Task 5- Deciding which

genre and style

By Katie cook

Why is Font and colour

important?
Font and colour are important for a magazine because these are visual
features that the audience see. The colour scheme is an effective feature that
the editor decides on to catch the readers attention by sending a message in
a form that they can understand. The colours are selected carefully
depending on target audience. For example, if it is for a pop magazine the
target audience would be more attracted to bright colours but if it is a rock
magazine then the target audience would be more attracted to darker
colours. They usually match this to the stereotype that the group of people
come from.
Font is also effective in the same way because different type of writing will
attract different audiences. For example if the font Harlow solid italic was
used then we may expect it to relate to a classical music magazine as it looks
to pretty to be associated with rock music. However, for rock music we may
expect more of a bold font like Aharoni or Gill sans ultra bold as these two
fonts are very bold and strong fonts which I think would relate to rock fans as
rock is a very powerful type of music.
These two elements of the magazine are very important for the masthead and
the taglines as it will match what they say.

Difference between fonts

Clea
r
Quite bold but
not as bold as
some other
fonts
Elegant

Space
d

Moder
n

Looks like a child's

handwriting

Comic Sans MS

Curved edges
Old

French script MT

Thin letters
Looks like a well educated
womans hand writing

Flows- no spaces
between each letter

I choose to compare these two fonts as they are completely different styles of writing,
therefore this will allow me to compare theirs advantages and disadvantages of using
either. For example, if I was to use the comic sans MS font then I think that this would
make my magazine look as though it is targeted for a younger target audience as it is
a very modern font and looks like a younger child's hand writing. So if I was to use this
font I think it would have to be used on a pop magazine for young children. However,
the French script MT is more sophisticated and elegant suggesting that it would be
used on a classical magazine as classical is targeted more towards the elderly higher
educated people which may use this sort of writing so it would appeal more towards
them because I think it you was to show this writing to someone a lot younger they

Types of fonts
Arial black- I think that this font is bolder than a lot of other fonts and it is clear so
it is understandable for the audience. I have seen this font on the Classical Rock
masthead, which I think it suits very well as it is thicker showing its boldness which
relates to rock music as rock fans very bold and outgoing like this font.
Broadway- I think that this style would be used on a pop magazine because the use
of thick and thin edges enables it to appeal to that group of people because it is
interesting and fun looking which many pop fans are like. Many pop fans are bubbly
young teenagers therefore a font like this will engage and interest them better than
a font which is really elegant as this will looking boring to them
Stencil- I think that this font will target hip hop/ RnB fans as it looks quite masculine,
which people with this interest usually are as this music aims it lyrics more towards
men. Furthermore, it is very bold and clear which a man would prefer as they
wouldnt want to look at a more elegant font because it wouldnt interest them.
Harlow Solid Italic- this font is very elegant as it flows and uses the old fashioned
style of writing. Therefore, I think that this would appeal to an older woman who is
highly educated as this font comes across as posh and sophisticated. Because of
this I think it may appeal to someone with an interest like classical music because it
is presented in that way.

Hand letters
In the magazine there may be the use of an editors letter addressing
the audience, this most commonly may be on the contents page, it is
usually quite short and uses anchoring to connect the text with page
numbers. In this section a hand written font may be used as the
difference in hand writing creates meaning for the audience. This is
effective because if the font looks like hand writing then it looks as
though it has came personally from the editor showing that the editor
really does care about the audience who buys the magazine, showing
the editors interest and opinions on what is included in the magazine.
To do this they may use a font like Adobe fan heiti STD B as I think this
font looks a lot like handwriting. However, the font for the editors
magazine may be different if different genre magazines as the editor
needs to show that they can also relate to the genre of music and that
they are guinelly interested in that genre otherwise people may think
hey dont have clue what they are writing about and dont know
anything about the genre so they will be less willing to buy the
magazine.

Size
Size is a key element to do with the text. Sze is important
especially on the masthead. The masthead is one of the most
important features as it tells the audience the name of the
magazine and will often tell them what type of music they are
targeting towards. To enable them to achieve this they adjust
the size of the masthead. This is part of code and conventions
as all magazines do this, they make the masthead the biggest
font on the page as it is the first piece of text they want you to
see. The bigger the font the bigger the importance of the text.
The masthead will often be in the centre and at the top of the
page as well as they use rule of thirds to see where the readers
eye automatically looks at first. The second biggest font will be
the main cover line and will anchor to the main image as this is
another element which has a lot of importance because it will be
the man article in the magazines contents.

Blue- An intellectual and Calming colour.

Positives- intelligence, communication,
trust, efficiency, coolness, reflection.
Negative- coldness, lack of emotion,
unfriendliness.
Blue is the colour of the mind and is
essentially soothing; it affects us mentally.
Strong blues will stimulate clear thought
and lighter, soft blues will calm the mind
and aid concentrations.
Red- physical
Positive- physical courage, strength,
warmth, energy, stimulation, masculinity,
excitement.
Negative- defiance, aggression, visual
impact.
Red is a powerful colour. Not the most
visible colour, it has the property of
appearing to be nearer than it is and
therefore grabs our attention first. Hence its
effectiveness in traffic lights. Its effect is
physical; it stimulates us and raises the
pulse rate. Red is strong and very basic.
Pure red is the simplest colour with no
subtly.
Yellow- emotional
Positive- optimism, confidence, self-esteem,
strength, friendliness, creativity.
Negative- fear, fragility, depression, anxiety,
suicide.
Yellow is the strangest colour
psychologically. The right yellow will lift our
spirits and our self-esteem; the colour of

Colour

The colour scheme is very

important because colours can
represent a person, their mood
and emotions. The colour
schemes in magazine are used to
attract their target audience as
different colours can suit different
genres of music. For example,
dark colours are typically used for

What is Importance of the font and

colour together?
One key importance is when connecting the font and colour scheme together they should work and
look right together. If the wrong colour is used with the wrong style of font then this could be crucial
for the magazine. It is important to make the right decisions because if the wrong decision is made
then it may be difficult to attract the target audience that you want and people might
misunderstand which genre they are aiming at.
Bad decisions:
Heavy metal- This does not look right at all because heavy metal fans like darker colours as this is
the stereotype of rock fans because their type of music is very dull and relates to anger. Therefore,
the use of bright pink will look as though the magazine is trying to be funny so know one will want to
read the magazine as it looks like they don know anything about the genre of music.
Pop music I think this looks wrong as well because dark red is associated with anger and pain
which is the total opposite of pop music. The pop genre should be bright and bubbly as they are
targeting at younger children like teenagers who are happy, therefore the bright colours show the
happiness related to pop music.
Good decisions:
Heavy metal- I think that this looks a lot better as the font is bold and thick letters and the colour
used is black which is a dark colour which is most commonly associated with rock. Other colours I
think would be effective is colours like dark red, white and browns.
Pop music- I think this looks effective because the font matches the style of music as it suits the
younger target audience and it clear for them too read as the letters arent too thick. Also, the blue
represents calmness and happiness which pop music is.

Colours that do work!

Rock:

I think that this would work

for rock because I have
seen this before on a rock
magazine and they went
really well together, also,
the dark colours on the
background stand out
when the text is in white

Pop:

Colours that
will work
together

For this one I would use

bright colours because
pop stands out for its
bright colours and it is
very happy exciting
music.

RnB:
For RnB I think that I would
use darker colours because
RnB as a more cooler
atmosphere and blue is
none for calmness, black is
sophisticated and orange is
a passionate colour which
represents many RnB
artists.

Font:
For my font on my
masthead I would
use
Blackoak STD
And for my font on my
cover lines I would
use
Arial black
Colours:
Colours I would use
would probably be
black, brown, red or
dark yellow

Target audienceThe target audience will

be aimed at middle
class men, aged 14-30
and their hobbies will be
music and going to gigs.
Rock

Will include loads of

different rock artists to
represent that it is a
rock magazine, this
will help people
understand who it is
aimed for.