Magazine Analysis: Alternative Press

Alternative Press is an American magazine based in Ohio and founded in 1985. It is a monthly magazine that has 112 pages.

   The band featured on this issue is 'Motion City Soundtrack' and the focus is on the lead singer, Justin Pierre. This is due to him wearing red, which draws in the readers attention whereas the other band members are in white. This could be because having the whole band in bright colours would have been overwhelming and not given a clear focal point. However, this could be a negative feature as it highlights the perception that the lead singer is the most important member of the band, so other members are overlooked.
   The mast head is yellow, so bright and stands out. It is large and takes up a large amount of the page and subsequently makes the reader remember the name of the magazine so it stays in their mind for when they next chose to buy a magazine.The name 'Alternative Press' is very long, so they have shortened it to 'AP' as it is easy for the audience to remember.
The band name is in the font style of the film Back To The Future which will make people wonder why  that font is used and what relevance it is to the band. It is much larger than the rest of the text so to illustrate that they are the main feature of the magazine. This is supported by the quote "We were always the band that didn't go out. But should've." which is likely to interest an audience because the quote is out of context, and so would make them want to find out more about the band.
   The banner at the bottom of the page is used to entice the reader into buying the magazine as it shows other bands or artists in the magazine, which may encourage people to buy it even if they are not familiar with or do not like the main artist featured on the cover.

 

   The contents page is based around the main image of the main feature of the magazine, Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong. There is only one image on the page, which shows the dominance that the subject has over the magazine - he is in one of the worlds most famous rock bands and so the magazine would make a big deal of showing they have featured them. He is wearing black and has dark hair, so attention is drawn to his face, which is making eye contact with the camera, so would make the readers feel more involved with the magazine as it seems he is looking at them.
The text on Green Day is in a white box, and so stands out from other pieces of text on the page. This will draw attention to the article, especially as the word 'Green Day' is in red capitalised letters.
In the contents page, the magazine does not conform to the conventional three-colour pallet. It used a variety of colours: black, white, red, yellow and cream - which aids in the highlighting of key bands and the features of the magazine.

  The double page spread's background is that of a band photo. This makes the text and images fit together as there is no barrier between the words and the band. The photo itself uses sepia tones so it is styled to match the location of the photo, with old fashioned or alternative characteristics. The band photo takes  up half of the spread, so illustrates the power of the band and how they are the prominent feature of the magazine.
At the bottom of the page there is an inserted image of the band again, which helps the reader to view them in different environments and helps them become more accustomed to the artists.
  The main body of text is split into two columns and discuses the band's music. After the title of the spread there is a small fact file about the band, telling the reader where they are from,  their latest music, interesting facts about the band and similar artists. This would give the reader a little information about them if they have not been aware of them before.
The next piece of text on the page is entitled 'Under The Influence' which informs the readers to which album most inspired the band and so gives an insight into the band's interests and history.