This is my analysis of rock magazines for my media AS coursework

1. This is a wob which is white
text on a black or different
coloured background. This is
a simple logo that doesn’t
particularly have a theme
which is good for this
magazine since this is a
multi-genre magazine and
not a specific magazine.
The colour scheme sets of the
front cover relates to the
celebrities on the front cover of
the magazine, setting the mood
for the magazine. In this case the
colour scheme is pink, magenta
and white.
In this particular magazine, the
subheads aren’t in their
conventional areas and are on the
bottom of the magazine instead of
the sides. The barcode of the
magazine isn’t in it’s usual place as
well since it’s placed on the middle
right instead of the bottom right.
The puff piece is in the middle of the
magazine to signify that this is a
special edition of the magazine and it
is to stand out to customers walking
by.
The main image of the magazine is of
two band members in a pose staring
at the camera with blown up guitar
amps, this is to show that this
particular band is back with a bang
or their song is in the top ten songs
of the month.
There is another wob on the very top of
the cover advertising a 17 page special
about Jeff Buckley, showing a portrait of
the artist and a border around the text to
highlight it out of the other subheads
The photo of the models in the cover
is overlapping the logo of the
magazine, this is a convention in most
magazine.

2. The masthead of this section
says ‘QCONTENTS’, this doesn’t
confuse the reader because the
sound the letter q makes
sounds very similar to the
sound the ‘c’ makes in the word
contents
The contents section of the
magazine goes on multiple
pages, this is because the
magazine has a lot of content in
it and the subheads are a
detailed paragraph about what
each section is
The images used in the
contents pages are relevant
to the subheading they are
reflecting and will grab the
readers attention just in
case the reader is skimming
and happens to catch their
favourite artist picture.
The subheadings are
colour coordinated
so when the reader
stumbles upon the
page, they will know
it’s about a certain
topic until the colour
turns into a different
colour marking a
new section in the
magazine.

3. The masthead of
the double page
spread is on the
left along with a
small sell under it
introducing and
selling the article
to the reader.
The introduction of
the article is
highlighted in the
black while the text
is in white, whilst
the artist’s name is
in red text to signify
that they are
important subject in
the article. This
could be because
the article is about
them.
The articles are all
placed on the top right
of the magazine on
the right page in a
tombstone format to
take less space to
make room for the
image on the bottom.
The photo is about
the article and it’s
showing who the
article is about. There
is also a caption on
the bottom right of
the picture explaining
what is going on in the
photo

4. The magazine’s masthead is covered
with the head of the model in the
photo, in this case, the model is the
artist of one of the bands featured in
the magazine.
The puff piece is related to the
main model on the front cover of
the magazine. This also has 2 sells
on top of the magazine describing
the article in one sentence. There
is a short subhead telling the
reader briefly what the article is
going to be about.
The subheading in the front cover are
just naming the names of popular
metal bands that are featured in this
issue of the magazine with a short
sentence under it also giving a brief
explanation on what will be said
about the band.
The barcode is placed on the
bottom-middle of the magazine,
this subversive to the usual
magazine format since the barcode
would be on the bottom left.
There is a promotion in the magazine
advertising a free poster and CD inside
the magazine, this will tempt people to
buy the magazine just for the free stuff
within.
The logo of the magazine has a little
noise to show that it has been worn a
lot, this is because the genre of the
magazine is heavy metal so the logo is a
stereotypical metal font, along with
colour and the textures used on the
front cover such as grunge, blood and
scratches.

5. The contents page of
the magazine is not
labelled which could
be confusing to
readers looking for
the contents page.
Each content headline
is once again, just the
name of the band that
is featured along with
a small subhead
describing the article
to get the readers
attention in case the
are quickly skimming
through the magazine
and want something to
catch their eye.
The thee photos
featured in the
contents page are
one of the bigger
articles featured in
the magazine and on
the right of it there is
an even bigger
description of the
article and with a
small caption
describing what is
going on in the
pictures.
There are
advertisements
on the bottom of
the contents
page advertising
upcoming events
such as concerts.

6. There is a collage of
pictures featuring
many bands that
were in the festival
that the article is
talking about.
The articles with the
white background
are using the
tombstone format
while the articles
with the black
background are not.
There is a sell on the left page of the article
on top of the title of the article, this is
because readers who skim through the
magazine would title then look up to see
the picture, instead, they would look at the
sell, selling the article to them.
There are multiple
captions describing all
the pictures and when
they were taken and
who by.

7. The fonts used in the front cover have a
graphic on them to make it look dirty and
bloody as if a fight has gone on around it.
This fits in with the mise-en-scene as there
is a baseball bat which makes me assume
that it has a connection to the blood splatter
on the font. This makes the logo of the
magazine and the only heading on the front
cover fit in with the CVI of the main cover.
The cover has stuck to a simple colour
scheme of blue and yellow with a bit of
orange. This will make the magazine look
more organised as there won’t be a clutter
of colours occupying the front cover.
The models of the front cover all look
dirty and as if they have been in the
desert for a while. This goes with the
conventions of Metal music as most
metal musicians are seen as dirty and
as slobs. The mise-en-scene used in
the front cover also goes with the
convention that Metal music is brutal
and angry, so to make it clear that it
is a metal magazine, they have
included weapons such as a baseball
bat given to the lead of the band.
In most magazines, the barcode would be on
the bottom right of the magazine because
that would be the one of the first places the
human eye will look. But Metal Hammer
magazine has decided to take the subversive
route and put it directly in the middle. This
goes with the conventions of metal
magazines as they are preserved to have a
rebellious nature due to the brutal music.
The cover doesn’t have any sub heads or
anything else to tell the readers of any other
article featured in the magazine. This will
show that the main focus of the magazine
and the main headline of the magazine will
be the band at the front cover.

8. This magazine cover is really
different to other magazines as
there are no subheads at all on
the front cover besides the
name of the magazine and
small Japanese writing under
the Metal Hammer logo. This
suggests that the band on the
front page is so popular that
they don’t even need any
subheads to identify them.
Although the cover band is
considered a metal band, they
don’t fit the conventions of a
metal band such as a dirty
leather jacket sided with a
brutal/angry face with the body
language as if a fight is about to
break loose. The cover models
look calm and collected with
straight faces looking at the
camera. The mise-en-scene
doesn’t go with the conventions
of metal music because they are
wearing what looks to be a
custom studded dress and bows
on in clipped to their hair. The
lead in the cover photo seems to
be holding a fox mask, covering
half of her face. The fact that the
cover photo doesn’t go with any
conventions of the metal genre
will make it harder for people to
realise it is a metal magazine if it
wasn’t for the magazine name.
The barcode is in a different
each issue of the magazine.
This could be due to the CVI
taking up a lot of space so they
had to find a place with open
space or a place with less
significance.
The colour scheme in the front
cover is black and red with a
little bit of white.

9. The copy used in
the DPS is in a
Q&A format where
the interviewer
would ask a
question in bold
and the reply will
be right under it in
a thinner font. This
will make it easier
for the reader to
identify the
question from the
answers.
The tag of the article links all of the pages that are about this specific article.
This will indicate what each page is talking about and it will cause less
confusion to the reader as it will inform them that the page they are reading
is still linked to the previous article but spanning over a few pages.
A pull quote to pull in
the reader who may
just be skimming
through the
magazine. This is
used to grab the
readers attention by
a phrase or an
interesting comment
someone has made
in the main body of
the article.
There are smaller photos
on the article side of the
DPS to give the reader
more of an insight of what
the article is talking about.