Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the ‘Sounds’ newspaper. Named after the onomatopoeic word that derives from the sound made when playing a power chord on an electric guitar, Kerrang! was initially devoted to the new wave of british heavy metal and the rise of hard rock acts. In the early 2000s it became the best-selling British music magazine.
Front Cover of Kerrang! Magazine
Above, the August 2010 version of Kerrang magazine carries a Union Jack theme. This theme encompasses a red, white and blue colour scheme and a centre-image featuring ‘top’ British artists in the rock genre. Being a rock magazine, this magazine cover would successfully appeal to the specific audiences as it has a modern and vivid design. This theme acts as anchorage towards the centre image and vice versa, as the union jacks that are being worn by the models match the colour scheme of red, white and blue – which appeals further to the British audience of the magazine.
As always with Kerrang magazine across the very top is a thin bar with text about one of the articles within the magazine and in this case a small sticker shape with the Relentless Tour logo attached which relates to the text featured. Below this as always is the title of the magazine, the writing is a large size and covers the width of the page, not leaving any gaps. The text is very bold, strong and also has cracked and broken effects added to it, this creates a sense of aggresive and rebellious text, which relates to the music and articles which are featured in the Kerrang magazine, this text works very well as it is very bold and stands out from the background image. The text also contrasts with the background image, as the background image is a very bright blue and its an edited image of the sky, where as the Kerrang logo is black and very bold so it stands out very much from the background image. Also the heads of the three people shown on the front cover actually cover the bottom parts of the Kerrang logo, in some cases half the letter. This makes them stand out completely and showcases them as they are the main article and the main story within this issue. Kerrang is also able to cover parts of the title as fans of the metal, rock and alternative genres will almost all of the time know about Kerrang and its logo so the whole thing does not need to be shown to the audience. In the very centre of the front cover is the main article subtitles, this is above all other images on the front cover making it the main attraction, it also covers the width of the page and is large, it consists of blocks in diagonal positions and red and blue writing inside matching the theme, this stands out to the viewer. There is also a splash above this which is slightly covered by the main headline, it is also red matching the colour scheme of the front cover. The text also consists of the same colours, it is also very conistent, bold and aggresive matching the theme of Kerang but still keeping the proffesional look. Below the left of the main article sub title is a cut out of two other people, these are seperate from the theme in the way they look and the colours that they are wearing, this seperates them and makes them stand out.
To the right of the front cover, below the main article sub title is a splash, which consists of black textboxes and white writing, this is also similar to the main theme but slightly different, but matches the other image on the left bottom of the magazine. The colours and effects used in each of these stickers, splashes and tabs are very bold colours and all the text is the same, making a consistent and basic layout, but also looks very proffesional and matches the aggresive them of Kerrang. At the very bottom of the magazine there is a red block which also consists of a white arrow inside, this box matches the theme. In this box is all the other articles and aspects included in the magazine, the writing consists of black and white and uses the same different texts that are featured on other parts of the front cover. This front cover is contrary to typical Kerrang magazine covers, as the most prominent colours are black, white and sometimes yellow or another bright colour, but this unnatural theme matches the main article of the issue.
Kerrang! Contents Page Analysis
Kerrang! Contents Page
Shaun's Media Portfolio 