Analysis Of "Kerrang" Magazine Front Cover

This is a niche music magazine and from the front cover I can tell that there will a lot about bands and music inside.

The main target audience for Kerrang magazine are 15-19 year olds who are interested in rock/punk/grunge/indie music etc. I get this impression because of the bands listed at the bottom of the cover who will be inside the issue and because of the central image of the magazine.

In the central image there is a picture of a man who is being tattooed by a woman. They are both heavily tattooed and the picture is quite dramatic. It is obvious to readers that the man is the main focus of the central image and he is looking at readers with a direct mode of address.

The expression on his face is not that welcoming. You kind of get the sense that he is being very protective and is saying stay away…back off. But even though he is doing this it is evident that he wants readers to read about him and to buy the magazine.

The person in question is Matt Heafy who is a member of the rock band TRIVIUM. He is on the cover because he is someone that the magazine’s target audience will be interested in and to help attract readers.

The anchorage text says: “Under the skin of Matt Heafy TRIVIUM”…
Because of what is going on in the image I can tell that the anchorage text is referring to his tattoos. It is a play on words which the target audience and regular readers of the magazine will understand it instantly. Some people might get the idea that he is quite tough because of his many tattoos and this portrays the idea of him being rebellious.

People who have “alternative lifestyles” e.g. Goths, punks etc. are being represented in this magazine. They are represented as people who enjoy the “alternative lifestyle” and everything that goes along with it. i.e. hard core rock music and tattoos which are the usual stereotypes.

The design of the block title tells me that the magazine is quite edgy. This is because the title looks like it has been smashed. It has the effect of a smashed glass or mirror which is quite edgy and again alternate.

The title in particular gives me a lot of information about the entire magazine. From the title “Kerrang” I can tell that maybe the magazine has something to do with music because of the evident use of onomatopoeia. The word “Kerrang” sounds like a guitar being strummed and again links back to the theme as it is a music magazine. I can also tell what image is trying to be portrayed. An image of roughness, edginess, and uniqueness is being portrayed in this magazine. And the style of the magazine is very dark but at the same time very vibrant.

There are puffs on the front cover and they tell me that there will be free posters inside, and tells me about the bands/artists being interviewed inside. Because of the types of bands mentioned I can see that the magazine is being targeted to maybe teenage girls because the bands are mostly young males. Also because the names of the bands are listed at the bottom of the cover I it will help readers because they can see exactly what will be in the magazine.

The slogan of this magazine is…..LIFE IS LOUD. Again it links back to the musical attributes of the magazine and is linked with sound, noise and gives the image of being live. It might help to attract readers because from the slogan they can tell that it will be a music magazine and one that is quite edgy, loud and typically ‘rock and roll’.

The colours used on the front cover are quite dark, there is a lot of black and the colours reflect the stereotypes of this type of music. Surprisingly I do find the colours attractive but other might not agree. The fonts used are not to complex or fancy but they are all bold and thick which again gives an idea of toughness. The cover of “Kerrang” magazine always has a range of rock sub-genres so that it attracts as many of the audience as possible.

The magazine uses freebies to help entice readers into buying such as posters. They do this to keep the current readers satisfied and might even do special offers such as free CD’s, stickers and calendars etc. to help attract new ones.