Contents Page Analysis

By looking at this contents page, there are a lot of images used. These images consist of a live picture of an artist on stage, an animated image of 5 men wearing Christmas hats, a man speaking into a megaphone and 3, assumed, band members walking towards the camera. The magazine does this to show the reader what particular pages will be based on and gives additional detail to that specific page. These pictures have been constructed in a way to fit the structure of the contents page; they’ve also been constructed to specify each individual image in the category of importance. This is shown with the biggest picture being at the top and the smallest picture at the bottom, with another less important image being dragged to the side away from the main content of this page.

My initial findings of this magazine, based on the front cover, is that it is focused on rock music, and this has been supported by these images used on the contents page. These images clearly show rock artists which is obviously something to do with rock music; there are other images that relate to specific sections within the magazine which aren’t as important as the bigger images used. The contents page appears to be kind of messy and seems aggressive through the roughness of the title “Contents” at the top. This reflects back to the image the magazine is trying to create as a rock magazine.

Contrasting colours such as black and white are used; these are neither colourful nor bright colours, indicating that the magazine wants the contents page to appear dark and resemble the genre of music they represent. The font is in block capitals as it is bold & clear and also shows the importance of each page as each page name is in capitals.  This supports the front cover as the front cover also consists of dark colours and bold capitals to keep the house style and represent rock music in every way possible.

The information on this contents page is organised in a way that separates each segment well to show each page individually. It is clear where to look for each page as the page numbers are red which will catch the reader’s eye. Also, each group of pages is organised into a specific category, for example, “News” and “Features”, so that the reader can find what they want to read and read it.

The different sections all commit to the house style and none look more important than others, which is good as it shows that all the pages share important information that should be read. This tells you that though the magazine may appear rough, the structure is very organised and neat to please the reader.    

There are promotional features on this contents page to advertise and, obviously, promote bands, gigs and posters so that the magazine serves an additional purpose to providing information and entertainment to the reader. Specifically, the poster could possibly attract possible readers to the magazine if they can get a poster of their favourite band.

There is no magazine logo on the contents page or anything to identify what magazine the contents page is from, apart from the consistent house style used.

The contents page doesn’t advertise any other Kerrang associated franchises and therefore, nothing to do with Kerrang is being promoted on the contents page.

'Kerrang' Front Cover Analysis.

By looking at the magazine cover this magazine seems like a rock’n’roll magazine. By looking at the front cover this magazine it seems like the articles in this magazine are going to be full of articles based on rock bands. The target audience are most likely to be rock fans as well as fans of the band on the cover. The age group is most likely to be teens, with interests of rock music. The magazine is using a direct mode of address as each band member is staring straight down to the camera. This shows that they want a personal relationship with the reader as it would seem as if they were looking the reader in the eye, showing that they’re interested.

The front cover consists of hardcore rock-band ‘Sleeping with Sirens’ and they are on the front cover because they represent the type of music that ‘Kerrang’ want to advertise and write about. The anchorage text says “Here to wake up your town”, which is a play on words as the title of the band on the cover is called ‘Sleeping with Sirens’. When the anchorage text says “wake up your town”, it implies that the “town” was sleeping; hence, ‘Sleeping with sirens’. This is a pun and would attract a possible reader as it is an interesting aspect of the front cover. This suggests that the band is a noisy band and they want to be heard by the world.

Social groups such as hipsters and rock fans are the type of people being represented and the magazine represents them with bright colours as a background contrasting with dark colours like black in the foreground.

Buzz words such as ‘plus’, ‘secret’ and ‘first’ are used. This effects the reader in a way that makes them feel that they are exclusive by reading the magazine as “secrets” are being revealed as well as the “first” reviews of a particular band.

The title block isn’t completely visible which shows that because the magazine is so well-known, they are confident that if a couple letters aren’t completely visible, it is still evident that the magazine is in-fact ‘Kerrang’. The title seems as if it’s been shattered which would encourage the point that the magazine is a rock magazine as it implies that the music is so loud that it shattered the title block.

The puffs suggest that there will be additional information about other bands rather than ‘Sleeping with Sirens’ as it mentions other bands names such as ‘Fall Out Boy’.

There is no slogan on this specific title cover, though there is likely to be one of other front covers of this magazine.

Magazine Cover Analysis

This magazine is called “VIBE”, a US magazine based on all the biggest stars in the R&B and Hip-Hop music industry. The central image used is a close-up of hip-hop artist T.I, who is giving a direct mode of address by looking straight down the camera, which shows that he wants a personal relationship with the reader as he seems interested because he is looking straight down the camera.. This would make someone want to open the magazine and read as if a famous and big artist seems interested in the magazine, a possible reader would want to be interested as well. He is on the front cover because he is a famous rap artist and he is someone that fans of “VIBE” would be interested in The central image is super-imposed over the title, which shows that the central image is very important and is the main thing the magazine wants to catch the viewers’ eye.

The target audience of this magazine, by looking at the front cover, appears to be fans of T.I and/or fans of the genre he specialises in (rap, hip-hop). The age group of the target audience are most likely going to be young adults and/or teens as this age group are the main people who listen to the kind of music “VIBE” are representing. These people are likely to have interests of rap-music and the lives of famous artists associated with this type of music.

The anchorage text of this magazine cover says “People have been comparing me with Tupac…”; this would be a topic that hip-hop fans would be hugely interested in as Tupac was one of the biggest rap artists and whether they agree or disagree with this statement they would want to discover more. By using an ellipsis at the end of this “…”, the magazine is indicating that there is much more to learn about this topic which would entice people to buy the magazine and read on. This implies that the artist is just as good as Tupac if people are saying this; Tupac was an iconic figure and to be compared to him, T.I. is suggesting that he is or is going to be successful. The overall message that the artist is giving is that he is one of, if not, the best in his particular genre of music.

The type of social groups being represented are young males, like T.I; as he is being portrayed as hard-working, successful and good at what he does, he is indicating that young males should be hard-working, successful and good at what they do.

The buzz words used on the front cover of this magazine includes the word “exclusive”. This suggests that there will be information within the magazine that you cannot find anywhere else so readers will want to buy it to discover this information as it cannot be found anywhere else.

The title block is at the top of the magazine cover and is big and bold. However, the central image blocks out 2 of the letters in the title block. However, by doing this, it shows that the magazine is confident as though readers cannot see the whole title, the magazine must believe that just by showing the first and last letter people would be able to establish what magazine this is. The title also shows that the image of the magazine is cool, bold and confident as it’s written in block capitals in a colour that contrasts the background colour. The puffs include various artists’ names; this would suggest that there will be other hip-hop artists involved within the magazine and not just T.I. If a fan of “VIBE” magazine didn’t like T.I, the puffs could entice them to read the magazine. This encourages the point that the magazine wants hip-hop fans of various artists as its target audience.

The slogan is “2010 in review: ALL THAT WAS COOL, CRAZY AND CRASS”. This suggests that the magazine will have content that is “cool”, “crazy” and “crass”. The colour used for the font is a contrasting colour of white to make these puffs stand out as much as possible to catch as much attention as the title.

Lastly, the magazine uses a famous artist to attract the audience as he is likely to be popular with “VIBE” fans. Also, the puffs used consist of other big artist’s names so that it will attract further attention, as well as alliteration in the slogan to interest the reader. 

Preliminary Task Contents Page

This is my contents page. To create it, I used Adobe Illustrator. To begin with, I went on to the website that I had gone on previously for my Front Cover to get the text I wanted for my title. Again, I used MWSnap to snap this text and inserted it onto my soon-to-be contents page. Secondly, I chose a colour that I wanted to be as my background of my contents page, which was a light brown/light orange colour. I then used my knowledge as a 6th form student combined with viewing other 6th form/college magazines to create content pages. I estimated how many pages each topic would take up to choose the different page numbers each topic would be on. After this, I used images I had taken previously to add to the contents page for further detail and design. Once inserted onto my contents page, I cropped them and rotated them to fit on my page and look natural. By doing this, I had completed my contents page.

Image Analysis - Britney Spears

Image 1 The image has been cropped so that Britney is the main focus and there is nothing else to look at apart from the background which is plain. It has been framed so that her upper body is the key part of the cover which only little of her lower body being shown. This shot is a long shot as the creator of the magazine wants readers to be able to view as much as Britney as possible to have a connection with her as well as the whole front cover. The front cover is similar to Playboy magazine covers as its showing off Britney’s body and revealing her thighs, stomach and chest which could be seen as provocative which is similar to what Playboy does with their magazine covers. Britney’s costume includes a black bra, small polka-dotted pants/shorts as well as a white cardigan over her shoulders. This could suggest that she is a confident person as she is willing to show off her body to the world. Moreover, it shows that though she is a young girl at 17 she is mature enough and brave enough to be on the front of a worldwide magazine. This would appeal, gender-wise, to men or boys as it is an attractive woman in little clothing. On the other hand, it wouldn’t appeal to females as they are likely to think Britney is too revealing as she is almost naked. However, younger girls who enjoy her music and idolise her would be interested. The props used are a ‘Teletubbies’ doll, which would suggest that Britney is still a child and young. It is ironic because she is quite revealing in the picture which contrasts to the child toy in her hand which may be used to suggest that although Britney is growing up in the spotlight, she is still vulnerable and is a child. The setting appears to be bed sheets which have connotations like passion and love as it is the place lovers make love; however, it could also be seen as her being a young person as she is in bed. In addition, the material of the bed sheets looks like silk, which would imply that she is rich and wealthy. The main colour used is pink as this is a very feminine colour which is associated with girls. Also, primary colours such as black and white are used to break up the image and make it seem more professional and mature. Image 2 The image has been framed and cropped in a way to show off Britney’s best features. She is positioned in a way to show off three main sections: her face/head, her torso/waist and her derriere. These three things are usually when physically attracts men to women so Britney’s sections here have been taken advantage of to appeal to a male audience. A medium shot has been used to show off Britney from the waist up. Britney’s costume consists of very little clothing as she is captured in just a pair of white knickers. This shows how she has grown up to be perceived as some sort of sex symbol, possibly. She is hiding her chest by pressing it up to the wall which teases the viewer as it isn’t exactly a ‘proper’ way to hide her chest, its more playful which would indicate that she wants a quite personal relationship with the reader. Britney’s front is pressed up against the wall whilst her back end is pushed against the other side of the wall suggesting that she is not a girl anymore as she has matured physically. The picture is set in what seems to be a bathroom which gives off a very provocative image and shows that she is no longer a girl. Lighting is used to show in particular the main tings the creator of the magazine wants the reader to see, such as Britney’s face and hair. The main colour used is white as it represents purity which contrasts the image that Britney is portraying to add interest to the magazine as a whole.

Preliminary Task Front Cover

This is my College magazine front cover. Firstly, I got somebody to take a midshot photograph of myself outside. Secondly, I then uploaded my picture onto my computer and posted it on to PhotoShop. I then cropped the picture by using the Magic Wand tool to delete the background and only have the image of myself visible. Afterwards, I transferred my image onto Adobe Illustrator for further editing. I got a picture of my 6th Form study area to use as a background in a longshot view so a wide majority of the space was captured. Next, I uploaded the image to my computer and posted it on to Illustrator. By dragging the picture into the tab where the picture of myself was, I cropped and resized the background picture so it fit into my template and sent it back so it was now a proper background. I then had to adjust my previous image so it looked professional with the background. After this, I browsed the web to find a text tool when I found a website that provided me with the text I would go on to use as my title. By using MWSnap, I captured this text and I placed the text at the top of my cover in Illustrator. I then used the shape tool on Illustrator to create my puffs using 2 different shapes.

By using the text tool, I wrote what I wanted to be in my puffs and dragged the text into my shapes. After, I searched google images to find a barcode; by finding the image I wanted, I saved it and inserted it into Illustrator and onto my magazine cover, placing it in an appropriate place. Then, I used the shape tool again to create a star-shape to show the price of the magazine. By repeating the step I took to place text in my shapes, I had completed the magazine price and, therefore, my magazine cover.

Introduction

My name is Joseph and I am a college student at the age of 17. I chose Media as an A-Level because I am a creative person and I saw Media as a way to express this creativity. I also find the subject to be fun and something that I will enjoy. I aim to learn more about Media during this specific coursework and to understand more about the specific topic as well.