The First magazine analysis
On this analysis I will be looking at the:
- Front page
- Contents Page
- Double Page Spread
- Advertisement
Front Cover
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The Language - On the front of this magazine there is a black background on the magazine and the models in the front. For the camera angles, there is a model in the front of everyone else that must be meaning that he is the lead singer or player in the band, it is also eye lever with the models too, the shot would also be classified as a medium close up shot as it contains from their heads to the bottom of their torsos. The mast head of the magazine is white and is in capital. The design of the masthead is very unique as it has a crack throughout the masthead, it also having onomatopoeia with Kerrang and also the strumming of the guitar having the same sound, it is positioned in the middle of the top of the magazine, it is very easy to identify if it is stacked on the shelf at a shop. There is a price on the bottom right hand corner of the magazine and also the bar code. It is a weekly magazine so the magazine would have to keep the prices low for the magazine too. It has the date and also the issue number on the magazine too, this keeps the audience on track with the date and the issue of the magazine and it also tells them if them if they have got the up to date magazine. There is also the teaser that says ‘The band You Need to Hear Right Now!’ it sounds like something to read and therefore catches the attention of the reader.
Institution - The institution of this magazine would be Kerrang. It is funded by advertisements throughout the magazine; this would be to make the magazine cheaper for the audience that it is aimed at as well. If the magazine is too expensive then the target audience would be put off on buying the magazine because of the price and it could put the magazine to its end. Mainly, Kerrang produced the magazine for people who are interested in bands like 'Parkway Drive' and 'Green Day'. It would be aimed at a younger generation and it is also aimed at people with a low income, for example, teenagers don't really get much income but adults in a job would get much of a higher income, magazines like 'The Guide To Windows 7' would be more expensive or Army Magazines too. There is also the publisher BAUER here which publishes like magazines, they publish mojo which is old rock, Kerrang which is new rock and the new bands that have come out and new songs that have come out too and there is Q which is like old rock and new rock as well, they mix it.
Ideology - Here the magazine 'Kerrang' is there to entertain, it is also there to inform about other band such as 'Green Day'. In this issue of the magazine, it is informing the audience about how green day has changed over the years of their career. Now people who are interested in this type of magazine would like to buy it, especially if they are a big fan of this band. There is a stereotype here in the audience compared to the magazine. Teenagers read this magazine and like the band and then they start to dress like them and even try to live like them, it is a common stereotypical thing as teenagers look up to people and follow in their footsteps, just like if one person dyed their hair then it would want them to dye their hair.
Audience - The audience of this magazine would be for teenagers and middle aged audiences too. (16-25) I would say that it is aimed at this age group as the front of the magazine has a pair of older men, say 20-25 on the front of it, now it’s rather for teenagers to look up to and try to be like them, just like role models, or it is for men like them in their 20's and like to keep up to date with them or just enjoy the music. I would also say it was aimed at both genders but a little more to then men’s side as the magazine seems to have more men in it then women. For the location, it is only in the UK and not in other countries like America, they have the American band in the magazine but it isn’t in the states. I also would imaging that this magazine would be available everywhere you would go in the UK (well where there is a Tesco or an Asda). For the religion, well I don’t really think you have to be a Christian or a Muslim to read this magazine, it isn’t really aimed at religion as such, I would say it is aimed at people who are interested in the bands and that all.
Representation - On the front page there is a number of things to be looking at. The first thing that I would be looking into would be what age is this front page aimed at, well I think that this magazine would be aimed at teenagers, the ages between 14-25, I think everyone within this age range would be interested in this magazine. I don’t really think that there is a group for the ethnicity or religion here; you don’t have to believe in a certain religion in order to read this magazine. For the gender, I don’t really think you have to be a particular gender in order to read this magazine, I think it probably would appeal more to the male audience rather than the female audience, mainly because there are the stereotypical expectations of what a man’s magazine would look like (black, white) and the expectations of what a girls magazine would look like (pink, red, fashion, fashion accessories). Also there are the expectations of what would be in the magazine, well on the front page there is a group called 'Parkway Drive' which I think is the second biggest text on the front page, the first biggest text would be the masthead. There is also other text and images about what is inside the magazine; this would give interest to people who are interested in this magazine or interested in a particular band that is featured on the front of the magazine.
Contents Page
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The Language - On the contents page there is an image on the top half of the magazine and also there is a white space where text and images are. For the camera angles of the top image, there is a man with red hair and it looks like the camera was at the side of the stage. I would really say there a certain way that this contents page was designed, for example the other Kerrang magazines have this format, they have an image at the top of the contents page and at the bottom of it there is a white space which is filled with images and text. At the top of the page there is the letters printed in yellow with a black background on it, this makes this text stand out and is very visible, it saying 'CONTENTS' helps the audience know what page they are on and also they are also informed about what page is the contents page and if it will give them information and the page numbers in the magazine. In that black space there is the issue number and also the cover date. Then there is a split at the bottom of the magazine with a black strip. In this black strip there is text, white and yellow, the most basic colours and also the colours which are most effective to the human eye too. This title does what it says and gives information about what is in the magazine this week, below is the given information. On the left hand side of the contents page there is a letter from the editor, this makes the magazine little persona, I have also noticed that there isn’t that many colours on the front page of the magazine, having too much colour could put the audience off and put stress on the eyes making it unreadable. Some colours have been used like green, red, yellow and black. I would say that these are the main colours that are being used on the whole magazine unless it is an image. It is basic and it is also easy on the eyes too. There are also very thin lines splitting each contents, I would say that there are thin lines because they are all alike, they aren’t very different to the extent of moving one contents to another position, they are all alike/similar hence the thin like against each other.
Institution - The institution of the magazine here is Kerrang, a rock band magazine who tell the audience about rock bands, it could be the most recent gig that went on or even exclusive information about the different rock bands. I would say that this magazine has a good purpose, if the magazine didn’t have a use for rock then this magazine wouldn’t sell at all, it is aimed at people who enjoy rock and even aimed at people who have their favourite bands in, this would relate to the front page as it has the left third, it would mention about what content is inside the magazine. Coming back to the institution. This magazine would also have things that wouldn’t offend recent people who buy this magazine, causing something that is bad for the magazine like violence could stop people buying the magazine (Negative Influence+Audience=NOONE BUYING THE MAGAZINE=NO MONEY FOR THE MAGAZINE) so it looks like nothing negative should be put on the contents page as it could make people think why they bought it and why would they want to buy it again.
Ideology - There ideology here lies in the editors hands, the editor here is called Nicola, she will edit the contents in the magazine and also what will go where on each page, she will influence good stuff and also the interest of people in the magazine, she wouldn’t put stuff that she would like to see in the Kerrang magazine as it would not appeal to the current audience to Kerrang and it could end up bad, again if the audience aren’t happy with the magazine then it would lose money and popularity too. Here we have a rock magazine and on the contents page we have a big image of a red haired man, looking like he hasn’t had a bath for a few weeks, but this would come with the expectations with rock bands, the ideology would mix in with this too, the editor has put a stereotypical rock band figure on the contents page and I imaging on every other page too, something just like this.
Audience - Now again for the front page analysis, the audience for this front page would be 14-25 year olds, the magazine is clearly aimed at people who enjoy the updates of rock bands all in one place and Kerrang offer this, on the contents page, it is basically again 14-25 year olds, it doesn’t contain complex words, they are simple, small and very understandable to people who don’t read Kerrang like me, I have never read a music magazine in my life and straight away I understand who the bands are, I may not have heard of them but I know the names of them and I can type their name into YouTube and listen to their music, also there are reviews about the bands in the magazine too so if a person hasn’t heard about that particular band then they would read what they are like and if it is a good review then it is something to consider listening too and even going to one of their gigs.
Representation - Here the contents page, I would say is represented very good, it has a nice format to it I would say, it also has little images and not as crowded as well, it has lots of information for the audience when they open up the magazine and they will know what page to go if they are looking for something that interests them. It has a basic layout too which is good, it has been used well, the colours in the contents page are very basic too, there are green, red, yellow and black. It isn’t filled with many colours that are heavy on the eyes. Also it offers a 'Helping Hand', it has a page over view on the left top positioning of the page, it gives an overview to the audience and it would be something to expect too. Again that has been said in the ideology of the contents page, there are not so clean rocks bands that look like they haven’t had a bath in weeks on the top of the contents page, the expectation will carry on in the magazine as it is a specific genre and will hold images of rock bands and information too.
Double Page Spread
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Kerrang Double Page Spread 1+2+3 (November 06 2010) |
Language - On the double page spreads there and a number of things that should be considered, for example, where would the text go on the pages that contain the information for the audience. On the three double page spreads that have been selected from Kerrang all look very similar, for example they have the chunk of text at the side and then the image at one side or even on one page.
- On the first double page spread there is a white transparent text box with black text as the colour and red bold text to make things stand out on the page. I also notice that the red bold text is to make the subheading as each question is asked. These colours schemes are used all over the double page spread as the title has a black text which is the same font as the font in the text box and the red text which seems to be a bold text as well, I can’t see any other text colours or fonts on the page. The head line on this page looks as though it has been splatter on to the page, somehow like it has been stamped onto the page but not in a very good way. I would say that all of the red text that has been used individually on these pages looks as though they have been stamped on. The image has 5 men on a boat and the image is positioned on the right of the page, this gives the left page enough room to inform the audience about these men and the interview.
- On the second double page spread, there is a big image of two men with a red background which covers all both of the pages, it has which text boxes that contains again red and black text, the red is bold which sticks out for the title or something interesting on something on this article, and the white text boxes are ripped at the top and the bottom, this could represent that these men in the image are not neatly cut, and they don’t care so they tear the paper. On the red background there has been text inserted which is in black and white, some words which are normal like 'When, And HEAD OUT ON THE ROAD', there words are in white and the black words contain words like 'DEVILDRIVER, 36 CRAZYFISTS', these words wouldn’t really be in any other magazine and I also think that these words match the characters in the magazine. The headline for this article looks as though it has just been stamped straight onto the page, giving it that faded and classy look. The image on these pages have been positioned very well, they have displayed both of the main models in the middle and text around it without going over them.
- On the third double page spread, there is a picture of 4 men, looking dirty and not looking happy, I would say it was purposely done as their band name kind of does describe why they aren’t smiling. They clothing looks dirty and is all darkened colours too, they all have make up which makes them look darker around their eyes and their tattoos look intimidating too, the tattoos also count for the darkness effect that they are trying to achieve. They have a colour scheme here of white, orange and a small amount of black in the text. The orange is used to catch the eye of the audience and orange goes very well with black too. after the orange to catch the audiences eye, we have the white text which stands out from the black text box, there are bold texts that stand out and there is a orange strip which contains a over view of what the double page spread was about. For the headline of this article, it looks as though it has been spray painted as you can see the spots of paint around the logo and it also look neat inside.
Institution - The institution of the magazine here would be Kerrang, there are a rock band magazine that inform the audience about the rock bands. The people that would have created this would be the editors and the people who interview the bands. The double page spreads would represent the bands in a good way in the magazine; it would make them look very important to be on two pages and with a large image of them too. It would make the audience think that band is good; it also comes along with the interviews, gig dates and everything else. Nothing on these pages do offend anyone, but on the other magazines such as NME include bad language which could show a number of things, rather the audience like that particular content or that they are so used to it from the bands and they don’t notice it is something different when it is printed in a magazine. These double page spreads are created to advertise the bands; it is also to inform the audience about these bands too.
Ideology - Here the meaning would be to inform and to educate too, here we have double page spreads of bands and text which informs the audience, I think that these double page spreads would influence bands being dirty and not get a wash, mainly because they look like they could do with it, but besides that, being a rock band, they don’t have time for it they would say normally, on these pages it gives the audience a little cut of their lives in the interviews or even just general information that the bands wish to share with us.
Audience - I would say that the audience for the double page spreads would be the same audience for the whole magazine of Kerrang, they double page spreads are aimed at teens who like the FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions) that are answered by the bands and it helps the audience feel a part of the conversations that take place and also if they had the same question and it is answered in the magazine then they have gained information themselves. The audience for the double page spreads here, probably at 16-24, maybe a little older as it could be teens that like to read interviews and tear out the page of the bands image and stick it to their wall in their room. I think that the magazine does aim this at men rather than men as it is only man bands and no women in them so it is one sided I think.
Representations -The representations of the double page spread are positive, there isn’t any swearing or negative words in the interviews that have been wrote. The images on the double page spreads are very powerful, they are of the band and they also show their bad side I think, I think it also could show how they are in the band and not in real life, but again it is a pose for the camera and that is important to the band, if it isn’t something worth looking at the popularity of that magazine could go down and down goes the magazine along with it. The other things here would be that they are rock bands and should be rough, or should they be. On the pages I have notices a stamp for the text, it is a good effect and looks like they don’t care where they stamp it cause their rock bands and they don’t have time to decide where it goes, and the text boxes are ripped off at the bottom, again I like this effect and the funny thing to me, it looks like a receipt from Tesco (lol) but I know that the effect is to look naughty and careless.
The Advertisements
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Kerrang Full Page Advertisement (November 06 2010) |
Here in Kerrang, there is a XBOX 360 game that is advertised on page 12, I can imagine that with this game being advertised in a audience targeted magazine towards 14-26 year olds, that this age group will look at the advertisement and look into GAME and buy this game, below the title of the game there is a small amount of writing for an overview in the game and what you do in the game, this overview would interest people into the playing of this game, even if they like the look of it and want to play a demo, they can go on the XBOX market place and download a demo to see if they are interested in it. The advertisement fills the full page which is very effective too, if something is big then it stands out and teens love big images to look at and something that looks different and cool, this advertisement has great image effects on it and it looks interesting to buy, again there are demos in the XBOX market place so if a person wanted to see if this was the game to buy then they would play a demo and from there they can decide, or even so they can ask friends who have the game or even read reviews online.
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