Masthead Analysis

Masthead

The masthead for 'XXL' is designed to stand out. the Large white font stands out well on the red background. The colour red is used to try and accomidate with the acceptable colours for that type of genre or interests in the audience. You would not expect the colour yellow, green, pink etc on there because those colours are mainly used for a different audience.

This masthead has influenced my idea because I want my masthead to stand out. when someone is looking throught the magazine section of the store, my magazine will stand out therefore catching peoples eyes.

Front cover analysis continued

Demographics

By analysing the front cover of 'XXL' magazine I can have a guess at what type of person and lifestyle the typical audience is/has. I think the person would generally be black male between the ages of roughly 15- 25. The person would not be likely to live in a multi-million pound house, they would probably be living in a council house or low priced flat/semi-detatched house. They would try to find bargains for labelled street styled clothes such as Ecko, Nike, Adidas etc.

Fact File on Competitors

XXL

Name: XXL

Frequency: Monthly and Bimonthly

Price: £4.99

Circulation: 209,459
Owned by: Harris Publications

Strapline: Hip Hop on a higher level

Vibe

Name: Vibe

Frequency: Quarterly

Price: £9.95

Circulation: 800,000

Owned by: InterMedia Partners

Strapline: Redifining Hip Hop

The reason why I consider 'XXL' and 'VIBE' to be my main competitors is because they are the two biggest selling hip hop magazine names. There is no points in designing a magazine if you do not wish for it to be a success. Together they have a circulation of over 1 million which is big. However, if you think of the frequency of theirs compared to mine then I think that my monthly should be a bigger success than a bi-monthly and a quarterly.

Research the market

Front cover analysis

Font size and coice of colour

There is not alot of font in this front cover but all of the font there is is large. The main points such as the masthead and subject of magazine are the two largest fonts on the cover. There is a consistent choice of the colours red and white for most of the text.

Images

There is only one image on the front cover, it is that of Eminem. Eminem is a huge face in the world of hip hop. The lighting in the picture is made to make Eminem seem dark and 'hard', even his tattoo on his chest has been photoshopped on to make him seem more rude. Also, he is wearing a gun upholster with a gun in it. I am pretty sure he doesnt walk around with this on his day to day routine. This is the image of himself that he wants other people to see of him.

Layout

The main title of the magazine 'XXL' is in the same place as usual, the top left corner. The large picture of eminem is infront of this title. However, it is behind the main cover line. The front cover has been layered into 3 different layers.

Language

There is not enough text on the front cover for me to make a big poing about the layout. There is only one obvious use of language that has been used specifically for this magazine. t is in the top right hand corner of the magazine. It is the word 'XXclusive'. it is obviously supposed to be 'exclusive' but the name of the magazine is 'XXL' and it is a small play on words.

This front cover has influenced my idea for the size of text and different colours used. i was thinking just plaing black, white and red. however, I now thing this is quite dull and a few more colours are needed. I now also have an idea fr my ain picture and the layout for the magazine.

Aim of my magazine!

My music magazine will be aimed at the music genre of Hip Hop. My typical reader for my magazine would be a male aged between 16-24. He would generally wear designer street clothes and usually use street words with his mates.

My magazine is going to be called 'FLY'as the term 'fly' in hip hop slang means a state of attractiveness. My magazine will be a monthly magazine and will include more pages to accomidate for this.

I have been into hip hop since I was at least 13/14. I really enjoy listening to music, although dubstep has taken my main focus of music, I will always have a playlists on my I-pod for hip hop. my magazine will cost £4.50 and my main competitors will be 'XXL' and 'Vibe'.