Planning task.

Planning TASK:

Colours in Magazines.

Task 1: Case Study.

The main colours that my magazine, KERRANG! has used are red and black. The features and title are in yellow and white which make them stand out to the reader and make them more eye catching.

The connotations of the main colours: black and red are anger and darkness in my opinion. These connotations are emphasised by the genre of magazine that KERRANG! is.

I think the colours used appeal to the target audience because they go with the overall feel of the magazine. Also, the pictures on the front cover are of ‘alternative’ celebrities such as Ozzy Osbourne who have tattoos and more of a gothic look to them which link to the connotations that the colours red and black give.

I think that the colours are used to emphasise the features and the title of the magazine because they’re very contrasting to the main red and black used in the magazine. I think this is done to make the features stand out to automatically show the reader what the magazine offers.

The main colours used throughout the magazine are mainly similar, colours such as a lot of yellows and whites, similar to the front cover. I think the colours are used to give a crisp, clean and organised look to the inside of the magazine. KERRANG! moved away from the red and black used in their front cover because in my opinion dark colours such as these would put off readers from reading the articles. When whites and bright colours are used it automatically makes text look more inviting to read.

Task 2: Your Own Magazine:

My Colour Palette.

My target audience:

Age: 16-35

Interests: Modern music and gossip.

Features: chances to win tickets to singers in the magazine.

                     Posters of people featuring in the magazine.

My two main colours:   black and white 

I chose the colours black and white to be my main colours because

I want my magazine to be smart and simple. The connotations of white in my opinion are purity and simplicity, however the colour black will enable me to make my magazine stand out and completely contrast the purity of the white.

Featuring colours: grey and purple 

  

I chose these colours because I personally think the grey will compliment my two main colours, however I chose the purple because I think it will be a good way to make my features and anything I want to stand out catch the audience’s attention.

My two main colours will be used for the main body of my magazine, for example the title and front cover. Grey will be used when needed for text etc. I will use the purple for anything I think will appeal to the audience and would be a good selling point for my magazine.

Cross Media Ownership.

As well as Kerrang and Mojo, Bauer own kiss. From looking at their website I can tell that one way in which they use cross media ownership is that on the Kiss website, although it is obviously mostly about Kiss and what they offer, on the sides and top of the page they’re advertising one of their other magazines, Kerrang. This could be because Kerrang also contains high content about music and bands. Bauer has seen an opportunity to get business for their other magazine because they know that the majority of the people on their Kiss website would be interested in music because Kerrang and Kiss are both music based magazines.

I personally don’t think many of the audience of Kerrang, Mojo and Kiss are aware that they’re all owned by one company. I think this could work in Bauer’s favour because when advertising for their other companies, and the consumer is unaware they’re produced by the same company, its not as if they’re trying to self promote, and the audience wouldn’t feel although they’re under any kind of pressure. However from the consumers point of view, there doesn’t seem to be many obvious positive effects of them all being owned by the same company. However one could be that since the consumer enjoys reading for example, Kerrang, they could expect the same from Kiss and Mojo.

Testing the Hypothesis:

‘Parent companies use their subsidiary companies to promote their products discreetly’.

I agree with the statement partly, because it is clear that many parent companies have seen a good opportunity to promote their other products using their larger, well-known companies with presumably bigger fan bases. It’s a good way to advertise similar products because they could be related to one another meaning their audiences would most likely enjoy both products. However, I disagree that the promoting is done discreetly. From the KISS website, it’s clear that they’re desperately trying to advertise one of their other music related brands, KERRANG. As a reader, I personally think that the amount of promotion on one page was slightly overwhelming. However I do understand and agree that self-promotion is a great way to gain new readers and most importantly, gain profit from a wider audience.