Graphics
The colour scheme is black and white which are two classic rock colours. Black and white are two bold colours that contrast against each other but also compliment each other.
The font is mostly white, red and yellow, these colours are eye catching and would attract the attention of its target audience and maybe also other audiences. The white writing contrasts against the dark black background and gives it a more vibrant feeling.
Having the font different colours on the front cover attracts all different eyes, but doesn’t draw attention away from its target audience. The colour scheme allows the target audience to pay attention to the main elements of the magazine but also keep you interested and wanting to read more.
The colour yellow suggests that something is unclean or messy which agrees with the stereotype of rocker. The yellow font compliments the yellow hue on the main image crossing all of the band members faces. Even though the image was taken professionally it isn’t in an orderly formation like the images from magazines such as ‘blender’.
The size of the font isn’t very big because the editor wants to draw all attention onto the images and thumbnails and just keep the audience attracted to the images.
The main image is over the masthead because Kerrang are confident that any reader of it would be able to tell it was a Kerrang magazine. By having the main image over the masthead this is advertising what band or artist is featuring in the magazine of that issue. Having the name of the band across the bodies of the band is brings enough attention to the name of the band but also keeping the concentration of faces.
The thumbnails are placed very rotated; this suggests that the person creating the front over different spend a lot of time on it, which in fact they spend an awfully long time trying to create this image. The thumbnails are suggested in a stereotype of rockers and shows that the image and front cover isn’t manufactured, neat or organised. The messiness of the front cover tells people that they are a rock magazine as people normally associate rockers as messy, and loud.
Text elements
Underneath the main feature headline is the ‘free poster’ graphics. By having this ‘free posters’ in white and red they are bold and whilst still keeping the attention to the main image also draw attention to what sort of posters you are getting.
By attracting the audience to seeing that you are getting free posters suggests that you are getting more for your money, the target audience for this magazine properly like the idea of getting something for free because it makes the audience more involved with what is happening.
Being a rock fan you are more enticed to wanting to buy the magazine for the ‘FREE’ posters because you are more or less going to know who the bands are or the artist is that are getting advertised. Also during your young age of being a rock fan you tend to collect the ‘FREE’ posters and stick them around your room. This makes the audience excited that they have something to add to their collection.
The price is at the bottom right hand side and is not very noticeable in comparison to the rest of the magazines front page elements. The price of Kerrang is important because it is fairly cheap in comparison to other magazine with the same genre.
The most significant text featured on the front cover is ‘Avenged Sevenfold’ this is white and is the largest font on the cover, this is bold and is centred in the middle which attracts the audiences eye straight away. The least important text on the front cover is at the very bottom the ‘PLUS’ section which finds a list of bands that are also featured in this magazine, we can tell that this isn’t very important by the size of the font used.
There is no sign of any other media or web addresses used, this suggests that the editors of Kerrang know that readers know how to get to their website already without help and that Kerrang are confident that they don’t need to advertise the website link.
Images
The main image is of the band ‘Avenged Sevenfold’ this band is a typical sub-genre of Rock.
The expression on their faces suggests that they don’t care about their image and how they are represented. Rockers and bands in that sub genre don’t particularly care about their appearance and dress and act messy. The expression on their faces could mean anything. From looking at the main guy in the image his expression suggests that they have a new song or album coming out which they are going to talk about.
The image shows the ‘Avenged Sevenfold’ are a metal band by the mise en scene and the fact that the main guy in the image is holding metal in his hands. You can also tell that this particular issue is a sub-genre of Rock by the clothing that the guys in the main image are wearing. Black leather suggests ‘bad boy’ looks and gives them the impression of mysteriousness.
In this issue of Kerrang there are thumbnails of ‘FREE’ poster in the magazine, by promoting ‘FREE’ poster it entices the target audience into buying them for the posters. The font of the bands name is quite small, this is because they don’t want what they think is a very unimportant issue to take up the whole space, they do this because they are presuming that their target audience would be able to recognise the band without the band name next to the thumbnail.
Composition
There isn’t an form of a conventional grid on the magazines cover. The grid is simple but also full, this is show by how the masthead is in the conventional place and so is the main image but the other elements of the front cover are in an unconventional grid. This shows that this magazine isn’t a pop magazine or a rap magazine. By not having the grid correct this is breaking the rules of convention, which is expected for an alternative/ rock magazine.
Target audience
The band ‘Avenged Sevenfold’ have been around since the 1999 until present. By having a band on the front cover of a Rock magazine that has been around for a short time attracts a lot of attention from various age groups from 16-27. This sort of band is more likely to attract older audience because of what they liked back when they were in the teen years.
This magazine and also issue is more likely to attract to males rather than females because rock bands tend to be more male orientated than female. One of target audience’s hobby should be something like playing an instrument such as guitar, drums or bass they also might be aspiring musicals that are in a band themselves. Also they should be interested in going to live gigs and going to festivals such as, Reading, Download and T in the park.
The target audience are mostly around the ages of 16-27, and from his age you might have a smart phone like blackberry or I phone. These phones are used on a regular basses for social networking or downing music and apps. Downloading apps on your smart phone is beneficial to Magazine like Kerrang because their target audience can download their app and listen to their music via their phone.
Institution
Kerrang is owned by Bauer Media Group. Bauer Media Group also has a 50% stake in the British television company ‘Box Television’. Kerrang has a radio station and a TV station, the radio station has over 1.3 million listeners. Also under the name of Kerrang there are awards, tours, and a website. Bauer Media Group sponsors the ‘AM Awards’ and also the ‘Scottish Creative Awards’ and in addition this they run the ‘TV Choice Awards’.
emmasturgeon 