reader that it is the main article.

The contents column is set into 5 different categories of “news, radar, reviews, live and features”. This is because it separates completely different articles so the reader can distinguish their favourite type of article and therefore view the preferred one more.

Following simple conventions, the number of the page is a different colour compared to the article title.

The main article, here, has a brief description or a tester of what is to come in the full double page spread of the story.

Date line

This puff indicates the highlights of the issue.

NME lists all of the bands featured in the article followed with the page number in case the reader wants to read about a specific band or particular artist.

9 pictures with page numbers indicate the major articles in the issue, which is an easy war for the readers to flick through to what they will most likely want to read first. By enlarging one picture bigger than the others and including it first will put emphasis on it and display that it is the most popular article in the whole issue.

Typically, the article has a brief description and page number in a different colour to the title.

Here shows advertisement for the subscription. This is involved on the contents page as it is seemed to be a formal page where a message from the editor could also be included.

As this magazine is of a rock genre, it connotes this even through the contents page as it is full of either text or imagery and you only see white space through the means of a border or background.

The paragraph shown is a message from the issue editor. This is proven to be formal as it is ended off with a signature. It also has an image of the front of the magazine which the writer of this paragraph edited.

A traditional title is used on this page. Contents simply makes this page recognisable to anyone opening the issue. This text stands out as it is displayed in yellow on a black background, different to anything else on the page.

The contents list is traditionally used in this magazine as it only takes up a third to a quarter of the page. Also, the title is a different sized font compared with the brief description that follows.

The artists gaze is straight towards the camera, therefore, she is addressing the audience.

I have noticed how the logo shrinks throughout the pages. For example it is large on the front, on the contents it is smaller, and it is even smaller on an article.

The artist fills up the whole first page, not even interrupted by a quote or a title overlaying the image. The costume is very revealing, this suggests that so is the artist. However, it seems as if she hides behind her own appearance as she has a substantial amount of make up on, and her hair curly.

A very common connotation of a magazine double page spread is that they are laid out simply. This is proven in this article as there is only imagery on the left, and pure text on the right hand side.

Using a bold, larger capital letter in comparison with the rest of the text indicates that this is where the article begins, therefore where to start reading from.

The text, in this article fills up a lot of space as it covers a whole page. This is hinted by the image where the artist is looking very revealing, therefore sharing a lot in the article.

The artist’s name is shown at the top of the page, to assure readers who the article is about if they wasn’t familiar with the figure or appearance of lady gaga.

50% of this double page spread is used by an image of the artist with an overlaying quote. This follows the simple conventions of a double page spread article, that they’re simply laid out. Also, all of the group members are wearing black apart from the figure at the front who is wearing bright, vibrant colours. This could illustrate to the reader that he is the main singer in this group. Furthermore, all of the other band members are almost hidden by the quote, whereas the “lead singer” is only scratched.

A drop capital is used to indicate where the article begins and is a known convention of articles.

This is shown as the most colourful and largest text on the whole double page spread. This shows that it is the most important piece of text and can be used as a title or summary.

Another smaller image is used to explain the text further as it is placed next to the writing that it links to.

Another quote is used in the article. However, this quote seems not as significant because it is much smaller than the quote on the opposite page. Although, it still is used to grab attention as it uses a bright orange background on the text, and this is to attract attention. Another purpose of this quote and background is to split up the text. This may be to start a new question or subject, or just for layout purposes.

The layout of this magazine is simple, as it is divided into two portrait pages, one a whole image, and one full of text. Even though, within the text sector, there is another divide and this is by the orange text box.

The colour scheme of this double page spread is orange, white and black. I can tell this by the colour of the font, speech marks, and text box’s. Although, the imagery has a colour scheme of its own, as both images are very dark.

The general colour scheme of this magazine double page spread from the Kerrang magazine is very dark. However, the text and figure in the picture are very light due to font colour and lighting in the photo. This shows that these link together, and allows the reader to assume the figure is the person being wrote about in the article to the right.

Following typical conventions of a double page spread, this magazine involves an extremely large title in contrast with other text on the page. This is because it is the most important piece of information, and could potentially tell the story of the rest of the article.

The white text box shown in the middle of the writing is known as a sub story. In a lot of magazines this is used by means of a quote to direct attention away from the image. In this case, the sub story is used by placing an image of an action shot and continuing to explain it to the readers.

The mise-en-scene here is very important. First of all, it continues the colour scheme of a dark grim colour. Furthermore, it is shown in a relaxed atmosphere first of all by showing what looks like a headboard of a bed and also the artists posture is stress-free.

By using a first date to the present date. This suggests life span. Therefore, automatically, the reader could interpret death and know that the article is celebrating the life of an artist.