KERRANG!

This is KERRANG! Magazine, issue 1136 which was released in October 2010. This magazine withholds a rock and heavy metal genre.

Colour

The colours used on the front cover consist of black, yellow, red and white.  They use the black, red and white to draw attention to the heavy metal theme of the magazine, as these are the general colours, which we associate with rock and heavy metal. However the colour yellow is used to brighten up the magazine and attract attention to the cover lines. All these colours together still maintain the rock and heavy metal image and attract traditional fans. Also the rock image on the cover, appeals to a large audience as now a day’s rock and heavy metal image and sound is widely like across all age groups and genders. As well, due to the colours black red and yellow being neutral and unisex, the magazine is not aiming at a specific target audience by using colours such a pink and blue, which would aim at a particular audience in the rock / heavy metal fan base. 

Design

The layout of this page is conventional of Kerrang! Magazine front covers, as it consists of a shattered black and white masthead, across the top of the page, with the main image overlapping the masthead, to show that the models (M.shadows and Cory Taylor) are more important. The masthead is bold and eye catching with black bold shattered writing contrasting with the white background. There is also a skyline above the masthead at the apex of the magazine, saying “HORROR-SCOPES! * CHESTER BENNINGTON COPS IT! WTF?!” this highlights another cover line. Also the font used for “HORROR” is the typical font people associate with horror.  There is also a image at the end of the skyline which relates to the cover line, attracting peoples attention and living connotation in there mind, wonder what Chester Bennington has done and why is it so unusually which is emphasised by the phase “WTF?!” at the end of the cover line.  The main story is in the middle of the main image, with bold white writing placed on the black background of the models tops, this colour scheme is the opposite way round from the mast head. These colours and the bold font are extremely eye catching, and are the first thing you notice when you look at the magazine.  By having “Avenged Sevenfold & Stone Sour” stand out as the main story line attracts a wide audience, due to the fact that they are two separate bands therefore attracting the audience of both band and people that may only like one or two songs of either band, or even just the type of music they play.

Images

The main image on the front cover is a medium shot of M.Shadows and C.Taylor, who are well known heavy metal / metal artists, therefore targeting this magazine at people who like this genre. Due to the fact the colours are all dark, and conventional colours we associate with rock/heavy metal, this limits the audience they are trying to attract.  The appeal of the whole magazine is dark and mysterious just like rock/heavy metal. The thumbnails follow the convention of the magazine, as they are predominantly red and black, with a little bit of white, therefore sticking to the main colour scheme of the magazine. Also the thumbnails have an angry / creepy feel to them, for example one of the thumbnails is of a person in a killer mask, whilst another is of a man with blood over his face and shirt. The images on the cover reinforce what the magazine content is going to be like, horror but in jokey manor.

Typography and language used

The typography used for the masthead is big and bold, in the colour black, just like Arial Black, however affects have been added to make the masthead look shattered and smashed like a mirror. The cover line uses a similar font as the masthead, as t is bold however the colour scheme is opposite, which enables it to standout. There is not a lot of language used on the front cover, but pictures instead which appeals to the target audience. However the little language used is limited, with only one or two words, as well being informal.                                                                                                                                           

KERRANG! Content page

The main image on the content page is a medium close up of a man dressed up as a skeleton, gesturing the conventional angry face, but in a tongue and check manor. At the bottom of the main image is a “cancer BATS” the name of the story with the number 06 with a black star behind it, indicating that it is a must read. To the left of the image is two sub stories Alkaline Trio and Chickenhawk, which also indicate that they are must-reads.

The masthead of this page is located in the left hand side of the page, at the top, the content is written in yellow contrasting with the black background, and also the issue number and date is written in white.

On the bottom left hand side of the page there is a short column from the editor. By talking to the reader directly, in make them feel involved. Also is pleases them as they are being thanked for reading the magazine.

There is a sub heading which use the same colour scheme as the masthead, which is a black background with yellow and white writing. Also all the sub heading use the same colour scheme which indicates the featured stories, whilst automatically becoming eye catching. Some of the cover stories have images with them, indicating that they are featured in the front page.

Lastly there is a USP located in the right third of the page. It is still eye catching even though it follows the colour scheme, the red on the black separates it from all the other stories. 

Double page analysis                                                                                                                       Kerrang! Page 44-45                                                                                                                        Alkaline trio

The Main image is of Matt Skiba from Alkaline trio. Matt Skiba is wearing a transparent mac, with a black t-shirt underneath, whilst holding an axe covered in blood.  This photo is similar to the photo used for the cover of the TV show Dexter, which indicates to us that this article is going to be nasty and about the dark side of his life and the band life. In the background there are plastic sheets lining the wall symbolising an abandoned warehouse, which I typically in the horror genre, relating back to inform us this article is going to be nasty.  Also in background there is blood splattered around the image, which is cliché of typical horror photos, as there is a smudged handprint and blood patch. There is also blood scattered across Matt Skiba face, like he has hit someone and the blood squirted into his face. There are no other images used with in this article.

The main headline is “True Blood” written in black and red in a bold typography, which is a tad faded in places. The title “True Blood” ties in with the Halloween theme and the article its self.

The sub-heading uses the same colour scheme as the title and the entire magazine. The sub-heading leaves the reader interested and wanting to read the article, as it is a rhetorical question, which leaves connotation in the readers mind.

The text is set out in two columns at the right hand side of the page, with the question in red and the answers in black, tying in with the colour scheme of the magazine.

The typography that has been used for the column is bold allowing it to stand out to stand out against the background. The typography does not have curled edges making it relate to the column about the horrors of real life portrayed in his songs.

The column discusses the darker side to life “revenge, violence, murder and death” and what horrifying events he has witnessed, what he’d do and other Halloween horrors. The target audience for this article would be the fans of the band “Alkaline Trio” as they are able to find out the story behind the song lyrics and where they come from. Also fans of band that are like Alkaline Trio and play the same genre of music.

Other elements in the this double page spread is “what lies Beneath” which are short questions about Matt’s dark side, for people who cant be bothered to read the whole article, but want an insight of what its about.