Magazine Block Titles Analysis

Kerrang is a rock magazine aimed at rock music lovers between the ages of 14-20.
Denotation
Connotation
· Capital letters
The title being in capitals makes the word stand out; this makes it clear that that’s the title of the magazine.

· Exclamation mark
The exclamation mark at the end of the title turns ‘kerrang’ into an onomatopoeia of the loud sound a guitar makes when it’s been plucked really hard. This relates to the genre of the magazine which is rock.

· White lines
The white lines across the word represent a broken glass, which relates back to loudness.

· Black Font
The black font links to the target audience as the magazine is aimed at rock lovers who love black.

Vibe magazine is an entertainment which features R&B and hip-hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. Its target audience is young people between the ages of 14-20. The title is in big bold letters which make it stand out from any other text on the magazine. Red makes the title eye-catching and attracts its specified audience; red is colour which isn’t aimed at a specific gender which makes the colour used suitable for its audience as the magazine is unisex.

Q is a magazine title which is aimed at music lovers between the ages of 24-44, for both genders but mostly men.

Unlike other magazine titles this logo is very simple as it is only one letter, the reason for its simplicity could relate to the target audience of the magazine. The style of the font is very formal which could once again link back to the target audience being mature adults.

The letter Q is in white and based on a red background, which is almost contradictory as the two colours are complete opposites. Red is a negative colour which represents danger, power, alertness and some sense of sexual appeal, whereas white a positive colour represents peace and purity.
The colours red and white could also be chosen because it’s aimed at a British audience which relates to the British flag. The block title could relate to its target audience and may emphasise boldness, maturity and power.
The letter Q sounds like the word “cue” shortened in a catchy way, which could relate to the idea of the magazine having a list of songs.

NME is a music magazine target at male and female music lovers between the ages of 15-24.

NME stands for New Musical Express which may relate to the purpose of this magazine which is to reveal new artists and genres to the world. As New Musical Express is quite long to say it has been shortened to NME to make it sound catchy. When “NME” is pronounced it sounds like the word ‘Enemy’, this could have something to do with the fact that it used to be a newspaper with a rebellious audience.

The colours used on this block title (black, white and red) contrasts from one to the other; this could represent the contrasts of all the new music discovered in this magazine. Red and black are negative colours and this could be used to relate to the whole idea of the magazine sounding like “Enemy”, such colours could also reflect the target audience being mostly men. Whereas the colour white could reflect diversity of the new music covered in the magazine. As white represents peace and purity, the complete opposites of red and black colours, you could say that it has something to do with its female audience and the contrasts between the music. The colour red stands out more than the other colours and helps attract its target audience.

The font is a simple bold lettering, which relates to its target audience (teenagers) being bold, youth who might want to be different- new music, new style. The capitals used in the font may be to attract its audience by boldness, and the pointy centre of the letter M, could reflect the magazine having a ‘cutting edge’ to attract the youth.