Content Page Analysis

Content Page Analysis:

Kerrang!

First I will analyse the contents page from the Kerrang! magazine, I will explore it in terms of layout, colour, typography, lexis etc. By doing this, it will allow me to understand other magazines with the same target audience and the methods they use to attract the specific audience of 15-24 year olds.

The masthead of the contents page is very bright due to the colours, but not very big. It is made from two different fonts; the word Kerrang is in the signature Kerrang shattered font and the word contents is in a more conventional font with fading of one or two letters. The fonts connote uniqueness and give an edgy rebellious look, which may relate to the audience if you look at the theory by Dick Hebdige in 1988 who said youths are portrayed as both fun and as trouble makers.

There are a few different styles of typography on the page but the different styles are outrageous and make the page neat. A lot of the writing is in a formal font, but the subheading are in a shatter/faded looking font, this means that the readers eyes are drawn to the more outrageous titles, then read down to the more formal conventional fonts that wouldn't be as readable if they were also in a more elaborate font. The cracked/faded font connotes edginess, which would represent the audience. 

I think when it comes to making my page's contents page I will use an eye-catching masthead and use typography that is consistent and complimenting to the page.

The basic layout of the contents page follows some convention that other magazines of the same genre follow. I think the contents page is laid out in a very unique and effective way because it is really appealing to the eye, and although it contains a lot of writing, it isn't extremely cluttered due to the smart layout. The text box, which actually contains the contents, that runs down the right hand side of the page is very standard to the conventional magazine contents page. 

The main image stays within its target audience very well, it achieves this by promoting a competition to win tickets to meet a famous band. A large image is not conventional with most other genres of magazine, but seems to be a trend in music magazines as a way to keep the reader's attention so when they turn the page and see another well known band that they are familiar with, it gives them the sense that the whole magazine will be about bands they know. 

Below the main image is a small box containing what I think is an editor’s note to the reader, which is a conventional thing to find on the contents page. 

The layout of the content's page is full, but tidy and sticks to most music magazine conventions whilst keeping uniqueness. When creating my music magazine I will also try to concentrate on keeping it tidy and unique by sticking to some conventions.

The colours red, white and black, which are used on the contents, page match the pallet used throughout the magazine and follow the Rule of Three. The red and yellow throughout the page highlight different bits of text and keep the page balanced. The use of dark and bright colours on the page supports Stanley Hall's theory that youths are rebellious.

Red is not used as often as the other colours on the page which makes the bits of text that are red more eye catching than the other colours. The yellow on the page to make the masthead more pronounced and it is also used in all of the subtitles giving a uniform look and guiding the eye down the page. The black and white are composed well across the page and are balanced overall. The colour yellow connotes energy and evokes cheerful feelings, giving the page a happy, energetic look which conflicts the Hall theory because he stated that youths are depressed and lazy, and the colour connotes happiness and energy. The colour red connotes war, power and anger, which supports Hall's theory that all youths are criminals.

The image used on the page is of a band and is promoting a competition to win tickets, this represents the audience because you will only usually find competitions in magazines aimed at youths (teenagers and young adults) and it is also of a popular band. The size of the image is also quite large, going against most conventions and because it is quite large it gives it the page a bold look that is what many teens like to see. The boldness may relate to Hall's theory that "Youth must have excitement"

The image is quite dark and all of the people are wearing all black, which contrasts very well with the white and yellow background that surrounds it, making it bold. The black clothes also connote rock music as rock artists stereotypically wear black clothing. The black clothing and interesting contrast on the page makes it stylish and interesting to look at. One of the males have a top that says 'No regrets' in a painted on effect, this connotes rebelliousness and links to the target audience of rebellious youths.

The language used on the page is conventional to music magazines with the same target audience; this is because the language is very modern and youthful. Words like Win! and Ultimate give the page a more energetic look because the words connote positive and energetic things. The fact that the words are used to make the page more energetic and enthusiastic conflicts with Hall's theory that youths are depressed and lazy. The language used is also related to music and is informal, words like Gig are used to try to relate to the audience and seem chatty and informal making the page easier to read through and allows the reader to stay interested at the informal language, and not get bored like they may with formal language.

Q

Secondly I will analyse the contents page from the Q magazine, I will explore it in terms of layout, colour, typography, lexis etc. By doing this, it will allow me to understand other magazines with the same target audience and the methods they use to attract the specific audience of 15-24 year olds.

The masthead of the contents page blends in a lot with this contents page. It isn't very bold and doesn't really stick out of the page very much. The title of the magazine is more noticeable than the title of the page because the colour used contrasts against the red better than the black. The title does look quite professional due to the conventional font style. I think the magazine looks like it's aimed more for the older ages in the target range and not the younger ages.as both fun and as trouble makers.

The typography of the page is all very similar and not very eye-catching, but it is very consistent which helps the page look unified and gives the page a nice aligned set of writing which guides the eye down. A lot of the writing is in the normal Q magazine font but the subheadings are bolder than the rest. This means that the reader’s eyes are drawn to the bolder titles and their eyes are guided down the page with the consistency of font.

The basic layout of the contents page seems very unique and slightly strange. The page seems very random and things seem to be placed with no thought or consistency. 

The text box, which contains the contents, that runs down the left hand side of the page is very standard to the conventional magazine contents page. But to the right and below the main image you can see page numbers and pictures, which are at different angles and seem out of place. There are also a lot of empty white spaces on the page, which make the right side of the page look heavy.

The main image also seems out of place and looks too large to fit on the page. The image can be good when attracting certain audience because it is very in your face and the fact it is overlapping other parts on the page makes it pop out and protrude from the page. To the target audience this might be appealing as it has a very rebellious nature and conflicts the conventional contents page. Overall I think that the layout of the page is very unique and unconventional which relates to Hall's theory that youths are criminals and therefore rebellious.

The colours used on the page follow the rule of three but the red is used a lot more on the page as background sections for text. All of the text is either black or white making the page very conventional. The red throughout the page helps to separate different bits of text and keep the page balanced. The use of dark and bright colours on the page supports Stanley Hall's theory that youths are rebellious.

Red is used most often at the top of the page meaning that the eyes start at the top due to the eye-catching colour and then slowly read downwards. The black and white text is balanced overall giving consistency across the page. The colour red connotes war, power and anger, which supports Hall's theory that all youths are criminals.

The main image used on the page is of a man called Dave Grohl who is a multi instrumentalist and lead singer for the band Foo Fighters, he was also the drummer in a very famous late 80's to 90's grunge band called Nirvana. The image is very large and isn't bordered and doesn't have its own section of background, which is very eye-catching and helps it blend into the page because it does pop out a lot. The boldness may relate to Hall's theory that "Youth must have excitement". Dave Grohl has tattoos and a guitar slung over his should and is looking away in a moody way. His tattoos and long hair connote rebelliousness as he is rebelling against society's view of men.

There are several other images across the page, one being and image of the front cover, two being images of double page spreads that are included inside the magazine and two of other bands. The top image of a band is a very stereotypical image for an indie rock genre band, the men are all very pale, and wearing very hipster looking coats as they look at the camera with no emotion, giving them a vampire kind of look and supporting Hall's theory that youths are depressed, because they all look depressed. The bottom image of a band is very energetic and is a stereotypical image of a punk rock band, the men are in the middle of jumping with their guitars whilst the drummer sits and plays. One of the men is wearing no t-shirt and is showing his tattoos, which is rebellious and supports Hall's theory.

The language used is aimed at youths; you can see this from the use of slang. Words like 'Banging tunes' and 'Boozing, brawling...' are colloquialisms associated with teens and young adults.

NME

Thirdly I will analyse the contents page from the NME magazine, I will explore it in terms of layout, colour, typography, lexis etc. By doing this, it will allow me to understand other magazines with the same target audience and the methods they use to attract the specific audience of 15-24 year olds.

The masthead of the contents page is very large and uses a very conventional font giving it an imposing and dramatic look, which is very appealing as it is quite unique. The classic conventional font used does not support Stuart Hall’s theory that all youths are troublemakers and rebellious. The masthead reads ‘Inside this week’, and coloured with black with a white background which is conventional for a contents page and also conflicts with Hall’s theory.

The typography and fonts across the whole page look traditional, the fonts are all classic clean fonts that you would expect to see in a newspaper which may be due to the NME’s past as it originally started off as a newspaper. The uses of fonts doesn’t look consistent throughout the page but none of the fonts are outrageous so the reader’s eye can read the page with ease and without being distracted.

The layout of the page seems to be centred which gives the page a sophisticated and well-edited look making the page appealing. The page's layout is classic but you don’t often see it as much in more modern music magazines, this gives the magazine a unique look compared to others of the same genre which may be more appealing to the people in the audience that are more indie and unique. 

The page has just the right balance of pictures and writing and the composition of the page is very balanced. The page doesn't have a set column for the contents like the conventional page does, but it has an individual image and page number for each feature page and they're spread out across the whole page.

 The page numbers that are alongside the image are very large and the introductory sentence to the page is about half the font size, guiding the eye downwards and giving the page fluidity. 

In the bottom right corner you see an advertisement for the magazine promoting a special offer for the subscription to the magazine, this section has a dulled blue tone in the background, which isn't extremely eye-catching, but it is set out in a way that it will attract the reader to read the advert.

There isn't a main image on this page which is very unusual but sets this magazine out from the others that have the same target audience. In the centre of the page there are two pictures of the magazine's covers which show famous bands that are very well known from the genre which will attract the audience.

The page includes 5 other images that are paired with the contents, each image representing what the page includes. All of the images are of a different subject e.g. the top right one is of what I presume is a band sat on what looks like a cliff with the sea and other cliffs behind them, the bottom left is a studio shot of a female music artist wearing very smart and fashionable clothes and lots of make-up and the middle right picture is of an artist singing into a microphone at a gig/concert with the stage lights pointing toward him. The diversity of the types of pictures allows a wider target audience to be achieved because it shows different subjects that may be appealing to different people.

The colour pallet for this page is black and white with a blue section. The black and white on the page is very conventional, the use of plain colours may link the magazine back to when it was a newspaper and gives a minimalistic modern look that makes it appealing. The use of a plain dark colour like black links to Stanley Halls theory that all youths are rebellious and unique. The use of a white page background contrasts with the text and gives a minimalistic look. The colour blue connotes clarity, purity and depth (sea and sky)  making the blue compliment the minimalistic theme of the page and also gives the page a pop of colour. The blue section highlights the specific section of page but also compliments the blue that you see on a few of the pictures making good composition.