Research-Front Cover Research 1 Rock Sound Gallows

This is a rock magazine published by Rock Sound in 2009 and they're focusing on the rock band Gallows. The picture covers the whole page and is the main element of the cover, the singer is Frank Carter the lead singer of the rock band, Gallows.

Rock is known to be a very heavy metal genre and to be a dark and aggressive tone. This is why Carter has direct eye contact to the camera to make him look intimidating and the picture is very in the audiences face. The first thing you notice is the hand which is swearing right towards the camera. With the artist swearing at you, it immediately portrays the attitude that he's not bothered or could even show
he is angry.

The artists face has minimal expression, he looks very neutral which could be seen as angry and he has a shaved head which people think makes others look more dominant. He is wearing a white vest top to purposely show all his tattoos which stand out as most of the image is white to contrast with the black background but his tattoos are in black. Tattoos are known to be on strong and hard men which also links with the aggressive person which is shown. Another thing is he has a bruise on his head which could show hes been in a fight. All these elements give a aggressive manner which links with the genre of the magazine and are symbolic to the genre of rock. This are iconic semiotics of the genre and symbolize aggression linking to Barthes theory which make the make so recognizable for the audience. However, on his fingers there is the word 'bluf' tattooed which makes the audience think is he really this aggressive man the magazine is portraying him to be or is he ' 'bluffing'everyone. This element links to Dyer's theory of 'a star is an image, not a real person, that is constructed.' So even though he looks violent and hard he might be a nice person.

The masthead is spread across the whole top of the front cover and says 'Rock Sound'. This is the name of the publishers and is a housestyle for all there magazines. This certain magazine,the font is in white contrasting the black background and they purposely used a white font to make it stand out and clear to read. Even though some of the text is covered by the image. The audience can still easily recognise it as the magazine is so well known. The font is very bold to reflect the music the magazine is based on.

The text gives information about what the magazine is about. This magazine has one feature story about the Gallow's which would be the main attraction for most of the buyers. This is why the font is different to any others,its much bigger and the word 'Gallows' is a different font. The quote is in yellow this is so it stands out even more and most the text used is white. The quote says 'were putting the boll*cks back in rock'. The swearing links to the image and indicates this band are coming back and bringing back the heavy rock.
All the other cover story's are white and black font but in front of a coloured box. These colours are very bright compared to the black and white theme which could show this story's are not as aggressive as the main one. Doing this, makes it clear it is a separate story to the picture and in this case there is two cover story's. One of them is to tell the audience about a new upcoming tour. The cover story is in red to suggest rage or anger which links to the facial expression the image is showing next to the text. The image looks like he is screaming or shouting which links to the genre of the music where the artists normally scream and shout in there songs. 
The other cover story is on the left side in the black and white with a larger image which follows the codes of a front cover. This must be a common rock artist and would be recognised by a lot of the audience. 

Another key part of the front cover is a plug to advertise two giant posters in a yellow background. This would highlight the plug and catch the eye of the audience as they would like and recognise these bands. The yellow could also suggest caution as the images are quite eerie,scary and uncomfortable for other people who are not use to the darkness of rock bands. 

Also, this certain magazine uses a list to name some more artists the magazine focuses on to reach and attract a larger audience and has a short story heading in its banner. They also use a plug to advertise the huge amount of articles inside the magazine. The use a black circle with white font to make is stand out compared to the rest of the image but still following the rock colours. The plug shape is ripped in the corner this is used as rock genre is quite rucked and violent. It suggests it been ripped and destroyed.  At the top of the magazine there is also a plug to advertise a 'free CD' this would intrigue the audience into paying the price over any other magazine in the shop as the music would be suitable for them as the genre would be the same the magazine is focussing on.

Most of the features,follow the codes and conventions of music magazines. It has a masthead which stands out and a main picture and cover storys to attract people into buying the magazine. However, most magazines put the full band on the front cover as more people would recognise all the artists together and may not know them individually. However, this magazine has just put Frank Carter on the cover. Even though the story is about the whole band they would of just used Carter as he is the most intimidating and the one who quoted the quote which the article is about.

How research has informed my creativity and planning:

• I like the use of black and white, i think it looks effective.
• The direct eye contact intrigues the audience.
• The tattoos are a clear statement but hard to recreate in real life but i could use some fake tattoos or find someone with a lot of tattoos.
• I would want to use more bright colours.