Design research

DESIGN RESEARCH

MOJ

O fro

nt c

over

. Plug - The ‘FREE CD!’ plug is quite useful in appealing to the audience. Since the audience reads naturally from left to right, this may be the first thing that the audience will read. Often, older people may value their money more than younger people and have less disposable income. The CD included will attract more people to buy the magazine and introduce a secondary audience of people who want the CD of The Velvet Underground, but not necessarily the content of the magazine. This is a unique selling point that is not often used by other magazines. It will most likely also be the first thing the audience sees as the positioning of this magazine on a shop shelf means that only the strapline will be visible.

Masthead - The black masthead with a white 3D effect behind it forces it to stand out against the plain white background, the binary opposite of colours creates a classic look, and still quite minimalistic. The juxtaposition of the masthead to the rest of the page also makes it look far superior in comparison to the rest of the page. Also, as the model is covering the masthead it suggests the magazine has already established a firm following, and expects the audience to recognize this. Since the rest of the magazine follows a specific house style and it’s synergetic, it makes it very easily recognizable. The masthead also looks quite old, it’s not shiny and brand new, its matted showing the audience

Characters - This cover appeals to the audience as the cover features an older man, who the target audience may relate to, the outfit he is wearing is dressed down, not forcing a sense of formality upon the audience. The blue tones in the outfit are quite neutral, creating a calm colour scheme, unlike magazines for younger audiences such as ‘Top of the pops’ which uses bright colours to catch younger audiences’ attention. This may suggest that the audience know what they like and are fairly predictable when it comes to buying this magazine. He’s stood with one leg bent backwards, this seems like quite a ‘trendy’ pose, he’s relaxed in what he’s doing and it comes naturally. It’s the sort of pose the audience would expect to see if he was playing a certain cord where he’s really ‘rocking out’.

Sub image / assumptions - The magazine assumes you know who ‘ELO’ are, the electric light orchestra may not be well known so this may become fairly context bound making this magazine represent itself as a fairly exclusive or elite group that only certain people will know about. Camera work- The image is shot in a long shot, with a level camera. This allows the audience to see the whole outfit, and letting the audience see the body language of Costello.

The target audience for ‘Mojo’ is 24-55, 73% of whom are males.

that this is perhaps for either older people or people who enjoy older music and a certain style.

■ Colour scheme - The red aspects within this cover attract the eye as well, as a full page looking at it, the red is the first thing that the audience will be attracted to. The words ‘Elvis’ and the guitar are linked together through this colour so the audience can see that they are both attached to each other. If they weren’t linked through this it may not offer as much clarity to audiences who are unaware of Elvis Costello. Red is often connoted with passion and love, and it’s a classic colour, when you think of the 70’s, red is a prominent colour. It continues the classic theme happening on the cover. The whole cover only contains around 5 different colours, which all compliment each other, it keeps the magazine to the simple and ‘retro’ style they were attempting to create. It’s not a ‘loud’ magazine, whilst the colours do still manage to stand out as light colours are paired with darker colours to emphasise the words such as the feature headline saying ‘A date with Elvis’ The opposite colours creates a striking overall cover.

■ Font – Throughout the cover, the font is all the same, however there are some slight changes to the typography. For example, there are changes in thickness and colouring to highlight certain areas of the text. The word ‘Plus’ in the left column at the bottom is coloured red with a yellow border, the text underneath however is a very light shade of grey, which may be hard to see without looking closely. This is done because it forces the audience to look closer and take notice of the wording.

■ Puff – ‘The music magazine’ sounds very important and helps to attract the audience creating a unique selling point for the magazine. The word ‘The’ forces the idea of

importance onto the audience, it seems as if there is only one magazine you should be reading. ■ Feature photo - The man who creates the feature

photo on the cover may not be widely known by the public, after some research I found out that he began his career as part of London's pub rock scene in the early 1970s and later became associated with the first wave of the British punk and new wave movement that emerged in the mid-to-late 1970s; this infers that the audience would be older as 70s music isn’t as popular now and punk music has also moved on. The feature headline ‘A date with Elvis’ further emphasises the magazines expectations of the reader. Naturally, the majority would associate this name with Elvis Presley, rather than Elvis Costello, who as mentioned, is not as widely known. The man creates a form of direct address as he looks directly into the camera, making the readers feel as if there’s some emotional connection between them and Costello and including them in the article.

■ Language - A lot of the text is fairly formal, with no personal/direct address to the audience, this disconnects the audience however it still uses pull quotes to attract the audience. Phrases such as ‘A date with Elvis’ allows the reader to feel as if they’re involved in the ‘date’. The word ‘date’ is often associated with a romantic connection between two people; since they act like they’re inviting you into a private moment, the audience will feel like they are being included on an extremely personal level.

■ Dateline, price and barcode - The price is displayed in a quite small font compared to the rest of the fonts within the cover. This is to disguise the price as it is quite expensive. At £5.50 for the magazine, it may deter younger audiences from buying this as they tend to have less money to spend on one single product. This may also deter older audiences but the pricing does reflect the audiences socio-economic status, the audience are working/middle class (C1). The dateline and barcode are common conventions of a magazine to identify an issue and if at the point of sale, scan and sell the magazine. The audience expect to see this on a magazine.

■ Lighting – The photo is very well lit, it is fairly high key lighting with minimal shadowing except a small shadow of Costello’s body. This was shot with three point lighting, a key light, fill light and back light. This minimises the shadowing, creating a pure image of the model. It’s naturalistic, creating the idea of being just a regular image. This relates the image to the audience a bit since it creates the effect that Elvis Costello is just a regular guy like the audience. It also makes the image seem happier, showing this magazines purpose is to entertain.

■ Buzz word – The word ‘Exclusive’ makes the audience feel included and feel as if they’re getting something that no one else is although this does challenge the conventions that we would expect of this type of magazine as it is not a ‘gossip’ magazine. This would be typical of ‘Top of the pops’ as it is targeted at younger girls who stereotypically would be attracted to the gossip.

■ Who is the text aimed at? The target audience is males predominantly, aged 25-55. This is shown through the character in the feature photo, he is male which is a stereotypical element for magazines aimed at males. It’s representative of the audience, on

typical ‘gossip’ magazines a woman would be placed or a man who was deemed as ‘eye candy’ for the female gaze. ■ What assumptions are made about the audience?

The text assumes the audience have prior knowledge about the artists featured on the cover. As mentioned, it assumes the audience know who ‘ELO’ are, it’s the same as saying ‘ToP’ and assuming older generations will understand who they are. The groups are both from different eras and genres, so different social groups will or wont understand the acronym. It creates a sense of exclusivity since it excludes people who don’t understand the acronym.

■ Where and when are the audience likely to receive the text? This seems like it would be paper based only as the target audience is not necessarily ‘tech savvy’ so may not appreciate a digital copy.

■ How does this influence the form and structure of the text? This influences the text as it will be less likely to offer internet or technological challenges, the CD plug is a fairly old convention as everything has now become digital downloads because of programmes such as apple music and Spotify. Since a lot of the magazines are sold through shops in person, they will be positioned in such a way that people will see the strapline and be attracted by this. This means that they will have to compose this the way they did, to catch the eye of the audience from just an inch of the page.

■ How will the audience ‘read’ this text? This may be seen as relatable because the feature photo has a man dressed in clothing that doesn’t look ridiculously expensive and he’s not photoshopped to look unrealistic like many magazines such as ‘vogue’. He has a double chin and he’s not heavily manipulated to fit an ideal.

MOJ

O fro

nt c

over

.

MOJ

O co

nten

ts.

Masthead – The ‘contents’ header uses the same font and style as the cover masthead, this creates synergy throughout, it makes the text feel connected together and professional rather than disjointed and unprofessional.

Colour – The black and white colour scheme in this further emphasises the retro aspect of the magazine and gives a vintage feel to the overall magazine. Black and white is a classic colour scheme, offering simplicity to the magazine and otherwise busy contents page. However, on the page to the left, it is in washed out colouring, usually associated with the 70s and the ‘hippie’ era. It’s calm colours, representing the other side of the era than represented in the right side. None of the sub images are brightly coloured though, this makes the red bars across the columns stand out even more. Typography – Throughout the

contents page, there is a consistent font style, although it varies in size and thickness, there is a certain house style that creates continuity throughout the magazine.

Sub-images - The abundance of pictures on this page creates a busy page which contrasts the page to the right and the front cover. Whilst the rest of the magazine is classic because it’s empty with a lot of blank space, this page is still classic, but without a lot of blank space. This is done by using filters over the images, and creating a ‘memory lane’ style page.

Sub-headings – The headings ‘Regulars’, ‘What goes on!’ etc. are examples of a typical convention in contents pages. This helps the audience narrow down their search and reach an answer far quicker than if they weren’t segregated.

Layout – The contents masthead is in the same position as on the front cover, this is a typical convention of many magazines.

Date – This is another common convention that helps the audience know when this magazine is from.

Numbers – This is useful as it helps people to easily see what page they are being directed to, they can easily see and find specific articles. This is another common convention throughout every style of magazine, regardless of genre.

Cover line – This gives the reader a clear outline of what each article is about, giving an insight into the genre of the magazine.

Banner – This banner is quite confusing as there is no context to the words ‘London Memphis The second Fret’ This is context bound and is discourse specific to this magazine which may confuse certain audiences who don’t have prior knowledge.

■ Who is the text aimed at? This is aimed at a slightly older audience so it needs to be easy to understand, this is done by compartmentalising each article heading separately and in a separate coloured box that stands out. Whilst a lot of the page is busy, the text boxes are quite simple and calm.

■ What assumptions are made about the audience? A lot of the text depends on prior knowledge of the magazine and the artists. As seen in the text adjacent, the subtext doesn’t really make sense if you don’t have prior knowledge. This means that they assume the reader knows some things about the industry and specific bands already, they don’t have to worry about setting up articles to introduce the bands and artists, they can quickly get personal with minimal introductory paragraphs.

■ Where and when are the audience likely to receive the text? This seems like it would be paper based only as the target audience is not necessarily ‘tech savvy’ so may not appreciate a digital copy.

■ How does this influence the form and structure of the text? The contents page may be the deciding page for weather or not someone will buy the magazine. This helps the reader gain clarity on what the magazine entails. For this reason, the text should be structured clearly for ease of reading.

■ How will the audience ‘read’ this text? The contrast between the two styles, one black and white, one in washed out colour means that the readers eye will also be automatically attracted to the centre of the page, however, the masthead does attract the eyes quickly as it is binary opposite colours, between a black main font and a white shadowing.

MOJ

O co

nten

ts.

■ Character - The clothing of this character is old

fashioned, the afro is a style that is no longer in mainstream fashion; suggesting that the demographic for this magazine is older. As he is looking away from the camera, this doesn’t attract the audience, instead it looks as if he is disinterested. This shot looks fairly amateur, like the audience have caught the image when he didn’t expect it; creating the idea that they are being let into an exclusive time and situation.

■ Pull quote – “They showed their colours. I left them to

their LP of hits I’d made” gives the reader an insight into what will happen later in the magazine. Again, it is fairly context bound as it is discourse of a certain music genre. ‘Velvet underground’ are not widely known now emphasising the exclusivity of the genre.

■ Language – ‘All back to my place’ is very informal, this

creates a sense of openness to the magazine. It is informal speech which invites the audience to be involved in the event, this adheres to the uses and gratifications model, following Identity, Social interaction and entertainment (Escapism). People want to feel included in a community or group that they feel is bigger than themselves. This makes the reader more inclined to feel part of the magazines world and are more likely to become regular readers and members of the magazines community.

MOJ

O do

uble

pag

e.

Pull quote – The quote lets us see an insight into the article itself, this helps summarise the whole article to readers.

Character – The main character, presumably ‘James Booker’ is dressed in 70’s clothing, that is typical of this era. He has a large collar on the picture to the right, and a waistcoat, and also he has a fairly large collar on the left, which looks more recent than the black and white. This introduces the audience to a character before and now, allowing them to take the journey with him through the ages. We can tell these are different times because of the colouring but also the hairstyles. On the left, he is fairly trimmed however on the right, he has an afro which has become very dated. This man is someone the audience will presumably recognise and have recollection from their childhoods or adult life of things associated with him for them personally.

Typography – The font of the main body of text is fairly small, this creates a professional effect to the magazine. This creates the idea of importance in the article.

Sub-images – The images contain memorabilia that the audience may associate with their youth or remember them, this creates a similar interest between the magazine and its reader.

Iconography – The eyepatch is context bound to the character ‘James Booker’. Eyepatches are usually associated with pirates, who steal, fight etc... which juxtaposes the idea of a singer and other images on this page. The eyepatch is synonymous with this character so therefore it assumes that the reader will make this connection and understand it. .

Language – ‘Didn’t matter what…’ is an example of informal language, the elliptical language is friendly as it’s not stressing too much on proper English. This shows that it’s not a formal article, it feels more personal and less touched up by editors and more raw. This emphasises ideas of exclusivity for the audience, they may feel as If they’re gaining a ‘private tour’ of one aspect of this persons life.

Numbers – This is a common convention within magazines as to help audiences find pages they want to read as referenced by the contents.

Drop Cap– ‘One of the greatest…’ The O is a drop cap which captures the audiences attention since they read left to right naturally and it’s the boldest thing on the page. It also looks like a record, keeping up with the retro style.

■ Who is the text aimed at? This text is aimed at older audiences so it needs to be clear yet still have youthful aspects within the layout. The neutral colours ensure that the page will not be too lively, creating a professional layout for the target audience.

■ What assumptions are made about the audience? The writers assume that the readers will make the link between the eye patch and James Booker, and have previous knowledge of the artist. The opening paragraphs in which the reader expects an introduction to the artist, is just full of quotes which are context bound to the character. It offers no explanation about who the artist is, or what he does. If the reader doesn’t know details, the images are there to support the artist and suggest basic information on the artist.

■ Where and when are the audience likely to receive the text? The audience are likely to pick this up at a shop, in person rather than online. This double page of text however, would perhaps not be seen until it’s at someone's’ home and past the point of sale.

■ How does this influence the form and structure of the text? This means it may have to follow the set house style, as to create continuity throughout the magazine.

■ How will the audience ‘read’ this text? This text may be interpreted as fairly serious as there is not really a lot of life on the page. This may reflect the audience as being boring.

MOJ

O do

uble

pag

e.■ Layout – There are drop caps throughout the text which

focus the audiences attention onto specific areas of the text. The text forms around some of the sub-images, this dispels the idea of a formality as it does not follow a stated structure the whole way through. The paragraphs themselves are divided into columns as to make it easier for the audience to read.

■ Colour – Black and white creates the idea of ‘memory lane’ and it becomes nostalgic for the reader. The red colours of the page connote passion and also attract the audience’s attention straight to the red. It’s the boldest colour on the page, so the eyes are naturally drawn to this. The black of the font is not fully jet black, as you would expect in a magazine. It looks dusted and fairly washed out, continuing the retro theme of the magazine. It looks matte, looking aged.

■ Reference – In the corner of the image on the left, there is a small reference. This tells the audience who is pictured, where and when and occasionally who took the photo. This gives the audience context and gives them an insight into his life and experiences. This is a typical convention in magazines.

■ Title – There is no title on this page, they expect the reader to identify the text and see what it’s about. This in a way helps the enigma code work, since the audience may become intrigued to find out what this article is about so forces them to read on regardless of their personal preferences.

Kerra

ng! F

ront

cov

er.

Masthead – The masthead is covered by the main feature image, this suggests that the audience are more influenced by the featured guests than the brand itself, it also believes that people understand the brand already. The nature of the typography of the masthead helps the magazine seem more ‘rock n’ roll. This is because it looks as if it has broken and chipped, suggesting it’s not all about the appearance and it’s careless, reflecting perceptions about the genre. Colour scheme - Yellow often connotes happiness and joy however this brings hazardous substance and police tape to mind. This is done because the magazine is of the rock genre, so they want to seem edgy and messy. The yellow on the cover makes it stand out against the red as they’re opposite looking on this page. The white also helps with a stark contrast on the page. The white is used to stand out from the black feature image, catching the audiences attention. This is a fairly ‘loud’ style, attracting the younger audiences as it doesn’t seem as boring as more classically designed covers.

Feature photo – The image is a two shot, displaying presumably two members of Asking Alexandra. The characters may not be widely known by the general population. Asking Alexandra is a fairly new band, so this may be bound to a very specific audience. This excludes older audiences and some younger as well. All the characters on the cover are making eye contact with the audience as to create an idea of a physical and emotional connection.Characters - The two people in the feature photo are fairly dressed down, reflecting the messy conventions within the genre. The one blocked forwards has his top unbuttoned slightly, showing he’s not going for a professional look, he doesn’t need to be and he’s just a chilled out guy. The one in the back has long hair which is against common stereotypes of men, his hair is matted and messy not groomed as society expects people to be. They’re a bit rough around the edges, linking back to the masthead. Typography – All the characters are capitalized, this creates the idea of shouting and significance in the wording. The fonts are all the same except the masthead so to create continuity but help the masthead become iconic and non-generic. The fonts are mostly different colours too, to create division.

Camerawork – All the images on the cover are eyelevel as to create a sense of equality between the audience and the artists featured. They are medium close up shots as to force the audience to connect with the

The target audience is teenagers to young adults, 15-23, males are 10% more likely to read Kerrang!

artists on a deeper level as they become closer to them.

■ Dateline, price and barcode - The price is displayed in a quite small font compared to the rest of the fonts within the cover. The dateline and barcode are common conventions of a magazine to identify an issue and if at the point of sale, scan and sell the magazine. The audience expect to see this on a magazine. The price is only £2.50 so reflects the economic status of the readers. This shows that they perhaps don’t have a lot of money to spend as students are not known for not having great amounts of money.

■ Lighting – The photo is very well lit, it is fairly high key lighting with minimal shadowing. This was shot with three point lighting, a key light, fill light and back light. It’s naturalistic, creating the idea of being just a regular image. This relates the image to the audience a bit since it creates the effect that the characters are just a regular people like the audience. It also makes the image seem happier, showing this magazines purpose is to entertain.

■ Buzz word – The words ‘World Exclusive!’ creates the idea that this magazine is the first with the new information, no one else has it which is a key idea in the marketing. It creates the idea that this magazine has a priority for the reader, rather than profits.

■ Language - A lot of the text is fairly formal, with limited personal/direct address to the audience, this disconnects the audience however it still uses pull quotes to attract the audience. Phrases such as ‘The truth’ suggests that the magazine is inviting the audience into a secret, something that is exclusive and no one else is allowed access to. Only friends are allowed to know this secret/truth. This involves the audience on a secondary level, minimising audience participation but maximising audience involvement.

■ Plug – ‘6 Amazing posters!’ appeals to the audience as it offers something free, making them feel as if they’re getting more for their money. The posters may become a way for teens – young adults to express themselves. The freebie appeals to them also because teens and young adults may perhaps not have a lot of money, so they want the most value for one product. . This is a unique selling point that is not often used by other magazines. It will most likely also be the first thing the audience sees as the positioning of this magazine on a shop shelf means that only the strapline will be visible.

■ Pull quote – “I only agreed to because I was drunk!” helps the enigma code as it leaves several questions such as ‘agreed to do what?’ and ‘what happened?’ this may make the reader so intrigued that they decide to purchase the magazine and perhaps eventually become a repeat customer.

■ Sub-image – There are many sub-images throughout the page, such as on the top right. There is preview pictures of the ‘6 AMAZING POSTERS’, this not only helps the reader identify amazing posters but also reflects the genre. All the images are rather gothic, a day of the dead poster, a dark witchy one and a vampire inspired one too. Those choices are conventionally connected to the rock genre, as stereotypically, rock is aggressive and spooky. The posters also help us see the audience is predominantly males, since the women are all dressed with their cleavage on show. This is a typical example of gaining the male gaze. The rest of the page is also fairly masculine as well. The other sub-images are all men. This creates the sense again that this magazine is meant for men who love being masculine.

Kerra

ng! f

ront

cov

er.

■ Who is the text aimed at? The target audience is males predominantly, 15-23, males are 10% more likely to read Kerrang!

■ What assumptions are made about the audience? The text assumes the audience have prior knowledge about the artists featured on the cover, they seem to assume that the audience don’t know that ‘Danny’ had ever left Asking Alexandra, and assume they will enjoy finding out that he is back. They also assume that the freebies will attract the audience, they will appreciate the posters and perhaps that the audience is expressive due to this ability to share their favourite artists and other musical references with the posters.

■ Where and when are the audience likely to receive the text? The audience may receive this text both on the internet and a paper based copy. This is because the audience are younger, so they are more likely to use electronics as it’s stereotypical that younger audiences are obsessed with their phones and technology. Although, some people may get magazines as something they’re given by a parent or enjoy to have a paper copy.

■ How does this influence the form and structure of the text? There will have to be some more ‘youth appropriate’ language. The overall composition will be more messy, this is because conventions suggest younger audiences like louder covers. The classic style of magazines such as MOJO is too clean for the target audience. It creates the impression of a boring magazine.

■ How will the audience ‘read’ this text? The audience may read this as fun, as there’s many fluorescent colours and ‘edgy’ typography. It could also be seen as exclusive as it says on the cover. This is because of the eye contact and the invitational language.

Kerra

ng! f

ront

cov

er.

Kerra

ng! c

onte

nts.

Title – The masthead of this page is unlike the cover masthead, which seems unusual, this is not a typical convention of these magazines. It is capitalised and is contrasting strongly to the black border and blocking of the shadowing 3D effect. Colour scheme – The black and white scheme creates a harsh contrast, forcing the audience to see the page. Additionally, the yellow reinforces this as it very heavily contrasts with the darkness within the rest of the cover. It creates a bolder image than if it were just black and white, which may also be perceived as a classic and perhaps boring colour scheme. The use of the yellow helps rejuvenate the overall page and give the effect of a radical page. This helps reflect the genre as rock is often perceived as ‘dirty’ and ‘dangerous’. This is further emphasised by the yellow and black stripes in the right, which looks like warning tape, usually found at unsafe areas.

Pull quote – ‘Despite having no legs, the Deathbat loved to ride the lightening’ This quote is extremely context bound to the band in question. ‘Deathbat’ seems like a nickname for a specific member of the band. However, after research, it turns out the word ‘deathbat’ is a nickname for their logo, as also pictured on the contents page.

Sub-image – There is a picture of the deputy editor of the magazine featuring Marilyn Manson, which is not mentioned in the subtext. This is a selfie style picture, which creates an informal feel to the image, bridging the gap between reader and writer, creating the idea of friendship and a community in the magazine. Sub-headings – The headings ‘NEWS’, ‘FEATURES’ etc. are examples of a typical convention in contents pages. This helps the audience narrow down their search and reach an answer far quicker than if they weren’t segregated. These subheadings do seem to be highlighted by the yellow background, suggesting to the audience these are specifically important in the page.

Date – The date is a typical convention in contents pages to establish when the issue was released, along with this, there is often an issue number to display how many issues there has been throughout time.

Page numbers – Whilst there is no page number on the page, there are pages referenced throughout as to guide the readers through the magazine.

This creates exclusivity in the magazine as it restricts understanding for a section of the audience.

Kerra

ng! C

onte

nts.

■ Language – The page uses extremely informal language as to create an idea of friendship between the reader and the authors. ‘Lets cut straight to the point, shall we?’ This is fairly friendly as he’s not wanting to beat around the bush, he wants to tell you something directly. He doesn’t seem to be talking to you as a business, rather like a friend or colleague. ‘Enjoy the issue!’ creates synthetic personalisation that makes the readers feel like they’re being directly addressed.

■ Iconography – The use of the logos of bands mentioned on the covers helps attract audiences as it’s more noticeable than the plain text, the audience will hopefully recognise the logos and read on. The placement of these mean that they will be the first thing that readers will see on the page so that it can attract them very quickly.

■ Sub-image – There are many sub-images throughout the page, such as on the bottom right. There is preview pictures of the ‘SIX KILLER POSTERS’, this not only helps the reader identify the killer posters but also reflects the genre. All the images are rather gothic, a day of the dead poster, a dark witch/vampire hybrid and a twenty one pilots image.

■ Those choices are conventionally connected to the rock genre, as stereotypically, rock is aggressive and spooky. The posters also help us see the audience is predominantly males, since the women are all dressed with their cleavage on show. This is a typical example of gaining the male gaze.

■ These images were also shown on the front cover and are repeated here to emphasise the freebies in the magazine. The language has

changed from ‘Amazing’ to ‘Killer’. These words are almost complete binary opposites as one essentially is good and the other not so much. This is to continue the style on the specific page, the front cover seems slightly more tame than what has been put on the contents. This may attract audiences because it seems friendly but appears to have a certain edge to it as well. ■ Who is the text aimed at? This text is aimed at

younger audiences so it needs to be energised yet still have adults aspects within the layout. This is because it still needs to have a level of professionalism as it’s not targeted at really young audiences so It cant be too loud although its not targeted at old audiences either so it still needs some life.

■ What assumptions are made about the audience? It is assumed that the audience will make the connection between the logos and the bands mentioned, and they will understand some of the sociolect mentioned in the main text/pull quotes.

■ How will the audience ‘read’ this text? This page may help further intrigue the audience about specific pull quotes in the magazines front cover. This may be read as friendly since everything is fairly informal, it’s a messy cover with little order, chaotic perhaps, reflecting the genre and helping the audience read this as energetic.

Kerra

ng! D

oubl

e pa

ge.

Title – ‘Opportunity Knox’ is a play on words phrase for ‘opportunity knocks’ , mixing with Mallory Knox, a band featured. This creates a humorous tone within the page from the beginning. Pull quote – “This album will be a slap in the face!” is a quote from within the text that has been chosen to stand alone within the page. The language is extremely informal as it insinuates a shock for the audience whilst using words that may be considered ‘improper’ as they suggest violence, something not usually associated with an album. It suggests that the album will shock and surprise the audience, maybe wake people up and feel slightly vulnerable.

Sub-image – The only sub-image on the page is fairly unnoticeable, which is strange since they’re trying to plug the album. At first it was hard to distinguish what the image was, but it is the new ‘wired’ album they are promoting. This is done to give the audience an image of what it looks like so they can go out and buy it themselves, they may remember seeing an image of the magazine and remember it sounding ok and choose to purchase it.

Buzz word – ‘The big story’ suggests that the article is extremely important and will reveal something that is very exciting. It suggests to the audience something will be revealed, aiding the enigma code, encouraging people to read on due to unanswered questions and curiosity.

Sub-headings – The whole article is a question and answer, so there are multiple sub-headings as the question is being asked.

Page numbers – This is a common convention in magazines, this is to help guide readers through a magazine. However, this page number is incredibly small, perhaps indicating that the readers often don’t read for one

specific band, they read throughout. It may also infer that the company wants to force readers to read the whole way through rather than skip to the one they want, perhaps as a method of attempting to gain returning customers.

Layout – The left side of the double page is barren of text for the majority whereas the right is heavily dominated by the text. This gives the page an overall more relaxed feeling as there is not too much content to process. Readers naturally read left to right, this means that the creators made the layout this way as readers can see the band and decide if they want to continue reading the article.

Comment – ‘Mikey's Movember wasn’t going as well as everyone else's’ This is a quote from the magazine as to create a funny tone, it pokes fun at the band, helping bridge the gap between magazine and reader.

Kerra

ng! D

oubl

e pa

ge.

■ Colour scheme – Again, following the house style, there is an abundance of yellow on the page, suggesting danger. This is further reinforced by the darkness of the overall page. This is a popular theme throughout the magazine, binary oppositional colours such as black and white create an ‘edgy’ overall page, helping the genre be reinforced throughout. The yellow again is often being used to highlight key aspects in the page, such as the buzz words, band name and album release date.

■ Characters- All the characters on the page are presumably from the band, and are expected to be recognised as such by the audience. All the ‘characters’ sit expressionless, as to create the idea of seriousness within the article. This contrasts to the idea of informality as expressed within the language in the main text. The expressionless figures make the page slightly unwelcoming as they appear superior to the audience. However, the clothing is very informal as it is just mainly t-shirts and a basic jacket, this creates the idea of equality between the reader and the characters.

■ Language – ‘People are closer than ever before because of our online connectivity’ is an example of a formal utterance, the whole magazine is based on informal speech and an ‘edgy’ view, however this contrasts with the idea of this as it is incredibly business-like, as if they’re selling their brand rather than themselves. This creates social barriers between the audience and the magazine.

■ Who is the text aimed at? This magazine is targeted at young adults, this means that the text will attempt to be sophisticated yet still have youthful elements to it.

■ What assumptions are made about the audience? It’s assumed that the audience recognise the artists and understand the play on words of ‘opportunity Knox’. If the audience didn’t understand this is using the band ‘Mallory Knox's name, this may just look like an error.

■ How will the audience ‘read’ this text? The audience will read this as personal, as the artists are answering questions genuinely about their new album. This reduces the barrier between the band and the readers.

Q Fr

ont c

over

.Masthead –The masthead is covered by the main feature image, this suggests that the audience are more influenced by the featured guests than the brand itself, it also believes that people understand the brand already. The bright red colour and white Q force it to stand out on the page, this helps it become iconic and easily recognisable to the audience. Colour scheme -  The page is filled with a lot of green tones, this is to help the red stand out as green is a complimentary colour of red. This helps the overall page have a seemingly more professional look, and as if the magazine is higher end.The red within the page is used as red  attracts the eye most, suggesting the artists are less important than the brand itself, helping create the iconic imagery in the logo. The name of 'green day' is also in red, helping the idea of brands over people as it doesn't force the image of the band forwards, rather just the name and forces the reader to associate with the band. The green filter on the image creates a 'grungy' feel as it looks old and perhaps dirty or septic. This is accompanied by messy characters, reinforcing the idea of industrialization and carelessness.

Pull quote - 'my life in the smiths  and above' is a quote by Johnny Marr. This is done to help give the readers a small insight into the article, a summary of what they  could read. However, it is unconventional that they do not place a pull quote from the interview

Feature photo – The feature photo is of the band 'green day' to promote the exclusive content. The green lighting over the set creates a dirty image, connoting a grungy band, as pictured. The lighting itself helps represent the band in the genre they wish to be involved in. The director/photographer has blocked this in a way to suggest that they're positioned in terms of power and influence in this same way. The front runner, is the singer and the ones behind are instrument players. Sub-image – The sub-image is Johnny Marr, of the smiths. This image is in close up, with chiaroscuro lighting which is an unusual choice. This could represent the 'life beyond the smiths' quote to its left, from the pictured. This is to show that there's something the audience may not be seeing, which would indicate to by private life. Marr is looking slightly up at the camera, suggesting a slight high angle. Marr is making a serious facial expression, suggesting that the article is too serious.

Camerawork- This image is a medium long shot, which is level. This creates a sense of equality between the readers and the artists.

The target audience is 30-40 year olds who are interested in alternative music.

from 'green day'  suggesting that they expect their readers to already know what to expect from the band.

Q fro

nt c

over

.■ Plug – ‘Your ticket in!’ This offers the readers an

opportunity, appealing to the uses and gratifications model and the entertainment and social interaction uses. This offers the readers an opportunity to be involved in something bigger than themselves.

■ Banner – The use of the banner is important, it shows the audience who features in the magazine without overcrowding the page with sub-images of each group. The centralization and red colouring attracts the audience straight to the banner. The big names also require big font sizing, this again forces the audience’s attention on to the banner.

■ Language – ‘And a few more people who should know better’ This is a joke to engage the audience, some may be attracted by the enigma code, questioning what bad happened to spark this comment.

■ Buzz word – ’14 page exclusive’ suggests to the audience that they are receiving something no one else has access to. This adds a layer of personalisation for the audience, they may feel as if the magazine is being their friend through this method.

■ Puff – ‘The worlds best music magazine’. This is a self-acclaimed title, it is not necessarily the views of the actual music magazine genre however it does attract the audience. This is a key selling point as it offers a unique selling point. It’s the best in the market so why buy anything else?

■ Who is the text aimed at? This magazine is targeted at young adults, this means that the text will attempt to be sophisticated yet still have youthful aspects such as brighter colours and messier layouts.

■ What assumptions are made about the audience? It is assumed that the audience will recognise bands and the artists pictured on the cover. There are many bands mentioned on the covers, assuming that the audience will know who these people are. It also assumes that the audience will want to read about Jonny Marr’s life and other antics.

■ Where and when are the audience likely to receive the text? The audience are most likely to pick this up in a local shop as it comes out. They may not be awaiting the publication of the issue so eagerly that they wait at the store door to get the magazine but they may be reminded of the new issue and go to buy it when already shopping.

■ How does this influence the form and structure of the text? As it will be viewed in a stack of other magazines, the top banner is usually very visually important. Without this, readers may not be as quickly attracted to the magazine.

■ How will the audience ‘read’ this text? A fair amount on this page is based on the hope the readers will be intrigued by what they’re seeing, which is how audiences do ‘read’ this text.

Q Co

nten

ts.

Masthead – The logo of the magazine is still present, this shows that the brand is always important to the reader and the company.

Sub-image- This is blocked in a way that suggests the man in the front is the lead singer, and the rest his band members. There is also a grey background showing that they’re a heavy band. This band turns out to be Metallica, who are a rock group. The grey background and black clothing create an edgy atmosphere which is perhaps dirty, reflecting the band.

Feature photo – The photo on the page is of Jonny Marr, he is also mentioned on the front cover. This creates continuity throughout the magazine.  This may also help the audience re-enforce the image of Marr. Sub-image- There are many sub-images throughout this magazine, these are presumably other featured artists within the magazines. There are small caption boxes to tell the audience who each of the images are and where to find their articles.

Camerawork- The camerawork on the feature photo is employing a low angle shot, this creates the idea that he has more power over the audience than they do him, this is because he is/was a member of the smiths. This means that he is far more famous than the rest of the audience probably, so it suggests that the audience look up to him as an icon, and perhaps

Issue date- This is a common convention of contents pages, it shows the audience when the magazine was published as to keep the reader informed. 

Language- All the articles are introduced with the band name rather than a cleverly thought out headline as seen in many other magazines. This gives the impression that this magazine is serious about music and doesn’t want to ‘beat around the bush’ with their articles. They want to get directly to the point quickly to keep the audience entertained and let them know things quickly.

Sub-image- The remainder of the sub-images seem to create a friendly atmosphere, they’re all smiling or acting casually rather than rigid or more entitled than the audience.

he looks down on the people.

Page references- There are numbers to each article, showing the readers where to go.

Q co

nten

ts.

■ Colour scheme- The page is all fairly dull, with minimal bright colours, any colours that are becoming bright are muted, this creates a grungy look to the overall text. Red is tied in in a number of places to help the audience create a link between this colour and the brand. White and black are also used a fair amount of time to create a classic feel. Blue is also employed as it is a complimentary colour, making it pleasing to the eye.

■ Typography- The text looks like the font ‘PLAYBILL’ in some places such as the text ‘How to survive rock n’ roll’ This creates a cowboy, gangster feel to the text. This supports the genre as it emphasises freedom and rebellion, which is a common characteristic for both gangsters/cowboys and the alternative music genre. The majority of the rest of the text is just in a clear font so the readers can see what they’re reading clearly without having to enlarge the font so much it becomes tacky.

■ Layout- There’s a collage theme throughout this page, all the images are pieced together as if random and the text just fits where it can in blocks. However, the text does still seem fairly structured as there is still a formal layout.

■ Who is the text aimed at? This magazine is targeted at young adults, this means that the text will attempt to be sophisticated yet still have youthful aspects such as brighter colours and messier layouts.

■ What assumptions are made about the audience? There are not many assumptions in this magazine, the common assumptions that the readers will recognise the artist are minimal as there are caption boxes to help the reader if they’re unsure.

■ Where and when are the audience likely to receive the text? The audience will have probably bought this magazine by this point so they may be reading this at home or where they usually read.

■ How will the audience ‘read’ this text? The audience should read this text as friendly and informative as it is purely there to direct the reader to the next stage of their reading.

Q do

uble

pag

e.Title– ‘In full bloom’ is a strange phrase to open an article with, this however does link to the bands name, ‘Blossoms’. Without contextual knowledge, the audience may be slightly confused by the title. It’s also printed with the spray paint effect, inferring rebellion and rock n’ roll. Graffitiing is illegal for the most part, using this effect creates the idea that the band are rulebreakers and don’t take any regard of authority. This is another common characterisation of Rock n’ Roll that has become personified throughout many years.

Feature photo – This photo is similar to all the other images in the sense that it’s not particularly bright, which is a similar attribute throughout this magazine. They chose to take this picture in an industrialised area that is grungy, and a little bit dirty. This creates the impression that the artists don’t care about materialistic settings and being manipulated to an extent, they’d prefer to be in a setting that people can recognise from their everyday lives. It also suggests that their music is somewhat ‘dirty’ and ‘unclean’ which again links back to common views and attributes of the genre of music.

Camerawork- This image is a medium long shot, creating space between the audience and the band. This is done so the audience can see the whole picture, they can see how the artists carry

Colour scheme- The red links back to the house style/main colourings, the magazine continually links back to the red to create an iconic and associated colour. The grey and white creates a dull atmosphere but the red revitalises it.

Page number- There are no page numbers on this page which is strange as the referred pages on the contents page suggest they assume readers will direct themselves by the numbers. As there is no numbers, it could infer that the readers will be attracted to the image and appeal to the enigma code where they are intrigued by the images.

themselves and dress etc. This helps the audience feel less distant in a way to the artists as it doesn’t create a heavily manipulated image, it looks somewhat genuine.

Credits- There is a box at the top of the left page giving credits for the image. This is a professional image, whilst it looks a variation of candid.

Q do

uble

pag

e.■ Typography- The main body of text is very clear, it is not

in a funny font like the title, this is done for ease of reading for the audience. This is also the same font that is seen on the contents page, this creates continuity in the magazine making it seem like one whole issue rather than many disjointed articles. The font of the subheading is capitalised, this creates the idea that what we are reading is fairly important.

■ Layout- There is one full page dedicated to the image, this suggests the importance of inclusion of faces, they need to be shown to create a relationship between the reader and the artists. There is only half a page dedicated to text on this spread however, the text does extend past this. The use of the small amount of text is like an introduction in a manner of speaking. It gives the general gist of the text and if readers want to continue, they can, if they don’t want to, they don’t have to. This saves the time of the reader and is a very good way to attract audiences.

■ Character- All but one of the characters are dressed in leather jackets. Leather jackets are usually associated with rebels, as popularised in the later 20th century mainly popularised through the greaser subculture (Greasers are a working-class youth subculture that was popularized in the late 1940s and 1950s by middle and lower class teenagers in the United States. Rock and roll music, and rockabilly, were major parts of the culture). All but one character have long hair too, signifying rebellion against typical conventions of men and women. The one man without all these is a less-cool version of all of them and is perhaps the front runner, which is why he is not dressed in the same fashion all the other men are.

■ Language-The text is extremely informal ‘Me mums screaming’ is an example of non-standard dialectal English. This interview is not a standard one, that has to be posh or even correct/standard English. It then seems like a chilled out interview, there’s no rules it seems. The whole article is also told like a story, filling the audience in with all that has gone on making the audience feel as if they’re becoming friends with the writer and they’re recounting a story that may be fairly personal.

■ Who is the text aimed at? This magazine is targeted at young adults, this means that the text will attempt to be sophisticated yet still have youthful aspects such as brighter colours and messier layouts.

■ What assumptions are made about the audience? There is one main assumption, that the audience will understand the title ‘in full bloom’, making a joke out of the name ‘Blossoms’. This may not be understood by those who don’t know the band. However, usually in many magazines it leaves the audience to figure out who each band member is, however it does tell the audience who each member is. Which limits the contextual knowledge needed.

■ How will the audience ‘read’ this text? The audience will hopefully read this and become engaged, this is meant to be read as intriguing and interesting.