This double page spread from Metal Hammer magazine features an article on the band "This is Hell". The large graphic title "Thrash and Burn" spans across both pages above a photo of the band diving into a pool surrounded by musical equipment. The graffiti-style title and tattoos on the band members portray a masculine, rebellious image. The article layout places most attention on the central photo while using a clear color scheme of contrasting green and black text on plain backgrounds.

1. Analysis of Existing Products
Lee Popplewell

2. Frank Carter (Gallows)
- Medium shot
- Tattoos that could represent
masculinity.
- Swearing at the camera, could
suggest that he’s violent/aggressive,
again a representation of
masculinity.
- Hand closer to the camera than rest
of the photo, this puts emphasis on
the swearing.
- Angry/aggressive expression on his
face.
- Black/white image, fits with the
colour scheme and makes character
look more intimidating beside the
other features.
Frank Iero (Ex-MCR)
- Medium close up
- Long hair, looking
up
- Black/white
image, suggests
darkness or deep
emotions.
Subheader in red
- Extreme close
up of a face
- Angry/shoutin
g expression
Image/Camerawork

3. Text Rocksound
magazine font
- Bold, behind
image of Frank
Carter
- Capital letters,
stands out
- White on a black
background,
again makes it
stand out
- Large font, looks
like a title
“New music first”
- Implies that the
magazine is focussed
on new bands
- Grunge font, looks
quite modern
- Capital letters make
it stand out
“Free CD”
- Underlined
and in bold,
stands out
- Incentive to
buy magazine
Putting the boll*cks back
in rock”
- Use of profanity,
seems aggressive
- Goes with the picture
of Frank Carter
- Violent/angry
List of featured bands
- Attracts readers
interest if a band they
like is on the list
- Variety of genres
“Giant posters”
- Emphasises the
size of the posters
that come free
with the magazine
- Again an incentive
to buy the
magazine
- Persuasive
technique

4. Layout/Colour
Yellow font
- Clashes with the
black
background,
makes it stand
out
- Adds colour to
the otherwise
very much
black/white
colour scheme
- Makes it look
modern
Black background
- Provides a simple
background
- Can work well with most
colours
- Helps contrast with the
white and yellow fonts
Red subheading
- Only bit of red on the
magazine cover ,
therefore stands out
- Red could connote
themes of violence and
aggression, which are
seen as masculine traits.
Images
- On a whole are
mostly on the right
- Main image is
centre right, focal
point
- Text is positioned
mainly at the sides
and top
- - Not too busy, not
too simplistic
Colour scheme
- Black
- White
- Yellow
- Red

5. Image/Camerawork
Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam)
- Long hair, traditional
“rocker” look
- Simple image, nothing
complex going on
- Medium shot
- Smiling, seems quite
pleasant
Motley Crue
- Two shot
- Tattoos, could
represent
masculinity
- Arms folded,
seems aggressive
- Long hair and
sunglasses,
“rocker” look
Man playing guitar
- Masculine stance
- Playing live not a
posed photo
- Long hair, shirtless,
could be a
representation of
masculinity
Explosion
- Dangerous
connotations
- Attracts
readers
attention

6. Text
Kerrang magazine font
- Behind image of Eddie
Vedder
- Jagged font, stands out
and looks modern
- Draws attention
Carcass
- Exclusive on the
band
- Exclamation mark,
emphasises the
text
- Quite bold and in
capitals, stands out
“Pearl Jam!”
- Exclamation point
draws readers
attention
- “Exclusive” on Pearl
Jam
- Bold and in large
font, stands out
“Cactus Crunchin’
Chaos”
- Alliteration, draws
reader interest
- “Chaos” is quite
masculine, suggests
destruction
- Bold and in capital
letters, stands out

7. Layout/Colour
Colour scheme
- Blue
- Orange
- White
- Yellow
Eddie Vedder
- Wearing quite earthy
colours
- Centre to magazine,
focal point
Orange/white font
- Goes with colour
scheme
- Contrasts with
blue background
Blue background
- Contrasts the other
colours
- Simple, doesn’t draw
away attention
Images
- All at the bottom,
less important than
the Pearl Jam article

8. Image/Camerawork
Lemmy Kilmister
(Motorhead)
- Image taken as a medium
longshot but covered by
text, could be classed as
a mid shot/medium close
up
- Halo above Lemmy’s
head is ironic with the
smoking and burning
feather.
- Very masculine image
- “Metal head”
appearance
- Sunglasses, denim cutoff,
long hair and bearded
Demon thing wearing a
denim jacket with band
patches on it
- Breathing fire and
destroying things,
masculine and violent
- Doing the metal horns
with right hand m/
- Suggests that the music is
satanic, again more
masculine than feminine
Motorhead logo
- Scary image,
again more
masculine than
feminine

9. Text
Metal Hammer magazine
- Looks like it’s been spray
painted on, graffiti,
possible antisocial
connotations
- Behind main image
- Bold and in capitals,
makes it stand out
Motorhead
- Looks lifted up from
the magazine
- Stands out
- Metal font
- “The confessions of
Lemmy Kilmister”
suggests Lemmy is
admitting to bad
things, shows his
masculinity.
Motorhead subheading
- The use of profanity again
goes with the aggressive
tone of the magazine
cover.
- The use of quotations
shows it is speech from
Lemmy
- “Bastard” is in a larger font
than the rest, therefore
puts emphasis on the
aggressive word.

10. Layout/Colour
Background
- Plain background
with a metallic
border.
- The metallic border
goes with the
subject of the
magazine, “metal”
Fire colour
- The flames add
colour to the front
cover as the rest of
it is relatively
plain.
Colour scheme
- Black
- Grey
- Red
- White
Red writing
- The red writing has
quite angry connotations

11. Kerrang Contents Page
At the top there is the title “contents” in large, capital letters in
yellow font. This makes it stand out against the black background.
Below that it has the date and number of the issue, again in capital
letters but in white instead of yellow and a smallish font.
Below that it has two extracts from the magazine with the page
numbers to draw the readers interests to those pages, possibly to
get them to turn to those pages straight away.
The background image for this part of the page is a picture of Slash
dressed in all black, this could be giving him dark connotations. Again
it has the page number referring to what page the article on Slash in
on.
On the other half it reads “Kerrang! This Week” using the Kerrang
logo in white on a black strip and the rest of the text in yellow, again
all in capitals.
On the far left hand side there is a picture of one of the editors and a
section of text below from him, about the magazine. Below that his
signature is printed, this giving a level of personalisation to the
magazine.
The contents are split up into sections, these being “Feedback”,
“News” with a selection of news from a variety of bands. The bands
mentioned are in capital letters and in black on a white background.
This makes them stand out, drawing the readers eyes to the band
names. “Win!” with an exclamation mark emphasising the
excitement of the things that the magazine might be giving away.
“Live Reviews”, “Posters”, “Features”, “Album Reviews”, “Gig Guide”
and “K! Quiz”, where they test a member from a band on a variety of
Kerrang questions. All of these headings are outlined by a black
block with the text in capital yellow font.
At the bottom right there is an advertisement for the magazine
subscription and how you can order it, it also has a discount on the
magazine subscription.
Alongside some of the article headings on the contents page it has a
star in a circle with “cover story” written inside it, drawing particular
attention to those articles.
The colour scheme here is yellow, white and black. This selection
seems quite modern especially with the yellow.

12. Metal Hammer Contents Page
At the top of this contents page we see on the left side the heading
“Hammer Contents” alongside the month and year of the issue. The
“Metal Hammer” logo is displayed at the top in red whereas the rest
of the heading is in a black medieval font. The medieval font used
throughout for the headings of the articles seems quite evil, this goes
well with the image the magazine.
The sections that the contents are split up into are “Features”,
“Regulars” and “Reviews”, this showing that putting the contents in
sections is a common theme within music magazines.
Again a trend in the previous contents page there is a note from the
editor along the right hand side. The pictures used are linked
towards articles on the page numbers mentioned as a caption for the
photo, this draws the readers interest to want to look at those pages.
The picture on the bottom right of the screen is an inappropriately
dressed woman, this is an example of the male gaze theory as it
displays the woman as someone who’s attractive to males.
Therefore women will want to look like the woman as it is seem
appealing to males. This goes hand in hand with the advertisement
for Metal Hammer merchandise.
The colour scheme in this example is red, white, and black, these
colours connote themes of death, lust, darkness and evil. These
themes go well with theme of the magazine, being a hard rock/heavy
metal magazine.

13. NME Contents Page
At the top left hand side of the contents here the
magazine brand logo “NME” is displayed in a large,
red font in capital letters on a while background. This
contrast between red and white makes the logo
stand out, furthermore as NME is a widely
established brand of magazine its logo is instantly
recognisable.
Alongside the logo in larger font and in black it reads
“This Week” with the date of when the article was
published. The use of that heading makes the
magazine seem current and up to date with the latest
news in the music industry.
Along the left hand side a list of bands are listed in
alphabetical order with the page number
corresponding to the page in which the article
including that band are within the magazine. This
type of technique is used in the other contents pages
I have looked at.
The style of the magazine seems to be along
newspaper style looking quite traditional, yet has
more modern features including the annotations and
heavy use of red colouring.
Again the contents are split up into sections in order
to make the article more laid out and organised.
The advertisement at the bottom of the page
promoting the subscription to the magazine offers a
33% saving, this helps encourage people to continue
to buy the magazine through subscription so they
never miss an issue.
The colour scheme used here is white, black, red and
yellow. The way the colours are used seems to mimic
the style of the magazine logo being quite simplistic
and clear.

14. Metal Hammer Double Page Spread
Image
The image that is
spread across the
page is a shows the
members of the
band ‘This is Hell’
diving into a pool,
surrounded by
musical equipment
(guitar, amp ect)
This presents quite
a fun
representation of
the band in
contrast to the
other images we
have looked at.
However the
tattoos still present
a possibly violent,
masculine theme.
The paint dripping
from the border of
the texts presents
an almost graffiti
feel, again
presenting a theme
of violence and
masculinity.
Text
Covering part of the image the article title “Thrash and Burn” is shown in large
graffiti like font, this creates a masculine identity as graffiti is seen as a violent act.
This goes well with the image as the band members appear to be portrayed in a
rebellious and masculine way. The wordplay of “Thrash and Burn” plays on the
phrase ‘Crash and Burn’, this entices the reader as it straight away draws the
attention with the large graphic font and then implies it may be around the theme
of thrash metal.
Layout/Colour
The picture is
placed in the top,
right of the page
but extends across
to the second page
with text
positioned around
it. This places most
of the attention on
the picture,
making this article
look interesting to
read. The colour
scheme is
primarily green
and black, both
colours contrasting
well with
eachother making
it clear to read.
The main body of
the article is on a
plain background
with black text.