Analysis Of Classic Rock Magazine

Analysing Classic Rock

Target Audience

The primary target audience for this magazine is aimed at white middle class straight men, who are in the social class of E-C1 that are aged between 14-30+ and this magazine has a star vehicle of Axl Rose upon the front cover, meaning this magazine will then contain the common conventions that will suit the fan’s needs. This means that the main theorist that will apply to this analysis will be Marxist who in short states that the media is run by straight, middle classed, white men.

As the target audience is such a huge group, this means I will be applying theorists into the analysis to show it will approve or disagree of what they have said. The main theorist I will probably be mentioning most will be Stanley Hall, to see if it suits the Youth's who are most likely to read this magazine. His opinion in short was Adolescences are usually depressed, have been involved in criminal activity between the ages of 12 to 24 and teenagers enjoy drinking and sex.

Following the Blumer and Katz (1974) theory, this could suggest that the purpose of why Youth's read this magazine is to find their own personal identity by following the bands they are interested within being easily influenced by their actions as well as style in dress. Also this target audience could be reading this magazine Kerrang! because of the identification of celebrities that are mentioned within teasers or portrayed on the front cover.

Another target audience for this type of magazine will be parents/careers who are purchasing the magazine for their son/daughter (Or maybe themselves) who are fans of this music genre. The social class that this target audience will fall into will be ranging from D-C1 and would probably fall under the theorist of Marxist as he states that the dominant people portrayed in media are straight, middle classed (working class) and white men.

Masthead

The big bold masthead to this magazine fills up the whole top section and really stands out against the black background for the target audience. But judging by the font type chosen for the masthead, it looks very rebellious and will appeal to those who are 'true rock' fans as it states “Classic Rock.” This therefore will support Stanley Hall's theory because the main target audience for this magazine will be supporters of rock and rock supports sex and drugs so Youth will be easily influenced into this lifestyle. But overall this will relate to the target audience because the title alone relates to rock.

Over the top of the masthead is a trashed yellow post it note that states “Free CD!” This will encourage the target audience to pick up this magazine as they will be easily influenced by the rock music that’s provided. Again showing that this is suitable for target audiences and may support Stanley Hall's theory due to what lyrics the musical CD may contain relating to sex, drugs and crime/violence. This would be suitable for the primary target audience who are searching for a personal identity, following their role models example.

Images

The front cover only has one main image; a medium shot of a famous rock star from a successful band called Guns N Roses. This will immediately attract target audiences who are a fan of this certain figure/star vehicle. This character alone would support the Stanley Hall's theory because he would easily influence the target audience to get involved in drugs, sex and violence due to how Axl Rose has in the past. But this will be appropriate for a target audience as he is a rock star.

Secondly the main image has a slight dark fade upon half of Axl Rose, mainly around half of his face connoting there is a dark side rebellious act to this character, meaning once again this would support Stanley Hall's theory as the majority of the target audience's are youth and will follow this example. Also this would be suitable for the primary target audience who are searching for a personal identity, following their role models example; falling into the Blumers and Katz theory (1974).

In terms of mise-en-sense of Axl's clothing it gives away he is trouble/rebellious by the leather jackets and rough hair do, yet cool looking sunglasses on top of his rag looking headband; that could be connoting he's reckless. This will once again fall under Stanley Hall's theory as the large amount of target audiences (Youth) will be encouraged to look more rebellious as if they'd have been involved of crime, drugs and sex by only stereotyping. Also this would be suitable for the primary target audience who are searching for a personal identity, following their role models example.

In terms of connotation the star vehicle Axl Rose is a portayed as a white, middleclass and straight male and in terms of denotation could fall under the Marxists category because he produces media (Music). Therefore this makes this magazine cover suitable for the target audience’s attention.

There is many additional magazine common conventions in this magazine, such as the bar code and magazine addition, but this magazine states it’s a “lost” issue, showing that its a collectors item for the target audience. Showing it is suitable for the primary target audience who are within the Blumer and Katz theory (1974) searching for a personal identity, following their role models example.

Text

The text comes in terms of connotation comes across in 4 variety of colours that are easily readable against the dark background. A light pink, white, red and black. The teasers headlines are bold stating many gossip type information about star vehicles such as “Def Leppard. The truth about Steve Clark.” This shows how the magazine is suitable for the target audience who enjoy the genre rock and will encourage them to purchase this magazine.

The variety of text fonts used are very interesting and suit the genre, especially as the magazine announces the main storyline of the story by targeting for Guns N Roses fans with a bright pink and dangerous looking; meaning this will attract target audiences who fall under the Katz and Blumers (1974) theory because it connotes that some of the people reading this magazine maybe searching for a personal identity or maybe to escape reality problems.

Yet the main headline story alone will back up Stanley Hall's theory because it states “Machine-guns, LSD” and “Sixth Silent Member Speaks Out” connoting a semantic field for violence. Showing the target audience will want to pick up the magazine as it relates to the singers personal point of view of something and make them curious about the teaser given. This would be suitable for the primary target audience who are searching for a personal identity, following their role models example.

Different types of punctuation and text symbols (Such as stars and voltage signs) is used in some teasers on the front page of the magazine cover, connoting that this could be urgent/must have and shocking news about certain bands and rock stars. Whilst the symbols will only make the front cover design look more appropriate for the genre its designed for. This will encourage target readers to pick up the magazine.

The slogan for the magazine is “High Voltage. Rock N Roll” in a small white bold font underneath the masthead. This also stands out because of the voltage symbol that is placed half way in the sentence, meaning it will be suitable for the target audience of this magazine as once again it looks natural and 'bad ass' upon the magazine cover and will be suitable for the target audience who fall under the Katz and Blumer (1974) theory because they will be looking for a personal identity and to escape reality problems.

Overall this magazine in terms of connotation is suitable for the target audience because the layout of the magazine cover has all the common conventions that is needed for the target audience’s desires and falls under the theorists quite well.

Annaleigh Benn

Analysis Of Kerrang! Magazine

Analysing Kerrang!

Target Audience

The primary target audience for this Kerrang! magazine is white females who are aged between 14-25+  and are in the social class of E-C1. This target audience will be fans of the genre rock and fans of the star vehicle Hayley Williams/Paramore. This means that the primary theorist that will be mentioned through out this magazine being analysed will be Laura Mulvey (1975) who states in short that woman are objects to men's sexual desires and are portrayed this way judging by the way the camera is used upon the character.

As the target audience has Youths involved, this means I will be applying theorists into the analysis to show it will approve or disagree of what they have said. The main theorist I will probably be mentioning most will be Stanley Hall, to see if it suits the Youth's who are most likely to read this magazine. His opinion in short was Adolescences are usually depressed, have been involved in criminal activity between the ages of 12 to 24 and teenagers enjoy drinking and sex.

Following the Blumer and Katz (1974) theory, this could suggest that the purpose of why Youth's read this magazine is to find their own personal identity by following the bands they are interested within being easily influenced by their actions as well as style in dress. Also this target audience could be reading this magazine Kerrang! because of the identification of celebrities that are mentioned within teasers or portrayed on the front cover.

Another target audience for this type of magazine will be parents/careers who are purchasing the magazine for their son/daughter (Or maybe themselves) who are fans of this music genre. The social class that this target audience will fall into will be ranging from D-C1 and would probably fall under the theorist of Marxist as he states that the dominant people portrayed in media are straight, middle classed (working class) and white men.

Masthead

The masthead for this magazine front cover is one eight down the page with a white separate background colour (White) away from the original background colour. But the font used for the masthead is very destructive looking with the smash line effects going through it. This would be suitable for the primary target audience as most of the target audience fall under Stanley Hall's theory; Being reckless involved in criminal activity, sex, drugs and alcohol.

On the top right corner of the masthead is a small red bald text saying “Loud” which is a stereotype for rockers being loud by the music their producing and wild lifestyles. But judging by the selected colour for this text it could connote trouble, so this would be suitable for the primary target audience that the majority of this audience will be reading; Youth's who stereotypically fall under the Stanley Hall's theory of drinking, drugs, sex and criminal activity.

Images

The main image chosen for this magazine front cover is very rebellious looking as it is a medium shot of the young main singer from Paramore sticking up her two middle fingers in a swearing manor, but judging by her appearance all over from the facial expression to the red/orange hair, this could connote that the main singer is being cocky and rebellious. So this would be suitable for the target audience because it would fall under Stanley Hall's theory as this would encourage Youth members who are just a few years younger than her to be rebellious by the criminal activity, drugs, sex and alcohol.

In terms of mise-en-sense for the star vehicle Paramore’s singer; the messy hair is orange and can connote that she is a rebellious and wild character, which can be suitable for the primary target audience because of how the youth’s who fall under Stanley Hall’s theory. Except also the star vehicle Hayley Williams in terms of mise-en-sense also is wearing make up, a low cut red top and a trendy hair cut meaning that can fall under the Laura Mulvey theory because she is placed upon the magazine for men's desire.

But also this main image would immediately put off other people who would fall under the Malik theory because people who are religious and from a strict country abroad (who immigrated to UK) will stereotypically not want to purchase this magazine because of the obscene language and photo's produced upon the front cover of the main singer from Paramore sticking up her two fingers.

The magazine also has the usual common conventions such as the bar-code, headlines, teasers, issue number and etc. Although this magazine has something to tempt people to purchase Kerrang! by giving away free posters of a successful band called Panic At The Disco. This would suitable for the primary target audience who fall under the Katz and Blumer (1974) theory searching for a personal identity because they could keep the item as a souvenir if they are fans of the band.

There are also 3 other smaller images upon the front page of other bands who are being featured in this magazine issue of Kerrang! Other star vehicle bands called Good Charlotte and two of Panic At The Disco, Free! Judging by them in terms of mise-en-sense they are wearing clothing that looks suitable for middle class men. This could support the theorist Marxist because in shorts he states that white, middle class men are responsible for running the media.

In big bold white letters on a grey arrow pointing to these star vehicle bands, looking as if its been graffiti sprayed on, this once again can connote criminal activity and rebellious behaviour, meaning this is suitable for the target audience this magazine is aimed at; Youths who fall under the Stanley Hall theory, sex, drugs, criminal activity and alcohol.

Also the image of the main singer from Panic At The Disco has half of his face darkened, this could connote that he also is a stereotypical rock star who has two sides to him, he is rebellious and reckless. This image would be suitable for the primary target audience who fall under the Stanley Hall theory as well as Katz and Blumer (1975) searching for a personal identity (Constructing their own identity and Diversion (Escaping from everyday problem).

Text

In terms of text upon the front page, the main headline is big and bold so it will immediately attract the attention of fans and people who are familiar with the band, encouraging them to pick up the magazine and take a closer look to notice the medium orange dirty font underneath stating “Pop-Punks Brightest Young Rebels” connoting their trouble. This text will be suitable for the target audiences who fall under the theorists Stanley Hall because it will attract the attention of youths who are criminals, alcoholics, druggies and the sexually active.

Also the bold orange theme runs through the magazine as it goes on to another teasing feature of gossip about another band, Good Charlotte “The Madden boys are back!” This will also encourage fans of this particular band to pick up the issue as they will want more information, which in shops can sometimes be a reason why some people pick up a magazine. So this will be suitable for the target audience who fall under the Stanley Hall theory; sex, drugs, criminal activity and alcohol. Also the target will find this suitable if they fall under the Katz and Blumer theory (1974) searching for a personal identity (Constructing their own identity and Diversion (Escaping from everyday problem).

“Dirty Little Secrets.” Already this Kerrang! Magazine had attracted a certain target audience by the vocabulary used. “What’s your favourite rock star got to hide?” In while smaller bolder letters that blend in naturally with the whole page layout. But this will encourage the target readers of this genre to be rebellious, alcoholics, sexually active and involved in criminal activity; This falls under the Stanley Hall theory.

Then finally at the bottom and top of the magazine is more star vehicles with bands who are mentioned upon the front cover such as “My Chemical Romance” “Evanescene” “Iron Maiden” and etc. These mentions will be attract the primary target audience's attention who fall under the Stanley Hall theory because they are bands who are connoting depression with their music and reckless behaviour. Meaning it could also be suitable for the target audience who fall under the Katz and Blumer (1975) theory; searching for a personal identity (Constructing their own identity and Diversion (Escaping from everyday problem).

Annaleigh Benn

AS Work 2 Begins Here

This blog will be a brief introduction  explaining that A2 Level coursework will begin here and the theory I will be following will be Bentley (1997) who states "The making of the new and rearranging the old." Basically describing the media conventions, post productions and digital technology.

Also within this piece of coursework I will be working on a prelim task of analysing and then creating a magazine that is suitable for the target audience that is in mind; preferably  the rock genre.

Photos Used Within Bodmin College Magazine

I have chosen these photo's to use within my College Magazine contents page because of how they represent the primary target audience, that are young youth's aged from 12-19 years of age entering this school. So this would make them suitable for the Bodmin College Magazine I am creating.

Another main reason why I have chosen these specific images is because I had chosen a few friends of mine I asked to pose against a dotted background indoors deliberately, as I thought of the funky theme of poke-a-dots running through the magazine, making it fun and exciting for the primary target audience; Youths.

Whilst asking the sixth formers to pose against the poke-a-dot background, I asked them to perform a variety of fun/cool poses that will attract the target audiences attention. Especially with the top image of the young male posing like he has a large ego and confident. Whilst the second image below has a fun friendship theme running through as I asked my friends to group together and pose to how they thought it would be suitable for the magazine cover. They all this way can show individuality that I think would be another reason why people would find this image suitable for the target audience. 


These people who I have asked to pose within the magazine all go against the target audience theorist for Youth's, this is Stanley Hall who states (in short) that young people are usually involved in crime, drink and are come into connection with drugs. Except judging the appearance of the the youths you could argue that they go against the theory because they go against the stereotype by going into sixth form, not really having time to get drunk and etc. 

Evaluation For Bodmin College Magazine Of Mine

As Bentley states in 1997, "The making of the old and the rearranging of the old." This will apply to my magazine front cover and contents page because this creation is basically looking at the old version that was created by a member of staff within the school and developing it into a better production suitable for the target audience. Also, it related to the research I did of existing covers and content pages before starting my own planning and audience research. 

My target audience is students within Bodmin College aged from 12-19 years old, their social class at the moment would be C onwards because they are still living at home with their parents. Which links to another target audience this magazine cover has been designed to interest/attract to read, these people could range from E-C in the social class. This magazine will also attract people who work within the school; governors, teachers and others who will also range from C onwards in the social class categories. 

Looking at the existing Bodmin College Magazine cover I observed the current graphology and discourse layout wasn't suitable for the target audience. The magazine seems to have a dull 80's theme attached to it judging by the colours and images that were uses, also the typography was dull and seemed to have been taken off a word processing program. In other words, none of this appeared suitable for my target audience because a more professional vibrant look is needed to attract readers. My target audience agreed with this because when I conducted my SurveyMonkey through Facebook they said they did not read the college magazine and were put off by the cover. The majority of those surveyed said they preferred the design style of magazines like Vine, due to this being the case I followed the conventions of Vine but adapted them for the genre I was working in. 

Improving on the Bodmin College magazine was quite easy, I broke existing conventions through actually taking images that were in focus; the 3 images chosen for the Bodmin College Magazine were  poorly taken and then just zoomed in, this could explain the effects of the blurring appearing. But on a whole this shows that this magazine cover wasn't suitable for the target audience because the images are all basically related to dance and may put off some of the 12-19 year olds boys and female girls who are not taking dance (this could relate to the Laura Mulvey theory who connotes woman are portrayed as objects).

I improved on the masthead through basing positioning on the Vine magazine I looked at; the masthead for the Bodmin College existing magazine isn't in the right place like any magazine you'd purchase in a shop. Its more placed one eighth down the page, this may put off target audience by the poor effort as well as it being the Bodmin College Logo that is applied everywhere within the school, on uniforms, website and on news letters, also the colours that are used don't help the masthead to stand out because of the inappropriate bright wheat/corn type plant image behind it. Again this could be the reason why many of the target audience refuse to read it. 

In short, my version of the Bodmin College Magazine front page is much more effective because it follows professional conventions such as; a stylish masthead, big bold title that has purposely been designed to stand out, catchy teasers that will attract my target audience because it will personally apply to them. 

In terms of representation, my target audience for the social class of youth, will fall under the theorist of Stanley Hall, who claims within media teenagers aged 13-19 are moody people involved with crime, sex and drugs. This will also affect the appearance of my magazine of having to make sure it is suitable for my target audience. But in this case, a particular group of my target audience may go against this theory (6TH Formers) due to how their involved in further education doing their A Levels. To successfully represent my target audience through the masthead I borrowed from graffiti, a 'youth form of art because it is considered rebellious. 

The text alone immediately indicates that "BC VOICE" is aimed at students attending Bodmin College as well as parents and Governors because it connotes students will be given a voice, personalising the magazine to their needs of a collective identity (Uses and Gratification Theory Katz and Blumer, 1974). 

This beneath is the final result of my magazine designing of the front cover and contents page. On a whole the whole design was chosen and made suitable for my target audience and does fall under the stereotype of theorist of Osgerby because of the main headlines that will attract my target audience between 12-19 "Tuition fee headache." The theme runs through out the magazine and therefore this may affect more results on my surveymonkey if I were to ask if people were to read this version.  

In terms of technology I have learnt how to use photoshop as I had currently never been able how to use it before. From Photoshop I have learnt how to use patterns and shapes by applying the theme through the magazine. Adding pictures of the appropriate age group was also applied to show my target audience was appropriate for them.  Also I discovered how to find such fonts that will apply to my target audience, these fonts were made from FreeUrbanFonts and coloured to apply to the theme of my magazine.

Overall I would personally say that the theories of Stanley Hall can be applied to the representation in my products because the image of the 6th form student upon the front page of the magazine looks very 'stressed' and can relate to the main headline of the story, 'Tuition Fee Headache', yet the masthead of the magazine could also relate to the magazine because of type of colours chosen, black and white, which could connote moodiness. 

In short, I personally would say I prefer the work on my front cover compared to my contents page because my contents page could need a variety of improvements. I understand how a contents page could be laid out but I think I could have spent more time on re-arranging the images and fonts placed making the presentation look more attractive to my target audience. Also in terms of improvements I think I could have chosen a better category of font to chose than the boring computer typing type. 

Target Audience Research

In terms of representation, my target audience for the social class of youth, will fall under the theorist of Stanley Hall, who claims within media teenagers aged 13-19 are moody people involved with crime, sex and drugs. This will also affect the appearance of my magazine of having to make sure it is suitable for my target audience. But in this case, a particular group of my target audience may go against this theory (6TH Formers) due to how their involved in further education doing their A Levels. To successfully represent my target audience through the masthead I borrowed from graffiti, a 'youth form of art because it is considered rebellious. 

The first question I asked to discover who my target audience were for my magazine design for a College was, "What is your age." This will give me a better understand of the age group because I will inspire me to understand they will be interested in this day and age making the magazine more and more suitable for them by following the common conventions.

 

The results of my SurveyMonkey has shown me that the target audience are aged between 17-19 years of age. So when I create my magazine I will keep this fact in mind.

 

The second question I asked my target audience was "What is your gender?" once again this will give me a better understanding of my target audience in terms of interests and stories to apply for the magazine.

Judging by the results of my survey, the target audience is both male and female, so this I will also keep this fact in mind when I go to create the flat plans for my magazine.

The social grade for my target audience is E Grade and this was important to find out about my target audience because as there's such a mass audience to attract as the magazine is aimed at school children, there are so much to considor on what to place upon the magazine. So once again, when creating the magazine front cover and contents page I will make sure I make it suitable for my target audience who are 17-19 years old, both male and female. 

 

 

I then asked if my target audience read the current Bodmin College magazine that is being produced by the school at the moment and it turns out in my results that not many of them do. This could be because its either not following the target audience's interests or it just isn't appealing to them in terms of representation and to back up this fact is the next questions results.

To get a better understanding of my target audience's current interests and gives me a better influence upon the designs their currently interested in, the results of my survey shows my target audience are interested in the Vine magazine, this could be in terms of design/presentation or contents. Also to support this and study it further I asked my target audience why would they read a College magazine and it turns out they would read it and the results from my survey have shown they would read it for informational purposes; falling under the Blumer and Katz theory.

  

I gave power to my target audience on selecting the final masthead through pasting possible options onto my SurveyMonkey. Below are the comments this design received:

After analysing my results I have noticed that the majority of my target audience prefer the first masthead or the last design, which will be easier to inspire me to create my magazine judging by the design of my flats plans. So within my final results I will use either of these mastheads because then it will make my magazine more suitable for my target audience.

Flat Plans Of College Magazine

Magazine Font Cover Plan

Contents Page Plan

These are rough designs of what my future magazine BC Voice Magazine will turn out like.