Front cover research

Kerrang!

Issue: No 1159 19th May 2007

Price: £2.10

Images: Main photograph is the background. It’s three people from the band who are the main article. Three smaller images of other bands.

Good: The appearance of the band shows a stereotype which advertises the magazine as a rock magazine.

Bad: There’s 12 people on the front cover which makes it look a bit too busy.

Colours: Red, white and black.

Good: It’s simple and compiments the colour photos. It would look to crowded with any more colours.

Language:

Good: Puns used such as ‘Unfold the puzzle of life’ which plays on the bands album ‘Puzzle’ and song ‘Unfolded stars. Also ‘Hayley starts a riot!’ is a pun on Hayley Williams’ album riot.

Bad: You wouldn’t get the play on words unless you knew the artists and they’re music.

Text:

Good: Bold and simple, which looks good as fancy fonts would get lost amongst all the photographs. Big, white ‘Biffy Clyro’ stands out a lot.

Free Stuff: Posters.

Layout:

Good: Colours behind the text help make it stand out in front of the images. By placing most of the articles at the bottom makes look tidy and easy to read.

Bad: Although having the articles at the bottom makes it a tidy layout, I think there’s too many articles so its a bit crowded.

NME

Issue: 3 March 2007

Price: £1.99

Images: The Gossip are the main image and there are 3 smaller photographs of other bands and artists

Good: The main image focuses on Beth Ditto whilst two boys from her band stand behind her and look on. Although she’s in darker clothing, her red lipstick and ‘bling’ attracts attention and is a reflection on her and her lifestyle. There is an image of someone with their mouth open looking angry like they’re shouting. It goes well with the text ‘The Killers sink their teeth in’. Also The Killers aren’t known as a trouble making rebellious band so it’s interesting to see the frontman looking angry and slagging off other bands.

Bad: Some of the photos look ammature and are too smal so you can’t see them properly which isn’t helped by the main image obstucting them.

Colours: Red, yellow, black and white.

Good: It’s a simple colour scheme and is the same as the logo so the magazine is even more recognisable and familiar to the public. Red can represent anger and passion which could relate to the genre of music of this magazine. Black is a very morbid, mysterious colour and could represent darker music and lyrics. Also black is very popular especially in fashion in the ‘alternative scene’. The splashes of yellow stand out and seperate the articles.

Language:

Good: ‘Sex’ is used and it is very modern to have it on a front cover of a magazine. This shows that the magazine is aimed at a younger audience as you find that a lot of people in the older generation would be shocked by it. Although ‘punks’ could be seen as a stereotype, by placing it on the front cover it advertises the type of music you could find in here and if you are a punk or into the punk scene you might be interested in this article. There is a quote taken from Noel Galagher which says ‘Sorry, I was wrong about the Klaxons’. This is quite a shocker if you know Noel’s reputation because he’s known as quite a rebel with a big mouth. By seeing this quote it makes you want to read the magazine and find out what he’s said. Another quote like this is on there which is basically the opposite. Brandon Flowers from the band The Killers says ‘Green Day offend me’ this is shocking becausde he isn’t known as a rebel and is seen as a good boy. Again this lures the reader who would want to find out why Green Day who are a respected very famous band have offended him.

Text:

Good: ‘The Gossip’ is in different font from the rest of the page, but it’s still big and bold and the white makes it stand out. Everything is simple, capitals and different colours.

Bad: I think they could have used one other font.

Free Stuff: None.

Layout:

Good: The page is busy and makes the magazine look like it’s jam packed with articles. There are box outs in different colours to seperate articles and make sure text and images don’t get lost on the main image.

Background:

Most is the main photo, but behind them is just plain white. It’s good because the rest is quite busy and it fits in with the colour scheme.

Issue: June 2008

Price: £4.20

Images: A blonde girl in a bikini and sunglasses at the beach.

Good: People usually associate holidays and sun, sea and sand with good times. People will look at this cover and want to be the girl on the front. Ibiza is a very popular destination and renowned for its clubbing so this corresponds well with the genre of this music magazine. Another thing that makes it good is that the model is not anyone famous making you think that could be you and you don’t need to be a rich celebrity to go to this place.

Colours: Blue, pink & white.

Good: The blue sea and sky looks idlyic making you want to be there. The pink writing coordinates well with the models bikini and sunglasses.

Language:

Good: This front cover talks about ‘The new rules and how to break them’. Again, it’s human curiosity that makes you want to rebel and be a little naughty sometimes. The festivals are described as ‘carnage’ which isn’t in this case a bad word and means lots of exciting and crazy things going on. Aswell as the inviting image on the front cover Mixmag are also saying they can give you money off on flights to Ibiza this would make the reader want to get the magazine even more.

Text:

Good: The pink is very bold and eye catching. ‘Ibiza is Go’ is in the same font as the other front cover and it’s suitable for a dance magazine.

Bad: Some of the text is too small.

Free Stuff: CD advertised on the top left.

Layout:

Good: Because the background is quite busy it looks good with only a few articles on it, also the text is on a slant again.

Bad: The CD blocks some of the words on the front cover.

Background: Blue sea and sky with an airplane.

Good: You can tell straight away it’s to do with Ibiza and holidays and it’s an inviting.