Anaylsis of contents pages by Lucy Barker

Analysis of similar product research, contents page by Lucy Barker

I have analysed Kerrang, a rock music magazine because I want my magazine to not be based on a specific genre based on the ‘genre is dead’ hypothesis. So I took a look at this magazine to see if I could incorporate ideas that are used to encourage rock fans to buy my magazine.

The group ‘parkway drive’ presented on the contents page are represented as a powerful group, the camera shot which is a wide shot and the group are looking down at the camera prove this. They are dressed casually and the lead singer is placed in front of the other 4 band members because this shows he has a more important role or is more widely recognised. The background is dark which reflects on their music. The way they are represented is very different to how other bands are represented of other genres.  

The first things that people see when they look at the contents page is the image and directly beneath that, the advertisement for a competition which is content in the magazine. The plug for the competition is used and placed on top of the image in a clashing bright red and yellow colour to catch the attention of readers. Although this doesn’t break conventions it is unusual for it to be the main feature of the contents page, the reason it is the main feature of the contents page is because it’s a large competition which would attract many readers. This also tells me that readers of ‘kerrang’ magazine who are interested in rock style music would be interested in participating in competitions. A summary of the content is listed on the right side in a vertical column. The text is mostly bold apart from where the page is explained underneath, in some cases. This is so it stands out next to the bold dark image, I will need to consider this if I use a dark foreground in any image used in any part of my magazine. Most of the magazine articles are included in the contents page which is different to the pop magazine we analysed. There is an advertisement for subscription in the bottom corner which is average sized, it blends in with the house style and fits in well and I think it is easy to miss. The house style uses colours such as red, black, white and a bit of yellow. These colours look sophisticated and attract the target age group of 16+ they aren’t gender specific either so are appropriate for all genders. The title placed in a banner has the kerrang logo, every time it is written as a title it is presented in the same way because then it makes a statement for itself, gets the reader to recognise it and becomes a symbol to represent the magazine. It is what readers will look out for when they try to find the magazine in shops and because it is so important this is why it looks the same each time it is used.    

The image of a man near a space ship on the image placed near the writing, written by the editor, is an indexical sign because the editor James is going to blast of his rocket and ‘to have a bash at Felix Baumgartner’s recent death-defying freefall from space’, this recipient is pointed towards a meaning. The dark clouds in the background of the image are an iconic sign because they closely resemble darkness which signifies the type of music that the band plays.

The mode of address is appropriate to the target audience of kerrang because the medium doesn’t really affect the way it is read it has a casual register and written as it would be spoken not as it would be written for example abbreviations such as ‘YG’ are used and fans of this band would use this so it would be like they are getting information of a friend rather than a magazine. Most of the music magazines I have analysed us this register because it appeals to a young audience. The register can also be explained by the domain, the magazine is about rock music so the language used will be similar to the language used by rock music fans in order to appeal to them. The tenor is informal because the matter of the magazine is  informal.   

I have learnt from analysing this contents page that to appeal to the same target audience as kerrang (16+) I need to keep my codes and conventions sophisticated and use colours and text that appeal to all genders.

Analysis of mixmag contents page- similar product research by Lucy Barker

The contents page of ‘mixmag’ magazine uses only one image which is a code that ‘kerrang’ also used but interestingly ‘we love pop’ used many. This is because lots of images would appeal to the younger target audience. The house style uses a black and white colour scheme and smart font of a around a size 10 and then smaller underneath to explain the names of pages. The colours are smart and are the same colours used on the front cover because then it links to two together and creates a house style that readers can recognise. The contents page doesn’t have many codes because they have kept it simple and smart, which gives it a sophisticated look.     

The woman in the picture, which is a cut away/action shot isn’t looking at the camera and is dancing because she is in a club and she’s having a good time. Because she is a woman her beauty is highlighted and although she is looking down we can still see that she is made up, she is wearing eye shadow, we can also see that the model chosen has a small physique and the woman that we can see behind her have also been chosen because of their size and beauty, it keeps within the conventions of representations of femininity. No males can be seen clearly which shows that the woman are being represented as part of a context, they are sticking together as a sort of team.  

The image in the contents page is an indexical image because signs that would be inferred include that the girl is having fun dancing in a club and the connotation of this would be that she is in a club. ‘VIP’ is used as a polysemous sign because it can mean ‘very important people’ or ‘very important pages’ it signifies different things but it only matters that the reader realises it signifies ‘very important pages’ otherwise people won’t understand why the heading is ‘VIP’.  The signs and signifiers are linked to the register because the signs used will only be understood if the readers reading them know the casual register very well, which they do because they use it in everyday life.

Although the medium is written the magazine keeps to the conventions of having a medium of language that is typical of speech. This stands out to the younger and young adults target audience. The domain is influenced by dance music vocabulary, words that are used and specialised in the dance music world such as ‘techno’. The tenor is informal, making the register casual. For example ‘where you at?’ is used as a heading for one of the pages included in the content, this language is copying that of the readers, they may use this when talking to their friends about dance music, so to make it more of a group the magazine also uses this language.  

I have looked at this particular magazine because it focuses on the genre of dance music and I would like to cover lots of different genres including this one which may attract the higher end of my target audience of 18 year olds. I have found out that the signs I use will signify different things to different people, this can be influenced by their age group and social class so in my magazine which I want to appeal to people of middle class and a younger audience I will need to use signs that are recognised widely by my target audience as well as limit the amount of images I use so it appeals to my target audience.