Kerrang! Cover LIIAR Response

The masthead on the front of the magazine is a clever use of onomatopoeia which is that of the sound of a power chord played on an electric guitar. It is an eye-catching Masthead relevant to the genre of music the magazine is about. The masthead is generally in white on a black background or black with a white background. It is always clear to read because these colours go well together either way round.





The main image is a medium close up which shows the head and shoulders of someone from a big story inside the magazine. The person in the picture makes eye contact with the audience so they can associate themselves with the person and magazine more. If the picture wasn’t like this it wouldn’t stand out as much so people wouldn’t notice it.



The house colours of the cover are black, white and red. The black and white colours work well together as you can read any writing when they’re put together. White is also used for the background so all attention is drawn to over features of the cover rather than the background. The red on the front is used to add some strong, eye-catching colours. It catches your eye more than the black and white and because of this more important or exciting information is put onto red backgrounds so we see it first. Only three main colours are used so that the cover isn’t overwhelming and difficult to read.



Thumbnail articles used on the front this issue of Kerrang is played to the right of the main image and below it. One of them is a teaser story within the magazine which says “What’s next for Paramore” underneath. Paramore are the band the thumbnail image depicts and it is used to make readers interested in them want to buy the magazine to see what the story has to say. The other thumbnail images are advertising free posters and persuade people to buy the magazine because it may have within it a poster of a band they like.



The price and barcode of the magazine are in the bottom corner because it isn’t particularly important unless somebody wishes to buy the magazine. By being placed here it doesn’t cover any other features of the magazine cover.



Anchorage is used under all the images (main and thumbnails) on this cover of Kerrang. It draws attention to each image by telling you something about it. For example under the main image it says: Slipknot success survival…Corey Taylor answers your questions. The anchorage gives us insight into what the picture is about and makes us interested in it and want to read more. Anchorage on this cover is written in both red and white to draw attention to it.



Along the bottom of the cover it lists bands featuring in the magazine that don’t have a big enough story to be shown on the cover. The band is still put in red so a reader’s eye is drawn to it and can instantly see if any bands they like are in the magazine.



The main Article is in the centre of the magazine and is as big and bold as the masthead. It is anchorage for the main image as it tells you what it is about. The writing is in different colours though the biggest part of it is in White because it is easiest to read.

Institution

Kerrang is an internationally produced magazine as it is sold both in the UK and Australia. It is printed in the UK so probably focuses on the UK market. This could either be because the company cannot yet afford to expand to other countries or they wish to focus on expanding in the UK.

Ideology

The magazine shows that rock bands are always progressing and that they need to overcome problems to achieve success. It will tend to show rock bands at their best to draw an audience to them and increase the bands fan base and the magazines buyers.

Audience

Kerrang’s target audience is for those who like specifically rock music or possibly for those who like some rock bands who may buy Kerrang should it feature them. We know this because of the onomatopoeia in the title (an electric guitar being an instrument rock bands use) and through all of the bands on the cover being rock bands.

Representation

The bands on the cover are represented in two ways on Kerrang. The main image of Corey Taylor who is the lead singer of slipknot, a band that wears masks whilst playing, is shown as a kinder looking more human person. The thumbnail of Hayley Williams, lead singer of Paramore, shows that bands come across problems by the expression on her face and the writing underneath. These two pictures show that bands are people like us behind all their fame.



Bands are also shown as they would be seen performing as is seen in the My chemical Romance poster thumbnails. They are more shown like this because they’re posters and this is what an audience wants from a poster.



The difference between the two representations of bands is that they are either shown accurately as how the people actually are or stereotypically as you would imagine a rock band to look.