Kerrang Analysis Ella Brown
The typography is bold and abrupt - this makes it stand out
more despite having artists covering portions of it. It also
reflects the genre because the word Kerrang is an
onomatopoeic word that derives from the sound made when playing a power chord on a
distorted electric guitar (reference to Wikipedia). This means the it is
well suited to the genre as the magazine is mainly emo/punk
music.
The colours used are quite dark and are purple, yellow, blackened
white which offers the association to the punk rock genre with black having the
connotation of ‘emos’ and this is reinforced by the main image being a man with longer black hair covering one eye which is
the stereotypical ‘emo’ look. The use of the feature article ’50
greatest me albums ever’ further reinforces this idea.
The feature article stands out a lot making it very eyecatching for readers and instantly draws
attention as it takes up a large portion of the page. The feature article is anchorage for the main image
which is a variety of artists/bands
There are several aspects of the front cover which would suggest
the target audience would be young - the cartoon drawings e.g.
the skull and the typography suggests the audience is
younger. However the actual target audience of the magazine is mainly men asked 15-34 with the average reader age being
22. This magazine would appeal to many people interested in this
type of music and this genre.
This front cover uses lots of incentives such as the tag word
‘won’ as well as the rhetorical question ‘who’s number one in the broken heart hit parade’.
These can trigger engagement between the reader and the magazine and encourage
readership of the magazine if readers are interested in
competitions etc.
The colour palette choices make aspects of the magazine very eye catching and stands out to audiences - the cover lines are in yellow boxes creating a contrast between the dark purple and black and the background and easily
standing out against the main images of the artists. There is clear brand identity as the masthead is the same in every edition and the same yellow is used from cover to cover.
The colour palette links to the front cover as it is
mainly black, white yellow and has aspects of red in
the main image. The colour palette continues the house
style throughout making the magazine easily
recognised. The black colour links to the emo
style of the magazine and the motif of the skulls. The main image is outside a
concert which falls in the genre that the magazine
conveys - a rock emo genre. The image shows Metalllica WorldWired Tour 2016 with
fans posing outside. There is also the words ‘Sold Out’
suggesting that the band is very successful and
emphasises the bands success. There is an article on Metallica Live on page
46.
This contents page does not follow the typical convention of having a smaller masthead of the
Kerrang! logo at the top of the page
The typography of the text on the contents page
mirrors the text seen on the front cover and also
throughout the magazine reinforcing the house style
and brand identity of Kerrrang!
The target audience of Kerrang! magazine would be mostly males aged between
15-34. They would be interested in this kind of
genre - emo/rock/alternative and may range between the ABC1 demographic as well
as students situated in the E demographic. They may have a high disposable
income - the main image shows fans at a sold out
concert suggesting tickets may be quite expensive . The layout of the contents
page is very generic as there is one main image
with a band of text on the side with the coverlines -
there is also a smaller picture of the front cover in
the contents which is another convention of
music magazine contents pages.
There is a incentive of posters in the coverlines which are featured inside the magazine for free and
act as a way to entice readers and encourage
regular readership There are subheadings under each section of the coverlines to split up the different aspects of the magazines -
these are very eye-catching as the typography has been put behind a yellow block of colour.
The yellow and black colour palette is then reinforced again in a double page spread - the first page shows a black background
with yellow and white typography whereas
the second page shows a white
background with black and yellow typography. This
contrast is very eye catching for audiences The text is
arranged in columns which
follows the codes and conventions of
a double page spread - normally three columns on each page. As this
is an interview there is a mini
subheading for the question to split
up the text making it easier for
audiences to interpret. There is also anchorage text under the photo on
the first page to explain the title of
the article.
There are bubbles (puffs) for text on the second page with
‘tweets’ from celebrities in the genre which enforces a social media and online presence for
the magazine which is essential in the changing music industry.
There is small Kerrang! masthead/logo at the bottom of each page as well as the page
number. At the top of each page there is an issue number (this issue was issue 1641) as well as the date the issue was released (this issue
was October 15 2016)
The language used is of colloquial nature
and is used to appeal to the target audience - language such as
‘No Way!?’ is used as a persuasive technique to
encourage readers to read the article to see what shocking news there is. There is also alliteration used such
as ‘Ozzy’s Oops’ which again is used
to encourage reading of articles by
audiences. By using language techniques,
Kerrang! are more likely to have
audiences reading their published
text/articles. The text that stands out is the
white typography against the black
such as - ‘Ready to Take-Off! which is
abut a bands world tour.
There are many images used as anchorage for the content on the double page spread - this helps audiences understand the text
better and also makes the page look more aesthetically pleasing compared to blocks
and blocks of solid text - by breaking it makes the page easier to read
There is the same pattern along the side of each of the pages which is also the same for other articles and contents page. The yellow and black striped pattern is used as tape to
show a hazard so this suggests the convention of caution and fits with the more
grungy emo genre.