Magazine Deconstruction Two: Kerrang!

The Kerrang! title is partially covered, as it's a recognizable image (the font is culturally anchored). The font on the cover is mainly all the same, but in different colours and sizes. Two features of a Kerrang! cover are the banner above the title and the banner at the bottom, which lists the bands and artists that feature in the article. This helps sell the magazine, as well as the advertisement of free posters and stickers. In my research, I found that free gifts made a magazine more appealing, and this is why Kerrang! will have chosen to take up a whole side of the cover to advertise it. The cover is quite cluttered, signifying that the magazine still needs to sell itself. There's a lot of black, white, red and yellow, colours that I've found to be incredibly popular in music magazines of very different genres, as they stand out and make a good contrast.

The contents page has the same font and colours as the cover. there is a note from the editor, and the language used is very informal, setting a tone for the magazine. A famous feature of Kerrang! since it's inception is the free posters in the middle of the magazine, so this is highlighted in the contents. The contents page also shows how the magazine is sectioned off into FEEDBACK, NEWS etc.

The photo at the top of the page (and takes up half of the page) is a live photo, denoting that there is a focus on live shows.

There is a large box in the bottom corner regarding subscription, meaning the magazine isn't entirely reliant on it's face value and is keen to promote subscription.

The colours and font still follow into an article. The block at the top shows that this kind of article is an every-issue-feature. There is a quote from the text and then a summary of the article underneath. This catches the reader's attention and makes them want to read on.

As in most magazines, the first letter of the article is enlarged. the page number at the bottom has the magazine's name, so anyone can see that it's an issue of Kerrang! and if by just looking at the page someone else is interested, then they know which magazine to buy.

Magazine Deconstruction One: Q

The photo overlaps the title, showing it's a recognizable magazine. It's key features are the red, black and gold and then the plain white background.

The use of different fonts show it's quirky and a long shot photo denotes the dress code of the people on the magazine, which further connotates indie rock, setting a genre for the magazine.

There's a lot on the cover about what's inside the issue, as it has to sell itself, unlike magazines such as Rolling Stone, or fashion magazine Vogue.

Unlike any magazines, Q's contents is a double page spread. This allows plenty of room for photos and images that illustrate the magazine's key features.

Q also separates 'Regulars' and 'Specials' to draw attention to particular exclusives etc.

The font and colours are continued from the front cover, so it's clear it's the same magazine. There is only a small-font web address at the bottom of the page regarding subscription, signifying the magazine's popularity, as it doesn't need to draw in subscriptions.

This double page spread continues from the cover and contents: the font and the colour, as well as the layout. Like on the contents page, there is a red banner along the top, with the Q logo and the article's title. The main photo is also in the middle of the page, with writing around it, like on the contents. An enlarged letter inside of a red circle begins each article and there are quotes picked out, something typically done, and their is also a tagline from the article, which again, is often done in articles.

Music Magazine Audience Research Survey

For my music magazine, I needed to research my target audience, and in order to this, I created a survey. 20 boys and girls aged 16 - 18 completed the survey.
By looking at the bar charts, you can see that I found the following:

- Magazines released fortnightly or monthly were most popular, but I should aim to create a monthly magazine, as this was the most picked choice.
- Fashion and music magazines were most popular (fashion in females only), but this means I should incorporate fashion and trends associated with music into my magazine.
- It's essential that I include interviews, followed by reviews.
- Regarding genre, I need to release an indie magazine to appeal to the female audience, but as I plan to create a unisex magazine, I should include rock and all it's subgenres, not just indie.
- The majority of the volunteers said they were prepared to pay between £2 - £3, so I can therefore aim to create a magazine similar in size and content to magazines like Kerrang! and NME, rather than Q or Rolling Stone (but I still need to consider how I can fit this along side the popularity of a monthly release.)
- I need to advertise a free gift, as this seemed to make a magazine more appealing.
- And finally, Kerrang! and NME were the most read magazines, which supports the numbers concerning price.

Preliminary Print Task: A Sixth Form Magazine!