Rocksound analysis
- 1. Masthead: The masthead of this magazine is positioned at the top of the front cover and covers all 3 of the top row of the rule of thirds. It is in bold, black text against a white background which makes it’s very noticeable to the audience. Also, there is a smaller shape around the “R” in the title of the magazine which is a logo that goes with the masthead, but it can be suggested that this has been added to the masthead so the audience will begin to recognize this logo without having the official title as it is now a branded magazine. Furthermore, the masthead suggests that this magazine fits into the sub-genre of rock music as the title “Rock Sound” suggests a connection with this genre. Covermount/Strapline: The magazine has included a covermount that runs across the very top of the page. This is offering 8 free posters inside which has been used to ap-peal to the readers as the target audience of this magazine is teenagers and young adults between the ages of 14-20. This can be seen by how the magazine includes this feature and is advertising their posters as this feature Main Coverline: The main cover is typically for teenagers. line on the front cover is positioned in the left middle square in the rule of thirds and is placed directly next to the person’s eyes in the main image. It has been placed here to be one of the first things that the audience will see as it is directly in the reader’s eye line. The grab quote “I’m one of a kind...” has been used with the main cover line, followed by a cap-tion stating that this is the artists “incredible return”. The ellipse has been used in the grab quote to show that there is more of this in-terview inside and the adjective “incredible” has been used to try and excite the reader about the main article. Also, the main cover line anchors the main image as in bold, bright red text, the magazine states the name of the artist included in the image. The colour red may have been used as a connotation of the colour red is anger which can be associated with the gender of rock as some of the lyrics and the music often expresses angry emotions. Price and Barcode: The price of this maga-zine is £3.99 which suggests that the maga-zine is targeted at people of middle class and above as it is quite a high price for the target audience of young adults of a low social class to afford. This magazine follows the code and conven-tions of a magazine by including a barcode as this feature is essential in purchasing any magazine. Coverlines: The other cover lines that the magazine has included are all about members of My Chemical Ro-mance, so this is also anchorage text to the main image. It is likely that this will appeal to the target audience as if they are purchasing this magazine; they are probably going to like this band and therefore will get updated on each member’s projects, and not just the lead singer who is used in the main image. Main Image: The main image of this magazine features the ex-lead singer of the band, My Chemical Romance. This confirms that the magazine is of a rock sub-genre as this band is widely connected with the genre of rock music. Direct address is used in the main image as the artist is looking directly at the camera which will make the target audience feel as if this im-age is more personal to them. A medium shot has been used in this image and it centered on the front cover against a white back-ground. This makes the layout of the front cover look simple as the colour scheme is mostly red, white and black and this will appeal to the target audience as the young adults will be looking for some-thing simple but catches their eye. Covermount: A space is left here for a CD which includes many artists that are popu-lar with the magazine’s audience. The case of the CD states that there are “15 free killer tracks” and the adjective “killer” fur-ther suggests the genre of rock music as rock can sometimes be associated with violence due to the harshness of the in-struments.
- 2. Heading: The title of the contents page is written in the top right corner of the page and is intro-ducing the contents of this issue. This has been written in similar text to the masthead on the front cover which creates a sense of familiarity for the reader as the masthead will be easier to recognize. Images: There are three images on the contents page of this magazine which are shots of some of the dou-ble- page spread articles in the issue. These images each have a grey border around them, which links them to the contents list, as 3 of the contents also have a grey border behind the text and a thin arrow also connects the text to the image so the reader knows which one is which. This feature has been used to help the reader find the specific pages shown easier (without having to read through the whole list) and by including the images them-selves, the target audience will have a small insight into what the article will look like, and the layout and styling of the pages shown here may interest them. The images suggest that the magazine is aimed at a male audience as the artists shown are predominantly male, so they aspire to be like them or may relate to them as they are the same gender. However, this could have been a selling point to gain a female audience aswell, as they may be attracted to the men shown in the magazine. Section Headings: On this page, the contents have been divided into five different sections: News & Regulars, The Best New Mu-sic, Features, Albums and Lives. The topic titles have been in-cluded so that the page is more organized and so the target au-dience of 14-20 year olds as they might only be looking for spe-cific sections or articles of the magazine and this feature will be more convenient for them. Layout: The contents page has the same colour scheme as the front cover of the magazine: red, white and black. This creates a simple style to the layout of the magazine and this is useful as it does not create any dis-tractions from the main text and images, as the simplicity means that the readers eyes are attracted to the main focuses. Also, the rule of thirds has not been used here and in-stead only 2 columns has been used. It could be sug-gested that this has been used to separate the con-tents and the images in a organized way and as there are not too many contents and only too main multi-modal features included (text and images), there was no need to use a third col-umn. Page Numbers: The page numbers are written in the same font and size as the title of the articles here, but are coloured red instead of black. This makes the numbers stand out as the boldness of the red against the white background emphasizes the importance of this feature. Banner: A small banner has been used on one of the content stories which says “On the Cover”. This is use-ful to the target audience as they will be able to spot the main feature article easier as this is the only con-tent which has this feature so therefore it will be easier for the audience to spot. Also, the target audience of 14-20 year olds are not likely to want to spend time reading through all of the contents, so if they would only like to read the cover article, it is easier for them to find.
- 3. Images: Each of the pages that include this article have their own main image and they are both long shots. These images have been edited in Photoshop so they do no longer have a background, and they have then been placed on a plain background. Furthermore, the images are similar and both show the man that the interview is with facing left and right, which seems to have been used to place a meaning to the title of the article. It could be suggested that the mise-en-scene of the main images and title have been used to hint at the content of the article to excite the reader as the target audience of 14-20 year olds are likely to like this artist and will take interest in an interview which explains an un-known Grab Quote: This feature has been included on the double page spread in bold, black font and in uppercase text. This has also been placed against the white background to make it one of the first things the audience will see. The grab quote is an-other feature over these two pages that give the reader a small insight into the full interview. As the featured artist was previously in a band, this quote suggests that he will be dis-cussing his thoughts and opinions and if the target audience is buying this magazine, it is likely that they will have an interest in the band or newly solo artist so therefore will want to read about what has gone on. Sub-Heading: The sub-heading of this article is written in smaller text than the main heading and is in lower-case font. This is just giving the reader another small insight into the interview which is on the next page and the suspension marks which the text ends on creates tension which will excite the reader on what they will read next. Furthermore, the artist’s name is written in bold text which emphasizes who that article is focused on. It is likely that this has been done this way so the target audience will know that this interview is only with Gerard Way, and not with the rest of his former band, and therefore they are most likely going to want to hear what his solo future and current projects are. part of the person’s life. Title: The title of the article anchors the main im-ages together as they are facing one another. Al-so, the title of “one way or another” suggests that the article is going to discuss a big decision in this interview with Gerard Way and this has been done to give the reader a subtle insight into the article. This feature has been written in bold, white text and has black border around it and this makes the title stand out against the blue coloured back-ground. Also, the title has been placed in the cen-ter of the double page spread which means it is directly in the reader’s eye-line.