This document compares the contents pages and double-page spreads of different music magazines including Kerrang, NME, Q, and Vibe. Some key points made are: - Kerrang uses darker colors and imagery to appeal to rock fans while NME and Q use more minimalist designs aimed at older audiences. - Magazines draw attention to featured artists through large images on contents pages and centered placement on double-page spreads. - Color schemes emphasize important elements, with red often used to make titles and names stand out. - Quotes, centered images, and depth of writing engage readers differently based on target age groups.

1. COMPARING MUSIC MAGAZINE
CONTENTS PAGES AND DOUBLE-
PAGE SPREADS.

2. Kerrang:
Immediately from the font of the contents
page title, we are instantly able to see that
the genre of the magazine is rock due to
its dark elements included such as skulls
and it simply being coloured in black and
white. This therefore makes it look quite
edgy and look as if it belongs to the rock
genre.
We are instantly made aware of who is
featured on this issue of kerrang from
such a large main image being featured
that takes up the majority of the contents
page.
On this particular contents page
of kerrang, there is a message
from fall out boy featured. This
makes the reader feel much more
included in the magazine seeing
as the message is addressed to
them and therefore they will feel
as though they are exclusively
interacting with fall out boy just
from buying the magazine.
The colour scheme of the contents page
is quite minimalist mainly featuring black
and white, although, in difference to
other music magazines such as Mojo,
kerrang features a pop of yellow on their
contents page. This is done in order for
each section of the magazine to stand
out on its own instead of them looking
boring and plain.

3. By using language such as
‘never mind the bollocks’
kerrang is setting the tone
to the double page spread.
In this case, the tone is a
highly informal one due to
the use of the minor swear
word. Kerrang’s target
audience of teenagers to
young adults may see this
line and will find it
humorous and therefore
they will be drawn into the
article right away.
By placing the name
of the band in the
direct centre of the
double page spread,
the attention of the
reader is immediately
drawn towards it and
therefore will know
the main subject of
the article straight
away.
There is a highly visible
colour scheme in this
double page spread of red,
black and yellow. The first
headline titled ‘never mind
the bollocks’, the words fall
and boy and also the
background of the main
article are all in red. This is
because red is a highly
dominant colour that the
human eye will notice first
and therefore easily
captivate the reader. This
also connotes to the idea
of how a bull will see red
and instantly be drawn to
it.

4. NME By saying ‘NME THIS WEEK’ the audience is instantly made aware that they a new issue comes out every week due to the fact
that it mentions the magazine issue of ‘this week’ and not this month which would otherwise indicate a monthly subscription
service.
Unlike kerrang, the colour scheme of NME’s
contents page could be described to be a lot
more mature due to its minimalistic colour
scheme and fonts in relation to each other. For
example, in the ’news’ title, the font is quite bland
and coloured in white which can be thought of as
much more mature due to its lack of colour.
The contents page overall has a much older
look and feel to it when being compared to
kerrang.
One key example of this is through the overall
layout of the contents page due to the fact
that the features of the contents page are all
featured in a uniform way such as the band
index whereas a magazine aimed at a younger
audience may have a much more ‘messy’
approach towards it.
Instantly, the magazine advertises its other services,
which is a clear indicator that NME is part of a full media
brand as a collective. By advertising their subscription
service, NME are already trying to make themselves a
profit by drawing their readers in with words such as
‘today’ and ‘save’

5. In this double page spread
featuring Lily Allen, the ‘z’ effect is
used. This is defined by the idea
of how people read from left to
right diagonally across a page.
The reader will first look at the
article title (which in this case is a
quote) and will then look across
the page and will see Lily Allen
and therefore it is indicated to
the reader that she said this.
The quote used as the article
title is directly addressed to the
reader, much like how Lily Allen
is looking directly at the reader.
This creates a much more
personal feel to the double page
spread, as you feel like you are
with Lily Allen and having a
conversation with her.
The colour scheme of this double page spread is quite minimalistic, only featuring black white, and the
smallest amount of red to emphasise on important words such as Lily’s name which is the main subject of
the two pages. The colour scheme could also represent the main genre of the magazine which is
alternative as black and white together can be thought of as quite ’edgy’

6. Q Q’s contents page is quite similar to NME’s with its uniform layout and minimalistic colour
scheme. These both suggest that the magazine could target an older audience, possibly in the
age range of 25-45 year olds.
By featuring Adele on the contents page, the
reader is made aware of the main focus of
this particular issue of NME.
By making Adele look into the camera, NME
are breaking down the barriers between
Adele and the reader by making them feel
like Adele is directly looking at them.
Like NME, Q magazine also
establish when a new issue comes
out, but in a much more discrete
way by featuring it at the bottom
of the page but still allowing it to
be noticed due to the red banner.
Despite its position, the colour red
still holds dominance.
By featuring a review on the contents page, Q magazine are
already telling the reader what the main purpose of the
magazine is and therefore giving them a clear insight into
whether they should read the magazine or not.

7. Just by looking at this double page spread, we are able to tell that Q
magazine are targeting a much older audience. One clear indicator of this is
the bland colour scheme which is in greyscale and only featuring the colour
red to emphasise the ‘L’ in Lady Gaga’s name.
Q magazine have used the letter
‘L’ to be the main feature of the
article in order to relate it to the
magazine name and therefore it
is suggested that Q magazine
follows a clear theme of featuring
letters throughout.
Q magazine have taken up
half of the double page
spread with a picture of Lady
Gaga, they have done this to
signify that she is the main
focus of the article.
They have also
photographed her in a
greyscale feature in order to
fit the minimalistic theme of
the magazine and to make
the double page spread
appear more mature to
convey who its main target
audience is.
In difference to kerrang magazine
which is aimed at a much younger
audience to Q magazine, there is a
lot more writing featured in its
double page spread which younger
audiences may find boring, however,
more mature audiences will find it
interesting to read a article that goes
into depth about one particular
person.

8. VIBE This issue of vibe seems to come across as a much
more sophisticated due to its bland colour scheme and
well-ordered layout.
In contrast to kerrang, vibe’s contents page is a lot
more monotone only featuring the colour red
whereas kerrang also features some black and white
but has a colourful main image and yellow on each
section of the contents page.
However, Vibe magazine has gone a less captivating
approach and has only changed the type of font.
Similar to kerrang, the main image
takes up the majority of the
contents page but does not
completely grab the attention of
the reader due to its major lack of
colour.
Although, it is clear to see that Q
magazine have done this to
implicate an emphasis on the red
heart. Again, like most magazines,
red is featured in order to make
the object its coloured in takes
dominance.
In this case, the heart takes
dominance. Red is usually
connoted to be a romantic colour
which could suggest that this is a
featured article within this issue of
Q magazine.

9. Similarly to NME, VIBE also features a quote as their title. This is highly
effective as the readers will read the quote and then wonder what the
subject is that they are talking about and therefore, they will then
continue to read the read the article.
Much like Q magazine, VIBE
features a lot of writing in their
double page spread. This is a clear
indicator that VIBE is targeted at a
much older audience who would
not get bored when reading the
article and would instead be
captivated when going into depth
about the artist in question.
Like most double page spreads
, VIBE features pictures in order
to show who the the double
page spread is about and also
to break up to article to keep
the reader interested without
getting bored.