Analysis Of Kerrang Front Cover

Kerrang is an unusual name for a magazine, therefore I thoroughly researched the internet and found out that “The magazine's title is onomatopoeic and derives from the noise made when smashing an electric guitar”.
This means that the word Kerrang sounds like the noise made if you smash an electric guitar, this fits in with the genre of the magazine as rock is all about electric guitars and “rocking out” which can consist of smashing things up. This name clearly makes the kerrang magazine unique and stands out against all other music magazines.

The main flash story is about the Trivium band member, Matt Heafy. It introduces this by a main headline, quoting: “Under the skin of Matt Heafy”. This wording could lead the reader to thinking many things; which is obviously appealing as the reader would be more likely to buy the magazine, to find out what the cover story is about. The image of the man topless goes well with the main headline, because it shows literal skin (although the story may not literally be about this). If the reader is interested in him or the band, then they will definitely want to read the magazine and find out what the main headline is about. I feel that main flash headline is very effective, as it doesn’t really give too much away, but it provides enough information to appeal to people, which will encourage them to buy the magazine.

The main image on the Kerrang cover which I analyzed, had a band member from Trivium, and from what I know about the band, they are a very successful rock/heavy metal band, who are very popular at the moment. They cover all the topics that a rock/heavy metal band are stereo-typed to, such as sex appeal, rebellious attitude etc. Therefore the band has a good attractiveness, which is most probably why they are featured on the front cover. However, this issue’s cover is different from how the cover normally is, because instead of having a picture of the whole band, it only shows one band member, with a girl behind him. As the main headline suggests, it is a feature about the band member himself, rather than the whole band. This member is most likely to be the lead vocalist, as they are usually the most popular person in the band, and they normally always get the most attention as they are the most famous. The photo is definitely a posed photo, as the man is looking straight towards the camera whilst showing a serious/angry expression. As mentioned before, I feel that most bands try to look tough and rebellious, as that is a main element in modern day rock and heavy metal. The photo shows the man lying on his stomach with his arms folded, whilst being topless, which is probably a way to advertise the tattoos on his body. This image portrays a certain attitude and sex appeal. In addition to the man, they have also photographed a woman, which altogether makes the photo more effective. She also seems to be topless, but is hiding behind the male in a sexually appealing way. She has very black hair and make-up and has a lip piercing, which is very stereo-typical of modern day rock/heavy metal. Kerrang uses both genders on this certain cover, but I feel that gender isn’t really of importance as long as the image demonstrates the main features of the type of music the magazine is trying to promote.

On this front cover there aren’t the usual “main sells” such as competitions and freebies. In fact, the only main sell is the list of bands that are featured in the magazine. However, I don’t feel that this is a big problem, because usually if the reader likes one or more of the bands then it will attract them, and they will most probably buy the magazine. There are possibly some competitions in the magazine; but they are not advertised on the cover because it may be that, in this issue, they are not as important as the bands themselves. As for freebies, I think that although they are a good publicity device, it might make the magazine look slightly childish (as most freebies only come with magazines aimed at children). Nevertheless, Kerrang has a mini-box which promotes what other items or articles are within the magazine, such as posters.

The font used for the main logo is very bold and emphasises on the black and white colours which contrast greatly. The font used is sans-serif which makes it less complex looking, and personally I think the choice of font makes it less intimidating to the reader as most magazines that use serif fonts are usually serious and are more focused on the heavy text approach, therefore Kerrang is more likely to be less serious and more image based, also the vocabulary used is then likely be simpler and easier to read. The font has a smashed and cracked look; this is usually a typical style for rock and heavy metal bands. They try to make the font look distorted, eroded or damaged to give it a more sinister and horror like feel. Rock and heavy metal bands like to be rebellious too; therefore some of the fonts used are based on violence and war which matches the attitudes and their overall style (such as blood splatters or bullet holes). Kerrang’s logo is more of a damaged font, it has cracks going through it, and it does have some erosion around the outside of the letters. I think the logo is very well suited to the whole look and feel of the magazine, the effects on the logo are good and the placement and size is suitable. As it is arranged as a layer behind the main image, this signifies that the magazine is already well known therefore a reader would automatically recognise that this is a kerrang magazine regardless of the font being visible or not.

As Kerrang’s style isn’t as sophisticated as newspapers such as The Times, it is more likely to use informal language such as slang as its main target audience are more likely to be young people due to the overall presentation of the magazine. Most informal magazines like to use a lot of puns, alliteration and abbreviations too. On this cover it is hard to spot any of these features, however there are many other pages in their magazine that do. Most of the language used on the front cover of this edition is straight to the point and can come across as assertive; this helps to make it stand out and makes it easy for readers to find out what they want in an instant. It mostly advertises the bands that are featured in the magazine; this gives the impression that the magazine has knowledge of the subject area.

Rock and heavy metal bands like to stick with dark colours which nearly always consist of black. Black is usually portrayed as being the colour of death and hatred, it is the most rebellious and outrageous colour someone could pick. Kerrang uses a lot of black in their magazine; however they use a lot of white too. Their main logo is a mixture of black and white, while the background is generally black, the text is made white as it stands out more than any other colour (as black and white are opposites on the colour wheel).

After analyzing the style of Kerrang’s cover, I feel that is mostly aimed at teenagers as it has a rebellious look. Teenagers are often stereo-typed as having a rebellious look or attitude, and I think that this magazine tries to fit in with the teenage trend; and it does a very good job in relating to them. The magazine’s main focuses are modern day rock and heavy metal, which are genres generally aimed at younger people, because of certain song lyrics, dress styles and attitudes of the bands. In fact, most rock and heavy metal bands are generally formed of young people. This could suggest that they will be better at communicating with teenagers, as they are teenagers themselves and they know of certain trends in this world today, that may be classed as “cool”. Also, bands formed of younger people probably have more sex appeal to their target audience of teenagers, as they are obviously of the same kind of age and are going through the same types of hormonal changes. In addition to these emotions, the bands and songs are also usually more sexually orientated to make the teenagers relate to them, and then like them more. Overall, Kerrang features many bands that would have sexual appeal, as well as rebellious attitudes. The front cover, of this magazine, presents this very well with a young man without a top on who looks quite menacing (trying to look angry, violent, rebellious etc). He also has some tattoos, which by young people are classed as rebellious. The girl behind him has lip piercings and very black hair and make-up, which also suggests a rebellious look. This magazine appeals to both genders, as music is not really gender specific. Also, both men and women are featured in this magazine which shows this that there is content for both girls and boys. The age range that this magazine targets is most probably mid-teens to mid 20’s, mainly because of what it contains. Nationality could be a target, as in some places rock or heavy metal may be more popular than in other places around the world. However, class types are not really an issue, because the magazine is rather cheap and the paper type that is used in Kerrang is basic and has no special qualities, and is therefore affordable for most people. Also, it is distributed weekly rather than daily, which means most people will be able to buy every issue.