Market Research - Pop Magazines

This is a screenshot I have taken from Google search after writing 'pop music magazine.' The first thing that is quite noticeable about pop magazines is that they are very eye catching because they're full of colour. The most popular colours being pink and blue. They are all very bright and a lot of white is used throughout all of them. This balances out the many colours used throughout pop music magazine front covers. The angle of gaze is always directed towards the reader because that is what will make you want to pick it up. This is especially effective on the target audience of pop magazines as they are younger and will be interested in the magazines which are more visually appealing. These magazine covers are very busy and hardly have any clear spaces. there are many cover lines and often more than one image. The mastheads are very bold and stand out too, again reflecting the target audience.

Research Rationale

Magazine Typography

In real media texts, music magazines use a wide range of typography which often links back to the genre of music that the magazine focusses on. This mood board displays a range of music magazines of different genres. We can differentiate between them based on the way the word has been manipulated due to font, colour, size and also the use of italics, bold and serifs.

Looking at the mastheads that are on my mood board, it is evident that besides black and white, the most commonly used colour is red. I think that this is because red is a very bold colour however, it's still quite neutral. It is also very versatile as it suits many different genres of music and the fonts that go with it.


Vibe Magazine:

Vibe is RnB magazine. I feel that this masthead suits the music genre as it is bold and in the colour black. The title comes across as informal, this is due to the letter 'e' being the only letter which is not capitalized. This emphasises the fact that its for an RnB magazine.
     

                                                                                                      We Love Pop Magazine:

 

This is a pop magazine aimed towards a younger teen audience. The font which is used comes across as quite informal and casual, similarly to the first masthead as it is simple, bold and doesn't use features such as serifs. The colours used are black, white and pink which immediately confirms that it's aimed towards teens, particularly girls as pink is stereotypically a more feminine colour. The use of a heart to symbolise the word 'love' and the masthead inside of a text bubble emphasises the playful and fun nature of the magazine. The masthead alone says a lot about the style of magazine and the genre of music. This gives an insight as to what the magazine contains before the reader has even opened it.

Magazine Deconstruction

Outline of Brief