Analyzing music magazines

Colours: The colours used are mainly black and white, this seems like an angry front cover. The puff has a green background and black writing making it stand out from the rest of the imagery on the cover. This signifies the importance of the information in the puff.

Design: There is minimal text on the cover making the image the main focus. There is scribble type writing in black font around the image giving the information about the band. By writing in this unusual text it makes the cover stand out and interesting to read what the scribbles say. The large silver masthead writing clearly shows the name of the magazine and stands out as this is the only silver writing on the cover. The bold white writing at the bottom of the magazine i
ndicates the bands name and show that they are the main feature. Also the plug in the top left hand third tells the reader that this issue of the magazine is a special edition which means it is rare and more copies of the magazine are likely to be sold. There is also a strapline at the bottom of the magazine which is different from the previous magazines i have analyzed. The bold red background and simple font used advertises a prize to be won and the strapline tells the reader that this is exciting.

Images: Green day are a Rock band and are the only image on the front cover. As the plug indicates the magazine is a special edition and tells the reader that the whole magazine contents is about the band. The image of the band represents the target audience which is older teenagers that listen to rock bands and are interested in the band itself.

Pose, hair style, make-up: The pose of the band indicates the rocker lifestyle of black leather jackets and messy hair. Two of the men are wearing black eyeliner adding to their image of rockers and relating to the target audiences image. The pose also shows that they are a hard, strong male band and portray this by crossing there arms and kneeling down giving the feel they are looking straight at you.

How are words used on the cover: The font and style of the words on the cover relate to the genre of the magazine. They are very loud and bold words that run across the whole width of the magazine, this makes the magazine stand out from the rest of the music magazines on the shelf. The strapline runs across the bottom of the magazine advertising a prize to be won intriguing the reader as they think they could be in with a chance of winning a cd of the featured band.

Language: The Puff in the top left hand corner on the left hand third tells the audience that it is a special edition. This shows that it is a rare magazine and a one off. This language indicates the contents of the magazine and that it is purely based on the band on the front. The wording underneath the bands name reads "How three punks took over the planet" this shows the bands personality and the type of genre they are based on, this will therefore incourage readers who listen to punk/rock music purchase the magazine.

Overall impression-how effective is the front cover: The overall impression of the cover is effective as it has reached its aim of showing the reader who it is aimed at. The colours, fonts and images all link together to produce a really effective rock image. The cover tells us that the whole contents of the magazine is about the band and who is is designed to appeal to the audience. By using the black leather jackets in the artists it represents the audience intrest in fashion as well as music. All these effects really attract the target audience of older teenagers.