Task 2- Kerrang Magazine Analysis

Kerrang! Magazine is mainly aimed at an audience who love rock or metal style of music. My magazine cover features an artist called Gerard Ways and he is wearing a blue suit with a white shirt and black tie, which also includes his black belt. Usually, with rock magazines, the norm of the front cover would be a group/band/artist, who seems to be fairly aggressive via body language. This would be associated with the genre of the magazine. With this magazine, the artist seems very calm but we see that he has coloured his hair red. The colour red would usually connote rage and anger and a lot of rock music contains a lot of rage and energy. The shot type of the image is a medium shot, as we can see his head down to his waist, and a bit further.

 The masthead is styled out to look cracked. It could be suggested that onomatopoeia could be linked to the masthead as it connotes the crash of something, just like the type of music. Also, Kerrang! is a known magazine. In my magazine, the image of Gerard is blocking the letter’s ‘R’ and ‘A’. The rock/metal audience will know that the magazine is still Kerrang! , even if the magazine is hidden. His costume shows his wealth and class and slightly breaks the stereotype of rock artist. Usually, black make-up is on the faces of artists and they show some emotion through their facial expression. This is different to the front cover of Kerrang! , as Gerard seems very calm and isn’t showing his arms like most. He isn’t wearing much make-up. The skyline is used to give the audience more information about the “You me at six” interview. To catch the audience’s eyes, the word “funniest” is used to urge people to turn over to the interview to see what is really interesting and hilarious about it. The suffix is used to portray how funny it will be and places emphasise, instead of using the word “funny”, which seems a bit dull and doesn’t engage the audience. Throughout the front cover, the font is in capitals. It seems easier to read and the audience won’t struggle to see. Anchorage is also used, “The Making of a solo superstar”.With rock magazine, we usually see bands together and the example of the anchorage, makes it known to the audience that he is actually a solo artist. Also, “the making of… superstar”, links back to the main cover line, showing that music really saved Gerard’s life.

The main colours used for the contents page is yellow, red, black and white. 8 pictures have been used and they all link back to the heading, having a purpose. Furthermore, there is a message from the editor, which emphasises the interaction he has with his audience. In the contents page, the editors’ message has been printed. It shows the interaction between himself and his fans/readers. Also, the images link back to the text, which shows that you can receive enough information just by looking at the image or looking at the text. The images present the whole attitude of the genre of magazine, being a rock magazine, it should feature the stereotype of a rock artist usually having long hair, tattoos and holding an instrument. This magazine does the opposite, as Gerard doesn’t have an instrument in his hand, his facial impression is very simple and we cannot see any tattoos. The magazine is more organised (layout, text, image and heading). Also, the headings can seem slightly vibrant, but the colour ‘red’ on the numbers catches the eye more, as it is bold, round and red. Again, red connotes fierce and vibrant behavior, which will appear to the rock audience, as this is mainly their norm.

With the double page spread, a pun is used, “Go your own way”. It is mainly used for humour and has a link back to the article, the image or the main coverline. Dropcap of the letter ‘E’ is used to show the audience exactly where the article starts. The title is written three times in different colours, which shows the liveliness and fun of the article. The colours yellow and blue are used because the connotations of these colours are mostly serenity, peace and bubbliness. Pull quotes are also used in the article, but is on the next page of the article. It quotes, "I think I make my best music when I'm mucking about, not thinking". The article is mainly about Gerard ways' life, his style of how he makes music and his new album Hesitant Alien. The writer uses a few remarks, in order for entertainment, but the article also contains some part of an interview, manly with Gerard himself. Some parts included informing the audience about how serious Gerard had to be, as there were up and coming rock bands ready to make some hardcore music, for example My Chemical Romance. The tone is mainly informal, which include funny words and non standard lexis like swear words. But those conform the genre of the magazine, as we are reminded how raw and forceful the music is, so the language would follow the same way. There are plenty dropcap's but also a few pull quotes, as it is such a long article. The picture takes up half of the double page spread, which links totally back to the text. He is the main subject of the whole magazine, therefore, he has to be shown a few times. Similarly, he is promoted throughout the magazine. An example of this is that his concert performances are placed on the magazine, which is effective as it is a type of celebrity endorsement. Readers may be aware of the gig/concert, as he was the main focus of the magazine.

The audience are 16-35 year olds. Predominately, they are male and we are told through the press pack that the ratio of men to women, that read Kerrang! is 55:45 percent. The publishers are the 'Bauer Media Group' and the editor of the magazine is James McMahon. In the magazine, the editors' letter is ended off with his first name only, which shows that he has a calm,  friendly personality towards his fans/readers. The secondary audience are again, 16-35 year olds, but these are mainly women who have a passion, interest or want to find an interest into the genre. Bauer Media group also publish the magazine 'Q'. This is because they are a European based media company. 46% have ABC1 profile. Because of Kerrang's popularity, 87% of Kerrang! readers buy every issue, according to the press pack.