Analysis of Articles

 

This magazine article is from the Rock magazine, Kerrang! it uses the 'My Chemical Romance' "font" (font used on album arts and backdrops live)  for the heading, which fans will be aware of and be able to recognise, because of the red colour and the use of all capitals, the reader is almost instantly drawn into the heading or the main image,

The article is a two page spread, has a main image of the bands lead vocalist with informative text either side of him, red is also used for the sub heading, which stands out well against the black background. White, black and red are the dominant colours, which is used frequently in a magazine of this genre.



This magazine article, is from the magazine Rocksound!, this magazine too focuses on rock/metal, but as you can see from the band 'murderdolls' it focuses on more types of extreme, less mainstream sub-genres. there is a main image of two members from the band, who have a heavier image, often defined as 'goth' or 'punk'
The rocksound logo, stands out superbly, as yellow shows up well against a black background.

This magazine as well as Kerrang! uses alot of red, black and white. Titles and headings are written in bold and all capitalized. I think the main image sets the scene for this article, Their white faces reach out to the reader, thus drawing them in. This is a two page spread, with the articles being on the right page and the pictures on the left.



This two page spread of Metal Hammer varies slightly to the other two analysed The Magazines Logo and front cover is displayed at the top of the page, the heading 'Mob Research' isn't in capital letters like the other magazines, it is also in a red colour format, I think used to imitate blood.

The main article seems to be alot bigger writing than the others, with much less information.

There is one main image (consisting of 4 images of the band members, joined into 1 main image) with the credits placed in the top right hand corner to ensure that not too much of the image is obstructed. There is a s mall subsidiary image of what seems to be one of their album arts, and of the magazine cover in the top right.
Again, red, black and white is a dominant colour, with the main image also being taken in a black and white format.

What I've learnt

From spending a few months on analysis, mock ups of other magazines, then actually producing our own, I have realized it requires a HUGE amount of thinking and working to get up to the professional level, I have learnt how important it is to have the structure of a front page, well organised, and have the main image stand out to draw customers. I have learnt how colour schemes match, and perhaps not match.

From all of this I have also learnt a lot of in depth analysis about some of my favourite magazines, Kerrang! being one of them. I have learnt how most rock magazines follow the same colour scheme of red,white and black, and how magazines such as rock/metal differ from other genres in both main image and design of front page, pop magazines, for example have more clean cut, images of 'stars' on the front.

Kerrang magazine mock-up final draft

I think I've approached the mock up quite well, I could of taken a better picture, as I haven't re-created the background very well, but the main image of the male is pretty good, I couldn't do the other images because of lack of time. The main image instantly drags the reader into the front cover, which is positive. Where'as the masthead and coverlines are easily read. If I were to repeat something like this I'd touch up up the image and attempt to make it as close to the original as possible.

Kerrang! magazine mockup - draft 1

For my first draft, I have, in my opinion, tackled the front cover quite well, I think I've got the 'Asking Alexandria' part quite similar to the original, the masthead was hard to re-create as Kerrang! must use a unique font for it, and I couldn't find one similar in inDesign.

Chosen mock up magazine

This is my chosen magazine to mock up, admittedly, it was a terrible choice as it has lots of subsidiary images, the main image has a tricky background to re-create and there is alot of coverlines.

Reader Profile

The reader of my magazine will be in the age of 14-21, 65% male,  interested in metal/rock and it's subgenres,

The reader will listen to mostly contemporary music but may look back at the 'classics' such as Iron maiden, Metallica, Nirvana etc for inspiration and a sense of music from the past. The reader will be interested in live gigs and attend one at least once a month/whether it be local or national, and will buy music regularly, whether it be hard copy (cd/vinyl) or MP3 format (itunes, amazon mp3 etc) (at least 2 albums a month)

Mission statement

The music magazine I'm hoping to create will focus on the age group of 14-21, being interested in both rock and metal, the reader of the magazine will also be interested in the actual bands life, rather than just the music, and will also be interested in the live aspect of the genre,

The content of the magazine will include things like unsigned/underground new bands to check out, advice/opinions on which music to buy, readers and critics opinions, advice/opinions on what gigs to attend

The tone and attitude of the magazine will be of the general rock music magazine layout, using the colours, red, black and white, also, will offer promotions and chances to win merch and gig tickets of bands being featured.