KERRANG! Magazine is currently published by Hamburg based Bauer Media Group, costing £2.50 nationwide. The magazine is published weekly, with a combined total circulation that currently stands at 33,024 copies.
The Cover
The title, KERRANG! uses onomatopoeia to connote the sound of a guitar string being strung, as a guitar is one of the most major instruments used within rock music, therefore relating to the magazines contents, genre and niche audiences who may recognise that Kerrang is that exact sound, thus emphasising the brand identity the title possesses.
The masthead uses bold, white colour against the black and purple to stand out and catch the readers attention so that it is automatically recognised that the magazine is KERRANG!.
The use of a big, bold font that has a cracked appearance correlates with the sounds associated with KERRANG! and therefore goes well with the rock & hardcore genre of the magazine. The use of the exclamation mark also shouts the title out to readers, emphasising the title and its onomatopoeic value.
The strapline used here utilises a buzzword 'win' to allow readers to assume this magazine offers an exclusive prize that cannot be found anywhere else. Also, with a small photo used in the left hand corner with a direct gaze, this and the bold title 'Green Day' apply to certain members of the target audience, connoting there is something for everyone in the magazine. The use of the ellipsis creates a dramatised effect as it can be elucidated that the magazine is saving the best news for last.
The main image is a medium shot of 5 artists from 5 different bands with each person on the cover looking directly into the camera. Each facial expression shown is friendly, with their clothing covered by text to assert more attention onto the faces of the artists. This reaches out towards the ideal reader as Kerrang! have specifically put well-known members of bands directly onto the front cover so readers will automatically recognise these people and want to read inside the magazine, as the people on the front cover directly appeal to audiences associated with Kerrang!. Iconography is also seen on the front cover as these artists are specifically used as they are recognised as belonging to the emo & rock genre.
There are 4 other images that appear on the cover of different artists, that are used as a lure to entice other members of the niche audience who may not particularly like those who are the main appeal on the front cover, once again ensuring there is something for everyone within the target audience thus helping expand sales of the magazine too.
Content that is promoted by the cover lines connotes how the content is going to explain how this band rose to fame and possibly give off the idea to readers an inspiration and almost guide on how they can become stars this week, thus showing how the magazine is giving something back to its readers. Furthermore, the use of the pink puff to promote rocks biggest gigs & merch guides helps make the information stand out and catch the readers eye so readers are aware straight away what this magazine entices.
In terms of typefaces, graphics & colours, the two main colours used throughout the front cover are purple, black and yellow. Purple is associated with royalty and symbolises power which is significant as the cover lines connote the power the artists in the band now occupy. The use of the colour black connotes the darker side of the rock magazine, as black is stereotypically associated with black thus reinforcing this classic idea of how rock can directly correlate to fear. Yellow, however, juxtaposes this idea as yellow depicts happiness. All the colours together represent a punk vibe that is affiliated with Kerrang!. Also, big bold fonts are printed all over the cover in white, purple and yellow which straight away catch the readers eyes and correlate with the background colours. Sans-serif is used in every font, thus making the cover look less formal and appealing more to their target audience of teenagers. Graphics of a sketched star, skull and lightning bolts are used near the cover lines which have gothic connotations; which could also be to do with the time of production, October, near Halloween, thus making the magazine adaptable to seasonal holidays that may apply to target audiences.
Teasers are used in the cover as it states 'the week they became stars' as not much information is given away thus making readers want to find out more. also, rhetorical questions are used as the magazine questions 'who's number one in the broken hear hit parade?', almost asking readers the question and allowing audiences to have a personal opinion despite what is put in the magazine. This is also used to help the cover talk to its readers, as well as each photo on the cover showing a direct gaze. As well as this, with different bands placed all over the cover this shows there is something for every member of the target audience, and also colloquial language and mode of address which helps create a personal and casual effect to readers, as if the magazine cover is talking to readers.
The cover of Kerrang! looks similar to other magazines such as NME and Rocksound, although each have very different colour schemes. They are similar in terms of house style as they all follow the same rules in which left justification and right justification is not always followed, giving the magazines a bit of 'edge'. Kerrangs! unique selling point is its use of brightness and colours on the front cover to constantly make the cover stand out and surprisingly work as the colours often contrast the news and the genre presented through and on the cover.
Front Cover Analysis 1
