Explanation of my masthead for AS level Media for a Pop Music magazine.

3. WHY I CHOSE THIS MASTHEAD
I think the masthead I have chosen is bold and eye-catching. I have
achieved this by using block colours only (initially I was going to use a
fade around OMG). However I decided against this as all the other
mastheads I have seen on Pop Music Magazines have used block colour
only. (see below)

4. COLOURS
The colours I have used are representative of the genre pop and my target audience.
Pop as a genre is fun and happy. The colours I chose are bright. Yellow in particular has
connotations of happiness and joy. The colours are bright so seem summery and youthful
(My target audience is 11-16 year olds).
Pink is a colour which is representative of my target gender as it is associated with girls. In
particular it’s associated with girly girls, (who are considered to be into pop music,
makeup etc.) It is these types of girls my magazine is aimed at. The masthead should
represent the brand, and my magazine will be branded as girly.
Yellow is an attention catching colour. As a masthead, it is important that the colours catch
the audiences attention as the mast head is what is associated with the product. If the
audience does not notice the masthead they may not recognise / buy the product.
Smashhits! Uses yellow, an attention
grabbing colour in their masthead.
Gogirl clearly establishes their target gender
through the colour of their masthead.

5. COLOURS CONTINUED
I considered using blue in my masthead, but as you can see it is
not an attention grabbing colour. Furthermore, blue is
associated with boys, which goes against my female target
gender.
I considered a baby blue at first, I then decided against this as
pastel colours have connotations of babies, and my target
audience are teenagers, who may want a more grown up
magazine during adolescence.
I considered incorporating black in my masthead, as I plan to
use some black on my cover, however, I decided against this
as black has connotations of death, it is a sombre colour
that goes against the happy atmosphere of the pop genre. It
also has connotations of formality, and the tone of my
magazine is chatty as it is aimed at 11-16 year olds.

6. WHY I CHOSE THIS MASTHEAD
The shape of ‘We ♥ Pop.’s masthead inspired the shape of mine. Speech bubbles have
connotations of comic books, therefore are fun and childlike.
Speech bubbles also have connotations of social media and texting, which is associated
with young people, reflecting my target age. Social media and texting have
connotations of gossip, and my magazine is going to contain gossip on pop stars.
Also, my magazine will have a chatty tone, and speech bubbles symbolise speech.
I loved the way that the celebrities on the cover seemed to be saying the name of the
magazine. It involves the celebrities with the magazine, and therefore with the reader.
It allows the reader to relate with the celebrities.
The image on the right shows a
text conversation, it uses
speech bubbles giving them
connotations of social media
and gossiping, and young
people.

7. WHY I CHOSE THIS MASTHEAD
The stars on the Top Of The Pops magazine
masthead inspired me to include stars on the
masthead for my magazine.
Stars are suitable for my magazine as they have
connotations of fame, stardom and glamour.
Celebrities in the pop genre are called ‘Pop
stars’ so stars represent the people who will
feature in my magazine.
The stars I chose to use on my masthead are
slightly messy and look as though they have
being drawn by hand. I chose to have these
type of stars as it gives the masthead a child-like
tone, and my target audience are young. I
believe it also makes the masthead less formal,
adding to the chatty tone of my magazine.

8. WHY I CHOSE THIS MASTHEAD
I loved the heart on the O on go girl. It gives the
masthead a girly tone. As my target gender is
females I decided that I would use one in the O on
OMG.
Hearts also have connotations of love, which is a key
topic for teenagers and is often included in
celebrity gossip magazines.
Alike the stars my heart look as though it has being
drawn by hand, complementing other doodles
which I will include on my cover.

9. THE FONT
The font I chose to use was Poplar Std. It is bold so stands out in my
masthead. It is easy to read, allowing my masthead to be easily
recognised from far away.