Contents Page analysis

When analysising Undercover magazine's contents page, the page had 3 strips of images, each images seems to divide the contents page into 3 sections. All of the images seem to go with the theme of the title of the magazine (Undercover) as all of the images consists of only part of the body. it keeps the audience guessing what is going on and therefore attracts the readers.

Also the font is written in a san serif font that is rather wide and in capital letters, which has a modern style,

however the style of the content page seems to be basic, which gives the impression that their audience are use to it, which is therefore in the interest of the audience.

The contents page shows that the magazine has at least 98 pages which is about the average a music magazine should have, therefore when making my magazine i will have to take this in consideration. The contents page is broken up into sections by subheadings, which are in a bold font.

The kerrang contents page seems to relate to their target market, the rock themes seems to be followed through out the contents page. We can see 7 images on the page that gives the audience a glimpse of what we can expect from the different pages. The page numbering is placed on the right hand side of the page, numbered from 4 – 71.  The magazine has bold yellow fonts as it's subheading and which agains follows throught the whole page. The lay out of the magazine seems crowded, however it is effective in the terms that it relates to the crazy rock theme that the magazine has.

My audience profiling

Rwd and Q audience profile

RWD/Q audience profiling

Genre:

My magazine is similar to RWD magazine as it covers a wide
range of music from grime, hip hop, dub step, R&B, house, Funky. However aim
to use elements of Q magazine in which focus on British music and add elements
of old school music to relate to the trends of the yester years.

Age range:

Q magazines target audience in terms of age is for older
people - it's a magazine for mature music lovers and is not directed at
teenagers whereas Rwd is target for 15 -25 year olds in which are the people
who are interested in their music genres. I have decided to use the same age
range as Rwd magazine because it relates to the music genres I am using for my
music magazine.

Race/Ethnicity:

Q magazine audience in terms of race are of a white British
ethnicity, this is because these are the people that are interested in their
genre, whereas RWD has a majority of Black British readers. I want my magazine
to be diverse in terms of relating to different races; therefore I aim to mix
music genres to get the attention of different races.

Income:

Q magazine readers tend to be older and have a passion for
music, including working in the music industry. Therefore they are expected to
have money, therefore they can afford to charge higher price. The age range
that is expected is £20,000 and above. In comparison RWD’s target audience are
young people therefore they are not expected to have a lot of money, income
range from 0 to £15,000.

Textual Analysis of RWD Double Page Spread

Textual Analysis

This is a double page spread of Rwd magazine; the magazine detonates a large long shot image of 4 people (3 men and one woman). The Image is meant to be the black eye pea members - who are an r&b band, however from this image we are able to see that it is focused on one member of the band. The fact that the image had a narrow depth of field with Will I am standing out and the rest of the band faded out shows that this page is all about him. The long shoot shows will I am wearing gold and cream neutral colours with could relate to his statue and power within the band and his power over the readers.

The title of the magazine also shows that it is about will I am by relating his name in the title, the font used is a sans serif font as it relates to the fact that black eye peas are a modern group that make modern music. The font also relates to the colour theme of what will I am is wearing therefore we automatically know it is about him.

Also the image takes up 3/4 of the double page spread so there is little space to write an article about the member. However they make a column with a small Ariel font in enable for there to be enough information on the page. Nevertheless, I get from this that they are targeting young people because they don’t like to read too much or they will get bored, so they have kept the information short and snappy.

The whole composition of the magazine relates to the new  genre of modern hip hop that the black eye peas have created, the colours of gold and cream relate to regeneration on the old hip hop and music, the white background keeps it clean and fresh which also relates to the new music they have created. Also the poses of the band members shows that they want to be taken serious as artist in the music industry.

Overall, i have learnt that I need to send a message about the artists through the composition of the magazine, I aim tot do this by relating the genre to the theme of the double page spread, also I have to realise that my target market are young people therefore, I have to make sure not to write too much and keep it short and snappy.

Textual Analysis of Q Magazine

Textual Analysis of Q Magazine front
cover

The denotation of this magazine shows the large distinctive logo of a q in capital letters and white in a serif type of style, which is inside a bright red square. The cover consists of a coloured photograph of a white woman looking straight into the camera. The photo is a medium close up showing her in the rain with her long wet black hair, dark red lipstick and a large amount of eye makeup wearing a black leather jacket.  Her mouth seems to be open so we can her teeth and tongue. It appears that she is licking a silver shark tooth like ring, with her hand clinch into a fist, placed near her face. The background of the photograph is black, in which the photograph covers the whole magazine. The
girl seems to look young as if she is in her early 20’s and has clear glowing skin. Above the photograph is the selling line in bold white serif font, just below the q magazine logo is the barcode which is place above 6 cover lines. To the right of the logo are more cover lines in red white and grey serif fonts, with different sizes. On top of the photograph is the main cover line show “3 words” in a small red font, then “Cheryl Cole” underneath it in a larger bold white font and underneath that “rocks” in a large red font.

The lighting on the cover of the magazine is high key lighting which gives the cover a commercial look, the high key lighting allows us to see the girls face clearly, so we are able to see her almost perfect face. The purpose of the high key lighting is to make her stand out because she surrounded by a black background, by making her stand out and making her paler we automatically notice her and pay attention to her. As Cheryl Cole is a celebrity the magazine need to make her stand out because they help sell magazine, therefore high key lighting is appropriate.

The setting in the background is not clear; we can’t see the background because the photograph of Cheryl Cole takes up the whole magazine. However, we can see that the background is black and it appears that it is raining. The effect of this gives it a dark feeling which relates to Q magazine; which specialises in rock music. Using the black background makes Cheryl Cole look more like a rocker chick than a commercial girl, which makes her fit into the magazine genre.

As the photograph is a medium close up we can’t properly see what she is wearing, however, from what we can see Cheryl Cole is wearing is a leather jacket and a large amount of dark makeup, leather jackets and heavy make up are associated with rockers and rock music, therefore it relates to Q magazines genre and makes her look more edgy so she is able to the magazines target market. The fact that the image isn't a long shot like her other images, give the impression that she wants to be taken serious as a singer, instead of a national beauty.

The prop in this magazine is the shark tooth like ring; the ring is very unusual and is a symbol of rock music, the fact that she is liking the ring show that she is embracing rock, by looking wild and being adventurous in both her style and music. Also it shows her being sexual without wearing
revealing clothes, this also relates to rock music in which the magazine is trying to promote.

The non verbal communication shows Cheryl Cole looking straight into the camera; therefore she knows that she is being photographed. Her eyes are piercing straight at us whom makes us alarm and again makes her look edgy and wild, it corresponds with the rocker image that the magazine has given her. Another important feature is the fact that she isn't showing her right hand - with her tattoo on show again shows she wants to be taken seriously and wants to change the perception of her.

The masthead uses a sans serif font which relates to the youthful and wild music that the magazine is relating to, the font is large and bold to catch the attention of the audience. Using the
bright red square to surround the white font makes the font stand out and look more edgy and makes it more recognisable

The main cover line is in 3  different fonts sizes and two different colours, the colours relates to the theme of the front cover which is red and white, the colour red and white relates to the masthead. The main cover line relates to theme of the magazine which says “3 words” – which is the name of her album, “Cheryl Cole Rocks”. The fact that they use the world rocks in large font is intentional because it is sending a message to the audience that she is a rocker chick, which again
relates to the theme of the magazine. It also uses the language that their target audience would use which would attract their attention.

Overall the magazine genre is rock music and you can tell because the different features of the magazine relates to the rock genre. Therefore when making my music magazine I have to make sure that everything relates to my music genre. Also from this my target audience would be at a young age from 16 -27 years and have knowledge of rock culture but also other music genres and relate it to the target audience.