This document analyzes the typography, layout, color, images, language, and conventions used on the cover and contents pages of a music magazine. The summary is as follows: 1) The typography uses sans serif fonts throughout to appear masculine and relate to the rock genre. Dark colors like black, red, and white are used consistently to signify aggression. 2) The layout employs techniques like the rule of thirds to draw attention to key elements. Images include shots of bands to relate to their style and the genre. 3) Color symbolism uses red to represent anger and blood, and black for darkness, linking to the rock genre's themes. The house style maintains consistency across pages.

1. Music Magazine Analysis
Typography
The typography on this magazine cover clearly
relates to the rock genre.
The font style of the masthead is a sans serif font.
This makes the magazine look less feminine and
more male targeted. It also looks very distorted,
like smashed glassed or broken pieces which
suggests aggression, loud music, violence, etc.
The text of the masthead is also in black, which
could signify darkness and you associate darkness
with the rock music genre because it’s aggressive
and loud.
The cover story of the magazine is also a sans
serif font. This helps relate to the genre of the
magazine because it shows masculinity which
relates to the band it’s referring to because all of
the members are male. It also helps to relate to a
younger teenage target audience because it
doesn’t look so fancy and mature. The colour of
the font is white and so it contrasts well with the
background, which is red and black.
The coverlines of the magazine are all in a sans serif style font. This helps to relate to the
genre because it shows masculinity, it stands out and it’s very clear to read. The coverlines
are also in a smaller font, so the main focus is on the masthead and the cover story, but it’s
still a good size so that it’s readable and still grabs some of your focus and it isn’t completely
over-powering. The font colours vary from black, white, red and yellow. This helps relate to
the genre because the black, white and red contrast very well against each other. Also black
is a dark colour which could represent darkness which you associate with the rock genre
because it’s aggressive and loud. The red could also signify blood. The pull quote is in a sans
serif style font. It’s black, which fits in with the colour scheme of the rest of the page, and
again it’s quite small so it allows the masthead and cover story to be bigger and bring in
more attention.

2. Layout
The masthead on this magazine cover is at the top of the
magazine covering the whole width of the magazine
cover. This brings the main focus of the magazine to that
exact point.
It uses the rule of thirds by placing the members of the
band in the centre of the magazine and it also places the
cover story underneath which meets with the exact points
of where the lines meet.
They also placed the band members on the vertical line so
it’s more of a balanced picture, and they also placed a lot
of the writing from the cover story on the vertical lines
too, so that the main focus is drawn towards the picture
and the writing.
The masthead on this magazine cover comes right
underneath the top line of route of the eye.
Just above the top line of the route of the eye is the puffs,
so the posters.
Through the diagonal line you have the picture of all of
the band members.
Just above the bottom line of the route of the eye is the
cover story.
So this means that the magazine is conventional, because
the masthead, main image and cover story all come into
the route of the eye.

3. Colour
The colour scheme of this magazine cover consist mainly of
red, black and white.
The red of the magazine signifies anger and danger, because
when we get angry we normally go red in the face and so it
could connote anger. The red of the magazine could also
signify blood, and blood is linked to violence and aggression,
which links into the genre.
The black of the magazine signifies darkness. Darkness
connotes fear and sadness, so it could relate to the genre of
music, because fear links in with danger and aggression.
The white of the magazine just contrasts well with the red
and black of the magazine.
Images
The images in this magazine use shot types like mid-shot. This
is a useful shot type because it allows you to see their faces
and what they’re wearing. So with You Me at Six, you can see
they’re all wearing black clothing, this links in with colour and
helps relate to the genre of music as dark and aggressive. It
also allows you to see their faces at a reasonable view point,
and still allows you to see the expression on their faces.
The rest of the shot types on the magazine are either close
ups or mid-shots. The close ups are on the smaller pictures
from the coverline, so it allows you to still be able to see a
clear expression of their face. So with New Found Glory, you
can see with the singers face how expressive he is and it
allows you to see how passionate he is about his music. The
other shot type, mid-shot, is used in one of the My Chemical
Romance posters at the top, just above the masthead. This
allows you to see what they’re wearing, and they’re wearing The Black Parade costumes,
which was one of their eras, so you can see that the photo is obviously from that era. This
also links in with mise-en-scene because it’s costume.
The sort of props and costume they use is with the lead singer in the main picture, Josh, you
can see he has horns stuck onto his head, so this relates to the music genre, because when
you think of rock, you think of aggression and violence, and Josh could be portrayed as the
devil because of his horns, and the devil is aggressive and uses violence.

4. Language
They use different sorts of language on this magazine cover.
For example, on the cover story it says “Death to pop punk!
You Me At Six come over to the dark side…” so it uses
dramatic language, like death and dark, which links in with
the genre as the genre of the magazine and music is
associated with dark themes.
There are also lots of band names and lots of festival
names, including “+Over 1000 gigs listed!” so this gives you
an insight at what’s inside of the magazine, which helps
appeal to the target audience because the target audience
obviously likes bands and attending festivals, so this
magazine helps them to see which festivals and bands are
the best and which ones will help appeal to who.
Conventions
This magazine is conventional because it uses route of the
eye and rule of thirds. It also includes pictures of bands,
posters, interviews, etc.
It has the masthead at the top going across the entire
width, it has the cover story relating to the picture of the
band on the front cover, and it has lots of coverlines placed
all over the page.
It uses dark colours to represent the genre, so aggressive,
violent and loud.
There is a lot of text on the left third of the page, so that is
conventional as well because there’s normally a lot of text
on the left third of a magazine cover.

5. Typography
The typography uses a very house style effect
because they use the same font styles and the
same colour scheme as they used on the front
cover, they used red, black, white and yellow on
the cover a lot, and then within the contents
they use the same colours.
The font style used throughout most of the
contents is sans serif, which creates a masculine
feel to the magazine, because the magazine
brings in a lot of male readers, so they’re going
to shape the magazine around the main
audience that is attracted to the genre.
They also use serif in the “Win!” speech bubble.
They used this because it attracts your eyes
towards it because it’s a different font style and
so it doesn’t blend in with the rest of the
magazine, and also its font colour is black, and
it’s against a yellow bubble, so it draws your
eyes towards it.
The font colours used are mainly black and red, but they use yellow for the sub-headings,
this again fits in with what the front cover was, which included black, red, white and yellow.
The colours fit the genre because red connotes anger and aggression, and could also
represent blood which links in with anger and violence. Black connotes darkness and
sadness, which fits in with the genre because we relate darkness with horror, which fits in
with the genre because rock music can sometimes be quite scary and use horrific lyrics.

6. Layout
For the contents page, it uses rule of thirds, because you
can see down the vertical lines, main things are placed
there, so down the vertical line on the left, you have a
picture of a band, and on the vertical line on the right, you
have a list of stuff that is included in the magazine, so the
news, posters, features, etc.
Also, when the lines meet, there are other main things, so
the lines that meet at the bottom left highlight the
headline, and so your eyes are drawn straight towards
that point, and the lines that meet on the top left
highlight the image of the band, so that also draws your
eyes towards it. Also all of the lines that meet on the right
highlight the contents page and so your eyes are drawn
towards that too, and it allows you to get a detailed
description of what you’d find inside the magazine.
The order of the magazine is very clean and well organised, it’s not all in your face and over
powering, it’s laid out very neatly and clean, which is not very conventional for a rock
magazine, because when you think of rock, you think of mess and violence and guitar
smashing, etc. However, the contents page is very neat and clean. Although contents pages
are conventionally clean and organised, so you can see clearly what you want to find and
where you can find it.
Colour
The colours of the contents page link in with the colours
of the front page, they use a lot of the same colours, like
red, black, yellow and white. For example they use red,
black and yellow a lot for the font colours, and they use
white across the right of the page and all the way across
the bottom.
They also use dark colours with the band members, so
black clothing, which helps with the black font colours
and linking it to the genre. They also used the red for the
colour of the “All Time Low” font, which draws attention
towards the band, and highlights the band so that it’s the
main focus of the contents page.
Like I said before the colours are very consistent, which
connotes a house style effect.

7. Images
The types of shot types used in the main image is long
shot, but the text of the headline covers the bottom
half of their legs and feet. This allows us to see the full
view of the band and what they’re wearing. It’s
important to see what they’re wearing because it
allows us to see what they’re like and what sort of
colours they wear, in this case, dark colours to relate
and link in to the genre. Another reason it’s a good
shot to have is because we like to see all of the band,
rather than just the singer or drummer. It also allows
us to identify the band members. Their poses are all
normal, they’re not doing any over the top posing like
air guitar or anything, they’re just standing there, one
has his arm in the air, but again it’s not too in your
face.
They also use an image of Andy Biersack, who is the lead singer of Black Veil Brides, and the
shot type used is a medium close up, this is a good shot type to use because it allows us to
see a bit of what his wearing, but isn’t so far away that we can’t identify who he is. It also
allows us to see the expression on his face and what his emotions are.
One of the final images used is just a picture of a bunch of Kerrang magazines placed over
the top of each other, this is because it’s advertising a subscription to the magazine, and just
allows you to see a few of the magazines you’d be able to subscribe to.
There isn’t much mise-en-scene used, the main centre image doesn’t use any props but has
a consistent colour scheme in clothing, which is black. The image using Andy Biersack has a
skull as a prop, this connotes like a dangerous kind of style, because no-one normally walks
around with a skull in their hand, so it’s got a mystery and danger feel about it, which
relates to the genre.

8. Language
The language used in this magazine is very ordered
and not as dramatic as the front cover. It says “All
Time Low tickets and meet and greet!” this isn’t as
dramatic as the cover story that was shown on the
front cover. It doesn’t contain words like death, and
dark-side, it’s very calm and contained.
They say “Win!” in relation to the All Time Low tickets,
but they have the font in its own little bubble and as
its own font style, so this makes it a bit more dramatic
than the rest of the language because it’s very big and
you can tell it’s important because of the fact that it
has its own font style and colour.
The rest of the language just talks about what’s inside
of the magazine, and at the bottom there’s a readers
letter that they sent into the magazine and then had it published.
At the top of the contents page it just says “Kerrang! Contents” which is conventional for a
contents page, because it has the name of the magazine and then states the fact that it’s
the contents page.
Conventions
The contents page for this magazine is very
conventional because it is laid out very neatly and tells
you where everything is.
It also uses dark colours to represent the genre, so
aggressive, loud, violent, etc. It’s also consistent
throughout the cover and the contents page because
they both use the same colour scheme.
It tells you at the top of the contents page that it is in
fact the contents page. It also has a main image on the
left third of the page, which most contents pages have
so the contents aren’t so boring and full of words.
They also used two smaller images in the bottom
corners, so it isn’t as plain and boring.
The main sub-headings telling us what is inside of the magazine is also very conventionally
placed in rows, so that it’s easy to see what you want to find, and there’s not too much
going on, so it’s not over-powering.

9. Typography
The type of font used in
this double page spread is
sans serif. For the pull
quote, you can see that
they used the same font
that is used for the
masthead of Kerrang. This
is effective because it’s
consistent, and we can
identify that the same
font has been used, so we
know that it is Kerrang.
They also used white and
red for the font colour of
the pull quote, which creates a house style effect because it’s consistent throughout the
whole of the magazine, e.g. the cover, contents page and double page spread. These are
also good colours to use because as I’ve said before, they relate and link in well with the
genre, and they also contrast nicely against the black background.
For the kicker, they used a different font style and colour to the main text of the article, so
they used a red “M” in the same font style as the pull quote, which is consistent, and the
rest of the font for the main article is white, and a sans serif style, which is much less
distorted compared to the kicker and pull quote. The white of the font works well because it
contrasts well against the background, so it’s easier to see.
For the little strip of writing down the right hand side of the page, it uses sans serif again,
which is good because it creates masculinity and the font colours all contrast well against
the background and each other, and it is consistent throughout the whole of the page itself.
The captions on the pictures are also in a sans serif font, and the colour used for the font is
white, because it contrasts well against the pictures, because the pictures are in black and
white, and so they’ve placed the white font against the black/darker parts of the image.

10. Layout
The way this double page spread
is laid out is very clean and clear.
On the left hand side of the page,
you have the main image, which
is very big and clear. It’s also an
image of the lead singer of the
band. On the right had side of
the page, there’s the feature and
another strip of information on
the right hand side. On the
bottom of the page on the right
hand side, there’s pictures of the other members of the band, showing them recording in
the story, which relates to the feature because it talks about them recording a new album.
On the right hand side of the page, you can see it uses route of the
eye very clearly.
At the top of the page on the top line of route of the eye, it has the
pull quote, which is used very effectively, because it’s very big,
bold, colourful and right at the top of the page, so it draws your
eyes towards that section of the page.
Down the middle of the page going across the diagonal line of
route of the eye, you have the main article (feature). This is placed
effectively because it follows the route in which your eyes would
take when scanning a page, it’s very clear to see because of the
way the colours of the font and background contrast against each
other, and there’s also a lot of font, so that makes it easier to see.
At the bottom of the page across the bottom line of route of the
eye, you can clearly see two very well placed images. These are placed effectively because
they’re quite big and they stand out well against the black background, because the pictures
are also in black and white. It also draws your eyes towards this section of the page because
it’s the only section of the page where there are actually images.
The left hand side of the page is laid out very well because it just features a little block of
words at the top of the page, and then the main image underneath it, which stands out well
again because the image is in black and well, which contrasts well against the black
background.

11. Colour
The colours on this double page
spread are used very effectively
because they are used
consistently throughout the
whole of the three pages I’ve
analysed, the cover, contents
page and then this page.
The colours all contrast well
against and with each other.
You can also see that the
images are in black and white,
which is a good effect to use
because then it blends in with the rest of the page and so, is used effectively. The colours all
relate and link to the genre well because the black of the page signifies darkness and
sadness, which relates well to the genre, because people relate rock music to darkness and
sometimes the songs can be quite saddening. Red relates to the genre because the red
connotes anger and aggression, and could also be used to represent blood which is linked to
violence and aggression.
Images
The images used in this double
page spread are all in black and
white. There is one very big
main image taking up most of
the left hand page, and the rest
of the images on the bottom
right are quite small.
The main image’s shot type is
mid-long shot. This is an
effective shot type to use
because you can see the
drummer in the background and
the singer of the band is looking down, which creates a mystery effect, because we can’t see
his face so we can’t see the emotion in his face and so we can’t analyse what effect it has.
He also uses a microphone stand and a microphone to create the effect and excitement that
they’re creating a new album, and from the way he’s posed, it looks like a very dramatic,
emotional but mysterious album.
The bottom three images all use different shot types. The first image (going from left to
right) is a mid-shot. This creates effect because it allows us to see the emotion on his face,
but isn’t too close so that it’s uncomfortable. They also used a spotlight to shine on him,

12. which makes him look important and like he’s a good person. He’s also holding a guitar so
it’s another good shot to use because we’re able to see the guitar but still be close enough
to see his face.
The second image’s shot type is a wide-shot. This is a good shot type to use because it
allows us to see the rest of the band members, and also we can see that they’re in a studio,
which signifies that they’re recording which relates to the article. You can also see they’re
standing over a mixing panel, which also shows that they’re recording. You can also see that
they’re all talking to each other, so it shows that they communicate well and so it’ll be a
good album.
The third image’s shot type is a close-up. This is a good shot type to use because it allows us
to see the emotion and expression on his face, but it’s not so close that it’s uncomfortable.
We can see in the image there is a microphone stand that he’s singing into, so it also
connotes that they’re recording, which once again relates to the article.
Language
The pull quote says “We’re
being the best MCR we can be!”
this shows that they’re very
ambitious and are determined
to be good and get lots done.
The caption of the third image
on the bottom right says “Oh
no! I’ve forgotten to lock the
bloody front door….” This shows
that the magazine is quite
comical, and quite playful, and
don’t mind making themselves
look silly or funny.

13. Conventions
This double page spread is very
conventional because on a
double page spread, you
normally have one page
covered in an image, and the
other with the actual article
itself.
You also have images relating to
the article itself placed around
the outside of the article.
It has a pull quote, which can
also double up as a headline,
and it also has a kicker, standfirst, a box out and captions.
It’s also conventional because the colours relate to the rest of the magazine, and are
consistent throughout the whole magazine. This again creates a house effect, and makes the
magazine relate more to the genre and look cleaner and cut.