Research into Mastheads

Going into more research in class, we had to look at different magazines and the conventions that they use. On the front cover we had to analyse: Mastheads, Straplines etc..

Here is an example of one masthead I researched into (JET magazine)

JET MAGAZINE

Here the masthead is placed in the left top hand corner. Its font colour is in white which contrasts with the red background. I have noticed that these font colours are consistent on the front cover as the main theme, also with added colour of yellow.

                           The font style is italic and is given the effect that it has been painted on with a paintbrush. From this magazine I have learnt that on a front cover of a magazine it does look more effective to use a white background. I have also seen that this magazine uses quite neutral colours in the masthead, so therefore the target audience is all ages as well. Having a female model on the front attracts both genders, but not making the cover to female-dominated they have kept simple colour use and text style.

NME MAGAZINE

Here also in this magazine the masthead is placed in the top left hand corner. The font title however, is hot pink which stands out against the plain white background and dark clothing that she is wearing and the colour they have put her name in. The font style is in block bold this also contributes to making it stand out. On this magazine, the target audience I would say for this front cover is female. The use of the hot pink relating back to the colour of he lipstick and font colour, shows how the magazine is keeping attracting females. However, it could also attract males because of her pose. Rihanna, in this midshot image has a powerful pose - hand on her hip - it takes up the whole front cover.

TOP OF THE POPS

This masthead is centered across the top of the magazine. In contrast to the other magazines that are all placed in the left hand corner. Its font is brightly coloured to go with the target audience which is for youngsters. The font is all in smaller case and covered by some of the artists head. This front cover, I have learnt that it has mostly bright colours. The use of pink is used consistently, not just on the front cover, but also inside the magazine.

KERRANG MAGAZINE

This masthead has colours of black and white. This is used in a rock magazine which supports the colour and the effect of the title. It looks like a mirror has been smashed with an instrument. The word itself 'Kerrang' has the onomatopoeia like a guitar is actually being strung or played. The use of black and white keeps its neutral attracting all ages. The gender target audience is more male.  

 From researching these mastheads I have learnt that it has to be consistent with the rest of the front cover. It also depends in what pose your model is in; whether it will overlap some of the masthead. If it does this I have to make sure that you can at least recgonise the masthead and its name if it is covered slightly.

At the beginning I had a slight idea of what font style I wanted to use for my masthead:

I quite liked this at the beginning but then changed my mind because I didnt think that it stood out on the front of the magazine. I preffered for it to be in capitals and in more a more block style. I did however, like the effect of the font style, but didnt think that it related with what I what my genres about. I did like this though, so I did decide to keep it but use it on my double page spread article.

This was my second attempt to find my masthead. Here it is in capitals and I did like it, but I wanted a colour fill of black so changed this for another one. I liked this one because of the boldness and I reckoned that it would stand out on the front of the magazine. But then I thought about colours and if my font cover image was to be underneath the masthead then my title would be difficult for my readers to identify.

I decided on this to be my masthead, Its similiar to the one above that I thought I was going to choose. However, this one has black infill which I thought sorted the magazine. This is going to make it stand out more, especially because its also in Capitals. The style is very basic but I like that because then on the rest of my magazine I can include quite alot of other font styles, so my front cover wont look to crowded. Overall, I am happy with this font that I chose because I can picture it on my front cover magazine as a good and clear masthead.