Kerrang! Front Cover Analysis
In addition to this the magazine also doesn’t apply a selling line, I think this is because Kerrang’s editors don’t think that they need to sell themselves due to them being easily recognizable as a strong high quality brand with a heavy loyalty of regular readers. Furthermore the demographic for the magazine is most probably teenage girls between the ages of 13 – 16 and therefore they will be more attracted to the main image on the front cover rather than the cover lines featured. Therefore the editor has chosen to make the main image the most prominent feature on the front cover in order to draw the most attention towards it, this will entice and encourage the target demographic to purchase the magazine due to it strongly highlighting their target demographics main interests.
The main cover line is related to the main image of the lead singer of the death core band, ‘Bring me the horizon’ Oli Sykes. The image of the artist is posed and has different props within it the main one being the camera being held by the artist. Furthermore underneath this main image is the caption “hot shots” this caption directly links to the camera prop used within the main image.
The main cover line featured on the front cover consist of a large sans serif font, the editor applied this font type because it makes it a visually dominant feature on the page, due its sheer size and blunt style. Moreover the caption is also supported by a film tape back ground and the writing its self is in hot colours such as yellow, orange and red, with a flame inside the ‘O’, This relates to the cover line title of hot shots, furthermore it also links and emphasizes the fact that the feature article is the hottest thing within the magazine.
The magazine has a consistent colour scheme and relates to the house style that is used throughout the magazine, this is effective because it shows professionalism within the magazine. All over the page there is a use of yellows and reds which all relate back to the masthead. Moreover both of these colors have connotations that link directly to the genres represented within the magazine, firstly yellow is spontaneous and unstable and therefore represents the more rebellious side of the genres within the magazine, also the main demographic for the magazine tends to be teenagers between the age of 13-16 and therefore the use of the colour yellow could be used in order to link there rebellious youth to the magazine therefore making it more personal for the target demographic. Furthermore yellow also has juxtaposed connotations compared to what you would stereotypically link to the genres represented within the magazine, for example it has connotations of: happiness, joy and cheerfulness, which are things you would typically relate to pop rather than rock etc.
The front cover isn’t stereotypically structured and appears clustered but yet still manages to maintain an organized style, the editor clearly thought about the structure of the front cover carefully in order to make the magazine appear both clustered yet organized. I think that the editor chose this structure and layout because it links to the genres represented within the magazine. For example the fact that is clustered makes it appear rushed, which links in with the fast paced, heavy and reckless genres represented within the magazine. Moreover the top of the magazine looks as is if it has been ripped off, this emphasizes the recklessness of the magazines appearance.
The main image on the front cover is of Oli Sykes and he dominates and consumes a vast majority of the front cover, moreover on either side of the main image are pugs promoting contents within the magazine such as posters, and ten reasons of why rock will rule 2013. The editor chose to include these two pugs because the target audience for this edition of Kerrang is most probably young teenagers who will find interest in both of these promotions as they make the magazine more interactive and personal and therefore more enticing. Moreover the main cover line is located underneath the main image, this shows that the main image has more importance on the page and emphasizes the fact that the main demographic are more interested in the images within the magazine rather than the articles themselves which links to the fact that I think that the target audience for this edition of Kerrang is young teenagers. Furthermore the main image of Oli Sykes looks like he is about to take a picture of the reader, this shows direct address and makes the front cover more personal for the reader. Therefore drawing the readers into the magazine before they have actually purchased or even read through it, and because of this it makes buying the magazine more enticing for the customer.
The cost of the magazine is only $6.9, which is around £4.50. The fact that the magazine is relatively cheap shows that the target audience may not have a lot of money at their disposal. This suggests that the magazine is aimed at those who do not have a large disposable income, those being Kerrang’s target audience of young teenagers.
Kerrang! Double a Page Spread Analysis
Firstly the colour scheme applied to the double page spread matches the general colour scheme applied throughout the rest of the magazine, I feel that the editor has chosen these house colours because they have many connotations that are synonymous with the metal, emo, rock and punk music genres usually covered by Kerrang; for example the colour red has many connotations one of them being passion; the editor chose this colour in order to emphasise not only the passion that the artists have for their music but also to emphasise the passion that the magazine has when it comes to their fans and providing them with what they want. Furthermore the colour red also has connotations of power and energy, in my opinion these connotations link heavily towards the genres represented within Kerrang because these genres of music tend to be very heavy, intense and rambunctious to listen to and therefore applying this colour to the double page spread emphasises the fact that it is a rock, emo, punk and metal etc. music magazine. In addition a vast majority of the colour on the double page spread is black, I think the editor chose for the spread to be predominantly black because it has negative connotations such as grief, death and evil, these connotations represent the heavier side of the different music genres within Kerrang. Black also emphasises the seriousness of the genres and the lyrics that are stereotypically within the heavier sides of the music genres which tend to be rather dark and morbid. Moreover both black and red together have connotations of aggressiveness and rebelliousness which are both connotations linked towards the genres represented.
The main image within the double page spread is very large and consumes a vast majority of the left page of the spread, I feel that the editor chose to do this for various reasons, the first reason being because the viewership of the magazine are predominantly British and therefore read from left to right meaning that the main image will be the first thing the readers see, as it is situated within the point of entry within the double page spread, this is especially effective because it will catch the eye of the reader and immediately make them aware of what the article is about just by looking at the main image.
The images shown within the double page spread are of a band, however the editor has used three photos of the main, most well-known artist within the group. The editor has chosen to single out this main artist and ‘My Chemical Romance’ front man because; as he is the lead singer and front man he is the most recognisable artist within the group and therefore using him as the main image and in the other secondary images will allow readers to visually associate the image and article with the band.
The photography used within the double page spread shows the band naturalistically, both on stage and behind stage, this allows the readers to see the band from two different perspectives and allows them to feel as if they know more about the band and give them an insight into what goes into the production side of their music, this also supports what is being said within the article itself. Moreover the shots used consist of both mid shots and close ups, the editor chose to use these different types of shots in order to allow the audience to feel more intimate with the band and set the tone of the article as more personal rather than professional. This intimacy is reinforced by the fact that there is a lack of explicitly posed images and demonstrates sincerity between the band and the reader making it increasingly effective and personal. The filter of photography is monochrome and is partnered with low key lighting, this makes it especially effective because it links with the colour scheme heavily and also emphasises the naturalness of the images because it makes them appear more like vintage home photographs rather than staged photos taken during a shoot for a music magazine and therefore emphasises there originality and naturalness.
The article itself is basically just a description with some details of an interview that occurred between Kerrang and MCR at their recording studio. The language used throughout the article is rather informal and is primarily made up of quotes from the band. I feel that the readership for this article is most probably teenage girls between the age of 13-16 and I feel that it the language used is really focused and aimed upon the bands main demographic, that being teenage girls. Also the article uses colloquial language and terms such as “filthy” and “epic”, the article editor uses this language in order to make the demographic ‘teenage girls’ feel comfortable with the article and therefore make them feel more personally involved within the magazine, article and band.
The double page spread is heavily reliant on the images of the band to fill the space rather than the content of their article. I think that the editor chose this layout because their main demographic is more interested in simply looking at pictures of their favourite band rather than reading about them, meaning the editor can simply use several medium sized secondary images accompanied by one large main image to fill the spread and entertain there readers rather than entertain them with information. The editor practically makes the reader dismiss the actual article itself, by making it look small, dull and tedious in order to practically relinquish the text from the page and draw more focus towards the images and bold headlines on the spread.
Throughout the double page spread there are two main fonts used. The first font being the small sans serif typeface which is used as the main body of the article and within the sidebar, the editor used this font because it is very simple, plain and boring and will therefore draw the reader’s attention more towards the images rather than the content of the article itself. However the pull quote used as kind of like the title and the sub heading of the spread are both made up of the same distressed version of font, just with different sizes and colours. The editor has chosen to use the same font to show consistency and has chosen to apply different colours and sizes to the same font type in order to make individual words or phrases more visually effective and eye catching. For example the larger the font the more important, this can be seen by comparing the size of the title “WE’RE BEING THE BEST MCR WE CAN BE!” to the size of the sub – heading “MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE invite Kerrang! To their recording studio…” both of which have the same font type applied to each of them but are made unique due to size and colour, this shows the importance of some aspects of the article compared to others.
This double page spread also has features that are stereotypical of a double page spread in any form of magazine. The first one being the drop cap, which is a simple tool used by editors and it basically shows the reader where to begin reading by dropping the first letter below the second line and making it large in size. In this case the reader chose to do this with the letter 'M'. Moreover the spread also features picture captions these are also very effective tools when constructing a magazine, because they are used to anchor images within the spread and tell the reader exactly what they are looking at.
Kerrang! Contents Page Analysis
Firstly the colour scheme applied to the contents page consists of colours that contrast and complement each other, the editor used this colour scheme in order to make different features within the page stand out compared to others, for example the magazine sections are bright yellow with a black background in order to emphasise their importance on the page. Furthermore the text that is yellow with a black background all has the same bold sans seriff text applied to it, this text is also used on every edition of the magazine on the name of the magazine ‘Kerrang!’, the editor chose to apply the same font type to these different features because it shows consistency and order and also reminds the reader of what magazine they are reading as they are reading it, this is an especially effective tool because it promotes the brand to the user even as they are reading the magazine.
Secondly the colour scheme applied to this contents page has connotations directly linking to the genres of music that are represented within the magazine. Firstly the colour black is the most predominant colour on the page, and black is a colour that causes contrast against a vast majority of colours, this makes it a useful colour when creating a magazine because it allows both texts and images to stand out on the page when it is used as a supporting background colour.
Furthermore the colours used also have negative connotations that readers would stereotypically link to both the magazine and the music it represents. Black is a colour that has negative connotations such as: grief, death and evil these are connotations that are stereotypically linked to music genres such as metal and rock and therefore the regular use of the colour black on this contents page emphasises the stereotypes linked with the genres, in my opinion the use of so much black on the page will attract and entice the magazines target demographic because it is a colour they are comfortable and associate with when reading the magazine. In addition the use of the colour yellow does not only contrast against the colour black, but the colours also have contrasting connotations. Firstly the colour yellow has positive connotations such as: joy, happiness and cheerfulness etc. whereas black has juxtaposed negative connotations. Moreover the use of the colour yellow has connotations that are juxtaposed to the genres represented within the magazine. The editor chose to apply these juxtaposing colours not only to make certain features of the magazine stand out but also to emphasise the juxtaposed connotations of the colour yellow and further the representation of the genres within the magazine.
Moreover the magazine also has features that allow for interactivity between the magazine and its reader, firstly the bottom left hand corner has a small section used to provide information regarding customer subscription to the magazine. This is a stereotypical contents page feature and is used in order to secure customers and extend Kerrang’s quantity of loyal members. Furthermore there is also a promotion that anchors the main image, the promotion engages the reader and makes it more personal for them because it asks the reader if they “FANCY WINNING”. This is also direct address between the magazine and the reader, making the magazine more entertaining and intimate for the reader.
Furthermore this contents page also features an editor’s message, this is a stereotypical convention of a contents page. The editor chose to use an editor’s message in order to greet the readers and ultimately make the reading experience more personal for them using direct address. The page also features an issue number and cover date. The editor chose to use this stereotypical contents page convention in order to make the reader aware of how recent the magazine is. In addition to this the contents page also features the stereotypical convention of page numbers. The editor chose to include page numbers in order to make it clear which article links to each page and ultimately make the magazine easier to navigate as a whole.
A vast majority of the text used throughout the contents page is sans serif, large and clear. This points towards the fact that this magazine edition’s target audience is males because men are stereotypically more interested in getting straight to the point and stereotypically don’t care for aesthetics. Furthermore the bold sans serif text type also links to the genres represented within the magazine because the artists of these genres are predominantly white males also the music genres themselves tend to be bold and rebellious and therefore the text type used fits the magazine.
Finally the main image is of the rock metal band Metallica, this image captures the band in an unnatural posed state and as a whole. This image would be appealing to the target audience for this edition of Kerrang! As it is a band that would be stereotypically listened to by white males, this is because the target audience can associate themselves with the band and relate to them because both the band and target audience are of the same social group, ultimately making it more personal and intimate between the target audience and the band. This is an effective tool because making a magazine more personal for the reader also makes it more enticing and entertaining for them as well.
Kerrang is a music magazine that specializes in various genre’s and sub genres such as: rock, punk, emo, metal and alternative rock etc. Firstly the masthead of the magazine front cover consists of a serif font type and is used on each issue of the magazine, I think the editor applies the same font type to each edition of the magazine because it makes the magazine easily recognizable for everyone regardless of their loyalty to the magazine, due to its consistency. Moreover due to Kerrang’s consistency in terms of their masthead, it becomes easily recognizable as a big name brand when on shop shelf’s, this consistency allows the magazine to stand out more to their target demographic compared to their rival magazines of the same genre due to it being easily identifiable. I also believe that the editor consistently applies the same font type to each magazine in order to emphasize the consistent high quality coverage that the magazine provides for its customers.
The masthead is covered by the magazines main image and lead singer of bring me the horizon, Oli Sykes. I think that the editor feels that the magazine is so well established, easily identifiable and ultimately brand confident that it doesn’t need to show the masthead clearly because everyone regardless of their opinion or loyalty towards the magazine can easily recognize that the magazine is Kerrang!.