The title of this magazine is "Metal Hammer." It is a monthly music magazine, specialising in the genre heavy metal, which we can tell from the its name. It's purpose is to inform and entertain the fans of a wide range of metal bands. It is published by the company "Future Publishing."When we first look at the magazine, the first aspect which catches the eye is the man posing on the cover, who fans will recognise as a member of the popular metal band "Children Of Bodom". He is represented as being very dominant and confident, and his facial expression signifies anger. This reflects the genre of music that he represents, as heavy metal is seen as being very powerful and strong.
The man is dressed in all black, which represents evil, death and mystery. These are themes that are often reflected in metal music. His hand is covered in blood, which again makes him appear very sinister and frightening. An image of the grim reaper has been imported behind him. It's hand is resting on his shoulder, this relates back to the themes of death and evil which often play a huge part in the genre of heavy metal.
The name of the magazine "Metal Hammer" is written at the top of the page, however most of the text is covered by the man on the front. This shows that the magazine must be successful, as they are confident that their readers will recognise it through the few letters that are on show, and by the way it has been set out. The word "Hammer" is written in red, and has been made to look like it is on fire. This is connected to the fiery background used for behind the model. Fire is destructive and over-powering, which links back to the way the man on the front is represented. The colour red also connotates anger, power, warning and Hell (links to fire). The word "Metal" however has been placed more discretely along one side of the letter "H" of "Hammer". This shows that the main phrase that the producers are interested in their audience seeing is the word "Hammer", as it is fairly obvious from the cover what genre of music the magazine is about, so the word "Metal" becomes less important.
Above the title, a banner displaying the names of some of the bands featured within the magazine has been used to persuade fans of these to buy the product. This also helps to widen the target audience, as some people will have heard of some of these bands but not of others. If these fans buy the magazine, they may discover new artists they like, and will be encouraged to buy later issues.
The name of the main featured band in the magazine "Children of Bodom" has been written directly underneath the man in a contracting pale yellow colour so that it stands out against his dark clothing. It has been written in the same official font that the band uses for their name on posters etc, so fans will automatically and easily recognise it and are likely to want to buy the magazine. Underneath this text, a sub-heading "Welcome to their nightmare!" has been written in red, Gothic style writing. This sub-heading gives the reader an idea of what the article will be about, but reveals enough to keep their audience interested and intrigued. The word "nightmare" again denotates the influences behind their music.
I believe that this magazine is aimed at genuine fans of heavy metal music, and is a collectable piece as it isn't released as often as some other music magazines, and it is quite expensive to buy. The magazines price of £3.99 is written along the right hand side of the page, next to the barcode. The price hasn't been made obvious as some people who have never bought the magazine before will feel that it is too expensive and will not want to purchase it. However fans who buy the magazine regularly will be aware of the price, but will perhaps be more willing to pay it because they are aware it is a specialist and collectable monthly magazine.
No comments:
Post a Comment