2. The magazine talks to the reader as if they are part of exclusive fan base or Kerrang
readers.
3. Although it is comical and has a friendly tone, it is informative and has status above the
reader through its musical knowledge.
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4. I have chosen to analysis articles from NME and Kerrang as they both have a similar
target audience to my magazine HEADBANG and I feel they will be most helpful to look it
for inspiration for my own.
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5. Audience of true music fans, not a one off for impartial purchase. It is taken for granted
that the reader has knowledge about rock music and bands but still explained so as not
to exclude. Readers have genuine interest in what the lead singer of such a well known
band is doing next.
Band formed in 1996 so appeals to older and younger readers.
Rise of new types of rock fan, birth of self harm stereotypes . Issue that effects lots of
new “emo” rock fans so audience understand or know people in that situation.
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6. The article is written in a way that assumes that the audience have a good knowledge of
other music and television which is referenced as well as being from “The Mighty
Boosh’s” cult following. This means they are likely to be younger readers as that is the
target audience of the shows referenced.
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7. Young adults are not easily offended and so not worried by lack of censorship.
Story like manner, description of scene, not from artists view, an observation adds to
drama of story.
Some colloquial language as they want an image as “cool” and friendly but don’t want to
exclude, widely known slang.
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8. Other, older shows are referenced so audience are assumed to have a broad knowledge.
Small amount of well known colloquial language adds to “friend” image. Written the
same way spoken, informal.
The article often makes jokes which give audience a common purpose and also assumes
they share the same view point.
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9. Red is a powerful colour many connotations, for example of blood, danger and pain –
related to rock stereotype.
Dark coloured image shows seriousness of article. Dramatic, old, grainy, stylised.
Contrasting colours of red, white and black stand out from each other.
10. Uses the colours most associated with the rock scene – black, white and red that are
also part of the brand identity.
Contrastingly, the colours in the images liven up the article as they are bright and relate
to young audience
Contrasting colours of red, white and black stand out from each other.
11. Text bold, not elaborate or fancy, making bold statement, not formal magazine.
12. The style of the fonts is very similar to a newspaper, relating to the fanzine NME once
tried to become.
Nearly all of the other magazines in NME use this font creating a strong brand identity.
13. The slug helps the editor to know which section of the magazine the article belongs to
The provocative quote attracts reader as they have interest and sympathy
Button looks like a stickers which relates to the rock image of the article
Drop cap is a very common magazine article convention
Gutter gives the text space and differentiates image and text
Caption “giving excess the boot” adds humor to serious article, as essentially article are
read for fun
Pull quote helps the audience to idolise the life of a rock star as it shows the thing
“party” that they want to do
Anchor is the end of the natural end of eye flow and gives additional information
14. The slug helps the editor to know which section of the magazine the article belongs to.
The article title is prominent on the page and looks as if its been cut out of a newspaper
The leading text introduces the article and gives the writers credit
Drop cap is a very common magazine article convention
Gutter gives the text space and differentiates image and text. It leaves a gap so nothing
is lost in the fold of the page
The captions on this article are more informative than comical to help readers who may
not know the shows referenced
The pull quote here summerises the article
The anchor is the end of our natural eye flow and shows the reader where they can get
more information
This article also has a side bar where there is a related yet different article
15. Assists eye-flow as it goes from the slug, to the title, leading text and body text, ending
at the anchor. This is the order the page is meant to be read in.
16. Slightly disrupts eye flow as article title is bottom left but still starts at slug and ends at
anchor.
17. The reader values the bands image. They are interested in the text but also want to see
the artists as he is conventionally good looking. He is the dominant part of the page
which shows how, as a rock star he is idolised by fans, supported by the pull quote.
Quote is big to attract readers as it is emotive and makes us want to know what the
article is about.
Body text at either side of image makes it seem less and condensed. People generally do
not want to read big bulks of text.
18. Images take up a whole page as they readers value images and they are of things that
they are interested in and will attract them to the article. They also summerise the
article’s main elements.
The title is large and at the bottom of the page which breaks conventions but still
attracts readers to it.
There is a large amount of text as the article is designed for people who are interested in
the themes it discusses. However, I you don’t want to read as much, the side bar
contains information on a similar theme but there is less. It is written in more of a note
style
19. The article is written quite formally so it has universal understanding. It gives
information, yet is not patronising so no one is excluded. It is very detailed as dedicated
music fans want to know lots about the artist they are reading about. The article is
enjoyable, entertaining article to fans and new readers alike, they are united by interest
in music.
20. The article has a chatty tone as it wants to appear friendly, entertaining and involving to
all readers. It assumes that the audience have previous knowledge of the television
shows it discusses, in the same way as a friend would discuss television shows which are
of mutual interest. To add to the friendly image, it is very comical, sometimes through
mockery but in a way which means that only those who know what they are talking
about will get the joke which is again showing the assumed previous knowledge.
21. The shadows represent the demons of his drug and alcohol addiction. He is sitting in
position of power looking relaxed as he has overcome them. His boots represent
strength, grounding and confidence in who he is, which relates to the caption. Although
he is sat in the stereotypical “emo in corned” style position he is empowered. The mise-
en-scene is dark and grungy relating to genre of the magazine and the background looks
old but homely.
22. They’re 5 images representing different elements of the article and the different
contrasting colours in the images are contrasted to the red, white and black colour
scheme. The images are all displaying subjects that appeal to rock fans, such as playing
musical instruments, partying and attending gigs. This means that the readers are more
likely to read the article as they are attracted by and can relate to the pictures. The
images are well lit to represent the bright, fun article. Continuing with the theme of
humor, the images are also very comical.
23. They both use bold, sans serif fonts as they are more fitting for the rock genre and they
both are portraying strong messages that they want to stand out. Both models are using
poses that are iconic in “emo” style and they both relate to eachother as the cover
models suicide pose can be linked to the themes in the article.
The colour schemes are contrasting as they both have different purposes. The cover is
meant to be brightly coloured to attract readers to the magazine and stand out on the
shelf. However, the double page spread can be darker as it is a serious article trying to
tell a sad story to the reader. The cover uses a more allobarte font as it is trying to create
a brand identity to attract readers to the product.
24. They both use a bold, sans serif font for the titles and a serif font for the body text, in
keeping with a brand identity. They both also use a montage of different images giving a
over view of everything featured in the articles. The also both have the same red, white
and black colour scheme.
The double page spread uses colour images whilst the cover uses black and white as the
DPS is trying to appear fun and exciting whilst, because the cover is a special addition,
they want the magazine to seem exclusive and classy through the black and white
pictures. For the same reason, the cover of the magazine is smartly laid out and formal
looking whilst the DPS looks pasted together.