The document discusses the design elements of magazine covers, including the masthead, main image, cover lines, house style, price, and target audience. It analyzes magazines in the genres of music (KERRANG, Q), hip hop (XXL), and culture/music (VIBE). Common traits across magazines are the prominent central image making eye contact, mastheads covered by images, prices hidden near barcodes, and targeting audiences aged 16-30 interested in modern music genres. Color schemes and other design choices are discussed in relation to drawing attention to key elements and representing the magazine's brand.

2. Masthead: KERRANG’s masthead is covered up by the main image,
however its just visible to notice the brand of the magazine. In most of
KERRANG’s magazines they have something covering it up whether it be
the main image or the cover lines. This is because they are a well known
brand of magazine and music oriented company. The KERRANG logo is the
masthead as it is iconic with all of the cuts going through the masthead. I
believe they used this text to remind people of KERRANG with the font they
use.
Main Image: The main image stands out very well on this issue of KERRANG
as it has the gaze into the readers eyes. The image also takes up most of the
magazine instantly drawing readers eyes towards it. The man (Biffy Clyro)
seems to be screaming to the readers of the magazine which isn't something
you always see on a magazine, so again, it will draw you into seeing what the
magazine is fully about.
Cover Lines: On this magazine there are a load of different cover lines. One
of which give the word ‘win’ in large capital letters standing out on the
middle of the right hand side. When people see the word ‘win’ it seems to
draw them in to see what item they could get. Another cover line is the ‘ten
amazing stories we never dared to print’. Using this sentence makes people
want to know more about the mysteries of the stories, leading them to
purchasing the magazine.
House style: in this issue of KERRANG there is a lot of blue as the background colour. However, throughout all of the KERRANG
magazines there is it seems to be that red and yellow are the main two colours, I feel as if this is because they are two VERY noticeable
colours when put to the human eye. Also, I believe that it could make people think of a brand associated with the colours, for red and
yellow this could be McDonalds.
Price: Giving this magazine a brief look over you cant really see the price standing out. The price is actually hidden next to the
barcode, It is really small. In my opinion this is the only downside to this magazine.
Target audience: I feel as if the target audience of the KERRANG magazines are people aged 16 -30 as the brand of magazines
have a lot of modern rock music. I also believe it is aimed at both males and females, it more or less just depends on whether they
like rock music.

3. Masthead: The XXL magazines masthead is simple and compact, however
it stands out to show the brand of the magazine to the customers. The
mastheads text is white on a red background. This is great for this specific
issue as there aren’t too many bright colours allowing the masthead just to
stand out. Also, the fact that the box is red means the attraction of the
audience is stronger as red is a lot more noticeable compared to other
colours. The masthead also has a little slogan above it. ‘Hip-hop on a higher
level’ is what it says. This could mean they are the best out there for all
things hip-hop. There is also repetition of the letter ‘H’ for this slogan which
is something just to point out.
Main Image: The main image takes up most of the magazine. It has 50 cent
as the main image indicating this edition is about him. Something that will
be reoccurring is the gaze towards the audience. In this XXL magazine it
seems to be a less ‘crazy’ facial expression. Instead of screaming, it’s a
more serious face with a hint of intimidation in there. The camera shot is a
close up as its focusing on the head and the facial features and expressions.
As 50 cent has a dark skin colour because he is an African American he
himself stands out from the backdrop which seems to be a bright white
halo surrounding his head. This ‘halo’ effect could suggest that he is the
higher power in the hip-hop/rap sector of music.
Cover Lines: For this edition of the XXL magazine, there aren’t a lot of
cover lines. That is the reason I chose it, for the diversity of the different
magazines. In the top right hand corner of the magazine it says lots of
different artist names. I believe this indicates that there will be sections of
the magazine dedicated to them and their music. For this magazine there is
no cover lines showing any type of thing you can win or any other stories
that will be inside of the magazine to draw you in. This edition of the XXL
magazine is bare but bare in a good way.
House style: The house style of this magazine (excluding the masthead) is mainly darker colours such as black, white and brown. I
guess this benefits the masthead as it is bright red and white. I feel as if the darker colours allow the magazine to look more sleek.
Price: The pricing of this magazine is located on the barcode, just like the previous magazine. I feel as if this is a repetitive thing
throughout the music magazines. They are not like the average gossip magazines that show the price in a cover line.
Target audience: The target audience for this magazine would be male 16-30 year olds as again, linking with the last magazine, the
music is quite modern.

4. Masthead: The VIBE masthead has the same effect as the KERRANG
masthead, the fact that it is covered up by the main image. VIBE across the
top easily allows the reader to instantly know what brand of newspaper
they are looking into. The kind of text that is used is sharp and curvy at the
same time which in this instance gives off a really clean and positive effect.
VIBE magazine doesn’t have a tagline at all to go with the masthead.
Main Image: The main image of this magazine is again, directly in the
middle, centre of attention and taking up a lot of the page. However for
this magazine it is a female who is the main image. The shot of the image is
a medium shot, this is mainly to show the fact that she is naked but
covering up her breasts. The fact that she is doing this gives off a
provocative vibe, it gives off a sexualised look. Also, following a regular
theme of the magazines is the fact that she is giving the gaze directly into
the consumers eyes. The gaze and the facial expressions link back to the
provocative look she is giving off. A sexualised stare. The reason she stands
out is obviously the nakedness, but the house style of the magazine allows
her to flare out. The house style is pink and white. As she has brown hair
and bright skin it allows her to stand out. The reason she (Kelly Rowland) is
on the front cover is because she is the main attraction of that specific issue
as is with every other magazine having a singer as the main image.
Cover Lines: For the VIBE magazine it seems that there are a lot of cover
lines. Not really any pictures to come with them but there is a lot of writing
that really stands out. There is the cover line that links to the main image
which is Kelly Rowland. It says ‘Finally bares all’ linking to the fact she is
naked. On the right hand side it shows a bunch of different names
indicating that they will be included within the magazine. This is similar to
the XXL magazine in the slide before this.
House Style: The house style to this magazine is pink and white. I feel as if these colours give a soft feeling off. The fact that pink is
usually associated with girls is great for this edition of the VIBE magazines as Kelly Rowland is in the middle with pink all around her. Also
using pink really stands out on the cover lines in this magazine.
Price: The pricing of this magazine is also located on the barcode, just like the previous magazine. However the barcode this time is
located on the left hand side compared to XXL and KERRANG where it’s on the right.
Target audience: I believe the target audience are both genders around the ages of 25 – 35 as it has the main image as someone who is
in their early 30s and the fact that there is a fashion section as a cover line. Males don’t usually go for the fashion aspect of a magazine
as girls might do. However on this cover, there Kelly Rowland more or less naked, leading males to pick up this product to see if they
can get more.

5. Masthead: The masthead of the Q magazine is similar to the XXL
magazine. A large red box in the top right hand corner with a white text.
Being different to the XXL magazine, the Q’s masthead is covered up
partially by the main image which is a group photo of the Arctic Monkeys.
The masthead in this specific issue stands out really well as there is a lot of
dark colours, again, similar to the XXL magazine.
Main Image: The main image is this time, of a group of people, a band to
be specific. This band is the Arctic Monkeys. For this image, only one of
them are giving the gaze into the consumers eyes as the rest are just
looking off aimlessly. They are taking up most of the magazine as most
main images do and they have text and other images overlapping them.
The fact that the main colour is black allows their faces to stand out as they
are Caucasian. All four males have slick and shiny hair which is something
to point out, if you like their music you might idolize them and want to be
like them, leading you to buy this magazine.
Cover Lines: The cover lines in the Q magazine are at the top or the
bottom, there is no middle ground. At the top it shows that this issue is a
‘17-page special’ with another magazine bundled with it. Going down to the
bottom of the magazine it shows two stories titled ‘white lies’ and ‘Richard
Branson’; if these interest someone, they might get the urge to purchase
the magazine. A similarity to the XXL and VIBE magazines, the Q mag has
some artist names down the side of the page showing that they are also
included within this edition. Lastly there is the main story about the Arctic
Monkeys, this is an interview by the Q magazine. This gives the Q magazine
a voice to share opinions and facts with the audience.
House Style: Q’s house style throughout all of their magazines seem to be different, however they keep with the red and white themed
masthead all the way through. For this issue seems to be just a simple black and white. Black images and backgrounds but white text to
overlap that and stand out completely.
Price: The pricing of this magazine is also again located on the barcode section of the front page as it is with all of the magazines.
Target audience: The target audience for the Q magazine would be both genders as there are different pieces od the magazine that
link to each gender. I feel as if there isn't much of an age rating for the Q magazines but anyone under the age of 40 would seem
appropriately linked to this magazine.