Rolling Stone Reseach

Rolling Stone is a magazine that is published in the United States of America, which is different to all of the other magazines I have looked at. It is a magazine that isnt just focused on music but also Liberal Politics and culture along with Movie and T.V Reviews, Artists, Blogs, Photos and Videos. I think that this is an interesting idea to combine all of this within one magazine but I would not put it in my magazine because my target audience would not find some parts of those topic interesting. The magazine was first published in 1967 and has changed and updated its self since then. 

Target Audience.


Front Covers.
I have looked at a lot of front covers from Rolling Stone Magzine and I have chosen 3 that I find I can take ideas from and these 3 also seamed really unique and stood out from the rest.
Masthead.


August 2011 Brazil Issue



Best of Rock 2011
Special Issue



June 2011
Special Edition

-Usually a white background with a coloured title placed in the centre at the top of the page. The title is always in the same place but the colour can change but mostly seams to stand out from the white background, along with whether or not it is placed on or under the image. This has developed a brand identity for this magazine as it had done with NME, by keeping things similar but changing the layout and the images used they have managed to keep it fresh while still remaining within their identity.
-Looking at these covers I have decided that I want a female model on my front cover, they seem to make the magazine more appealing and also I like the idea of having a female on the front cover because it is something that you don't tend to see very often with the metal music industry.

This is the Rolling Stone logo and it is normally the boldest piece of text on the front cover. It is bright red letters which is outlined with white and then placed on the grey background of the magazine's cover image. This adds layers to the cover of the magazine and the colours also create a contrast and makes the front cover of the magazine eye catching. The targer audience tend to see the title of the magazine first, the title is always in a fixed position, it starts underneith the skyline in the left third and works its way over the top of the magazine, because this has remained the same for every issue the magazine has developed a brand identity. On the August 2011 issue the title of the magazine is obscured by the head of Amy Winehouse, but you still know what magazine it is, this is evidence of brand identity. 

 Cover Image.
-The image is mostly placed in the centre of the page and is mainly a maximum of 3 people. Most the issues that I looked at had mainly one person and that was the main story on the inside of the magazine.
-Rolling Stone Magazine has various style of taking an image, some images are looking directly at the camera, others are looking up at the sky, a small amount are over the shoulder.
- In this issue they have made the face of Amy Winehouse clear and it is looking straight at the reader, giving them an almost instantanious feeling that they are involved in the magazine and that they need to read it to find out what is going on.
- She is wearing a red dress which stands out from the grey background but also works with the title as the masthead runs behind Winehouse's head. 
-There style of image has helped my decided to have an upper body shot on the front of my magazine, I like the closeness and the detail in all of these images and that is what I want to show.
- The text on the front cover is placed around the image, I noticed that mainly the text is up and down the sides with very little on the bottom of the cover.

Cover Lines.
- The main cover line is the event/issue that has happened and needs to be shown in a way that the target audience find it attractive so that they want to know what it is and they feel the need to read the magazine.
-All the text on the front cover tends to be in the same colour except from the title but the font and size change, this is mainly to get attention the main points tend to be bigger than the explanations and detail under neither. I like this because it adds a lot of variation to the cover and I would like to have something like that but maybe with a different twist, possibly including some boxes (incorporating ideas from Kerrang) because they don't seam to use them on the front cover of this magazine.
Colour Scheme.
With every issue of Rolling Stone the colour scheme is basically the same, all the colours have been chosen from the primary pallett and this creats a bigger impact with apperiance the colours stand out and create contrast imidiatly grabbing the target audience's attention. The title has been linked with the red dress that Winehouse is wearing, this makes the cover work and people find it intresting. Most of the colours on there are different shades of the same basic colour, this limits the colour scheme but it does work well as the text around the image stands out  and catches the attention of the target audience.

Contents Page.

- Rolling Stone Magazine has developed a house style, they use the same colours on the contents page as they did on the front cover and they have also kept the font's similar.
- The main text is on the right third on this page and this is unusual in a magazine as normally all text begins on the left third, also the word 'Contents' is written at the top of the page and is in capital letters and in white with a red background, this is slightly different to the front cover but it is still within the identity of the magazine.