Research of the magazine...

1. MAGAZINE COVER
RESEARCH
BY GEORGIA ALLISTON, ANGEL DUNCIL, CHARLIE WEEKS AND ELONA
WOODFORD

2. TYPES OF MAGAZINES
These music magazines have been voted the top four publications of advertising in the music industry. NME and
Q specialise in advertising more of the alternative rock / independent genre whereas Billboard and Clash will
publicise more mainstream pop idols. The covers will always feature a star so that audiences will recognise who
is mainly featured in the magazine, reinforcing the idea of star image to increase public positive image.

3. MAGAZINE
TYPOGRAPHY
Magazine typography differs across different types of
covers. These are examples of the four main magazines
and the text type they use consistently throughout their
magazine covers.
Billboard
The text on here remains very simplistic. The logo is
always present and the artist image tends to be placed
across the logo. Parts of the text use a fill, for instance the
letter ‘d’ in this case has a yellow filled center to it. The text is also sans serif to increase boldness of text. Any
parts of the magazine that are key are written in capital letters. Rather than lower case.
Clash
There is very little text on clash covers, in this case it is just a simple sans serif logo at the top which is always
white. The titles visuals are also increased further due to the boldness and all capital letters. The text also takes
up the majority of headspace. Another example of visually enhancing an artist is the use of a drop shadow so that
the title stands out more, like on the clash magazine.

4. MAGAZINE
TYPOGRAPHY
NME
This magazine in particular is dominated by font. The
NME logo is normally a singular red or yellow colour and
it is always written in sans serif. Key titles are also
written in the same colour in bold capitals.
The majority of the other titles are written in capital
letters, sans serif in white to stand out against
background image. Quotes however will be written in a
serif font to stand out against the rest of the titles, to give
it more of a handwritten personal appearance.
Q
The final magazine is also very font based. The logo always remains in the same place with a more serif
appearance. Key titles are written again in white with a bold, capital letter approach. Both these magazines have
very similar features. One thing that works particularly well with the Q cover is that the artist name is almost
handwritten across his body which, similarly to the quote on the NME magazine, gives it more of a personal feel
to it. That title’s typography particularly stands out in this instance.

5. MAGAZINE COLOUR SCHEME
Colour schemes tend to stay the same across magazine covers, especially the logos.
Billboard filled letters for instance will tend to remain the same across all of their
products, and the Q logo will tend to remain red and white so that people recognise the
brand.
NME will also use red and white most of the time to increase boldness which they
want to achieve but in some instances the colour scheme changes. The previous slide
showed a yellow and blue edition of the magazine cover.
Clash have always kept their logo white across products as it heavily contrasts against
most of their backgrounds.
The biggest factor when it comes to colour on magazines covers is to ensure colours
contrast against each other so that clarity and accessibility is enhanced. If two similar
colours are used near each other on a magazine, there is a high chance that it cannot
be seen or read as clear.
This is the reason why most covers have fairly neutral backgrounds so that text can be
placed against it making it easy to read.

6. MAGAZINE PHOTOGRAPHY
This type of photography is
a close up shot of the artist
which takes up lots of the
space on cover. The other
band members are also
shown through the
sunglasses which is a clever
photographic technique.
The Clash magazine shows
the artist in a mid close up
shot so more of the body is
revealed. This is also used
in combination with some
other photos. This is one of
the most simplistic uses of
photography.
This is a example of a two
people shot used on a
magazine cover. The photo
takes up most of the cover
space to increase the star
image of them both. It also
gives the cover more of a
romantic, casual look.
This cover is a mid shot of
the artist as the top half of
his body is shown. Artists
can also be shown holding
items as shown above, to
highlight a particular
message they are giving in
the magazine.

7. OUR MAGAZINE CHOICE
After conducting some research, we have decided to choose “Billboard” for our magazine cover to have our artist
appear on. This is because it mainly targets adults and teens, teenagers in particular who are looking for
inspiration and role models. Our main artist image is for teenagers to have an idol to look up to so using her on
this magazine will aid meeting our appropriate target audience.
The music this magazine covers includes mainstream pop and in some instances, folk and country which is what
our song genre is. Since it covers a wide range of genres, it will make a large target audience interested in buying
the magazine, therefore Heidi’s publicity is instantly increased if she makes an appearance on a mainstream pop
magazine.

8. ILLBOARD MAGAZINE COVER ANALYSIS
Billboard title and logo
appears at the top, the
artist image is in front of
the logo
Cover lines on the side that
advertise other articles but
not much detail is given to
persuade users to read on.
Layout is linear, left
aligned to look professional
Artist title which is the
main subject of the article.
Written in different, larger
font to highlight importance
There is a long shot of the
artist on the front cover,
she is looking directly at
the camera to grab
audience attention.
A circle has been used
across the artist with text
inside, this is used to
enhance more information
that is inside the magazine
The issue number has been
written in small text
underneath the title which
tells readers how old the
items are inside the
magazine