MAGAZINE ANALYSIS

CHASKA HOLDEN

KERRANG MAGAZINE FRONT COVER

The colour of the front cover is mainly in black and white so that the cover lines and puffs stand out from it and draw
attention to whats inside the magazine. The eyes of Kurt in the image have been left in colour to emphasise the direct
address towards the reader. Pink connotes compassion and comfort. It calms our emotional energies and is a nonthreatening colour.

A number of different fonts have been used for the cover lines to separate the topics as well as some of them being serif
and some sans serif. The main cover line runs across the face in the image so its clear that they are linked. Its also a lot
larger than the others and so will be visible at a distance and allowing it to stand out when on a shelf. The font used for
the masthead reading KERRANG is sans serif which suggests that this is an informal magazine aimed towards a
younger audience. Also, areas of the lettering have been erased creating a rustic, unprofessional style. This enforces the
alternative/rock theme of the magazine. Moreover, the barcode and cover price is arranged together in the bottom
right corner.

The extreme close up of Kurt Cobain is directly related to the main story. The shot of him is framed so that his face is in
the centre allowing the audience to draw conclusions about him being the main feature of the magazine. He was very
successful and is still majorly popular; in this way he is someone for the target reader to aspire to. There are also a few
smaller images around the outside of the magazine of other band members which will most likely interest this
audience.

The band member is smiling and staring directly into the camera. The clothes that he is wearing arent visible, although
his messy, long, rustic style hair is somewhat in view. This gives the impression that he is from the rock scene and
produces the genre of music people reading this magazine will enjoy.

There is a puff that suggests you can win merchandise inside; this will catch the interest of the reader as the prize will
be related to the rock genre. Most of the cover lines simply state some band and band members names; this is a very
effective technique and is stereotypical of music magazines because the target audience will most likely know who they
are and gain satisfaction from this. It also suggests that theyll feature inside the issue which will appeal to the reader.

The language used is social and academic which some slight slang terms. This will attract a teenage audience as they can
understand the language better and find it comforting and familiar. Puns are used such as Eggcellent to grab the
attention of customers in a humorous way. In addition, rhyming is used to put a playful spin on important subjects so
they arent as hard hitting; this way the teenage audience is more likely to want to read that section of the magazine.

KERRANG MAGAZINE CONTENTS PAGE

The colour scheme of the contents page is black, white and red. The mainly monochrome theme gives the impression
that it is somewhat professional. Red connotes importance and is exciting and powerful; it has been used for the folios
to give this impression.

The contents page is arranged into three columns. There is a flannel panel running down the right hand side of the
page with a note from the editor and thanks to some of the people who contributed to the creating of the issue. At the
top of the contents page the issue number and cover date is repeated in a larger font in case the reader missed it on the
front cover.

There is one main image in the top left hand corner which shows band members Alex Gaskarth and Jack Barakat with
a shock machine. They both have long and fringes which is stereotypical of pop punk band members, so this
impression is given to the reader. There is also a variety of smaller images positioned throughout the page including
an image from a previous gig. Beside each image is a caption relating to it and a credit stating the photographers
name.

The contents title has been placed in a puff to separate it from the rest of the text. The different subjects for the folios
are in a sans serif font so that they look modern and informal; however the subheadings are serif so that theyre easier
to read. Also, the majority of the titles are the names of bands with small descriptions underneath explaining what the
story is about. This is an effective design technique as the reader can easily skip to pages for the bands theyre familiar
with.

Informal, slang is used frequently throughout the contents page for example ish, dick jokes and gangsters.
Exclamation marks have been frequently placed within the descriptions to build excitement and emphasize how
interesting the story is going to be. Puns are also used Eggstravaganza. This is so that the young adult demographic
can relate to the language and know that throughout the magazine it be further used.

Overall the front cover and contents page give a good indication of whats inside the magazine. Its designed to appeal
to teenage rock music fans by representing their interests through band members and music related subjects.
Younger and older audiences are not addressed because they arent the magazines target audiences and so they would
most likely have no interest in it.

KERRANG MAGAZINE DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

The colour yellow has connotations of happiness, joy and energy and is very effective at attracting
attention, giving the impression that its highlighting an important story. The contrast it creates with the
black text creates a visually pleasing design and draws attention to the title and story.

Drop cap is used at the beginning of each paragraph to enhance the look of the page and clearly separate
different topics. Also, there is a pull-quote we cant explain our music set in a contrasting type to break
up the text as well as entice the audience into reading the story. In addition, a sidebar with a
complimentary story relating to the main text is placed in a box to the side. This breaks up the page and
gives the effect that there is less text; young adult audiences tend to have a fairly low attention span so this
will make the story less intimidating and more appealing to read.

On the second page of the double-page spread a close-up image of Kurt Cobain takes up the entire page.
Again, the image is in black and white with the exception of his eyes that have been edited in Photoshop.
This draws connections to the cover line which reads IMMORTAL.

The title of the story isnt completely black, the bottoms of the letters look like theyre dirty and rusting
away which is effective at creating a gothic look. As my target audience is rock/alternative music fans
theyre most likely to like this style, making the story title more appealing and enticing them into reading
further.

The language used to address the reader is unacademic as if the writer is casually talking to the reader;
creates a comfortable connection with the editor. Rhetorical questions are used to engage the reader and
immerse themselves further into the story.

Kerrang is published by Bauer Media Group who also manages more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital
products and 50 radio and TV stations around the world. Kerrang magazine is based in the UK, however it
is distributed worldwide.

ROCK SOUND FRONT COVER

The front cover follows a blue, pink and white colour scheme. Pink connotes compassion and comfort. It
calms our emotional energies and is a non-threatening colour.

The masthead is arranged behind the main image but in a way that its still legible but so that the people are
given more importance. There is a variety of different fonts used to separate topics and attract attention
from the consumer. The word scream has a font that emphasizes the loudness; its bold and has been put in
a different colour. This is further enforced by the graphics coming out from the peoples mouths as they are
lightning bolts.

The main image is of All Time Low a popular pop punk band. They are a well-known band and are very
successful; they represent the ideal that the target reader would like to aspire to. The audience reading Rock
Sound are interested in this genre of music and these people act as their inspirations. Having such
meaningful people as the first thing the reader sees will be appealing in this way. From the size of the image
the audience understand that it is directly related to the main story.

The poses of the four band members are fun and playful. This gives the impression that theyre friendly,
nice people so the reader is more likely to want to know more about them. Its also more fitted to the
teenage audience. In addition, theyre wearing black clothes and leather jackets which could imply that
theyre a rock/punk band and establish the music genre of which this magazine focuses on clear.

Most of the text used on the front cover is band names which suggests there will be information/stories
about them inside which will most likely interest the target audience. It also makes the contents of the
magazine clear from just a glance. The main cover line is significantly larger than the rest informing the
reader that this will be the main story, it will also be big enough to read from a distance and so will stand out
on a shelf.

In addition, on the front cover it mentions that the magazine comes with a free CD and posters. This is
placed at the top left corner so that when its placed on a shelf its still easily visible. This is an effective
marketing techniques used by many magazines to entice the reader as theyre getting something for free
that would otherwise be paid for.

ROCK SOUND CONTENTS PAGE

The contents has a simplistic colour scheme of red and white which creates a pleasing contrast to the busy, colourful front cover. This also
makes it easier to read and highlights titles and important information for the reader.

The contents run over two pages. There are small descriptions under each title. At the bottom of the page there are social media logos with the
magazines names to go with them so the reader can further familiarize themselves with the magazine and company. Its also very useful for
allowing readers to interact with people working for them. This is effective at creating a connection and bond between reader and magazine.
There is a flannel panel running down the left hand side of the page to credit everyone involved in the making of the music magazine as well as
contact information.

The contents page features images of some of the pages inside the magazine to give an insight into what topics/types of stories are going to be
featured. It also allows the reader to quickly identify whether they would be interested in the magazine. Also, there is copy of the same image
used on the front cover of All Time Low. Underneath the title is a note to the reader introducing them to the magazine and explaining the main
image on the front cover and what the linked story will be about. Slang is mainly used throughout the contents page such as HIT US UP as well
as language that directly addresses the reader.

Overall the front cover and contents page of this magazine give a clear indication of whats inside while making a good impression on the reader
through the appealing design and variety of features that represent the readers interests.

ROCK SOUND DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

There is no colour scheme to this double-page spread because it is made up almost entirely of images. The large amount of colour creates a very
visually pleasingly couple of pages for the reader and a contrast to the text filled pages beforehand. The harsh white colour of the text box stands
out clearly against this drawing the readers attention to the story.

Also the whole of the double-page spread is a collage of images from the band Black Veil Brides playing live. There is a chance that some of the
readers would have been at that concert so they would be very interested in viewing the photos taken as well as a familiarity from knowing the
band and bands members. They have all been positioned on a slant making it looks less professional and more fun which fits in with the subject
of the images. Also, the teenage demographic will like this design feature as its been chosen with the intention of being a fun, unique couple of
pages. In the bottom left corner there is the title and a white box containing the story so that it is legible against the colourful background.

All of the images have captions with a few words informing the audience of what the photograph is of or a humorous quote. This makes sure that
the reader isnt confused by the images and so that they can link elements of the story to it. A drop-cap has been used at the beginning of the
paragraph to separate the text and draw the readers attention to the beginning of the paragraph.

Rock Sound was first launched by the French publisher Editions Freeway but was later bought out by its director, Patrick Napier in 2004. The
magazine is mainly aimed at the British market where the largest consumers of the magazine are, although it is distributed worldwide.