House StyleThe house style is looks quite informal so, it will appeal to the target audience who are young adults, however is still looks professional so, will encourage them to read on to find out about the artists featured. The main colour scheme used uses the colours red, yellow, black and white suggesting the bands featured may be rock bands as the colours used are often associated with this genre of music, as the colour black symbolises the darkness within the music and, matches with the image bands within this genre try to create.

Design SymmetryThe design is divided horizontally at the centre with images in the top section and, mainly text in the bottom which creates a professional look. The bottom section of the page is clearly divided into 5 columns which helps make the contents easier for the reader to see and, find an article they are looking for.

Use of Rule of Thirds The main image is on the top left point of the grid using the rule of thirds meaning it is one of the main points people notice first. The secondary images are also placed on or near points within the grid so, the audience notice these images quicker than the rest of the page. The audience can tell from this that it is a professionally designed magazine as they have considered this rule when designing the page.

ImageryThe main image used show the main artist featured dressed in black gothic clothes which are often associated with this genre of music. The darkness of the image matches with the house style and, suggests the dark tone within the music. The contents page also features some secondary image which mainly matches with the dark colour scheme, creating a professional looking house style. Some of the images show double page spreads from inside the magazine so readers know what to expect, which will help encourage them to read on and, buy it.

Design BalanceThe page try’s to create an even balance between text and images. There is a large amount of text within the bottom section which provides to purpose of the contents page; to inform readers what is in the magazine and the corresponding page numbers, while the top section is predominantly images which makes the page look more interesting to appeal to the target audience, while also creating an even balance between text and images making it look more professional. The contents are separated through highlighted black and, yellow headings which help divide the magazine into main sections making it easier for the reader to follow. The text is easily spaced over the bottom of the page although it is packed more tightly together within the editors section as it doesn’t provide important information of the audience.

House StyleThe main colour scheme used is blue, black and white, which would appeal to a more mainstream pop audience. The colour blue is seen as a calming colour which suggests what the genre of music featured is often like. The page uses a serif font which makes it seem less formal which will appeal to the target audience as they are likely to not enjoy reading more formal media pieces such as newspapers, meaning this font will make it look different to these types of media and, therefore more appealing to the target audience.

ImageryThe contents pages uses images to illustrate some of the articles within the magazine meaning the audience can easily identify what the main articles within the magazine will be about. The images used are quite bright in high key lighting matching the house style of the rest of the page, and also use white and, black within them matching the colour scheme for the magazine. The images follow the conventions of what the target audience expect by using mainly pop singers which is the genre of music the magazine mainly focuses on.

Design BalanceThe design is informally balanced as one side is mainly text while the other features images. There is a lot more text on the page than images creating an uneven balance suggesting that there is a lot of information inside which may appeal to the audience as they think they are getting more for their money as there will be a lot of articles inside. This will appeal to the target audience as they are likely to be students with low income so want good value for money and, to find out a lot of information within the magazine.

Design SymmetryThe pages is clearly divided into two sections with the left side being a list of the different articles within the magazine while the right side describes the main articles often with images creating a more informal look. The left side is divided further into two columns which provides a line of symmetry through the contents table so, it’s easy to follow.

Use of Rule of Thirds The page is divided into sections along the left hand line and, the bottom line. The magazine uses the lines to divide the page to draw attentions to the various different sections. The images used are also divided using this method with the main points within the image being on the points of intersection.

Both contents pages have displayed a contents masthead at the top of the page. Kerrang’s masthead is displayed in the top right hand corner which using Guttenberg’s design principle is the first area the reader will look at, compared with Billboards which is displayed in a fallow area drawing more attention to these areas meaning all the space on the page is utilised. Kerrang’s masthead follows the house style for the rest of the magazine by being in the same font as the main masthead and, following the colour scheme by being yellow, relating to the rock image. Similarly Billboard’s contents masthead follows the colour scheme however is in a different font to the masthead and, rest of the text so doesn’t directly follow the house style.

Both pages display the contents within columns making it easy to follow for the reader so they can clearly see what articles feature within the magazine. This gives the pages some structure giving them a professional look which they will want to create so the target audience will purchase the magazine.

Kerrang fixtures an even balance between images and, text which fans of the genre of music will like as they want to see large pictures within the magazine, and looks more appealing to the audience. In comparison Billboard’s content page is mainly text heavy to inform the reader about all the different articles within the magazine, so they know exactly what the articles are about encouraging them to buy it.

Kerrang is divided horizontally with the top section featuring the images while the bottom section is mainly text. Similarly the images in Billboard are also mainly separated into the top right section of the page dividing them between the text.