Existing music front covers

The image is right in the centre which leaves room for writing all over the page. The use of colour really stands out as the black and white are the main colours but the minimal use of gold and blue which breaks up the colours and are very eye catching. I like how this magazine has only two layers of the model and the speakers, which have writing on it. The image of the singer Pixie Lott is on the top layer showing that she is the most important thing on there, she covers most of the text, and this demonstrates that the whole of the wording doesn’t need to be show. Pixie Lott even covers her own name, this shows that she is a very popular music star and she doesn’t need to show all of her name to know who she is. This is the same technique used with the title as the “H” is covered by Pixie’s head. Stereotypically this magazine could be seen for male as Pixie is dressed very revealing, for male entertainment. Also she is dressed in blue which makes the magazine more aimed at men as blue is stereotypically for men and not women. Although it could be for women as Pixie’s fashionable clothing is matching which women stereotypically like, as her bra and shoes match with the vibrant blue and the black shorts and jacket match. Also as Pixie is a female, her music could more towards female’s likings and therefore the information inside would be more aimed at women. The writing looks as though it has been sprayed on the stereo, which symbolises the freedom of music and you can make it your own by drawing, designing on your music equipment. The use of gold in the title and gold on the hair makes the two go well together. Different font is used throughout the background for different things as the title of the magazine and Pixie Lott’s name is the biggest things on the page. The text says “More girls” this is stereotypically I statement which men know of and love as they find women attractive and the more the better. I like this magazine as Pixie Lott shows a lot of power and authority for women and artists as she stands strongly and has a very demanding face, which embraces the reader. It is good that this music magazine is introducing a "free style magazine" too as it is mixing the two genres of music and fashion magazines, therefore appealing to fashion magazine buys too and widening their audience.

Symbolisation is used on this cover as the band is called “Green day” and the background is green. Most of the text is together on one side which makes the reader focus on this as it is grouped in a big box list. It is using different fonts and colours to make the reader more interested and look at the more important titles. I like this as all the information you need to look at is all in one place and not dotted around which can be too busy and distracting. Therefore this magazine front cover is laid out differently to others. The front page has lots of layering and the important articles and the bands names are on the top later, then the band and then finally the name of the magazine. This shows that the magazine is very confident with their name, and they know that it is well known and popular; therefore they can afford to cover it up. Green Day the band is dressed in suits this makes the page look very smart and stylish. The text colour relates to the name of the magazine as it is red and white, yet this is in contrast to the title as there is more white than red. There has been a lot of slang used on the front cover with “YEAH”.This magazine is very proud of it and shows that it is “THE UK’S BIGGEST MUSIC MAGAZINE” and it’s a “five star”. I don’t like how the barcode is so far up the side of the magazine so it looks odd, as this is normally in a corner of a magazine out of the way. I think it could do with more text as t seem too simplistic. This magazine is rock genre hence the sentence “LET’S ROCK” and using words like “CHAOS AND REVOLUTION” to describe rock.

This issue of the music magazine “MOJO” is a very well known magazine, so well known it doesn’t need to show its entire name. This is done by using the model’s head covering the title, yet his head substitutes as an “O”. There are two main titles which are both white, one is the top: “MOJO” and in the middle: “SYD BARRETT”. This makes the reader look in 3rds and look at the front cover from top to bottom and with the other text being at the sides, this makes the reader look from left to right. Therefore all the front cover has been looked at. I like how they have used blocked coloured text boxes and then written over the top if the colour is too light to be seen. E.g. the black text boxes with yellow writing, as it look as though it has been stamped on rough and rushed, which symbolises rock music. The free CD persuades the consumer to buy the magazine as they think your getting extra for your money. The magazine seems to be male orientated as every picture on the page is of males and there are no female interpretations e.g. the colour pink etc. Therefore it has targeted its audience well. The colours used are very dull and dirty suggesting the look of rock music itself. As a lot of the text is white and the name of the magazine is white to make the title stand out it has been given a shadow to make it bold and make it look significant to everything else. The image of the man looks very messy and rough, this is obviously what the audience wants as it sells, although this image isn’t very attractive, so you could say “MOJO” don’t care what they look like it’s just music attitude. As this is a rock music magazine the images doesn’t matter and rough is the new hip thing.

The image shows to male characters back to back, this uses less space and still shows the two models and makes the viewer look from side to side. As they are both wearing the same thing and have the same hair they have positioned them like this too look like twins and a double act, which makes the reader look twice at the magazine. I also like it as they are still looking at the camera but from the side, whereas most image look straight at the viewer, which makes it different. The minimal use of colour matches the titles colour which is red, white and black, this promotes the magazines name. I may do this in my magazine as these colours work well on top of each other as they are contrasting colours and they are dark over light or light over dark. The colours match the title and make the consumer remember the name and what it looks like. It looks like the red colour is laid on the top like the red is in the middle of the “NME” title then come the white than black as the background of the magazine and the boarder of the title. Which also makes you remember the magazine more and the themed colour collaboration. I also like how the characters bodies are being shown a lot and have been written over the top therefore providing a lot of space. The theme is mostly red white and black which relate to the name of the magazine colours, and the use of yellow in some parts really splits it up from the other three colours and makes it stand out. There symbolism in the name “THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS” as they are dressed in dark clothing as the word “SHADOW” is on a dark background. On the front cover rhetorical questions are used to make the consumer be curious of what inside and want to read the magazine to find out the answer or learn more such as “Collaborating with Amy Winehouse?”. I like how at the top fade is used to make something look not very important like the “AND” in the sentence “FRANZ FERDINAND AND THE COURTEENERS”. This makes the viewer know that these names are actual artists and concentrates on the bold names. Down the side there are topics that are in red which attracts the reader as it is bold, and makes them want to know more, then below there is more information in small text which makes the reader more interested as they are getting more information. The magazine is very confident in its readers knowing the name of the magazine as it is slightly covered by the artists head, it is also confident is its audience knowing what “NME” stands for meaning “NEW, MUSICAL, EXPRESS” which is an acronym.

The use of a main female model makes “KERRANG!” look very mellow, considering its rocker music nature. Therefore breaking the stereotypically view of rock music being dirty and male orientated as “LACUNA COIL” is a “Metal Goddess”. This issue keeps to a black, white and red theme all the model has black makeup and black hair. This theme suggests that the magazine has a dark and gothic. The female looks very glamorous as she brushes her hair behind her ears; this shows innocence and is more like a fashion magazine look. Therefore you could say that this image doesn’t fit in with the image of “KERRANG”’s style. As the main focus is a female the magazine could be more aimed at men as she is wearing a low cut top and no text or anything is covering her chest. By using a woman on the front cover “KERRANG” is widening its target market meaning women as this magazine is mainly aimed at men. All the text is listed on the left hand side to show more of the women. On the other smaller images there are outlines to separate them from the main one and highlight them as another important part. I like how names of bands that are next to each other are separated with stars and not commas, which is really unique. Most of the other images aren’t looking at the camera therefore the consumer focuses on the main image of the women as she is close up and is staring right at the viewer. This magazine is being very sexist as they call “LACUNA COIL” a metal goddess and not a metal legend, just because she is a female doesn’t mean she has to be called a strong word that is feminine. The title of “KERRANG” looks like it is breaking as someone is shouting it like when music is played so high pitched it breaks glass which is a very good effect and is very relevant to music as people like to experiment this theory for a mad experiment.