MAGAZINE ANALYSIS OF ROCKSOUND
FRONT COVER
ROCKSOUND is produced by Editions Freeway and is a UK based rock music magazine. ROCKSOUND magazines have a target audience of people between the ages of 15 and 24, individually cost £3.99 and are published monthly. The circulation of ROCKSOUND is 13,924, this represents the number of copies distributed for each issue.
The magazine was called ROCKSOUND as it clearly states which type of genre the magazine is focused on. This also links with the contents of the magazine straight away, making it a great masthead to capture the attention of the target audience. The pink masthead stands out in comparison to the rest of the magazine, and due to it all being in capital letters, comes across as very powerful and bold. Even though the main image used on the front cover is in front of the masthead, immediately when looking at the magazine, your attention is drawn here, therefore fulfilling its purpose. Due to the majority of the background being blue, the pink masthead is a much bolder colour that is more eye-catching to the audience. However, there are also other pieces of text on the page that are also pink which draws your attention to those also, as a theme of colours is starting to emerge. Overall, I think the masthead is very engaging to its target audience as the style is very interesting and keeps readers attention.
This is the strapline that is used on the front cover of ROCKSOUND and helps to sell the magazine. It stands out in comparison to the rest of the cover due to there being a larger variety of colour used in such a small area. It also attracts the readers attention due to there being several images
area. It also attracts the readers attention due to there being several images which are much more exciting and colourful to look at. They also relate to what can be found within the magazine, therefore it makes the reader curious and left wanting to read more. This is the purpose of the strapline and wants to draw in the attention of the reader. It is the first thing that they will see when they are looking on the shelf, therefore it it is bright, eye-catching and bold, it is more likely to stand out in comparison to all the other magazines.
The main image that is used on the cover of the ROCKSOUND is a good representation of the genre of music shown within the magazine. It features a popular rock group, called Green Day, which would appeal to many members of the target audience straight away. All three men in the image are looking at the camera, which draws the readers attention in straight away to that area on the page. They're facial expressions also all seem very serious yet also captivating, causing the reader to find out more. Due to the image also being a close up of each of the individuals, it does not distract the attention of the reader by looking at actions, or clothing, it is only there to fulfil its purpose. It also shows that they are the main feature of the magazine so that it is likely that they are going to have the biggest feature on them.
biggest feature on them. They have also removed the background, therefore elimates all possible distracting and makes the the main focus of the page, the people featured in the main image. This could also be why they have chosen the main background of the fornt cover to be blue as all of the band members are male and blue is a sterotypical colour to be used for this gender, so this can suggest that the magazine is targeted towards a certain gender. However, including the pink text, which is a sterotypical colour for girls, makes sure that there is a balance and that it is aimed towards everyone. The band are also a band that are popular with the younger generation so the magazine is likely to be aimed at a certain age range (15-24 year olds).
The title of the magazine is presented in a very unique way, as it has been made to look as if it is a banner. This makes the magazine very eye catching to the target audience as it is something that you dont usually see, therefore causes curiosity which entices the reader in. The title is also in the centre of the page and due to it being so large so bold, immediately lets the audience know who the main feature of the magazine is about. It also anchors the main picture and makes the overall appearence of the front cover very structured and professional. The colours within the title are very bold and prominant, which adds a great effect to the style of the cover. Blue appears to be the house style of the magazine as it is the colour used most of all, being incorporated within the title as well as the background. The white text stand out well on the background which
white text stands out well on the blue background which is also made more prominant by a small drop shadow used, this helps it to capture the attention of the target audience and make it look as if it is jumping out of the page. In addition to this it is also the largest piece of text on the page, which stand out to the audience straight away. Around the title there are also additional pieces of text that relate to the magazine to try and make it attractive to the target audience such as other bands that will also feature in the magazine, which are also very popular amongst the target age group.
These were additional pieces of text on the front cover advertising what was shown inside the magazine. The different fonts, sizes and colours used was very eyecatching and bold, making sure that the audience was drawn to each individual piece of text. The colours that were used continued the theme of the colours, as it was also used in the strapline at the top of the page also. The information that is given on the front cover does not go into depth about the different topics within the magazine, yet makes the audience intrigued and want to read more.
read more. The variety of different fonts make the front cover look much more exciting and make each of the different bands stand out in their own unique way. They have also included small images to go with the titles, to add more colour to the page as well as hint what is going to be shown inside the magazine. For example, 'Meet Pierce The Veil' indicates that the popular rock group will be interviewed which will enable you to gain more of an insight on each of the band members individually.
CONTENTS PAGE
Inside this issue of ROCKSOUND magazine there were 100 pages, 24 of which were used for advertising. Companies use ROCKSOUND to advertise their offers, products and services which they think might appeal to the same target audience. There are many different types of advertisements within the magazine, the main type being the promotion of different concerts. This is expected when looking in music magazines due to it being there perfect audience to address. If the concerts are advertising bands that fit into the same genre of music that the magazine is, then it will most likely appeal to many members of the audience. It is also a great way to address such a large number of people at the same time that have an interest for the same thing. Other types of articles also included video games and different clothing companies.
One the first page as you open any magazine there is normally a contents page which enables the reader to see exactly what is wrote about within the magazine, however within this magazine it is on page 4. This will relate to the genre of music that the magazine is about, as well as relate to what is being shown on the front cover. The same house style will be continued throughout the magazine and this will make the overall appearence look structured and professional. It is likely that the same colour scheme will be continued so they can easily relate to one another.
Within the different sections of the contents page, the different pages are separated by titles. However, the colours used for the titles are different to which had been used on the front cover. This is a weakness of the magazine and make it come across as being unorgainsed and unprofessional. This would be something that I considered when I make my own and I would want each page to relate well to one another and have a continous house style.The white text is extremely eye catching against the red background and uses a font which is clear and easy to read yet also has an effect to it that makes it suit the genre of magazine also.
In addition to this, the page numbers are in red. This could be so that it is clear to see in comparison to the main text, to prevent readers becoming confused, as well as wanting it to be easy to find the information within the magazine that you are looking for.
Each of the page titles, relate to the topic of the magazine, therefore keep the house style very consistent throughout. They are all in bold so it is clear and easy for the reader to identify the different pages, as well as their corresponding page number. Due to each of the different titles sounding
sounding interesting they make the magazine very inviting to the target audience. Underneath each of the different page titles, some key details of the page are listed to try and attract the target audience to read the page.
Normally, on a contents page, there would be a title at the top of the page making it very clear what was being shown and advertised on that page. However, in this magazine, it is not very clear what is being shown until you start to read it. As you normally expect to see 'Contents', due to this title being different, it does not stand out and capture the attention od the reader.
stand out and capture the attention of the reader. Therefore this will be something that I consider when I construct my own as I can see various ways in which this could be improved. The font used is very clear and easy to read, however does look quite dull and boring. It could capture the attention of the reader much better if there were bright colours included which continued the house style of the whole magazine.
In addition to this there are several screenshots included on the contents page to show pages that are also within the magazine. These feature the popular topics within the magazine that is thought to appeal to the target audience. This is a good way to show the audience what is within the magazine, in the hope that they get intrigued and want to read more. However, there is no explanation next to the images, therefore sometimes it can be difficult to see what they are trying to show due to the small text. Overall, I think the contents page within ROCKSOUND magazine looks quite dull, and therefore reflects poorly on the magazine as a whole. This would be something to consider when constructing my own, as I know ways to improve this and make it more exciting and appealing to my target audience.
DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD
In this issue of ROCKSOUND there were also 22 double page spreads, the majority of them were about different band members and were giving the reader more of an insight into their personal life. This is relateable throughout the whole magazine making it appeal greatly to the target audience. In addition to this there were also a double page spread called 'gig guide' informing the reader of all the upcoming gig dates for the popular bands featured within the magazine. This is also advertised to the audience in the strap lines on the front cover, therefore will be one of the selling features of the magazine. There were also 14 advertorials, which means it was difficult to tell whether the page was an article or if it was an advert, this only become apparent once you have started to read the article.
The title on the double page spread is the thing that immediately grabs your attention when you open the page. Due to it going over both pages, and being a colour that contrasts with the background it is extremeley eyecatching and will relate to the topic of the article.
The main image that is being used on this page relates to the main image that is also shown on the front cover of the magazine. This ensures that the reader will still be interested in the magazine as they must appeal to them for them to have picked up the magazine in the first place. The image suggests different things to the reader, the band members seem to be more relaxed than they were in the front cover which suggests that the article may be more informal and personal to them. Furthermore, none of them are looking in the same direction, this could represent each of their different personalities, therefore leaving the meaning of it down to the interpretation of the reader.
On this double page spread there is a variety of different text sizes used, all symbolising the importance of the text. Due to this text being seperate to the rest of the page shows that it is likely to also have a seperate meaning. This small paragraph is a short overall summary of the article and is informing the reader of what the article is about. The importance of the text is also symbolised by the use of capital letters, as well as the bands name being highlighted in red, standing out in compariosn to the rest. The small paragraph is trying to engage the reader into wanting to continue reading the article and to find out more. This effect is also created by the use of punctuation as there is an ellipsis at the end, leaving the reader wanting to find out what happened next, therefore fulfilling its purpose.
