Although I am producing a magazine ADVERTISEMENT and not a cover, I feel that I could still use some of these conventions to produce an effective advertisement.
Cover #1
Language - The photograph used on this cover is a close up of musician Corey Taylor, whose face is concealed by the mask that he wears when playing with the band Slipknot, which this issue has an article about. Due to the mask, we cannot tell what his facial expression is, although it may not be seen as necessary. The mask can easily identify him as being a member of Slipknot.
The band's logo is positioned near the bottom left corner of the splash, with a quotation appearing below it which says "Somebody's gonna get killed...". The positioning of these two pieces of text tells us that the quotation has been taken directly from that band's article. Due to its already violent sounding nature, it catches the attention of the reader and makes him/her want to read on by finding the full article.
There is also a usage of Flash on the top right corner of the page. "Cover #8 of 9!". There were nine musicians in the band at the time of release, so we can find out already that the other 8 covers will feature close up photos of each of the other 8 members. This is a good way to promote the issue and also the band, as die-hard fans of either Kerrang or Slipknot (or both) may want to try and collect all 9 covers to show their fandom, resulting in the attraction of more sales.
The colour scheme is mainly black and white, which helps to represent what the band members are like behind the masks, and the nature of Slipknot's music. (White connotates light, goodness, innocence and purity (The band without the trademark masks and overalls) whilst black connotates power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery (the band with masks and overalls))
Institution - I visited the website and noticed that there were stories on recent events on music such as Black Sabbath's reunion and Metallica's headlining at Download. I also noticed a small advertisement in the corner that read "Rock, goth, metal, punk, thrash, classic indie, unsigned bands... get it all continuously at Kerrang! Radio". This gives a more specific idea of what kind of music the magazine covers, also tells us that it believes in the promotion of unsigned bands, so that they will gain a fanbase to the point that they may become signed to a major label.
Ideology - The magazine promotes the belief that the music that it covers usually has the many feelings of purity, joy, energy, power, evil and mystery, as proved evident by the colour scheme used in the contents page.It also believes in the promotion of new, unsigned bands which will lead to them gaining a fanbase, as proven by the mention of "unsigned bands" on the magazine's official website.
Audience -Kerrang!'s publication media pack doesn't state a specific intended target audience based on age, but says that the mean age of their readers is relatively young, at the age of 22. The media pack goes on to say "Having a young profile is a big advantage as traditionally this age group is elusive (and expensive) to reach. As well as music releases this makes Kerrang! perfect for film and games, and also mobile technology and government messages. This achievement therefore allows them to expand their audience to enthusiasts of Film, gaming, and mobile phones, not only for the magazine, but also for their TV's music channel.
Representation - The magazine will represent the band Slipknot as a band who plays dangerous, risky and heavy music, which may not be among the preferences of most who hear about them, but also a band to be admired by its fans and also fans of rock and metal in general for playing this kind of music.
Cover #2
Language - The photograph os a medium close-up of two musicians, who have supposedly recently formed a musical duo named "The Last Shadow Puppets". We can make this assumption as the magazine contains their "First major interview". The two musicians are back-to-back with each other and are dressed similarly, which could imply that they have a strong friendship (they have each other's backs). They have stereotypical 60s rock hairstyles, which could hint to the kind of music they write. In order to fit this 60s look, the photo is almost black and white, with the only hint of colour being their skin, but even that is made to look pale.
The magazine's masthead is placed in the top left side of the splash, as out of the way of the photo as possible. NME Stands for "New Musical Express". However, the "Express" is blocked out by the photo, almost as though the institution feels that the magazine has gained popularity to the extent that most people already know fully what it stands for. The colour scheme of the text is mainly red and black. Not only does it fit well with the masthead, but red can connotate passion, love, and perhaps even rebellion, whilst black can connotate power and dominance. The genres that the magazine covers are mainly Alt./Indie/Rock, so the rebellion connotation fits with these genres rather well.
Institution - I browsed the NME website, and looked through stories regarding Liam Gallagher's claims that his brother Noel is desperate for an Oasis reunion, whilst Noel has responded by saying he's "not desperate at all". I also caught sight of a story regarding Axl Rose's claims that former Guns N' Roses member Slash "used to piss his pants". This gives the impression that NME like to offer unusual kinds of stories full of odd claims and conflict that will catch the reader's eye.
Ideology - The magazine believes that musicians should think outside the box and not conform to what the music industry wants them to create. The magazine generally covers bands who are about starting a rebellion against the industry, producing highly experimental and sometimes controversial music, and doing things only for themselves. It also gives the message to their target audience that they should fight back against generic music with more creative bands and musicians.
Audience - According to the NME media pack, its target audience are men from the ages of 17 to 30. It also states that its readers are "entertainment enthusiasts". From this we can assume that this is the target audience that the magazine had always intended to seek out. Some statistics are also given:
"80% of NME readers feel that music is an important part of their lives
79% of NME readers like to listen to new bands
63% specially choose to listen to indie/guitar bands
49% specially choose to listen to live bands in studio
52% are interested in taking a musical course/qualification
36% are thinking of buying a musical instrument in the next year"
As stated above, NME wants it target audience to fight back against the music industry, and the statistics above show us that at least half of its readers are interested in doing precisely that, with the help of a musical qualification.
Representation - The magazine will represent its selected genres by stating that its bands are constantly bringing something new to music as a whole, and revolutionizing the industry. It aims to keep up to date with new bands who want to do this, therefore creating word-of-mouth among readers and their associates, helping to start said revolution.
Cover #3
Language - The photo is composed of full body shots of the members of the alternative rock band "Kings Of Leon". Their facial expressions show determination as they are kicking through a glass wall in front of them, therefore shattering it, and allowing them to pass through. This connotates that the band has had a "breakthrough" (a rise to fame) and have broken out of the area (lack of fame) they were once trapped in. With each member, it is evident that they have all simulteanously kicked it down together, and was therefore a group effort. This reflects the fact that the band members are all related to each other and also the group effort (song and/or album) that led to their rise to fame.
A heading appears on the left of the cover. The band's name is black, whilst the word "breakthrough" is pink. The black is used to connotate power, elegance and formality, whilst the colour pink (or purple) is used to connotate power, nobility, luxury, and ambition and also combines the stability of blue and the energy of red. This connotates that now the band have had their breakthrough, they have earned a new level of power, allowing them to break some of the boundaries they were trapped by before.
Institution -I visited the offical website for the magazine, and found that it covers a rather large variety of Genres that are in the mainstream, such as stories about Black Sabbath (a heavy metal band that gained fame in the early 70s and have recently reunited) and Eminem (a rapper who has a story about what life has been like for him since getting clean), although mainly Alternative. Other bands that are currently featured on the website's home page include Adele, You Me At Six, and Howler. The website has an extra temporary page that helps to celebrate the magazine's 25th anniversary of production. This is a useful method of attracting potential buyers as it usually means that the 25th anniversary issue will contain a larger amount of content, including reflection upon the past 25 years and the usual latest news.
Ideology -The magazine promotes the belief that the music which is in the mainstream at the current time is the most important to read upon, primarily Alternative. In the past, the magazine has covered bands and artistis such as Arctic Monkeys, Coldplay, Jay-Z, Metallica, Nirvana, The Prodigy and Red Hot Chili Peppers, and each seperate coverage has been during the peak of the band/artist's fame, which is useful as it will attract more buyers if it features the most talked about band/artist at the time on the cover.
Audience -The magazine is aimed towards a mature audience (People in their 30s/40s). Its founders didn't think there was a magazine for the older generation at the time who were still buying CDs. They wanted to launch the magazine for an audience that was more sophisticated and just wanted to know about the music itself. By launching Q, they helped to fill this gap in the market. Another stand out feature this magazine had was the use of high quality photos.
Representation -The featured band (Kings of Leon) is to be represented in the magazine as a unit whose members have always stuck together (even from childhood, due to the family element mentioned earlier) and also one of the many Alternative bands that the institution aims to cover. They represent the Alternative genre through connotations of rebellion, which is another way of viewing the cover image. The breaking of the glass could also connotate the breaking of rules.
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