Magazine 1 - Metalhammer

Cover.

General Information

- Founded in 1986.
- Considered the ‘underground’ magazine to competitors Kerrang! and NME.
- Published by Future Publishing.
- Circulation: 41, 800.

Colour scheme

Metalhammer usually contain the colours red, white, grey and black. And it’s the same red colour (#a23823) for the whole magazine. Although this varies as we go into the longer articles/interviews. Metalhammer uses these colours because it’s typical 'metal' colours, and an important part of Metalhammer’s trademark is to 'stay metal'. Since Metalhammer got a less mainstream approach it’s important to apply to the underground audience, and the underground audience often expect magazines like Metalhammer to be conservative and reflect them.

Photography

Metalhammer got a mix between studio, location, archive and live photographies. In small articles, reviews and notes there are more natural posed archive photographies, but in the longer interviews and articles, Metalhammer have been consciously deciding location, setting/costumes and pose. Often the photographies in the longer articles are building up under the image of the band. There is a long article about the band Slipknot, which features them in a series of relatively dark photographies. Another example is an article about Manowar, which only consists of live photographies. Live shows is a thing that a metal fan would associate with Manowar (they actually hold the world record of the longest concert ever). Again, Metalhammer is displaying this "we give you what you expect" attitude towards their readers. They know this genre of music, and so do their audience.

Writing style

Metalhammer is a monthly magzine, so in compare to weekly magazines like Kerrang! and NME, Metalhammer contain longer and more articles and a long review section. This also makes Metalhammer a more relaxed magazine, and it doesn't rely so much on fresh news like Kerrang! and NME. I have mentioned the "we give you what you expect" attitude already, this is clearly displayed in the writing style. The themes in the articles is often this "be yourself, do what you want" rebellious individuality, and it reflects this genre music itself.  The language is quite informal, relaxed and sometimes uses a lot of expressions and words associated with the genre. (as the numerous of sub-genres in metal). 

 

Text/Picture ratio

in Metalhammer there is a lot more text then pictures on the "normal pages", but when we move into longer articles there is larger pictures, sometimes covering a whole page or even a double page spread. In the longer interviews/articles Metalhammer often opens the article with a huge picture on a double page spread. This makes the article seem more "epic", "huge", interesting and serious. 

Fonts

Metalhammer uses a thick stencil font to headlines, but a thin Arial in the main text. This reinforces the magazine's "tough" look, without damaging the readability. 

Overall Look

Metalhammer has a tough look. Every element of the magazine, language, pictures, colours, layout and the overall design is tough, but it doesn't make the magazine unreadable. Metalhammer reflect this genre of music very well. The colours for an instance, is the "metal" colours, red white and black, colours. It’s a magazine that focuses on being connected with it’s audience, not making big changes in layout or which bands they would like to cover.