Research and planning - Metal Hammer

The front page of Metal Hammer shows the main focus of the magazine ‘breaking’ through the front cover. It is devoid of cover lines on the central image and only features some band names at the top of the page. This shows the magazine has a large enough fanbase to not need coverlines to draw in it’s audience, the masthead and front image alone does that. The masthead font and the central image both show rebellion because the masthead appears to have bullet holes and breaks running through the text and the central image depicts the main focus breaking through something. This connotes that the audience are also rebellious and are a niche group. The colour scheme is dark, blacks and reds with very little white, which shows that it isn’t a cheery magazine and doesn’t rely on colour to draw in customers. This means that it’s fanbase only increases through it’s audience talking about it and using the internet to advertise itself.

The contents page of Metal Hammer is quite disorganised. There are pictures placed randomly around a block of text that acts as page markers. The page titles are in a different font to the description, which allows the reader to easily find the article they’re looking for. The disorganised layout shows that readers don’t particularly care about layout or prefer the rebellious nature of the magazine’s front cover to be shown throughout the magazine. The colour scheme of the contents page differs to front page because there is more white than black and red. This shows the text easier.