Research - analysing contents page

Kerrang! Magazine’ contents page has a simple layout that is ideal for the reader to easily look for what they want to read about. This contents page is loaded with images of bands and artists; there are also images of other issues of Kerrang! The largest image on the page is of a Scottish band, ironically the largest image on the page is the only one that is printed in black and white. The band members in this photograph are dressed in black clothing. Two of the band members are accessorized with black and white items. On the left this band member is wearing a white scarf and also has a black sunglasses hanging from his jumper. On the right this band member also has black sunglasses hanging from his jumper. Ideally this photograph has an all-white background, this contrast of colours between the black and the white and the fact that the image is printed in black and white makes the image stand out the most against all the other images surrounding it.
The other images around the main image are in colour. Each image has been photographed at different angles as high angle shots, medium close-up, medium long, medium, and long shots. Some photographs have a bright lighted background whereas the other photographs have a black, dull or white background.
Initially I researched that Kerrang! Magazine is aimed at those who listen to heavy metal and rock music. It is a niche magazine as it aims to a distinct segment of the market, in this case the rock genre. However, it also includes different sub-genres of rock such as emo (MCR), rap-metal (RATM), classic rock (Red hot chilli-peppers) and gothic rock (HIM). I also established that Kerrang! is specifically aimed at the age group of 14-21.
Generally, the images on the contents page corroborate with the image on the front cover of Kerrang! The main costume colour scheme of the bands/artists on the contents page is black and dark colours similar to the colour scheme of My Chemical Romance on the front cover. Similar bands to My Chemical Romance have been plastered on the contents page inferring that if the target audience are interested in the band on the front cover they may be interested in reading about similar bands.
The colours used on this page are yellow, black, white and red. These colours are the same colours that were used on the front cover with the exception of orange and have a similar style to the front cover. However, in contrast this page uses a different font to the front cover. The fonts used on this page are not as dramatic as the front cover and it makes the page seem rather calm and less dramatic the fonts are in lower case letters giving the page a casual look. The font is not aimed to stand out as much in contrast to the cover. Here, the images are the most important as they are what stands out the most.
The information on this page is divided into three main sections. The two main sections with the most significant information are the ‘image’ section and the ‘page number’ section. These sections are the most important not only because they hold the key information but also because it is the first thing the reader will tend to look for. Therefore, the layout of this contents page has been structured to ensure that the ‘image’ section is the first thing the reader will look at. This section has one large image of a band with the page number in the corner, and then beside and underneath it there are several smaller images of band and artists with page numbers, showing the reader who will be featured on each page. This is convenient for the reader as they will easily and quicker for them to decide what/who they want to read about-images are a perfect way to engage attention. The second main section is simply a column providing snippets of information about what is going to be on each page and where to find it. This section uses the colours yellow, black and white. The key words are highlighted in yellow and black standing out against the rest of the black text in the column. Just underneath, is an advertisement offering readers to order issues of Kerrang! Promoting its delivery service of its issues, which could help increase their profit. The third section on the page is the editor’s comment and the title. The editor’s comment is a short paragraph with a small image of another magazine issue. Beside the editors comment, underneath the title ‘contents’ there is a quotation in a medium size font from someone featured in the magazine. The size font implies its level of importance on the page. The quotation is short and underneath it the name of the speaker is highlighted in bold to catch the reader’s eye. The whole structure of the contents page tells me that this magazine has been organised in a way in which the editor feels best appropriate for its audience.




Clash Magazine’ contents page has a defined layout structure. It has a bright mid-blue background with mid close shot image of a celebrity. The celebrity’s costume consists of a t-shirt that is a similar colour to the background; this is effective because it is as if part of his body is blended into the background. The celebrity appears as a God-like figure of Jesus, he is looking up – this pose makes him seem happy about something above him. The background colour makes it look like he is looking up to the sky holding his arms halfway up. The tattoos on the upper part of his arms draw attention to the position of his arms. The length of his hair and his beard and moustache emphasises his image as God-like.
Overlapping the central image is information arranged into 3 columns stating what is on each page and where the reader can find it. On the left hand side of the columns are three small images of different bands and artists. The editor has chosen three totally opposite images which contrast each other. I assume the editor has purposely chosen three images that have different contexts – the first, is an image similar to the central image a dark background with a close mid shot of the celebrity. The second image contains 2 men who appear to be in a garden, this could be a recreation of ‘Adam and Eve’ as one of the men is holding an apple and this image supports the religious vibe of the page. The third image is of a band photographed with a retro background. Just above the three small images is a short paragraph about the ‘cover feature’ defining who he is. This is relevant for those readers who may not be familiar with him. Overall the formation of this contents page gives the impression that this magazine is aimed at an older audience.
In contrast to Kerrang’s contents page we can see very obvious differences. Previously I stated that Kerrang’ contents page layout was ‘simple’ however in comparison to Clash’ layout it is fairly complex due to the amount on the page. However, the amount of images used in each contents page makes it clear of their target audience. Kerrang appeals to a younger generation where as Clash appeals to an older audience. There is more use of text in Clash as it is assumed the older audience prefers to read rather than just look at images. Whereas in Kerrang many images are used in order to attract and engage their audience’s attention. The columns of information in Clash are arranged into sub-headings containing relevant information under relevant titles-which is useful for the reader to easily find what they want to read about. The information in Kerrang is divided into many sections telling readers what type of articles/news there is and where it can be found. There are many things that Kerrangs contents page contains that Clash does not such as the actual title- contents, the issue number and the editor’s comment. Kerrang has overloaded their information and images on the page whereas Clash has broken down its information and images leaving the page with a huge amount of space which does not look empty as it is filled with the central image which is basically the background of the entire page.

Vibe magazine Analysis

‘Vibe’ magazine is a music magazine aimed at the young hip hop & R&B listeners. Looking at the front cover of this magazine we know that the main story/article in the magazine is going to be about ‘Janet Jackson’ for two simple reasons, she is the central image and secondly the anchorage text: ‘Janet Jackson likes to watch’. There are several puffs surrounding the central image all stating that there is going to be information/stories about popular artists and groups of the magazines specific genre. The puffs also suggest that the magazine has special photographs and new information about video games inside.
‘Vibe’ is aimed at a younger audience; it is targeted at the age group of 16-24 year olds who like, know and listen to hip hop and R&B music.
The editor has successfully selected artists that they expect the audience to relate to. There is a range of artists which could help increase the magazine sales because even if there happens to be a particular artist or group that the reader may not like some people will still read a story about them.
The central image of Janet Jackson appears to be quite inviting towards the reader, she maintains a direct mode of address and it is humorous that she is posing with a camera as if she is going to take a picture of the reader this pose is also inviting to the reader as it seems to target them individually especially if the reader knows who the artist is. The editor has craftily already made a connection between the central image and the audience. Janet Jackson is placed on the front cover of this magazine. Janet Jackson is a very recognised person if not as an artist. Using a popular artist on the front cover encourages readers to buy the magazine as they know who they’re going to be reading about or looking at. The anchorage text on this magazine is kept short ‘Janet Jackson likes to watch’ the anchorage text is in sync with the central image-Jackson appears to be ‘watching’ through the camera lens and the anchorage text says that she ‘likes to watch’. ‘Janet Jackson is printed in bold, bright blue outlined in white and are the most important words in the anchorage text. This is so it stands out to customers.
We get the impression that the main story is going to be about photographs taken by Janet Jackson as she is the one holding the camera on the cover. Overall, the artist is looking directly at the audience singling them out with the camera lens pointing at them as if she is ‘watching’.
Janet Jackson’s costume is a simple outfit of denim jeans and a white vest top; she also wears quite edgy jewellery. In general her costume contains quite neutral colours that support the whole colour scheme of the front cover. This is a good thing because she fits in with the outline of the cover.
Vibe’ magazine’ initial target audience is 16-24 year olds; therefore the social groups that are being represented in this magazine are teenagers and young adults. The magazine successfully represents this younger generation in two puffs-‘15 crucial video games’, video games are thought to be associated with younger people. Also ‘First ever photo issue! Limited edition’-it is assumed that generally younger people would be more interested in looking at photographs rather than reading posters as photographs have a more sophisticated style. The editor chooses to include photographs assuming the target audiences interest. It is less of an effort and is easier for them to just ‘look’ at something without having to concentrate so hard. The younger generation also enjoy looking at photographs to judge and criticise celebrities with each other.
There is a selection of buzz words in this magazine –‘15’ is a reasonably larger font size than the rest of the text it is associated with and on the cover. Also the text ‘video games’ is coloured in with a white font with a black outline in contrast to ‘15 crucial’ which is coloured all in black. The editor attempts to create a clear contrast to make the most important words ‘video games’ stand out. Its aim is to catch the reader’s attention with the word ‘crucial’. This word sounds as if it is urging the reader that it is essential to read about these ‘must see’ video games. The word crucial could also have been chosen because it is persuasive. The words ‘Hip-hop’ are coloured in a black font with a white outline to stand out against the pale background. It jumps out at the reader as it not only is it in a larger font it is cleverly used to target the audience who are interested in hip hop. Underneath it, it then provides a list of names that may interest the hip hop audience. In my opinion I believe the word ‘exposed’ to be a buzz word. It implies the meaning of a revelation, which consumers are inclined to read about. It is placed next to the name ‘Rihanna’ – a famous R&B artist which most consumers are expected to be familiar with. Using her name increases the probability of people taking an interest in purchasing Vibe.
The title of the magazine is in big, bold capital letters making it very easy for it to be identified. The editor has cleverly created the title to be big and bright but also discrete and in the background. The top of the central image overlaps part of the title despite this; the title remains clear and recognisable. The title is in an effectively dominant font which stands out against the rest of the text on the page. The colour of the title is a light red/orange; however this colour is not thought to be associated with an urban genre. The title ‘Vibe’ however is associated with the urban genre, as it means to have ‘a generally good feeling’; therefore it implies the magazine contains many things to leave you with a good feeling.
The puffs on the front cover briefly state what is going to be inside the magazine. However, the font of all the puffs is the same, this may not seem to be a negative point but the cover is overloaded with puffs of the same or similar size and the same font which make the cover appear plain and plastered. Another factor that makes the front cover have a dull appearance is the background colour (faded white). The colour scheme of ‘Vibe’ revolves around quite pastel colours, the orange and the blue colours constructed together with a white outline colour, clash against the pale background. The main puffs are simply placed on the bottom left and right hand side. They cleverly provide snippets of information about artists and bands associated with the genre of this magazine such as: ‘Rihanna’, ‘Mario’ and ‘J.Lo’ by using buzz words: ‘Rihanna: Exposed’ and ‘Jermaine Dupri’s Wild Night’. Stating the names of the artists/bands that are going to be in the magazine is useful for the audience to decide whether or not they want to read about them.
The slogan: ‘First Ever Photo Issue! Limited Edition Cover’ infers ‘buy now or miss out!’ It is based on the top right hand side of the cover, overlapping the last two letters of the magazine title. The slogan is very small and is quite hard to see instantly. The editor has attempted to make it stand out in another way by using a black font colour for the slogan excluding the words ‘Photo Issue!’- Here the editor has made the text larger that the rest of the slogan and has used a white font colour outlined with black to create a more ‘outstanding’ effect from the rest of the text. The words ‘First Ever’ are also the same font size as ‘Photo Issue!’ however, in contrast it is coloured in a black font colour. This has been formed in order to create another clash of colours to make the text appear eye-catching. The same effect has been attempted previously in the puff ’15 crucial video games’ where ’15 Crucial’ is coloured in black against ‘Video Games’ which is coloured in a white font with a black outline, again used to create that eye-catching effect. The slogan tells us that this magazine edition is special because it is the first time it has produced a photo issue, the exclamation mark after the word ‘issue’ implies that this is exciting news and will persuade the audience to take interest in this edition of Vibe. It also tells us that the front cover of Vibe is a limited edition, implying that it is best for consumers to buy the magazine now as they may not get another chance to, later on. All of the texts on the front cover are in capital letters. I believe that the editor has set this style on the front cover in order to make all the text appear bright and bold. This also implies that the all the text is important, this is a negative thing because it is unclear of where the reader should be looking first.
The magazine’s technique to draw their target audience in, is what the whole context of the magazine is based on – their ‘first ever photo issue’. It is an attempt of promoting a new idea successfully, depending on their target audience to purchase it.
However, the editor also tries to make the magazine issue more appealing by throwing in celebrity names and a small insight into what the inside story contains: ‘He’s Free, But is He Good? The Untold Story of Busta Rhymes’ again, the editor relies on the audience’ taste.