Analysis of front cover

The magazine I chose to analyse is ‘Kerrang’. From the front cover you can tell that the genre of the magazine is rock, therefore the articles that would be included in this magazine would be based on rock artists.  

Magazines use colours in their magazines. This is because colours are a use of non-verbal communication; its meaning can change from one day to the next with any individual. Kerrang uses colours such as red, white yellow and black to attract their audience. For example the use of the colour red suggests passion; this could attract a passionate audience. The use of the colour white suggest perfection, it connotes that the magazine is perfect for the audience; giving it a more personal effect. On the other hand the colour yellow suggests optimism. The colour black on the other hand is not used as much but when it is used it is used perfectly. For example on the puff ‘Most revealing interview ever’, the colour black itself suggests secrecy a mystery, therefore using it behind this puff would make the reader want to buy it so they too can be ‘in on the secret’

The design of the title block ‘Kerrang’ tells me that the magazine is about rock music. I know this because the title block has cracks in the letters suggesting that the music (rock music) is loud enough to crack glass. The title block also gives the impression that their magazine goes ‘all out’ just like the rock artists/bands that will be featured inside the magazine.

The central image of the magazine is Oliver Sykes who is the leader of the rock band ‘Bring Me the Horizon’ (BMTH). The central image has been constructed to have a direct mode of address. This also tells the buyer that they want a personal relationship with them. For example the Central image suggest that it wants a relationship with BMTH fans but mainly the sub-fan group i.e. the Oli Sykes fan group.

               

The target audience for this magazine is BMTH fans. This would mainly attract teenagers 15+. The magazine also presents that the target audience’s interests are tattoos as well as rock music. This is shown through the central image of Oli Sykes.

The anchorage text says ‘“You Don’t Know ME!” ‘BRING ME THE HORIZON’ ‘OLI SYKES’ ‘Rocks most controversial star bares his soul’. This suggests to the audience that the issue would include behind the scenes with Oli Sykes, where he would tell ‘Kerrang’ more about himself.

The uses of buzz words in magazines are to attract the audience’s attention. For example ‘Kerrang’ uses ‘FREE’ as a buzz word to attract the target audience making them read the following ‘Drop Death Clothing discount card for every reader’. This will then make the target audience (Oli fan group) want to buy the magazine because his clothing line is giving out free discount cards. In addition ‘Kerrang’ uses another buzz word ‘PLUS’ to attract other audiences. This would then attract Paramore, Skindred, Fightstar, Alexisonfire, FFAF, Kids In Glass Houses, Dream Theatre, Architects and Fact fan groups. This would then result to ‘Kerrang’ selling a lot of magazines.

 The magazine also uses puffs. This is also used to attract audiences to the magazine. For example ‘Kerrang’ uses puffs to tell the audience what other exclusives they have inside the magazine. ‘The UK’s Biggest Gig Guide’ would attract an older target audience because they are older and have more freedom to go to gigs whenever they want, so an older audience may buy the magazine for the ‘gig guide’.