Chad: Similar Product Research: Clash Magazine

Issue 42

Issue 42 of Clash magazine uses an incredibly simple colour scheme of monochromes and gold. This is probably because it suggests the cover star (Jay-Z) exuding opulence, as gold and silver both have connotations of precious metals, and of being very expensive. This also ties in with the fact that Jay-Z is one one of the richest musicians/ producers in America, plus it suits his dark skin tone much more than it would suit pale skin. In addition, it makes the magazine seem much more mature and stylish compared with if it had been full of bright colours. It does seem rather masculine though, but, now I think of it, a lot of major music magazines do.

There is a white magazine logo masthead in the top left corner of the magazine. The magazine title is is a curvy, modern, sans serif font that is similar to all the other text other than it being more curvy, bigger and more stylized. There is a bar at the top with some an extra cover story on. All of this is the house style - the colours, content, and cover star change every issue.

Whereas on most music magazines, the cover stories take up and fill most of the blank space, on Clash the portrait does, which is unconventional.The cover stories that are there have headings that are bold, to add emphasis. The tone is slightly sensational ('Reveals All!'), and they use exclamation marks a little too readily, to make it seem exciting! Hmmm...

All of the text is on top of the moody close-up of Jay-Z which is conventional, and is possibly to show that the magazine is more important than him - or it could just be to make everything seem simpler, and more organized. The fact that he is in a moody pose makes him seem a lot more serious, powerful and masculine.

The magazine does not seem to focus one genre, as it features both a hip-hop modern megastar - Jay-Z, but refers to a Classic pop band - The Beatles. This could be to have as wide a target audience as possible, or because it is trying to cater to an audience who are mature enough to have listened to the Beatles, but who also like to keep up with new music too.

From this magazine, we might use a similar simple colour scheme; a similar simple logo; modern sans serif typefaces;  the usage of boldness to emphasise stories; and the multi-genre focus.