Magazine cover analysis - Kerrang! Magazine

Magazine cover analysis 

Kerrang! Magazine

Masthead

Kerrang!'s logo consists of the text Kerrang! with a cracked mirror/glass affect. This creates the impression of the loud, angry sterotype of the target audience

The logo is positioned across the top of the magazine. It is positioned at the top as western markets instinctively read from the top of a book or magazine. This allows the potential customer to have more of a chance to become interested in the magazine. 

Kerrang! doesn't use a catch-phrase, but instead features an article in the masthead. This is probably a more important article in the magazine because, as mentioned above, western markets read from the top down, so logically it should grab more attention.

Main Image

This issues main image consists of a medium long tri-shot of the popular rock band Blink 182. The shot's background has been removed and replaced with a black to white gradient in the background. It creates the darker impression often associated with the genre. 

Subsidiary Image

The subsidiary images features other popular bands artists, advertising posters being featured with the magazine. It also features Nergal (frontman of the the death metal band Behemoth), as he is the subject of one of the articles. The subsidiary images seem to be used as advertising tools by kerrang! 

Sell lines + Information

 Kerrang!'s sell lines use short buzzwords to sell their articles. terms like "Blast Back!" and "World Exclusive" draw the reader in with simple and striking terminology, allowing the customer to easily take in information.

Kerrang! also uses contrasting colors to bring out the text more and make it stand, ultimately making it more likely the consumer will see the sell lines and base their purchase off them. The use of the Pug also highlights important information.

Design and Color

This issue of Kerrang! doesn't use a grid structure to base it's text layout on, and the design presents multiple artists at once. This could be to show the large amount of content easily, while other magazines would not use an as convoluted style as kerrang!. 

This issue of Kerrang!'s color scheme primarily consists of Red, White, Black and Blue. Black and Red are the most commonly used colors. This is used to make the magazine have a "vampiric" style.