Current Magazine Titles

      

These are some current magazine titles that were or are currently on the market.

The colour of the masthead changes with each issue whereas some magazines such as 'Q' always have the letter written in white placed on a red square background. The title is written in large, bold caps lock letters making it look important and dominant. The line that goes through the letters suggests that it has been cut through with a knife, or in this case a blender. This gives it a sharp feel and an idea of edginess. The dictionary definition of a blender is 'a person or thing that mixes things together, in particular.' This gives the indication that the people featured and the content of the magazine could be mixed genre. The celebrity endorsement are people of which are powerful and daring because they are brave enough to mix things together i.e. their music and all other aspects of life. This indicates that the target audience are similar to the celebrities; confident young people.

'Smash! hits' magazine is also a television channel and radio station. For each media the brand has used the same title design instead of doing separate ones for each media otherwise it would become confusing and it would not have a house style. However the design has changed numerous times through the years. The title is situated at the very top of the page, this is common with all magazines not just music magazines. The title is written in bubble writing which is quite childish because children generally use it for when they make diagrams. In this particular issue the colours are summery and compliment each other giving a happy feel. The word 'smash' has the dictionary definition of 'an act or sound of something smashing' this makes the magazine sound to be of the rock or metal genre. The idea of a smash hit is a song that is a massive hit, signifying that there are only good songs in this magazine. 

The magazine clearly states that the genre is pop due to the word 'pops' is present.This makes the audience only have to read the title in order to see if it is a magazine that they might be interested in. In this issue the title is pink, this will attract females into buying the magazine as pink is generally stereotyped as a girly colour. The design of the masthead has changed dramatically through the years; with designs where the title stretches across the width of the magazine and to the title that is in the top hand corner (like the issue above). The words 'top and 'pops' stand out the most because they are bigger and bolder than the other words showing that they are more important.

'Just the title alone, 'NME' is hard to see what genre it is because it is an acronym for 'New Music Express' pronounced 'enemy'. This only includes people who have a good music magazine knowledge to be in the target audience. The masthead is red but outlined in white giving it the fuller effect to make it stand out and be noticed. Red is quite a masculine colour which could give off the idea that the target audience is male rather than female or mixed. The title is put in the left hand corner fairly close to the top but not at the very top, this makes it less dominant.



The definition of the word 'vibe' is 'a person's emotional state or the atmosphere of a place as communicated to and felt by others'. This title for a magazine doesn't specify an audience.The title is written in dark colours, red and black which also fade into each other; this gives a dark feel. It can be argued that rap is quite a dark genre because the lyrics are generally about the struggles of real life and more serious issues whereas pop songs are happy because they are about the good things in life. These dark colours are more associated with males rather than females, attracting males as the target audience. The title fits across the whole of the width of the magazine making it stand out as i dominates the top half of the cover.

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in Dartford in 1962.  Rolling stone magazine is  US-based which is devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture. In the 1990s, the magazine changed its format to appeal to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, movie actors, and popular music. The serif font is quite formal however this font looks quite informal and appealing to me (as a youth/teenager).

The spaces in the letters of the word ‘board’ are always filled in with red, yellow, blue, green (in that order) giving it house style and making it recognisable issue after issue. As there is a range of colours, it doesn’t just make it seem like it is supposed to attracts either just males or females. The sans serif font gives it a casual and informal vibe (which is what the magazine is aiming for), there would be no need for the excess serifs as they would give a classical formal vibe. A billboard is ‘a large outdoor board for displaying advertisements’ this implies that the magazine is large, it is also noticed and well known. The artists inside the magazine will also be huge stars who are known worldwide.