The document analyzes several aspects of professional magazine covers, including positioning statements, mastheads, splashes, coverlines, barcodes/dates/prices, images, and skylines. For each element, it provides examples from magazines like Kerrang, Mojo, and Q, noting design conventions like using solid colors, distinctive fonts, consistent sizing and placement, and limited color schemes to make elements readable and recognizable.

1. Analysis of professional
magazine covers

2. Kerrang Positioning statement.
The positioning statement in magazines is usually placed
right at the top with a solid colour to have in the
background. They contain information on one specific
article in the magazine.
The front cover has a bright pink positioning statement
on the top to try and get the readers to start from the
top when reading it. This follows the rock genre as they
usually use solid colour when using a positioning
statement to make the text in front of it easy to read.
A small picture containing the artist is also placed on
here to give the readers a very brief overview of some of
the main articles that will be in the magazine.

3. Kerrang Masthead The masthead in magazines is usually placed around the top of
the magazine just under the positioning statement.
This magazine is using its own unique font. This is a code and
convention of other rock magazines as they try to use their
own made font to make it unique to the readers and to make it
recognisable for future purposes and to see them as a brand.
The font is made to look like something has been smashed to
fit with the aggressive nature of rock music this will make it
more appealing to people when they decide if they want to buy
it.
The colour for the font is very light (white) to make it stand out
on the page more than anything else since darker colours like
purple and yellow are used on the page as well.
The size of the font is made to be the biggest on the page aside
from the main headline. This is used to make it stand out on
the page and to show its importance.

4. Kerrang Splash A splash is used in most magazines and this contains a
small shape on the magazine that is usually on the far
left or the far right of a magazine to get it out of the
way so that it is not covering the main image.
The splash indicates that an article is slightly more
important than some of the others and by placing a
shape behind it makes it organised and it causes the
front cover to be less cluttered.
On this Kerrang magazine, the splash on the left is
used to advertise posters that they have. The splash
uses a bright yellow font in order to make the text
inside of it stand out and seem more visually
appealing.

5. Kerrang Main Coverline The main coverline is placed below the faces of the
people on the main image. The coverline is made to
anchor the main image also to give the readers
acknowledgement of who the magazine is talking
about for its main story.
The text is big on the page to signify its importance to
the magazine. Other rock magazines also do this to
other popular bands at the time as a way to show
their significance compared to others.
The text is a purple colour to keep with the theme of
Pink and hints of yellow on the page. This is done to
make it easy to read and not to make it too
overwhelming for people to read. Other rock
magazines also keep the colours very general and only
use a lack of them to not make it seem too cluttered.

6. Kerrang Coverlines Cover lines on other rock magazines usually contain a
list of band names with no specific detail that will
cause people to draw conclusions from. If customers
see a band they like with no context over the story, it
means that they will be more likely to purchase it to
find out.
The colour that is used is general as only white and
yellow is seen. This is to get it to blend in to the rest of
the magazine and not to make it stand out too much
as it is not the most important part that Kerrang are
trying to advertise.
The font is kept small in order to keep the subjects
faces from the main image in the shot and to ensure
that it is not covered by text.

7. Kerrang Barcode date and Price
The Barcode, date and price in rock magazines is usually
placed on the bottom right of a magazine to keep it out of
the way of the articles and information on the magazines
as it is not important or relevant to any of the storys
presented as it is only used to scan and discover the date
and the price of the magazine from.
The date is placed directly above the barcode with a very
small font for people to look up the relevancy of the
magazine and see if it is updated and new
The name of the magazine ‘Kerrang’ is also placed above
the barcode as a reminder to readers the name of the
magazine so they will buy future magazines if they see the
name.

8. Kerrang Main image + Colour scheme
The main image is placed directly in the centre of the
front cover, this serves a purpose to inform what the main
article will be on as the Main headline below the image
anchors it and matches the meaning.
Many rock magazines ensure that all of the subjects in the
image are giving the readers direct eye contact. This is
done as it makes you feel like you have a personal
relationship with them and it may give you more of a
reason to purchase it.
The background they are stud against is kept very simple
and plain to make the text on the cover easier to read.
Other rock magazines do this to not make the magazine
too cluttered and difficult to read and see everything on
the page.
The colours on the page are all kept to a similar standard
to make it all consistent when you look at it. It also makes
text easier to read if the colour scheme is kept the same
or if it uses colours that are similar throughout the cover.

9. Kerrang Skyline
The Skyline in rock magazines is usually placed directly at
the bottom of the page to the left of the barcode. It’s
purpose is to inform readers on other articles that will be
in the magazine.
The Skyline in the Kerrang magazine contains a tilted
rectangle as a background. Other rock magazines use
shapes in the background for the skyline in order to make
the text readable as it may be difficult to see if the main
image is the background for the text.
The skyline also contains the names of other bands who
will be discussed in the magazine. The font for this is kept
consistent throughout this is to show the readers that
they all have equal importance and that they should be
read.

10. Mojo positioning statement
The positioning statement in magazines is placed
right at the top with a solid colour to have in the
background. They contain information on one
specific article in the magazine.
The positioning statement in the mojo magazine
contains a solid silver colour for the background and
black and white text for the information. This is used
to make it all match each other (look similar) and to
make the text readable. Other rock magazines also
keep the colours similar for the positioning
statement in order to make it readable.
The fonts used stay the same to show that it all links
to the one article. The font size decreases in certain
areas to give the article some context for the
positioning statement.

11. Mojo Masthead
The masthead in magazines is usually placed around
the top of the magazine just under the positioning
statement.
The font for the second magazine I am researching
(Mojo) also uses a unique font. This is to get readers
to remember the distinctive look of it and to
remember their name for future purchases.
The font size is also the largest on the page to show
the importance of it and to get readers to remember
the name of the magazine. Other rock magazines do
this as a way of competition and to gain more sales
in the future.

12. Mojo Splash
A splash is used in most magazines and this contains
a small shape on the magazine that is usually on the
far left or the far right of a magazine to get it out of
the way so that it is not covering the main image.
The splash in the Mojo magazine has a circle shape
that is out of the way of any of the information of
the articles.
The colour of the splash is yellow so people will
draw their attention to it as there are not many solid
shapes on the page

13. Mojo Main Coverline
The main Coverline is placed below or at the side
the faces of the people on the main image. The
headline is made to anchor the main image also to
give the readers acknowledgement of who the
magazine is talking about for its main story.
This main coverline is using a smaller font than some
of the other magazines to make it unique and stand
out however bold is used here to show people that
it anchors the main image and it is the same person
who is mentioned on the left.

14. Mojo Coverlines
Cover lines on other rock magazines usually contain
a list of band names with no specific detail that will
cause people to draw conclusions from. If customers
see a band they like with no context over the story, it
means that they will be more likely to purchase it to
find out.
The cover lines on the mojo magazine contain a
wider verity of fonts (3-4) to ensure that it is more
visually appealing, by doing this it also makes the
readers more interested in the content of the article
itself just by using different fonts. Other rock
magazines also do this to make their magazines
seem unique and interesting to read.

15. Mojo Barcode, date + price
The Barcode, date and price in rock magazines is
usually placed on the bottom right of a magazine to
keep it out of the way of the articles and information
on the magazines as it is not important or relevant
to any of the story's presented as it is only used to
scan and discover the date and the price of the
magazine from.
On the Mojo magazine, the date is shown in a bold
font to get across to the readers the relevancy of the
magazine and to get them to quickly determine if
they are reading the latest issue or not.

16. Mojo Main image and colour scheme
The main image is placed directly in the centre of the front cover, this serves a
purpose to inform what the main article will be on as the Main headline below
the image anchors it and matches the meaning.
On the Mojo magazine, a medium close up is shown of the subject as it makes
him seem as an equal power to the reader. Rock magazines try and keep it at this
distance and try not to make it a low angle looking up picture as this will make
the readers believe that they are more powerful and it may put them off from
purchasing it as they may feel that they don’t have a good relationship.
The background of the image is purely white in order to make the black text
stand out on the cover lines. Other rock magazines keep the background colour
simple and plain in order to make the text stand out and to get the audience to
read it.
The colour scheme on this magazine is kept simple and only a very few amount of
colours are used (White, black, yellow) this is used to not make it seem cluttered
and full. Other rock magazines also keep it simple as it causes the readers to
believe that it will be simple and easy to read.

17. Q positioning statement
The positioning statement in magazines is
placed right at the top with a solid colour to
have in the background. They contain
information on one specific article in the
magazine.
The positioning statement for Q magazine is
using a font that spreads the letters apart on
the page, this is to make the text seem bigger
and this will cause the readers to believe and
see that the article is more important since it is
taking up more space on the page.
Only one font is being used and a solid colour
is present to make it easy to read and to show
that it all links in to one specific article.

18. Q Masthead
The masthead in magazines is usually placed
around the top of the magazine just under the
positioning statement.
The Q masthead contains a red background
with a white letter inside. This has been used
to make the letter stand out as much as it
possibly can. The Q letter is using their own
font so people can remember and recognise it
for future purchases.
It is the biggest text on the page to try and get
people to look at it for longer to remember the
name.

19. Q Splash
A splash is used in most rock magazines and
this contains a small shape on the magazine
that is usually on the far left or the far right of
a magazine to get it out of the way so that it is
not covering the main image.
The splash on the Q magazine contains a solid
red circle with white text inside. This is done to
match the masthead and to keep the colours
consistent throughout. It also makes the text
easier to read using these colours rather than
Grey and black for example.

20. Q Main Coverline
The main Coverline is placed below the faces
of the people on the main image. The headline
is made to anchor the main image also to give
the readers acknowledgement of who the
magazine is talking about for its main story.
The main coverline is using a custom made
font that is not shown anywhere else on the
cover, this is to show the audience that it is the
main article and that the main image anchors
this text.

21. Q Coverlines
Cover lines on other rock magazines usually
contain a list of band names with no specific
detail that will cause people to draw
conclusions from.
The cover lines for the Q magazine use a white
bold text when presenting the name and a
very brief introduction is placed underneath
without the use of bold like the text above.
This is done

22. Q Barcode, date + price
The Barcode, date and price in rock magazines
is usually placed on the bottom right of a
magazine to keep it out of the way of the
articles and information on the magazines as it
is not important or relevant to any of the
story's presented as it is only used to scan and
discover the date and the price of the
magazine from.
In the Q magazine the price has a bold text on
the left in order to show the readers how
much it will cost. It is placed in bold as they are
aware that people may not purchase the
magazine if they cannot see a price clearly on
the cover.

23. Q Main image and colour scheme
The main image is placed directly in the centre of the front cover, this serves a
purpose to inform what the main article will be on as the Main headline below
the image anchors it and matches the meaning.
The main image for the q magazine is a Mid shot of the subject. The subject this
time is not giving direct address to the camera as it is placed at the same level
and angle as him. If it was placed lower looking up it may have put people off
from purchasing it as they may see or portray him as having more power.
The background of the main image is also kept very simple with a grey colour to
make the white text for the cover lines stand out.
The colour scheme of the Q magazine is kept simple with only around 3-4
different colours being used aside from the main image. This has been done as
it will be easier to read and it will seem less cluttered on the page.

24. Q Skyline
The Skyline in rock magazines is usually placed
directly at the bottom of the page to the left of
the barcode. It’s purpose is to inform readers
on other articles that will be in the magazine.
The Skyline in the Q magazine I am researching
has a small font so it is out of the way of the
guitar present in the main image. Red and
white text is used so we are drawn to it. The
red and white colours are also used to keep
with the colour scheme of the whole page and
to not make the skyline in this Q magazine
seem out of place.
Other rock magazines use skylines to promote
other articles in their magazine, it is a way of
showing the readers more of what will appear
in the magazine without making it look too
cluttered.