Task 5 – deciding which genre and styleBy Olivia Cotterell

Why is colour and font important

The colour scheme and font for a magazine is crucial, it represents the target audience and what genre of magazine it is. These are visual features that our audience can see and if the font and colour scheme doesn’t fit into the genres criteria, it will be very clear to their target audience and may even make them feel uncomfortable with the magazine. Depending on the genre of magazine differentiates the type of font that is used e.g a pop magazine would be more of a modern and feminine font whereas a rock magazine would be more of a bold, edgy and dramatic font. This is an important representation of the genre for the music magazine. The colour scheme is extremely important that it is correct because this is a huge part of the magazine, it is what attracts the target audiences to the magazine and what gives it some character too. If you choose the wrong colour scheme (e.g. pink and purples for a rock magazine) it could put the reader off buying the magazine as It will cause some confusion for them and they may feel that this magazine no longer appeals to them.

FontCambria font

FontCalibri (Body)

Old and new fonts

Curved edge

Thick and thin stoke lines

Thick and thin stroke lines

Equal width around letter

Very square looking Square looking

flick at the end

The two different types of font being displayed above represents the difference between old fashioned looking fonts and more modern looking fonts. You can see that with an older style font there is a lot more detail in the writing just like there used to be in olden times, there are a lot more flicks and curved corners within the specific letters. Whereas the more modern font it is a lot more basic and easier to read. There isn’t as much detail in the letters because it has moved with the times, modern writing is a lot more basic and bland.

Looks elegant

More detail

simpler

Easier to read

Script fonts: usually used for special occasions like wedding invites, party invites, thank you letters etc… It has a very elegant and fancy look to it but at times can be very difficult to read. It gives a sense of glamour and elegance which is why it is never used in magazines. The readers need to be able to read the writing in front of them.

Broadway Fonts: usually used for titles of theatrical events like broadway show posters or theatre programmes etc… This is because it represents the genre that it is writing about, it looks very characteristic and fancy. It wouldn’t be used for a rock music magazine as it looks to delicate and feminine.

Goudy stout: This font looks a lot more childlike and young. The letters look very cartoony and are very easy to read hence why it may be used for something for a child e.g. a children’s book. This would not be used for a rock music magazine as it will not attract the target audience

Rockwell: This font is more likely to be used in a rock magazine as it is very bold and looks quite masculine. I think this will attract the target audience better as it is a lot bolder and clearer than many of the other fonts. This kind of font is usually used for mastheads, contents page titles etc… Because it is clear but still very bold and edgy.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Outstanding fonts used for mastheads

MastheadMasthead

MastheadMasthead

For a masthead there needs to be an outstanding font on the front cover to catch the audiences eyes. Especially for a rock magazine, the title font needs to be big, bold, sharp, edgy, ROCK. All of theses factors add up to represent their genre and target audience through font. You couldn’t use a fancy feminine tiny style of writing as it would just clash with the genre and confuse the target audience.

Hand lettered fonts.• Hand lettered fonts are usually used in editors letters in magazines.

It gives the letter and the magazine more of a human touch. The type of handwriting that is used represents what kind of genre the magazine is. For example a pop magazine may use a feminine and elegant font for the editors letter because the audience presumes that because it is a girly magazine there should be a woman’s touch. Signed by Belle x

• Whereas a rock music magazine would have a more basic masculine handwriting font. This is because it is an edgy and powerful magazine and the font of the writing needs to represent the magazine genre and not clash with the theme.

yours sincerely,

Font size

• Font size is very important in a music

magazine, the larger the font, the more

important it is…For example, the magazines masthead will be in the largest font that you will see in the magazine as it is the most important piece of text in there. Main cover lines will also be in a large font as an indication of their importance on the front cover because of the specific information they give. Cover lines will be in a medium sized font (has to be smaller than main cover lines) because they’re still important to the front cover, but not as important as main cover lines or the masthead.

ColourColour in a music magazine is so important, it is crucial that the right colour scheme is used to represent the magazines genre. The colour scheme of a magazine gives out such important information about the magazine, like who their target audience is in terms of age, gender etc… For example a magazine that has a lot of pink, yellow and white on the front cover would indicate that this magazine’s genre is pop and is aimed at a young girl. Whereas a magazine that has a lot of red, black, white, grey would indicate that the magazine’s genre is rock because these are very bold and edgy colours but also shows that this magazine is unisex as there are no specific ‘norm’ gender colours like pink or blue. Also these darker colours would tell us that this magazine is aimed at people of a certain age, usually about 16 and over. This is because a younger child would not be attracted to these colours as they aren’t as vibrant as the colours yellow and pink for example.

Colour

Making sure that the right colours are being used as the main colour scheme of the magazine is very important. It is suggested to use COMPLIMENTARY COLOURS so that similar colours don’t clash or look horrible.It is important that the reader is able to look at the magazine and not feel like it is hurting their eyes or that it just looks silly in general to them. For example it wouldn’t look good to have red and orange or yellow and green together as the main colours on the front cover of the magazine as they just look like they clash to much.

A A A A A A A

Colours and their meaningsThe colour blue represents peace and relaxation

The colour yellow represents happiness and brightness

The colour pink represents girly and prettier things in life

The colour red represents passion and energy

The colour green represents nature and new life

The colour black represents seriousness and danger

The wrong choices!

Pop worldMaking sure you choose the right choices for the colour scheme and font for your magazine is crucial! Different colours compliment each other and others clash terribly… Also depending on the genre of magazine, choosing the right colour is very particular, it has to fit in with the genre’s theme. For example a pop magazine, this particular genre of music magazine is aimed at predominantly females from the age of about 8-16. Therefore the main colour scheme would be pinks, purples, yellows, whites etc… So if you have a colour scheme like above (where the colours also clash) this will make the reader feel confused and uncomfortable with the magazine as it is no longer appealing to them. Also the font of the title is in a very edgy and dramatic font, again this does not fit in with the genre of the magazine, it would just look strange and out of place at the top of the magazine. Again making the reader feel confused and uncomfortable with this magazines choices of colour scheme and font.

The right choices!

Pop worldWhereas this colour scheme and font is a lot more suitable and a better representation of a pop magazine. As this genre of magazine is predominantly target at young girls, there needs to be soft, feminine colours used to attract the right target audience. Young girl’s eyes will be drawn to these bright colours as it is a colour scheme that they like and will instantly show that this is a pop magazine. In addition, the font used is also very suitable to this genre of magazine as it is bold, feminine, modern and also has a slight theatrical look to it. This title will stand out off the shelves and the readers eyes will instantly be drawn to it as they know it is suitable and targeted towards them.

The wrong choices!

Rock musicThis magazine title’s font and colour scheme is all wrong for a rock magazine, it is not suitable for this genre one bit. Firstly the font is too basic and boring for a rock magazine, it needs to be more edgy, in your face, something that you wont forget… Also because rock is now a unisex magazine (although some will say it is predominantly targeted towards men), means that they can use different colours as long as their bold and dramatic to represent the magazine genre e.g. black, white, red, grey etc… Not green and yellow! Firstly these colours clash terribly and look horrific together and secondly they’re not dramatic and edgy enough for a rock magazine.

The right choices!

Rock musicWhereas this colour scheme and font is a much better representation for a rock magazine. This is because a more edgy and dramatic font is being used which will attract the readers eyes as it will stand out off of the shelves. Also the colour scheme is very vivid, the red stands out amazingly against the black background giving it that extra boost of colour and dramaticness. This is exactly what rock music is all about, being dramatic and standing out from the crowd, therefore this needs to be reflected in the music magazine. The genre of rock is targeted towards both men and women of ages from around 15-35 which is quite a range in age so this means that this magazine can use these particular colours in order to attract the correct target audience.

Ideas for colour scheme’s

Hip Hop

poprock

R&B

R&B magazines usually have quite a neutral colour scheme as it is a unisex magazine aimed at people aged around 15-30. These colours are age appropriate.

Hip Hop magazines on average seem to be targeted towards teenage boys therefore this colour scheme is suitable for the age and gender target audience for this magazine.

Rock magazines over the years have became unisex and usually target towards 15-30 year old people. As it is such a dramatic and edgy genre of music, these colours represent this well as they’re dramatic and stand out. They also suit the target audience well because they aren’t to masculine nor feminine and they’re also age appropriate.

Due to pop magazines being predominantly targeted towards young/teenage girls, young, bright and feminine colours are needed. These colours represent the fun and modern magazine well and are also age appropriate. The bright colours will catch the target audience’s eyes well on the shelves, especially the younger girls.