Title Block Analysis

Before I began designing my title block, I decided to do some research into the design of title blocks. From it, I learned about how the style of the title block changes depending on the genre and target audience. This includes the size, name and font style, as I found out, which all come together to convey a message.

Looking at the logo, a reader can get the impression that the magazine is centred on the rock or heavy metal genre of music. We can tell this from the colour of the title. Black and white are the colours used. Both of these are strong colours which contrast against each other when used together. Black, the colour used for the text itself, will usually make any other colour stand out against it. In this case, however, it is the white background that does this for the black.

The font is stylised to make it look like cracked glass. This may be to represent the rock or metal genre – both are hard materials, and the font looks cracked, but not so broken that you cannot make out the text. The bold text also helps to make the title stand out. The letters, though easy to read as a whole word, are slightly rotated or moved out of place. This shows the chaos that is usually associated with those genres whilst still making the words legible.

The word ‘Kerrang!’ is onomatopoeia for the sound made by an electric guitar. An electric guitar is a common instrument used in both the rock and metal genres, so there is little doubt that fans of the genre will recognize the word and the sound. By taking all of this information into account, the target audience is likely to be fans of rock and metal music – mainly males.

It is difficult to tell what genre of music the magazine covers from the title alone. The logo itself stands out, however, because of the name and colours used. A white letter inside a red box is eye-catching because red is a bold colour. The font used looks very formal compared to the ones used for other music magazines, suggesting that the magazine is targeted at an older audience. It could also suggest that the magazine has been published for a long time.

The title itself is a point that many potential readers would become curious over, as they would want to know what 'Q' stands for and means at first, making it mysterious. It means 'cue' as in 'cue the music' which is a phrase used to tell somebody to start the music. It isn't a phrase that is commonly used now, however, which again implies that the magazine is targeted at an older audience. The reference to the phrase could also mean that the magazine focuses on the most popular music at the time, so it is centred on pop music. It also makes it clear that the magazine is focused on music.

 

The name of the magazine gives a good idea as to what genre it is. The Rolling Stones were a rock band in the 1960s that are still famous to this day, and so a magazine named after them would obviously be centred on famous music artists and groups. The colours used are red, black and white. Those three colours are strong colours that make each other stand out. The colours are also big and bold, making them stand out more to any potential buyers.

The font used, in contrast to Kerrang! looks quite sophisticated but also old fashioned, which may have been done in tribute to the Rolling Stones. It may also hint that, like Q, the magazine is targeted at an older audience. In addition, it could be telling us that the magazine will cover more mature themes and articles in comparison to other magazines on the market. The name can also suggest that it is a stable magazine that won't be easy stopped - a rolling stone is hard to slow down or halt.