2. The magazine Top of The Pops is a music magazine that it targeted towards the audience of
young, teenage girls between the ages of 10 and 16 that are typically brought up within the classes of A B C1.
The masthead used for the music magazine of Top of The Pops presents the genre of pop clearly due to the
colours that have been used to emphasis that the main readers are females. This is because of the colours being bright
as well as contrasting and so standing out on the front cover which will be full of sell lines and images. The colours of
pink and yellow can be argued as extremely gender specific and so having positive connotations. The connotations of
yellow, is the sun, summer and happiness, emotions enforcing the idea that before even beginning to read the
magazine it is a light hearted informal magazine. The lettering is not capitalised and so highlights that the audience is
young as well as representing the audience as not serious and relaxed.
The text is lower case compared to having an upper case letter. This can represent that the audience is of a
lower age range compared to the other magazines aimed at older audiences. This is due to the lettering being
simplistic as well as round with no harsh edges. This highlights that the genre and topics within the magazine are child
friendly and connote ‘pop’ music.
This masthead seen to the left being ‘VIBE’ is a masthead for the genre of
pop, r’n’b. The lettering within the masthead is capitalized expect the last
letter being the e. This is due to allowing the masthead to have a rounded
edge and so connoting that the magazine is well rounded within its genre
meeting all the expectations of its readers. Furthermore, the full stop given
at the end of the word portrays the magazine to have attitude and reflects
on to the readers. Furthermore, the colouring is black and with a white
background meaning that the wording can stand out. Furthermore
allowing the pictures to stand out due to the colours, having the magazine
seen as a classic that is well known.
3. The masthead of ‘Q’ is a logo form of masthead with a capital Q in white with a
red box background. The front used for the Q is Century of a font that can be
argued as formal, handwriting with harsh flicks. This is due to connoting the style
of music being rock, having harsh sounds and lyrics like the letter itself. The Q has
been given a drop shadow of back to allow the letter to stand out against the
red background as well as connoting that the magazine has a lot of depth and
so is detailed with the information it gives about the bands and artists included.
The red background for the logo is a bright red having connotations of passion
and love for the music, yet also anger which is a convention for genre of the
magazine being rock. The background is a square and so allows the masthead
to be placed in the corner of the front page, sticking with the magazine housing
style as well as being easily recognised. This masthead is unique and therefore
giving the magazine and masthead an identify.
However, the other magazine names such as Kerrang represents its target audience as individualists or
emo’s. This is due to the mast head being white and black having no bright colours. This enforces the magazine to be
seen as a serious magazine focusing on the music and bands rather than gossip. This represents the audience as
adults that are quite serious, enjoy heavy metal music as well as have a specific click which they are known to.
Moreover, the masthead Kerrang uses capitals in the masthead as well as sharp edges this highlights the readers are
serious adults. The cracks edited into the masthead connote anger and violence which represents the magazine
genre of heavy rock, conveying the magazine is age appropriate only for adults due to the aggression.
These are just a few examples that to show how powerful it is when it catches the readers eye due to it being placed
typically at the top of the magazine front cover and taking up a quarter of the page, as it allows readers to quickly
identify magazines.
The lines placed through the masthead denotes something smashed and so connotes the genre of rock due to
aggression and anger linked with the genre.
