Analysing different magazine fonts

I felt that it was important to analyse different fonts of successful magazines to gain an idea and understanding of what works well and what doesn't. I have chosen magazines such as NME and Kerrang! as they are one of many highly popular music magazines.

This logo for NME immediately catches the readers eye. Not only does it use bold simplistic colours, but the font is bold, in capitals and easy to read. Some might argue that the title isn't complex enough, it doesn't use a variety of diverse contrasting colours and proves slightly boring at first glance, however, i disagree. It follows the typical format for a music magazine, using two contrasting colours that accentuate the name instead of having the title be lost in a complex font and too much colour. The title is short and sweet, not too long winded, precise and to the point. It stands for 'New musical Express', informing the reader straight away that the information is modern, up to date and musically based. The black outline around the font makes it stand out from the page to make sure that the background image they use for each issue doesn't take too much focus away from the title. The catchy slogan underneath is there to entice the potential readers even more, informing them that this product is first for music information and if they want to get the most up to date information this product is the one to buy.

Kerrang! uses also two contrasting colours to sell the product. Black and white are opposite colours, meaning that one colour accetuates the other and makes it look bright and vibrant. I really liked this font because i felt it was very simplisitc but effective. The lines across the font reminded me of the strobe lights you get at a rave type event relating back to the metal/rock genre of music I thought this was effective because it made the font look more eye catching and complimented the main subject of the magazine. Underneath they have included the email address for the music magazine online, this allows the reader to know that they can also relate back to the site for magazine extra's in surplus information that they might want to know. The black background on the font accentuates the gothic type rock genre of the magazine using a bold and symbolic colour. I felt that the way this title is presented is very successful in terms of how it portrays its genre and how well it catches the eye of a potential reader.

This title is quite different from any other magazine titles and the way they are displayed on the front covers. As the name of the magazine is very short and simplistic, i think it would have been more successful if they had of done something more interesting and eye catching for the font of the letter. The contrast between the crimson red background and the white letter helps to make the magazine name stand out as well as possible, however as a potential buyer of the product i wouldnt appeal to this font choice and chosen layout of the title. However i do like the fact that the title is so short, it's simplicity means that it is easy to remember.