2. With a solid, bulky font, the masthead connotes that the
magazine itself is strongly established and is unlikely to
collapse/close down easily- it can be viewed as a sign of
strength.
Similarly, the identical placement and size of the gaps in the
letters connote a sense of uniformity; the identically sized
gaps between some of the letters enforce this idea too.
Dark grey is easily one of the most versatile colours out
there; and so is white-the company’s other main colour
choice. The potential reasoning behind these choices is that
not only do both colours allow the Billboard name to look
increasingly similar and add a sense of uniformity, but they
add a sense of professionalism due to the clean-cut, fresh
looking colours. The added professionalism indicates to the
readers that the magazine will be of a higher quality and will
have more to offer since it looks like a high-profile magazine.
Just as billboards are used to advertise things
and attract attention, we automatically come to
the assumption that Billboard magazine is for
high profile artists (or up-and-coming artists.)
As a billboard is something that commands
attention, the name is likely to do the same.
As well as this, ‘Billboard’ implies that it is part
of a hierarchy- as billboards generally tend to be
quite high up, we arrive at the assumption that it
is quite high up in the hierarchy of the (music)
magazine industry. As a result of this, it
connotes to all potential readers that the
magazine itself is well respected and established.
3. The name ‘DIY’ is also a popular acronym which
stands for ‘Do It Yourself.’ It is unknown whether
the magazine’s title actually stands for this, but the
wider audience will generally associate the acronym
with the name. As a result of this, readers will believe
that they can get as far as the artists on the cover, they
can make it to the big-time, they can do it
themselves.
Consequently, readers will buy the magazine as they
may feel inspired to further their knowledge on the
music industry by reading DIY magazine (the feature
articles are generally advertised on the cover and tend
to include some indication of the progress in the
feature artist’s career.)
The capitalisation of the title indicates added
enthusiasm, it almost feels like it is being shouted out
to the reader. This added enthusiasm will directly
address the reader and may feel like they are being
encouraged to buy the magazine.
As well as this, the white connotes a sense of purity
and cleanliness. The reader may feel like what they see
is what they get- it is implied that little trickery is
involved in the magazine as white is generally seen as
an innocent colour.
In addition to this, the dark grey colour has more
depth to it than the traditional black. The cool tones
add a sense of professionalism which may lead the
reader to take the publication’s view more seriously.
4. Onomatopoeia is used here- ‘Kerrang’ is the sound
made from the strum of guitar. From the name alone,
the reader can automatically assume that it is a music
magazine. Also, as the sound is made on a guitar,
readers can almost assume that the magazine focuses
more on rock as this is a genre where the musicians
strum hard on their instruments. The exclamation
mark adds enthusiasm and as a result, the reader may
feel more excited to read the magazine.
Finally, the use of onomatopoeia links the magazine
with everyday life. For example, whenever someone
hears a ‘Kerrang’ as they strum a guitar, they may
think of the magazine.
The capitalisation of the phonetic word indicates
passion and, in a way, anger. This connotes an aspect
of the rock genre as the musicians are often
portraying a lot of passion through their music.
As well as this, the red enforces this idea as red is
often seen as connoting both love and anger- this
makes it relevant to the magazine’s genre of rock as
rock is a notoriously ‘angry’ genre of music.
The ‘messy’ font (i.e. the lack of clean lines) tie in
with the idea that rock is about rebellion and
freedom. The font links with the genre as it rejects
the idea of conformity by refusing to ‘conform’ to
clean lines in the font.
