Analysis of magazine front covers: Cover 2- Kerrang! Dec

2005 Foo Fighters Edition

COPY OF KERRANG 8 PAGE SPECIAL-

There is a image of a younger band that are dressed in black, and this expands the target audience for this magazine.

THE MASTHEAD-

The masthead is at the top of the page and is large, bold and uses contrasting colours (black and white) which makes it stand out and the exclamation mark makes it more dramatic. Also it has a shattered effect which relates to rock music. These features create an identity for the magazine.

THE HEADER-

The header summarises the main rock bands that are featured in the magazine

THE MAIN IMAGE-

The main image is a mid shot of the lead singer of the band Foo Fighters (which is clearly shown by the large caption in the middle of the page) who is squinting at the camera with his head slightly slanted, a miserable expression, and has a tattoo on his left arm. These features suggest attitude and rebellion which relates to the music genre rock. He is wearing a bright red shirt hich contrasts with the background and the masthead, and is eye-catching. The background look sunny and is likely to be in the U.S as Foo Fighters are from there, but we cannot be certain as the singer is dominating the page.

THE MAIN COVER LINE-

The main cover line is situated in the middle of the page, it anchors the main image down, it shows the reader who the man is, and that he is the main feature of the magazine. The font used is large, bold, contrasts with the mans red shirt and has a drop shadow effect which makes it eye-catching. Plus the cover lines ‘UK tour exclusive’ and ‘Back to blow your mind’ makes it more interesting, and creates the sense that the magazine is special and has lots of things included.

BARCODE-DATE/ISSUE/PRICE-

These are important when selling magazines and tend to be quite small in the corner so it is out of the way of the copy

THE FOOTER-

Other rock bands featured in magazine. The plus sign suggests there is lots more going on in the magazine

RULE OF THIRDS-

This hasn’t been used properly as there is space in the left third for cover lines, however the image dominates the page and has many cover lines which looks untidy and again relates to rock music.

Target Audience of this MagazineMETHODS USED TO ATTRACT THE TARGET AUDIENCE ARE:

The use of the header and footer which gives the target audience the name of a few of the bands that are featured in the magazine, and the use of the copy of Kerrang page 8 special. These features create the sense that the magazine is special and offers extra things.

The use of the large bold masthead which has a shattered effect which relates to rock music and the fact that the name of the magazine is onomatopoeic which refers to the sound made when playing a power chord on an electric guitar. The white font also contrasts with the black background which makes it stand out even more.

The use of the main cover line shows the target audience who the main feature of the magazine is and they are likely to admire him as he is from a famous rock band. The font used is large, bold, contrasts with the mans red shirt and has a drop shadow effect which makes it eye-catching. Plus the cover lines ‘UK tour exclusive’ and ‘Back to blow your mind’ again creates the sense that the magazine is special and has lots of things included.

FACTS AND FIGURES

-Price: £2.20-Frequency: Weekly-Circulation: 42,967-Launch Date: 1981-Target Market: Men 16-25-Genre: Rock music-Kerrang! Australia was launched by Emap in the late 1990's-Kerrang! is also published in Spanish-The Kerrang! empire has it's own awards ceremony-It has a TV music station-It has a Radio station -It has a website-The magazine gives out occassional free gifts to satisfy the viewer such as calenders and CD's, however posters are included in every issue.-It overtook NME as the number 1 rock/music magazine in the UK.-Emap advertised the magazine more in its digital mediums such as Kerrang TV and Kerrang radio so that it generated more circulation figures and more revenue

These are the type of imagery, layout, and text that the target audience look for in a Kerrang magazine (large images of popular rock artists/bands, extras/exclusives, mostly

music orientated, etc)