Billboard is a very popular and well known music magazine,
consisting of R&B, rock and many other genres. The target audience for this
particular issue may be teenage females and boys from the age of 13 to 18.
The masthead is in front of the main cover image which may
suggest that this brand wants to catch the audience eyes and make them see that
it is a very popular magazine. And also it may be at the front of the magazine
so the audience are familiar with it and recognise it. The masthead conforms to
the rule of the thirds as the Billboard logo and tag line take up the entire
spacing. The billboard logo is simple and iconic coloured circles in the
lettering. The blue may connote the main cover line the colour may be used
because it is a bright colour to grab the audience attention. On the logo the
letter ‘b’ is filled with red this is the regular appearance of the logo so
this same exception resumes for every issue.
The cover image is of Shakira a female singer, the picture
of Shakira is very close up as this shows that the magazine is based on Shakira,
whereas Shakira is looking directly at you which make the audience feel in
contact with the artist. As you can see there are 2 Shakira as this goes with
the cover line ‘Shakira times two’ this connotes
The colour theme for the magazine is yellow, orange, green
and blue. Every magazine has its own colour theme usually 3-4 which is a
convention of magazines. This is so magazines become recognisable straight away
from its theme colours.
The page is clearly set out into sections for the
different types of article; there is also a column on the left side of the page
with a separate section which contains the music charts at the time the
magazine is released. The page has four photographs from different pages of the
magazine, this is effective as the reader can look at one of the photographs
and immediately know which page the corresponding article is on.
The word ‘Contents’ is written in stencil – esque
font which makes the letters look like they have been split up or broken, which
could suggest that billboard are trying to be different from other music
magazines and want to be a ‘break’ in the music magazine world and want to be
unique.
The layout of the page is quite complicated as it is
sectioned into three sections, the photographs, information and the top charts
list. This is a very good way of representing what is inside the magazine,
because if the buyer of the magazine does not like to read a lot they could
just look at the picture see who is on it and they want to look at it they will
be directed straight to the page by the numbers on the bottom corner of the
image. The font is straight to the point. Has a bold black font to show
subtitle and blue font to what is featured.
This double page spread is
from billboard magazine whose target audience is mainly females of late teen to
young adult age. The feature on this double page spread is of Shakira who is a
popular artist with this target audience. This double page spread has a lot of
writing on it telling you about the concert Shakira performed at. The way this
is set out I common layout often used in all magazine to help the aesthetics of
the page. There is a quote middle of the page in a yellow text box which stands
out in the page. The colour scheme of the magazine is black, white and yellow,
the colours which are used stand out the magazine which then grabs the reader’s
attention. The medium shot used of Shakira dominates that the page will be
about her.
The picture
of Beyoncé is the main image at the front of the magazine. It is a close up
picture which is very eye catching and will attract to the male audience as she
is very beautiful. The pose has values issues as it is a very strong pose and
gives the vulnerable look towards the audience. The Billboards logo is very
simple with the iconic colour circles in the lettering. As the logo fills the
masthead from the left to right it enables the magazine to be immediately
recognisable on the shelf and stand out against other magazines. The central
image stands out as part of the masthead which suggests it is already a
recognisable magazine.
The logo is
same as the mast head, which makes the magazine look organised and
sophisticated, and the magazine uses different fonts and colours to make it
look more organised. It also has banners with headings in them so the reader
can locate their desired article easily. The background is grey which is
different from the main background to draw attention. The colour scheme which
is being used is blue green and black, this is good and effective because 3
colours keeps is clear and stops it from looking cluttered and confusing. The
main article is featured at the content page, as well as it has a different fonts,
bold and italic writing are used to highlight the important parts. The multiple
images which are used with page numbers is clearly showing what page the reader
would have to go in order to read the article about the particular magazine.
The medium
shot image of Beyoncé on the right page shows the reader that the main topic is
going to be about her. Also her wearing a pink dress may connotes excessive
femininity and super girly which then also connotes that she may be trying to
attract the males. Beyoncé looking directly at the camera which may make the
audience feel included and feel that the artist is looking directly at them. Also
the background on the right page the colour white may connote purity.
The left hand page looks very busy as there is lots of
different types of pictures of Beyoncé,
this may be because the artists wants to let the audience know what she been up
to. The writing on the page has been written in different colours such as red,
black and green, this may be because there are 3 are 3 different storys and
don’t want them too clash together.
