Research - colour scheme

I have decided to base most of my research around the music magazines 'Kerrang!' and 'Q' as they are a more closely suited genre to my own product. I also chose these two magazines as they have similar target audiences to my magazine.

The colour scheme of 'Kerrang!' tends to use the two colours black and white on most of their issues.

In addition to this, they use a colour that stands out against the background, such as yellow, green and red, as in the examples above. I believe this is highly effective as it means the images stand out even more against the background in order to attract the attention of the potential buyer. 

I think I will use a similar colour scheme with my own work, using accents of bright colours for titles, articles and possible even incorporate it into my images, as in the middle example above.

'Q' magazine uses similar colours to 'Kerrang!', in terms of both magazines utilizing the use of black and white.

'Q' uses mainly black and white tones with accents of colour. I have found from my research that this magazine tends to use a blue/turquoise colour more than any other.

This magazine also uses the colour red, linking in with the 'house theme' as it relates back to the magazine title/logo.

I believe this understated colour scheme is highly effective as it does make the magazine stand out even though it is quite simplistic, and it also furthers the magazines its unique brand identity.

For my own magazine I will use a similar colour scheme, utilizing black and white but with accents of colour to make my magazine stand out to my audience. I may link in the colour scheme of my magazine to the costume/props of my cover model(s) in order to further promote my magazines brand identity to the consumer.