MASTHEADS, TYPOGRAPHY & CHARACTER SPACING

MASTHEADSWhen creating an idea for a masthead, it is important for it to stand out to the reader as it is usually the first thing that jumps out to them. It is also important as the masthead is specifically used to create recognition for that magazine. The style of the masthead must support the genre of the magazine and its contents as it creates recognition of that genre and overall looks aesthetically pleasing. A professional masthead must “pop” for the reader and must be the largest text on the page. The masthead can also be slightly overlapped by the main image if the magazine is a well-established magazine.As I am focusing on a rock magazine, the mastheads of well-established rock magazines such as “Kerrang!” and “RockSound” will work for my own magazine.

TYPOGRAPHYTypography allows the reader to see the specific genre of the magazine they are reading. For example, if a magazine based on the genre of horror was produced, the magazine would most likely use this type of typography:

This is because it gives a “chilling” atmosphere due to it looking like its been messily scribbled, and can be suggested that it is representing blood or scratches which links in with the horror genre stereotype.For my rock magazine, I would use typography that may be bold, cracked/smashed, crumbling and/or ripped to express the genre and its stereotypical “hostile” representation.

C H A R A C T E R S P A C I N GCharacter spacing is the distance between the lettering (mainly used for the masthead). However, the distance between each letter should be clear enough to make one word and must be easy for the audience to read.For example; this is easier to read as the character spacing is loose and not too tight together:“ E x c l u s i v e i n t e r v i e w w i t h … ”Whilst this is difficult to read as the spacing is too loose/too far apart:“ E x c l u s i v e i n t e r v i e w w i t h … ”If the character spacing is too close it is also difficult to read:“Exclusive interview with…”For my magazine, I don’t think I will use much experimentation with character spacing as I overall I feel it may be too difficult to read with the rest of the magazine as rock magazines are known for their “messy” and “busy” pages.

As my magazine will be focused on the rock genre, I have been looking at and researching rock-themed mastheads and typography. These rock-themed mastheads are usually rather bold and large (sometimes with a smashed/cracked typography effect) with a colour scheme of black, red and/or white (as they are contrasting and effectively stand out). These colours practically scream “rock” as these colours and typography are commonly used to identify with the genre and will appeal to my target audience.