Annotated existing magazines

Front Page

Kerrang magazine is targeted at people in their teens to early twenties who enjoy guitar based music and are predominantly white. Most magazines share the convention of having a colour scheme of mainly three colours, in Kerrang these three main colours are yellow, black and white. These colours are seen on warning signs which gives the impression this magazine is so full of content you need to be warned about it. Vibe magazine is known for changing its colour scheme which suggests they are constantly changing to keep up with the times. They are aimed at a predominantly black audience aged 13-20 who enjoy urban music.

The main image on the front cover of Kerrang is of a female rock star who is also wearing yellow as part of the brand identity. She has her head canted which is consistent with the male gaze. The way her head is canted makes her seem vulnerable to the reader, giving the reader a sense of control as they read the magazine. This is reinforced as the largest typography states ‘Hayley answers YOUR questions’. Vibe magazine has a main image of a famous rapper whose career started to deteriorate after he was arrested earlier last year. It shows him standing up looking upwards in a regal way. The reflection in his glasses show the American flag which suggests he has pursued the American dream and gained a respectable status however his hat is disorientated which may represent his careers disorientation. The largest typography has the tagline ‘Weezy, still hip hops leading man?’ which reinforces the idea his status may be under threat.

Kerrang has pictures on the front cover to highlight the inside stories. This may be because the audience is more appealed by pictures than writing. We know this because it is aimed at a younger audience. It also advertises a ‘gig guide’ which tells us that the audience of this magazine are the type to go to concerts. Vibe feature a smart phone scan code near the barcode which tells us the audience of this magazine are likely to own smartphones.

Contents Page

‘Sugar’ magazine is aimed at teenage girls who enjoy mainstream pop music. ‘Sugar’ is seen as something sweet which may be what this audience think of themselves. ‘NME’ sounds like the word ‘enemy’ which gives connotations of rebellion which is associated with the target demographic as the magazine is about indie music and indie music is quite a rebellious genre of music.

Sugar uses the colours pink, black and white to appeal to their target demographic, although pink is quite a girly colour which you would expect in a younger demographics magazine, the use of it along with black and white is representative of how these girls are going through a transition from being little girls to mature women. NME uses the colours red, white and black which have a range of connotations including danger and violence which is how people perceive guitar based music.

The title typography used in ‘Sugar’ is iconic of the type of lettering you would see on a sign outside a club. This may be because the girls who read this magazine aspire to have a club lifestyle similar to their older peers. The title typography for the NME is capitalised and thick in order to alert the reader to the importance of the issue.

The main image in sugar magazine is of a woman ‘saluting’ although this is typical of men working in some sort of armed forces e.g. the army; this may be seen as a way of making the model seem confident and assertive however her head is canted which means she is in line with the male gaze theory proposed by Laura Mulvey.

‘The Teenagers’ article is predominantly aimed at teenagers aged 14-19. It reflects the stereotype that teenagers are rebellious and lazy. This representation is in line with common ideology.

The main image shows three boys lying in bed. The mise en scene gives the impression they are lazy. Also, behind them is a wall that has been decorated as if by an old person as its quite old fashioned, however, this wall has been covered with posters that are representative of the boys thoughts. This is symbolic of the boys rebelling against their parents.

The magazine is about predominantly ‘indie’ music. Listeners of indie music like to believe they are averting from the mainstream and are ‘hipsters’. Editors of the magazine know this and use the 'notepaper shaped info box' to make the readers feel like they are getting this information first hand, which is something they appeal to.

'How perfect is pixie' is an article aimed at a demographic slightly older than my demographic, the image shows a medium close up of the artist with her hand on her face in a childish way. This is in line with the male gaze and this appeals to their audience as it is apparent that young girls have internalised the male gaze. The use of shape and space is quite sophisticated and abstract which shows us that the readers like to think of themselves as quite sophisticated and older than they really are.

Both designs use the colours blue white and black but have different audiences. The first magazine uses blocks of colour and the typography is straight and capitalized which gives a sense of masculinity wheras in the 'How Perfect is Pixie' article the letters are softer and the colours overlap eachother to give a more feminine effect.