Contents Page Analysis

K! 1502

House Style – The house style is the same in all Kerrang! Issues with the layout changing very rarely. The white background is used to provide a frame around images, giving the layout a far more organised look on the inside contents page than is used on the front cover. Unlike the Mixmag issue however, the font and colours used are still quite outlandish and show excitement and are still designed to be quite loud to fit in with the target audience. The font used is also quite thick and capitalised portray the theme of rock and the capitals make the information loud, as if it is being shouted. Overall, while the covers are quite bland compared to those on the front cover, they are still more outlandish than in other magazines making the magazine more appealing to the younger demographic and the layout is less sophisticated than that of other counterparts.

Imagery – The imagery on the page is quite metal and rock orientated to fit in with the theme and genre of the magazine and to draw the target audience into the articles in the magazine. The main image at the top of the page shows the audience the main articles focal point, which in the case of this is Bring Me The Horizon’s Wembley Tour Dates, which may be placed here as an incentive to buy the magazine. There are several smaller pictures spread across the page which is very different to the Mixmag magazine, which only had the one magazine. The other smaller pictures are also of band members to attract the eyes of the audience into the various articles about their favourite bands. This makes the page look reasonably cluttered but allows for the attraction of the audience’s eye.

Design Balance – The Design of the magazine seems to be quite unbalanced and instead, appears to be split into blocks like so: (Black = Areas, Red = Images, Blue = Text)

This shows a more informal balance which is more effective as the chaos appears to fit in well with the theme and genre of the magazine, showing the general outlandish colours and disorganisation that makes rock and metal edgy genres. However, the page does seem to be split into three distinct areas, making it easier for the target audience to find the specific story and the bands they are looking for.

Target Audience and Need – The target audience for this magazine can be seen through the contents page as being teenagers to young adults, from the age of 12 to 22, mainly male in gender.

This can be seen in several ways, through the colours, layout and imagery within the page. Firstly, the imagery is mainly of all male bands, particularly in the more metal genres, which suggests the audience is also male, as these bands, with particular focus on Bring Me The Horizon, are portrayed in a masculine way, making the images purpose to inspire others in bands like theirs. The colour is also a major focus, with plenty of reds, yellows and blacks being used. Each of these backs up the genre and the type of people who would read Kerrang! Magazine, each colour connoting the various areas of rock; red connotes danger and, possibly, evil, something which has been associated with metal and ‘metalheads’ since the era of bands like Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath, yellow connotes energy, something all metal and rock bands and fans are full of, made especially clear at their concerts, and then, again, connotes danger, and black connotes darkness and gothic tendencies, seen to be popular with bands like Black Sabbath and Marilyn Manson. Finally, the layout shows the target audience as the overall way that the text and images are displayed is quite chaotic, being seen to be synonymous with the general bands, genre and fans of rock, especially those of a younger age.

The Guttenberg Design Principle – The Guttenberg Design Principle is applied in a rather clever and unknowing way in this contents page, with a quick look over the page seeming to show no regard for any order. However, the principle has been used to draw the attention of the audience to all areas of the page, including the weak fallow area. Straight away, the eyes of the audience are drawn to the main image of the page in the primary optical area, making them aware to the main topic the magazine is discussing which, in this case, is Bring Me The Horizon’s Wembley Tour. The page then contains several smaller pictures placed carefully in all the corners of the magazine, filling the strong fallow area, the weak fallow area and the terminal area. This draws the audience’s eyes to all areas of the page, with the pictures bright colours making them stand out from the black text. The text is also placed cleverly, making it easier for the audience to scan across the page to find the story they are looking for.

Mixmag (May 2013)

House Style – Unlike the Kerrang! Magazine, the MIxmag Contents Page is quite sophisticated, organised and, in terms of colour, bland. This keeps the magazine page simple and suitable for the rest of the magazine, being used purely for one purpose: allowing the audience to find the article they are looking for. The colours fit in with the rest of the magazine, being white font over a black background and capitals being used for article headings. This, coupled with the basic bold sans serif font, keeps the house style suitable for the target audience, drawing them into the magazine.

Imagery – Rather than the sheer mass of imagery that Kerrang! chose to spread across their page, Mixmag went for one huge image which fit with the most popular article in the magazine, this being for a huge electronic music festival. This is displayed to draw the attention of the audience to this one specific article, making them aware of

the importance or notoriety of the story. The only other image on the page is the cover of the free album included in the issue, this time being Groove Armada. This is displayed just for the purpose of introducing the small article about the album included and the artist behind it.

Design Balance –

Though more formal than Kerrang!, the overall page is still very informal. Unlike Kerrang!, the contents page of this magazine is much more text based, with the pictures being reduced to place a higher emphasis on the text. This shows a more sophisticated and mature audience as the bodies of text are much larger. However, similarly to Kerrang!, the design is not symmetrical and is unevenly balanced, done to draw more attention to the main image than the text. This is effective as it makes the picture stand out more, displaying a clear image of the magazines genre and target audience.

Target Audience – The target audience for this magazine is, again, very obvious for several reasons. The target audience is people who enjoy or are avid fans of the electronic genres of music such as house, techno and trance, mainly those of a more sophisticated nature, aged around 25-40. This is, firstly, made apparent through the colours. The magazine uses only black and white, with the only colour being situated in the two images on the page. This, while drawing more attention to these images, shows a more mature audience who, unlike those who read Kerrang!, do not need bright colours and heavy image use to keep them interested in the articles. Secondly is the font, with a more sophisticated and simplistic font type being used to show control and organisation, something most people would associate with the electronic genre. Finally, the layout of the magazine is not chaotic and is quite well structured and organised, showing more intelligence and a higher love of text than imagery.

The Guttenberg Design Principle – The principal has clearly been thought about when making this page, with the title of the magazine and the main image being situated in the primary optical area, drawing the eyes of the audience directly there. The weak fallow area, however, seems to have suffered with the main items in the area being text. This doesn’t draw the eyes of the audience to that area which, unfortunately, means they are less likely to read this body of text. Finally, the main text has been placed in the strong fallow area and leads down to the terminal area, making sure the audience read the text.