MAGAZINE FRONT COVER ANALYSIS

 

 

 

The target audience for Kerrang! magazine would be about 16-25 year olds who like rock and heavy metal music. This is the genre of music because you can tell by the iconography of the magazine. For example the dark colours like black which the connotations are death and sadness, however the white, red and yellow contrast this because the connotations of white and yellow are happy and red shows passion and aggression which aren’t necessarily bad things. This can relate to the music genre as this is what is needed to produce this type of music.

 

The strap line at the top of the magazine will be noticed because of the word ‘WIN’ in bold letters and in a different colour to the rest of the writing so the audience’s eyes will go straight to the specific word. This is an example of audience participation because the audience have to enter the contest to have a chance of winning so it is getting them involved with the magazine. This will appeal to the audience because they will like the type of music that will be played. It will also appeal to them because they have a chance to get the tickets for free if they win the competition which will make the audience buy the magazine.

The masthead is bold and black but with white lines that run through the writing this could connotate the ideas of imperfections and that no one is perfect even famous people to show that this isn’t fake, it is real music they are promoting. Also it could link back to the genre of music being edgy and real. The fact that some of the masthead is cover up by the main image shows that the audience are expected to know the magazine title without needing to see what it is called and that it is recognisable to them.

 

The main image shows the band A DAY TO REMEMBER which is a popular band for this genre so the audience will recognise them easily and also it takes us most of the mise-en-scene because it is in the centre therefore showing that it is the most important part of the magazine. The body language is informal and their facial expressions show they are happy and laughing which will make the audience feel comfortable because it shows the band has a close relationship with each other. The iconography of the main image relates to the genre because of the tattoos and plugs in their ears which show it is a rock band. Having the lead singer’s hand reaching out could symbolise how they are reaching out to the audience to make them feel wanted. They have direct address and it is a medium close up of them show the audience feels more on a personal level with the band.

On top of the cover stars is the headline, subheading and pull quote. The headline informs the reader of what the band is called if they didn’t already know which an example of anchorage is because it relates to the main image and ties them together. It contrast with the colours of the other two things because it is in white rather than yellow and it is also in a bigger font to show what is the most important part of the information given. The pull quote is on top of the headline which gives a taste of what will be involved in the interview with the band and the subheading underneath the headline is a question which is directed to the audience to get involved with the audience and make them want to read about this band.

 

The extra cover features on the left hand side have short headlines on a red background so they are quick and easy to read and see if any of the features appeal to the audience. By only having a phrase for each feature it doesn’t give anything away that is going to be in the magazine which will make the audience more likely to buy it to see what is in it. The last feature uses colloquial language and abbreviations which are informal to make the audience feel more comfortable and at their level when they are reading the magazine as they will most likely buy the magazine for entertainment not for essay reading.

 

Underneath the main image are the secondary images set out in a photomontage which is split into 5 sections, 4 of them being different bands related to the genre. This is to give the audience more of a choice if they don’t like one band there are others to choose from so they can find ones they like. The iconography of these images fit in with the genre as they are wearing dark clothing and for example SLIPKNOT are wearing makeup that hides their faces but it comes across as mysterious and dangerous. ‘POSTER SPECIAL’ shows the free gifts that are included in the magazine which will appeal to the audience because they are more likely to buy the magazine if there are free gifts involved.

The pug of the plus icon at the bottom of the page indicates that there is more to add in the magazine and because it is yellow, draws the audience’s attention to it so they can see all the other bands that are included in the magazine. This is to appeal to the audience and give them a variety of choices.

Some of the codes and conventions of the magazine are shown in the right hand corner for example the barcode, the issue number and date and the price of the magazine. These are all essential for a magazine because it will be unsellable without them. The website is underneath these which shows audience participation because it is informing the reader that they can go online and find out any more information about the magazine and keep up to date with the latest news. It also shows a symbiotic relationship between the print version and the online version of the magazine because they should be in sync with each other.