Jude White
AS Level Media Studies
Kerrang! connotes the sound of an electric guitar, and is therefore wholly appropriate for a rock magazine. The masthead of Kerrang! is instantly recognizable and distinctive. The font, whilst not emboldened, is cracked at the edges, which connotes the ‘rough around the edges’ rock sound the magazine is based around. The font is also filled with diagonal black lines, which connote concert lights, showing that the magazine deals with live performances, an integral part of the rock scene. Like NME, the title of Kerrang! changes colour based on the issue’s house style. It has, interestingly, become commonplace for at least part of the Kerrang! masthead to be obscured by pictures of artists, and this says a lot about how Kerrang!’s individual style is identifiable immediately by buyers. This also says a lot about how the emphasis is on the artist. Seeing as Kerrang! relates most directly to my chosen genre of rock, I should definitely take this into account.
Mojo connotes magic and excitement, which presents this magazine as something special and interesting. This is appropriate for Mojo's target audience, as they are described as being passionate, and such a powerful title connotes the same passion in this magazine. The Mojo masthead takes up a huge amount of space on the page, in order to grab people's attention with its bold, three-dimensional font and catchy name. Mojo's masthead also has a strapline, 'The Music Magazine.' This strapline is written in a vintage-style font, which has connotations of hollywood, showbusiness, and the glitz, glamour and excitement that come with it.' The' also implies that it is the best or even the only true music magazine out there. The masthead will change coour based on the house style of the issue, but given its size it generally remains either black or white, so as not to draw attention from other elements.
Q connotes the cue at the beginning of a music track, and this expresses an almost universal idea of variety. This is appropriate, as Q covers a very wide range of music. Interestingly, a single-letter title was chosen, for two reasons; one was that ‘Cue’ may have been mistaken for a snooker magazine, but ‘Q’ was also chosen as it is more prominent on newsstands. The masthead of Q, positioned in the upper lefft corner similar to NME, consists of a red box with a white serif Q inside. The use of a serif font makes the magazine feel more refined and also suggests that the content inside is from multiple decades, when seen alongside quite modern cover lines. The vibrant red of the box helps it to stand out against other magazines, as large blocks of colour are known to be eye-grabbing. Interestingly enough, the house style of ‘Q’ rarely if ever changes. The red box and white Q are used irrespective of artist, background colour or clothing. However, artist clothing is often understated, likely for this reason. Q sometimes, but not always, uses a strapline, 'Britain's biggest music magazine,' with use of superlative to make the magaine seem like a better option than any other UK music magazine.
Masthead/Typography Analysis
UltImately, the mastheads of music magazines are an unchanging constant, a point of instant identification for any prospective customer. In the images below, the colour of the masthead may change to match a house style, but the font and scaling generally do not. 'Q' does not even change the colour of is masthead, and as such its house style runs across issues.
