Magazine Target Audiences #2

NME is a British music magazine that features many different genres of music. This issue acts as a sort of bumper issue, therefore doesn't focus on one genre of music, rather it includes many different artists and bands. Florence and the Machine are the main feature of the magazine as she has the largest image of the cover. Fans of hers will be attracted to the magazine, but so will fans of the other artists/bands shown on the left hand side of the cover. The bands shown are from genres such as indie, pop and rock, and so appeal to a large target audience which will bring the magazine more consumers. People interested in the magazine will be those who enjoy the genres of music featured, or fancy broadening their music horizons. The colours on the cover are very upbeat and summer-looking, despite the issue being released in January, though this could connote a fresh start to the year and fresh music to listen to. All of the artists on the cover are very young, therefore the magazine is most likely aimed at a younger audience from probably 15-24 years old. The amount of males and females shown on the cover is pretty much equal, which suggests that the magazine is appropriate for both genders to read and they will both be interested in it, however this issue could be more aimed at Florence and the Machine fans as she is the main feature. The magazine costs £2.30 and so fits in a more affordable category, especially for perhaps students with or without a part time job.  However the magazine is a weekly one so over the months could add up to quite a bit, perhaps meaning that some consumers neglect to buy it every week. The cover of the magazine contains a lot of lists and name-dropping of bands or artists, to show off how many artists are featured (the photograph-puffs and in the seal of approval) and also which genres the magazine will also have in (the list at the foot of the cover) which in a way makes the viewer think that the magazine is worth the amount they pay considering how much they get from it.

Magazine Target Audiences #1

Alternative Press is a US based magazine, and predominantly covers bands away from the mainstream music scene that usually have a rock, punk, pop-punk or heavy style to their sound, therefore the magazine will try to appeal to people who like these genres of music also. On this particular cover, Paramore are the main feature, and they fit in to the type of bands that AP would show as they are an alternative/rock band. The band have been photographed much like bands on other magazines, in a triangular placing from front to back. At the forefront of the cover is Hayley Williams, the lead singer of the band and the only female member. With her bright orange hair and being at the front of the cover, she is the first person that someone would see if their eyes glanced over the magazine, and as she is known for her bright hair colour a fan could see it and be encouraged to buy the magazine; or anyone else would be intrigued about the magazine now that it had caught their attention. The rest of the band are stood behind Hayley looking casual, all of them hold a direct mode of address with the reader which further entices them to pick up the magazine. The colours on the cover are very bright and energetic, and connote the autumn season that the magazine is being released in, along with some hints of summer with the prominent use of yellow, orange and red. The masthead and main headline are both in the same yellow tone, indicating that they have the same amount of importance as it is the name of the magazine and the name of the band, these yellows will also make the magazine itself stand out on a magazine shelf, therefore catching the eye of the viewer. The use of red on the cover highlights certain key words such as 'noise' and 'more' with 'noise' belonging to the semantic field of the magazine and 'more' being used as an incentive, boosting the impressiveness of the magazine as they brag to the reader of how much they have to offer. Going back to the band shown, the members of Paramore are quite young, perhaps indicating that it will be mainly young people that will read the magazine, and will be interested in it. They would probably fall under the age range of 14-25. The artists featured on the cover would obviously vary, and a magazine like this would more likely feature male artists or male-orientated bands as that is typical of the genres of music, but by featuring females too this makes the magazine approachable for both male and female viewers. The magazine costs $4.99 (£3.13), which is quite expensive compared to most magazines, therefore you would assume the consumers the magazine is targeted at to be perhaps students with a part-time job or young adults. These viewers would also be heavily interested in alternative music, and would like to know about many different bands in one issue of the magazine; this is shown by the lists on the cover both at the head and foot of the magazine cover. If there were someone who just bought the magazine on a whim, they would obviously just be interested on whoever was on the cover at the time so AP would have to take into account which bands are popular and which ones are not. The strapline for the main headline contains a lot of puns, as the photograph of the band is in a bowling alley they have incorporated words such as 'kingpins', 'splits' and 'strikes' so they must assume the target audience has a good sense of humour and will appreciate the puns.

Representation of Celebrities in Magazines

On this cover, Leona Lewis is wearing quite a short black dress and is standing in a provocative way, bent over slightly with her thumb in her mouth giving off a faux innocent look. She also has quite a confident facial expression, especially with her eyebrow raised looking at the audience. Along with the way she is posing, she is looking straight into the camera with a direct mode of address with a seductive look, which adds to the over-all promiscuous aura that she is giving off. The lighting is high-key, which you would assume would make it seem sophisticated but on this cover it actually makes it seem quite trashy, insinuating that Leona is trying to alter her attitude and the way people see her. Her make-up is simple but heavy, suggesting a harder edge to her personality, and it also works with the plain black outfit. The shot type allows the audience to see all of her outfit and pose, which is very important in completing the representation of her image. Her hair has been styled so it has quite a bit of volume and is in a rough curled fashion, perhaps adding again to the promiscuous look. 

In this shot, a medium long shot is used so the audience can get a full view of the set along with Lily Allen and her posing. Despite Lily only wearing hot pants and tights, her pose means that the front of her body is covered, making the fact that she isn’t wearing a top not so bad. Like Leona, she is looking directly at the camera with a more darker but suggestive look with her hand close to her face and mouth, suggesting that she has a more darker but playful personality. From what you can see of Lily’s face she is wearing dark, smoky eye make-up with her dark hair completely straight which connotes again to her darker personality. All of the colours on the cover are very metallic, with her wearing silver and black and the backdrop being a silver white.  Having the panthers as a form of prop indicates that Allen is daring and is willing to take risks.

For this cover, Eminem is standing in a very defensive pose with his arms crossed tightly against his chest, showing off his tattoos and muscular arms. The clothing that he is wearing is very simple and plain, just a black vest top which helps to show off his arms, insinuating that he is tough and not one to mess with. He is looking at the camera with a direct mode of address and a stern facial expression which furthermore intimidates the audience and makes him seem very much the one in charge. However, the attitude he is giving off is one that people will expect, and so the image fits the purpose. By using a white backdrop for the cover, Eminem stands out a lot more with the added high-key lighting, making the features of his face and body highlighted. Eminem isn't a 'typical' rapper, but he does hold certain stereotypical qualities of one, such as the tattoo's, muscles, the buzzed hair cut, serious facial expression etc. There are some surprising elements to the photograph such as the cross necklace he is wearing - as you wouldn't expect that of him, however it could relate to the topic of his feature, of him 'coming clean' so connotes his new attitude to life.

Kerrang has a very busy cover for this issue, and it makes it seem like You Me At Six aren't the most important feature in the magazine despite them being the main cover image. The whole band are photographed on the cover, and they all have quite varied facial expressions. Josh Franceschi is the main lead in the band, and has therefore been placed at the front as if they are positioned in a type of hierarchy. He is also pulling a very comical facial expression while the others are either smiling or smirking apart from Max who looks shocked. This could be insinuating that they all have quite playful attitudes but can also be serious when needs be. They are all wearing black clothing to contrast against the white background, though you can't see much of their clothing it looks quite casual, simple t-shirts or hoodies, insinuating again that they are laid-back and not overly bothered about their appearance. Nearly all of them have longish hair which is stereotypical of the type of people featured in Kerrang as part of the rock image, but they look a bit more primed in comparison to others, which indicates the age that they are and the target audience that they are appealing to. The 'KERRANG!' logo has been placed behind the band, which shows that they are more important to show rather than the logo. 

Again, Kerrang have another really busy cover with a band featured as it is typical of them to feature more rock bands that single artists (in the genre of rock, more bands would be expected rather than just one person), but is still different to the You Me At Six cover. Again, a hierarchy style of placement has been used on the cover, with Simon Neil being the main lead in the band so being placed in the forefront of the cover. The background the of the photograph is black, and it makes the two guys wearing black seem to blend into the background a lot more, whereas Neil is wearing a white hoodie so stands out a lot more, indicating that he is more important and needs to be seen quicker than the other two. However, in contrast to this the lighting on the other two is a lot more high-key meaning you can see them better whereas Neil has the hood up casting deep shadows on his face making him seem more mysterious. Also, he has one hand covering a part of his face, insinuating that he is slightly hiding, whereas the others are simply looking at the camera as if they have nothing to hide. With this cover, the 'KERRANG!' logo is black on a white background and slightly overlaps two of the cover's subjects along with a drop-down shadow which is really surprising, it's usually a rule of thumb that on a magazine cover you wouldn't have anything covering a face on the cover but this furthermore adds to the idea that the other two members of the band simply aren't as important as Neil. Two of the members of Biffy Clyro have quite long hair and they all have (or are growing) beards, typical of the rock genre look. Neil also appears to be wearing 'guyliner' which became popular in the rock genre, it also emphasises the shadows on his face and makes him different to the other two band members as they aren't following this trend as Neil is. 

On this cover, Q is featuring three very different artists (with Lady Gaga part of the pop genre, Jay-Z rap and David Grohl rock), and they are all images from obviously separate photo-shoots. Jay-Z is obviously the most important person on this cover as he is positioned at the forefront of the cover with his name also at the top of the list on the left-hand side of the cover. Lady Gaga and David Grohl have been edited in at the same distance behind Jay-Z, insinuating that they have equal importance to the issue despite Lady Gaga's name being mentioned first in the list to the left. Jay-Z is giving a stereotypical rapper pose with a laid-back stance, hands in pockets and head slightly up as if to say "Yeah, what?", wearing casual jeans and a plain black t-shirt with a simple buzzed hair cut along with a chained necklace so he fits the stereotypical look. Lady Gaga has a more feminine pose on the cover, wearing one of her less-crazy outfits and is saluting, a pose that has been recurring throughout the pop genre recently with artists such as Cheryl Cole and Rihanna using the same army-style salute. At the time, Lady Gaga also has straight blonde hair and is slightly tanned (not so much to look fake though) which could be seen as quite stereotypical of the pop genre. David Grohl is wearing clothes similar to Jay-Z, casual jeans and a black t-shirt, but you can also see a guitar neck by his legs which represents the rock genre he is a part of, along with his longer shaggy hair and beard. All three figures are wearing black as to stand out from the white background they are in front of, and to perhaps symbolise that despite coming from different genres, they are all similar in a way. This is also strengthened by the serious facial expressions they all hold, as if these are the people in the music industry who care about their music, fans, label etc more than others perhaps. They are also giving the camera a direct mode of address, showing that they aren't afraid of being whoever they want to be and are proud of themselves or their attitudes.

Annotations of a Music Magazine

These are my annotations of 'Billboard' magazine, of layout, content and the mise en scene of the cover.

Preliminary Task / School or College Magazine Front Covers

This was the first magazine front cover that I completed, which is an Autumn issue featuring Joel on the cover. I wanted the layout of my covers to be simple and sleek, rather than being too busy and ugly. Therefore, I used pretty much only one font style throughout the cover (apart from a change of font on the buzz word to make it more eye-catching) and instead experimented with using different font sizes and colours to make different pieces of text attract the viewers attention. For example, as it is an Autumn issue, I used orange tones to match the colour of the leaves falling, and red and yellow as they are seen as quite summer colours but when partnered with the orange suit the cover. The masthead and main coverline have the largest font size so they are the two components on the cover that attract attention, which is what I intended them to do. Also, a buzz word on the cover with 'FREE' is in a bright yellow tone and will furthermore attract the audience as they will be interested in something that is free. A comment was made that the leaves being blurred were too distracting, and so I did try to edit them out but it didn't look right, and I decided that I liked the cover with the leaves on anyway. With this being an Autumn issue, school will have just started, therefore it was relevant to have the main article education-related, and acts as a guide for my target audience while using humour to attract their attention towards it. The buzz word and offer relate to the article on the opposite of the cover, as the reader may want to know what's on in the cinema, and then can go watch it for free so would want to buy and read the magazine.

For my second cover, I wanted to make use of the snow and make a Winter issue, which worked well with Gemma and Jennie wearing hats, gloves and coats. I used the same location again as it creates a nice backdrop for the cover and is natural, plus text stands out well against it. Again, I chose the same font styles and variated text size and colour; with this cover I could experiment a lot more with colour as there were more places where the colour needed to be changed for the text to be noticeable, especially against Jennie's white coat contrasting against Gemma's dark one. Using blue connoted the cold winter weather and linked well to the text in the main coverline of 'going to get cool', and also the red on the cover compliments the green background while relating to a type of Christmas-theme. If I were to re-do this cover, I would try and take a photograph that was more in focus, as the slight blur of this one can become quite distracting once you notice it. To appeal to my target audience, I included mainly social-orientated articles, especially considering that with it being winter and nearly Christmas, they'll be looking for more social things to do rather than education. It also covers the aspects that my target audience were mainly interested in (as I found from my questionnaires), which are music, film and television. Furthermore, by using a strong red tone for the buzz word 'FREE' it will attract the viewer's eye to an iTunes voucher which they would appreciate, therefore would buy the magazine to get it.

Again, I used the snow to make a Winter issue, but this cover was a lot trickier to design due to the many different colours in the background. I decided to use red and green colours for text again as they make the cover more of a Winter issue with the Christmas link, and light blues for the general Winter look. It was easy to place a buzz word on this cover, which I did in the bottom right corner, as a solid black could be used and is really eye-catching and effective, and relates to the target-audiences needs as winter is a major shopping season due to Christmas, and so they would be interested in a 15% off voucher. 

Overall, I think I covered all the correct conventions for my magazine covers, including the main ones such as the masthead, slogan, barcode, price, seal of approval, coverlines etc, along with dates, website address' and so on. Using different genders on each cover also worked out quite nicely as I had a selection to chose from, so they could appeal to different target audiences. I think if I'd done a cover with a girl and a boy on similar to my second cover however, that could've made it better. I'm also really pleased with the result of them, they've helped me with learning how to apply Photoshop correctly and setting out on a shoot to compose the right shot for this brief. For my music magazine, I think I just need to check my photographs before leaving the location to make sure that they are all in exact focus and that I avoid fussy backgrounds, as this will save me a lot of time later on.