Magazine Front Cover Research - Big Cheese.

I have decided to look at the front covers of Big Cheese in addition to my Kerrang! research to show my knowledge and understanding of other rock magazines.

Big Cheese is a hard rock magazine which focuses on rock/punk/metal. It is priced at £4.99 which is released once a month. It is aimed at teenagers aged 16+. They will most likely be the stereotypical teenagers who dress in dark outrageous clothing and spend money on attending numerous concerts and buying merchandise both at the gigs that are listed in the magazine and in shops or on-line at the selection of rock merchandise sites that are also featured in the magazine.

This is an example of a Big Cheese front cover. The masthead is partly black with a white outline and the rest is light blue with a white outline which makes it stand out from the black outline. It is partially covered by a medium shot of four males aged from 19 to 40 years of age. They are not stunningly attractive but they still get a lot of attention for their looks. This is a typical picture to be seen on the front cover of Big Cheese which is covered by a sub-title informing the reader on what this months issue includes. Under this they have listed the bands that will also feature on the left hand side above the barcode, leaving a lot of the picture showing. They have a banner at the top to tell the audience there is a free CD and giant posters that are included in the magazine which has an extra image at the top left to highlight the posters. The banner at the bottom includes extra information that the reader will find in the magazine. The colour scheme for this issue is pink, blue and yellow. They have also used black and white but these colours are reapplied in each front cover they create. The pink, blue and yellow however are used together to make the information stand out but these combinations change with each issue to compliment the image that has been selected to feature on the front.

This is another example of a Big Cheese front cover. The masthead colours has changed slightly, from light blue to white, to make it stand out against the light blue/grey background. This example uses the same medium shot image that partially covers the masthead. The sub-title that is laid over the top, central left, informs us that it is "Bring Me The Horizon", a band of males in their early 20's that are portrayed to be your average looking typical males that you would associate rock music with. The central guy who is the lead singer is outlined in flames which reinforces the sub-heading "Unleash Hell!". This catches the readers eye are draws them into the image which makes them want to read the article to find out about the band. Unlike the example above, this time Big Cheese has moved the list of additional bands to central left next to the sub-title. This has been done so they can include additional pictures at the bottom which appear to the audience that they have been cut out of the original image and all outlined in white so that they fit together. These images are above the bottom banner that is the same as the above example where it tells the reader what else to expect in the magazine. However the top banner on this example is not so clearly made out as it has no base colour so the text is laid out simple over the background. It still stands out enough though to be seen by the reader to tell them that there are posters included in this issue that are highlighted by the overlapping images in the top left corner.

Magazine Front Cover Research - Kerrang!

For my initial research I decided to choose "Kerrang!" as it is a music magazine which I am familiar with. "Kerrang!" focuses on the punk/rock/screamo genres of music. They aim at readers aged 14+ who will be the type of teenagers who have the money to spend buying the magazine each week at only £2.20, and will attend concerts in their free time. They will listen to loud guitar heavy music and will aspire to be like the bands in the magazine and the majority will be able to play an instrument.

This is an example of a "Kerrang!" front cover. The masthead is black, in bold and outlined in a white box so that it stands out. It is partially covered by the main picture, this design is standard on "Kerrang!" covers. The picture is of males, late teens early twenties which is a common stereotype of music magazines. The music of the band is reflected into the styling of the image to create a similar attitude. The centre photo itself is covered by a sub-title which tells the readers that the magazine will feature "You Me At Six". They have also added in smaller text a few lines about the band above and below the central sub-title. "Kerrang!" have also included overlapping photos in the bottom left corner which also show the reader what they will find, a poster special, in the magazine. They have also included an additional image to the right which is set in a typical polaroid outline which has text underneath for information which refers to the image. A banner top and bottom also list bands that are included in this weeks issue.The colour scheme is black, white, yellow, red and green.

Unlike other music magazines "Kerrang!" goes against the typical use of two or three main colours as each cover features a different mixture, however even though they use more than the average amount of colour, they only use small amounts of each colour so they all stand out equally.

Kerrang! use the same style throughout all their front covers as this next image shows. This front cover features 30 Seconds To Mars. It is laid out in the same way, a banner top and bottom, masthead behind the main image, images both in the bottom left corner and on the right above the barcode. The main image shows self confidence and power by the serious expression and looking straight at the camera. Also the dark sunglasses reflecta cool attitude. A sub-title in bold about the main feature of the magazine with smaller text bellow and above the sub-title which include snippets of the interview to entice the readers.

Preliminary Task.

To show our understanding of Adobe Photoshop which I am using to create my magazine we had to complete a preliminary task. As I have chosen the area of print I had to create the front cover of a college magazine as well as block out the contents page.

This is my front cover for my college magazine. I chose red and blue as the main colours because I wanted colours that would stand out but also contrast each other. Also I understand that magazines have a limited colour pallet and would only use 3 of 4 maximum.
 The masthead is vertical down the left hand side and is in bold. I chose to have the title over the image as I wanted it to stand out more.

The image itself is a medium close up shot of a typical college student. I have edited the image by cropping it from the original as it was too large. Then I brightened the image using the tools on Photoshop and then made it more contrasting. I edited the image because I felt it was too dull and was flat compared to the text and boxes that I layered on top.

Overall I am pleased with this, I think it is well laid out. Simple, yes, but I think it stands out well enough without the need for too much to be going on.

Creating this has enabled me to understand how to use Photoshop and the different editing techniques.

This is my blocked out contents page. I used the same fonts for the writing as the front cover to make it flow from page to page as I understand the need to develop a house style for continuity. I decided to split the contents list into two sections, features and regulars, to make it a bit different from all the other magazines out there. I chose to place the photos on either side to help break down the text because I didn't want too much information on this page as contents pages are usually just brief notes about what will be in this issue of the magazine.
This was relatively easy and simple to create after my front cover because I had a better grasp of the program and a better understanding of how contents pages should be laid out.
I have continued with the red and blue colour scheme so that the magazine flows continuously from page to page.
I am happy with this layout as I think it works well how it is set out. I t has enabled me to understand how to layout contents pages which will be useful when I come to create my final coursework.