HOT PRESS magazine analysis

Hot press magazine collage from Bethany Quigley

Here I have analysised HOT PRESS' magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread as part of research for my music magazine. I have done this in preparation for creating my own music magazine - this will benefit me as I will be able to include design, layout and colour scheme ideas as well as learning how to address my audience for my magazine.

Front cover

HOT PRESS magazine is released fortnightly; it bases its articles on music and politics. Located in Dublin, Ireland it was founded in June 1977. The magazine title, HOT PRESS, is a pun for a common Irish term for an airing cupboard. Masthead can also symbolize the idea of paparazzi and ‘press’ in the media – they have the hot press, the ‘not-to-be-missed’ press. Furthermore, the masthead can also give the idea that the magazine knows everything you need to know about music. The title almost sounds like a gossip-centre place; the HOT PRESS. As though the magazine directly tell their readers everything – nothing is held back which creates a friendly feel to the magazine.

The magazine has a circulation of 17,179 (ABC, January – December 2012). The magazine is sold in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland which means they have a wider target audience and market. The magazine is mostly directed at individuals aged 18-35 with 90% of their audience being in that age group. 45% of this percentage is 18-25 years old while the other 45% are between the ages of 26-35. The magazine is aimed equally at both sexes with 52% of their readers being male and the other 48% being female.

The house colours for this magazine are; gold, black and grey. This helps the magazine become a house-hold magazine for its readers, the colour scheme is dark and rock ‘n’ roll like. From this house style we can assume the magazine promotes non-pop music such as arctic monkeys, Jake Bugg and of course U2. The gold and black contrast of colours suggests an award-like magazine as these colours are used in the music industry for platforms and awards. This makes us the audience assume this award-winning magazine who features award-winning musicians. All words and letters printed on the front cover are displayed in block capitals which suggest that all information is important on the cover and so the reader should read it all. The issue vol and issue number is displayed alongside the date in which the magazine is published; this helps the reader determine how long the magazine has been running and ensures they are reading the up-to-date edition. The font of this is small and printed at the side of the masthead. The layout, choice of colours and design of the front cover has created a niche audience – those interested in vintage, old-school music. This helps to create a ‘fandom’ for HOT PRESS magazine as they will have buyers who will buy every release and those who buy for their favourite band who may be featured in the magazine.

The masthead of this magazine is HOT PRESS; the O in hot is replaced by a fire symbol which further implies the idea of the word HOT – as though their music and articles are on fire, a metaphor for the best.  The masthead is printed in a stamp-like fashion which connotes a homely-feel for their readers.

The main image is displayed on 70% of the front cover which instantly attracts the audience to look at U2. The use of this band helps to introduce new readers to the magazine as people may see U2 as the front cover and may be interested to read it- therefore an increase in audience numbers and sales. The image is in black and white which is in contrast to the house style of the HOT PRESS magazine. The black and white image could further suggest that the band are ‘old-school’ and so therefore a black and white image would deeply present the band as the ‘kings of music’ – to many people they may be. Not one band member is making eye contact with the camera/ reader which intrigues us to as why they do not make eye contact- this makes us believe that ‘the big interview’ may include some mistakes and secrets in which the band have made throughout their careers and so this intrigues the reader to read on. The image was taken at eye level which helps to emphasises the band as down-to-earth people – who make music. The use of this eye level angle is very naturalistic and even. Every band member is seen equally in the shot and so there is no ‘main’ singer-band member. This further gives us the audience that U2 want to create a new image- which the angle of shot helps to establish this. The main coverline is displayed in front of the main image which suggests to the reader that U2 is based on their music not their image – which is uncommon in today’s music industry.

The mise en scene presented in the main image have been carefully chosen to highlight important aspects of the band. The musicians look very relaxed – this helps the reader connect to the band on a humanly basis. The use of sunglasses on two of the musicians symbolised what they may be hiding from their past – two without sunglasses show how they’ve changed, moved on. One band member is wearing a monkey hat; which would usually see on a hard working man, such as builders or carpenters. This hat represents to the audience how hard the band have worked to get to where they are – although mistakes (sunglasses representation) they have worked hard.

‘The Big Interview’ is presented to the reader in a faint font; it is not instantly directing the reader to what it reads. Yet, as the reader is attracted to the main image it is when the look down they can notice this coverline. The wording interests the reader at once as the adverb ‘big’ is used which implies this interview is not something to be missed. Furthermore, the white writing under the coverline reads; ‘BONO, EDGE, LARRY AND ADAM TALK TO OLAF’, this line is displayed in block capitals to further imitate the house style. The magazine has chosen to print all band members’ names which is strange and interesting because most people and readers would only recognise Bono- who is the main singer. By doing this, HOT PRESS magazine are promoting the band as a new generation of themselves; because the band are older they need to become more relevant with the new generation of music.

More coverlines are displayed on the strapline of the front cover; these are printed in a careful way- where by the reader is only appealed by them once they have saw everything else on the front cover. The wording is direct and only tells the reader some of what is furthermore featured in the article. The mode of address presented in these coverlines continues with the exact wording of the main coverline. The coverlines displayed on the HOT PRESS front cover can be labelled as ‘headings’ or ‘titles’ which present the magazine is quite a formal way.

From the front cover I can suggest that HOT PRESS magazine focuses its content on mostly males – this is only based on the fact that the house-style does not represent women in any way and so the use of these colours would more likely attract male readers.

Contents page

Firstly, the reader’s attention is instantly attracted to the large teal heading of the contents page; it reads, ‘contents’ in block capitals – further emphasising the house style of HOT PRESS magazine. Under the main heading it states the vol and issue number once again however this time it gives the reader a vintage feel as the font is quite antique looking. The ‘HOT PRESS 3820’ once again shows how many magazine publications this brand has had. In doing this, the reader feels like the magazine will always been published and so will be intrigued as the magazine must contain popular and interesting articles- therefore the reader will want to read on due to this.

Furthermore, the contents page additionally emphasises the fire we see on the masthead of the magazine. The fire image on this page is in the blue teal colour with a circle of different coloured sections around it. This implies to the reader that this fire image is the magazines’ logo and so apart of the house style of the magazine.

There is only one image on the first contents page – an unusual convention of a contents page. The image is once again the band U2 which again displays them in a black and white image. This image is on the bottom of the page and alongside the list of page numbers. HOT PRESS’ contents page does not follow the conventional layout of a contents page. There are two page of contents pages which gives the reader a larger idea of what is inside the magazine. Both pages follow the same style of the dots and font suggesting the the first contents page is a ‘cover page’ for the contents page as it is the page with the masthead and the main story image. The first page  only displays two highlighted articles within the magazine; one of which concerns music while the other, politics. The name of the article is highlighted beside the page number to give the reader clear guidance on what the story about U2 is. It then goes on to describe the main narrative of the story which helps intrigue the reader.

Diagrams of dots, in the teal colour, are seen on above and below the heading ‘contents’ and ‘HOT PRESS 3820’. These dots present the magazine in a professional and neat way which helps the reader understand what they should be attracted to – the page numbers and U2 image. The font used on this page provides the reader with an old-English presentation. In doing this the audience make a prejudgement of the mode of address in which the magazine communicates with the reader. We, the audience, can assume from this appearance that the magazine is very formal in the way it communicates and so gives off a professional feel.

The overall style of the contents page in this magazine is very sheik and vintage which further emphasises the fact that U2 is an older band. This gives us, the audience, the impression that this magazine features the older bands, the ‘chiefs of music’, and the house-hold names within the industry.  

Double page spread

The choice of band for the double page spread in HOT PRESS magazine implies to us that the target audience is old-school rock – the audience would be of an older age. This means that the magazine can make references to music and musicians that shaped the world of music. U2 have such a large fan base and so by including them as their double page spread HOT PRESS magazine are increasing their circulation and therefore sales. The use of a large dark image which white font suggests that the band have a darker, more gothic side – a new album could be suggested in this. The white font is displayed in many different fonts, some of which include; Algerian, and Calibri (body). This helps create an artistic feel to the article which promotes the reader to enjoy the layout and design of the page not just the body text. The colours used on this page do follow some part of the house style of HOT PRESS magazine – black and white is used throughout as well as the black and white image however no gold is used which does not support the infamous house style.

Language used on this page is quite humorous and uses some puns when describing a band member. For example, “guitarist The Edge – passport name: David Howell Evans – is strapping on his seatbelt and discussing his many years of air travel”. This caption introduces the article – it eases the reader into which band member it is about and what are they doing at the present moment of the interview. The pun is humorous and so is inviting for the reader to sit and read the rest of the article. It shows that the article is informal and low-key. By stating the fact that the interview took place in a taxi going down the Luton airport runway implies to the audience that indeed the band are down-to-earth and live a low-key star-studded life. Further on in the article is written in the point of view of the interviewer, whose name is printed clearly before the body text. In doing this, the audience are submitted to see and feel what the interviewer, Olaf, is experiencing when interviewing the band. This also helps the reader feel as though they are a passive audience which helps to create a sense of conversation between the band members and the reader.

In terms of the layout of the double page spread in the HOT PRESS magazine – the main image takes up nearly one full page which instantly attracts the audience as the reader would most likely want to look at the image rather than read a large article. The double page spread is based on one band member – The Edge, which does not comply with the image as it contains all band members. This suggests to us that the article goes on for a number of pages to focus on one band member at a time; giving the audience a full coverage of their favourite band. A blurb is printed below the image on the first page – this helps to sum up everything that has recently happened concerning U2. This helps to audience become up-to-date with the band and so they will understand the article fully. The overall design of the page is very gothic, emo which implies a very different look to the band – again suggesting a new sound or look for the band. Only one image has been used on this page which creates the idea that this image is the most important to the article – one that contains all band members equally shot. The mono toned image has connotations of rapid succession as used in film drama whereby draining the colour of an image can shift and add complexities, meanings and convey that a deeper message is hidden. The quality of having no colour can be for a number of reasons but purely has been used to create a wholly symbol.