Product research (3 double page spreads)

Product Research (3 Double Page Spreads)

This double page spread shows a live review of a band and the supporting act(s). Mainly for Kerrang they have the best mainstream band from the last 1 or 2 weeks on here to attempt to engage the target audience into a band they’re familiar with (a mainstream band to maximise their viewing pleasure of the magazine. Complete with images from the gig, it brings together crashing effects which will be overall visually pleasing for the audience. They’ll be intrigued into viewing those first because of the people in them. Mainly the singers because they’re the most notable people from the bands. Being males the have a lot of dominance, this being the male gaze because of this and the way they present themselves, looking from bring me the horizons singer who looks very forward and engaging in the audience in turn which the target audience enjoys.From the pictures, you see the reality of a live show where you see how hardworking some bands are which relates to kerrangs initial target audience; the working class. From this issues live band (Bring me the horizon), this issues live band shows a creative atmosphere to show what this band’s capable of as well as showing off the style and genre of kerrang!; i.e. Rock and metal.

The rating is a quick review of the band that’s playing. Because this is a necessary feature which is in kerrang, the audience look to this page more than others because there's a possibility it will always contain a good band which can open up the target audiences genre into a more broad one.As well this is a necessary feature for the bands because they know if they’ve done well if they’ve got a good review in a respected and well read magazine. It reflects the readership because if it’s a bad review most of the audience will skip it because they wont find it enjoyable so from then on they could be seen as a bad band from the target audiences perspective.

They use a quick interview to get an insight to the gig they were at and to build on the personal feature it brings towards the magazine to get an insight to the band but the audience themselves.This could influence the audience into liking the band as well as opening them up to a variety of bands within the genre.`How was it for you?` shows their personal quality which other magazines sometimes lack to where they can have an advantage in influencing their audience to the subject of cutural hegemony for the audiences full enjoyment..The font communicates a laid back style kerrang has. This reflects the readership because it shows that people do enjoy this sort of laid back, friendly style it creates for the full aspect of the loud music the pages contain.

It has a consistent house style because of the green text from the `LIVES` and the supporting bands makes you look towards the font and text size. the text used on the review is the same as on the second page. The white and black colours give off the aggressive side that a band in the is genres music has as well as the text that’s highlighted red.

The main heading `LIVES¬ tells you what the page’s about, it gives you an indication of what band will be on the page because of the size of the text. Being on a double page spread, we know it’s a relatively big band playing.

The Text: picture ratio is around ¾ text because they want the audience to be engaged with the visual impact of what they’re viewing. The effect it has upon the audience is that they're more intrigued into what they have to say about the bands being played. Cultural hegemony would come into here because from the images they’re implying the bands are hard workers to relate to the working class target audience kerrang has within the 16-25 year old demographic

The page number is conventional for magazines with big stories to cover so they can be linked to the contents page

They have captions on the pictures to make little jokes so the audience will be more engaged into viewing them. It gives the magazine something more than others have ,which appeals to the them to remind them of what they do more to be remembered by the audience.

The language kerrang uses is in the 3rd person. A reason being for this is to engage the audience in being fully interested so the similar style can be compared to other articles within the magazine. Along with this they tell you what's happened, what songs, if any member of the band’s ill and cant go on etc. It has a personal quality that makes you stop reading for a moment and think that they’ve actually talked to the bands and talked to them directly. As well as this, it mentions a brief history of some people within the magazine’s pages to give you a background on how hard some bands work to get them to the point of cultural hegemony, so that if you admire how they work, the audience is fascinated an will view them.

Kerrang

The house style represents the genre they’re a part of as it shows their reason for being in the magazine. Because of the black background colour and a white text it gives off the genre; Metal. It connects to the audience because it’s a stereotype that metal music is to do with dark colours but it represents the audience that buy the magazine to communicate the style it puts into it from the dark colours to the gothic font.The great thing about it is that its a repeated design into the headline as well as making it appeal to the target audience who’ve been listening to this genre for a long time and know what they enjoy, so it’s the first thing they see to draw them into the article.

The image on the magazine ties into the genre of the music. A dark image is a dominant code used because it’s the colour that’s generally associated with metal music which could convey problems within the group. With a mid shot of the band member and the quote, you can say the image is important in gaining the audiences attention because they talk about making new music. `Little bursts and Explodes` convey that its powerful sounds coming out of what they’re making tieing into the genre for the fans to be pleased by what they’re doing.

The quote at the bottom left hand side of the first page is taken from the article because of its importance to the interviewer as it can be an influential for the target audience to read through this article as well as the entire magazine. It represents a main point for the article. The reason for it being there is because it draws the audience in because if it’s a really good quote then they’ll be drawn into reading the full article because it may represent themselves for the their genre they listen to or for their attitude for either their age or gender depending on how they interpret the quote

They use a bigger Picture/text ratio with this article because they want the splash image and quote of the first page to get into the readers head. It draws them into the design of the title on the second page; `Grand Designs`. It appeals to the reader so that the name of the band at the top of the page (porcupine tree) sticks into their head. They’ll be able to remember it as their design of the black and white colour scheme as it isn't in your face as much because it goes along with the picture for its full effectiveness of the genre they write about for the target audience to communicate their message.

NOTE: this was an image taken from the internet so I cannot read the actual writing on the right hand side of the page.In magazines such as metal hammer they mainly write in the First Person because they’re talking about the band or artist to get the audience really engaged into what they’re talking about and exited for it if it’s a review of a new CD or an upcoming tour and what they (the magazine) expect from it. For this because its an interview, it’s mainly in the First person because its them talking about themselves and what they’re doing behind the scenes which really get the audience intrigued and reading the magazine. This is because it has their favourite stars for their genre of music. So from the language used from the quote on the first page they use buzz words such as: `bursts` , `explodes` and `great impact`. Why they use these words is because of the combination it brings. They’re real pounding words to link to the genre of the magazine as well as to intrigue the target audience into the artist and to have their word on anything without their words being twisted.

Within the picture he’s holding a prop some flowers where around it, they’ve edited some leaves in. They do this to appeal to the target audience because it implies the gothic view to tie into the genre of music so it links to the style of the magazine.

They use columns so that the image of the band member dominates. They make use of it because if the target audience know who his is then they will buy the magazine.

They mainly have titles at the top of a page to let the audience know what band they’re talking about in order to know what and who they’re talking about.

They don't have the page number on the second page. They don’t always have this because they don't want to distract the audience reading about the band or band members from the interview.

Metal Hammer

The article is written in columns mainly for the benefit of the reader. It spaces out the text evenly so the reader can find his place. As well the image dominates for the reader to have a view on what the artist looks like. Adding to this it has a newspaper feel to relate to the magazine because most people read newspapers on a daily basis so they wanted something to read inside their comfort zone.As well because the target audience for spin is an older audience, they have the columns to represent a more sophisticated demographic for which the audience is a part of.

Her pose in the image gives off a demand because of her hands on her hips. Its as if she's screaming look at the audience without speaking. Her facial expressions says this as well because her eyes draw us in as its something that can’t be missed as well as the mesmerizing gaze she has which draws the reader in. as well because she’s leaning forward it more appealing in the male gaze so it appeals to the men of all ages within the target audience.Her makeup and tattoo sum her rebellious nature. Its quite heavy which connotates her emotion to say to her audience; listen to me, as well as her emotion of honesty given within the quote at the top of the page.Her pose is quite leant forward as well as her hands being on her hips as if she’s got something to say. This says that she’s not one to stay quiet for a long time which the audience will like because an audience will crave someone who has enough to say given that because of the article it’ll be written in the first person for a majority of it.

The splash image is just lily Allen on her own in a large mid shot. This can say what a big deal she is to us and how mainstream she is within music. Because the image is so big we can say that she may have a lot to say which is good for her fans who buy the issue because they like her side of the story more than interviewers asking the questions.

The quote is quite interesting because its unconventional of the magazine to do it. It sets it apart from the other magazines sold to the effect of someone doing it effortlessly because it looks as if someone's just cut the large letters out from a magazine title and stuck them down. This tells us that the audience will view this first because it’s eye catching and it covers a large amount of space to emphasise what the artist has to say.

Note: I cannot read the actual text at the bottom of the page. What Spin likes to do in interviews is to gain an insight into the artists personalities within the articles they make so the audience feel as if they’re the ones interviewing them to give it a personal note to the readers which other magazines similar to Spin has. This gives it its first and third person quality which makes it similar to the other magazine sold in shops but also gives it a personal identity of what Spin magazine is which makes it recognisable to the audience.

The colour scheme is similar to a newspaper because of the black and white feature it has. One thing that’s striking is the multicoloured shirt she wears. This gives an impression of the rebel quality she has because she cancels the newspaper feature out and replaces it with something eye catching for the audience. The audience will enjoy it because in this way she foregrounds herself and sets herself apart form the magazine so the younger target audience will appeal to the rebel side of Lily Allen.

The word `honest` within the quote sums up what sort of person she is, really outspoken to the point of she's not really bothered about what she says. People could refer to the haters of her music or just the general critic who thinks she's just not worth listening to. The buzz words within here make the audience think who it is the writers are talking about and the ways it can be interpreted. This appeals to the readership because they read this magazine a lot so, they have a better insight to the writing style for its interpretation.

Spin