Analysing Block Titles

Q is a music magazine aimed at men aged 24-44. The name of the magazine was changed from its original name ‘Cue’, it was changed to avoid confusion; it could be mistaken for a snooker magazine.The single letter title also makes it more noticeable on the newsstands among the other magazines. The colours, red and white, have been used and appeals to an English readership as these are the colours of the English flag. Red is also a great background colour as it brings the text to the foreground. As it is being used as an accent colour, it stimulates people to make quick decisions, hopefully people would want to buy it. The formal font of the letter also gives an impression of the importance and elegance of the magazine and its readers.

NME or New Music express is a music magazine aimed at males, 15-24. The black background used makes the other colours stand out. The combination of black and red gives an aggressive colour scheme which could appeal to a male target audience. Also the fact that it is pronounced as ‘enemy’ contributes to this fierce and aggressive title block image. Initially NME was published as a non-glossy tabloid magazine tabloid format on newsprint. It is no longer published on newsprint and is much more glossy and has full colour covers. This explains the red font which is commonly used on tabloid newspapers. This title block is definitely appealing to a male target audience as the font resembles that of comic books and the sharp point of the ’M’ makes it even more masculine.

The source is a monthly magazine covering hip-hop music, politics and culture. It is based in America and targets an African-American audience. The colour black is associated with power which is associated with the hip-hop genre. So it is ironic that he combination of yellow and black is often used to issue a warning. Also, when yellow is placed on against a black background it is immediately seen before other colours. This would make the magazine more prominent against other magazines. The title block itself is kept very simple in bold letters and two small lines on either side, this could be due to its humble beginnings as a newsletter. The name implies that it is the source of this genre and makes the readers automatically think it is the best.

Kerrang! is a rock music magazine and this is visible straight away from the title block. The word ‘Kerrang!’ itself is onomatopoeic and is referring to the loud sound made by playing a power chord on the electric guitar. This noise is also shown in the title by the exclamation mark used, it shows its strength and loudness. The title is always in black which reflects the lifestyle of the types of rock like goth, metal, punk and thrash. Across the title there are thin white lines and some of the letters appear to have been shattered, this is intended to imitate the image of glass shattering, due to the loud sound.