KERRANG!

Analysis

FRONT COVER.

The colours of Kerrang!s July 2013 Issue has used red, white, yellow and blue. The use of the red, white and blue highlights the fact that the main cover line involves America and or Britain, as red, white and blue are the colours of the flags. Yellow has been used on certain bits of text which Kerrang! wants to stand out, such as Can Britains best band take over America? The use of a white background makes everything on the front cover stand out more. The use of the red, blue and yellow colours connotes something simple and basic about the main cover line as these colours are the primary colours, but this could also connote that this issues main article is the start of something new or different. The puff is black with white and yellow text, this is done so it stands out as nothing else has a black background, other than what the members are wearing. The colour of Kerrang! is red, so they have used red on the cover lines but have switched it round so its opposite to the masthead which has red font and white background but for the cover lines its white font and red background. The images on the front cover are all relevant and are all smaller than the main image. The smaller images have been given a white border around them and have gotten some shading added to them to make them have a sticker effect. Doing this means that they are taken notice of as well as the main cover image. On this issue of Kerrang! Bring Me The Horizon (or BMTH) is on the front and shows all of the band members lined up next to each other. Oli Skyes, who is the lead in the group, is leaning towards the camera and is the centre of the image. Doing this means that it is clear that he is the leader of the band and connotes that the article is going to be more about/ around him rather than the other band members. In the main image the two members on the end have part of the flag draped around them, you are also able to tell easily what flag it is as you can see the stars and stripes. This highlights and connotes the fact that the article is going to have America involved. The main image has been edited to put on the magazine and this is easy to tell if you look closely at the tops of their heads as its blurred and also if yo u look at their feet and legs, Kerrang! added a fake shadow to give the effect that the light was directly infront of them. The smaller images are fairly small but still easy to see, they are also recognisable to those who like that band. For example there is an image of a band with the cover line Bury Me Tomorrow, Downloads Breakout Band Speak If you like Bury Me Tomorrow you would have known who they were but if you didnt Kerrang! include their name in the cover line. They have done this with another image but they also have an image of 5 10 notes, fanned out. This instantly connotes that the article is about money.

FRONT COVER PART 2

The Masthead for the magazine is done the same way as the other issue, this means Kerrang! is keeping to their house style. The masthead is in the same font and is the same size, they have also put the main image on top of the masthead. Keeping to the house style means that their magazine is always recognisable and doesnt become hard to find for those who want to buy it. As if they changed their style every issue it would be hard to look for something that you no longer know what it looks like. Kerrang!s mast head font is different to the others as it has a cracked glass effect on the font, this makes it look like that the music they talk about inside could be loud enough to crack the font if it was glass. The font styles are all bold and San serif. This means they want everything to stand out but also want to keep it fairly simple. This is the similar situation with the language. They use language which anyone could understand. They also use a bit of slang spills his guts, this shows that theyre target audience is more likely to be teenagers and young people than those who have grown out of the chase-a-band-around phase. The layout of the magazine is fairly simple but is still very effective. The keep to a similar layout for every issue they produce, this ensures they dont lose interest. The layout they have used immediately draws your attention. They have placed the image in the centre and on top of the masthead, this draws the attention of those who are interested in Bring Me The Horizon also the way they have displayed the band name right across the centre heightens the attention. They have used layers on their layout, the main layer is BMTH. The other article layers have a separated image and a cover line which clearly states who or what the image is of or about.

CONTENTS PAGE

The colours for the contents page are whit, black, red and yellow. The white, black and yellow are used in every issue of Kerrang! but the red seems to have been carried through from the front cover. The use of black text on a white background is effective because you can clearly read what has been written. Any other coloured text has been placed in a black box, this breaks up the page and gives it a cleaner and more organised look. The text placed in the black boxes are headings for the page numbers, for example ALBUMS. The images in this issues contents page seem to be smaller, this could be due to the large image and not much text on the front. So they could have made the contents page the other way around to create a balanced feel to the magazine. The images also have large white numbers on them so its clear to see what page you are able to find the images on. All of the images are relevant to the caption theyve placed onto the image to help describe whats happening in the image.

CONTENTS PAGE PART 2

The fonts used for the text is san-serif and all black. They use 3 different fonts, one font for the description and letter, one for the page titles and one for the page headings. The one used for the page headings has serifs, this is because there is mostly just one short word which allows for more design. You could also consider a fourth font as the font used for CONTENTS is similar but different. Although this font is only used on the CONTENTS.

The layout of the contents page is well suited to the front cover as they both use bold lettering and ionic band images. The layout of the magazine consists of 3 columns, two of they these contain any image which runs across both. This suggests that this images article is the 2nd biggest in the magazine. The layout is well structured and organised as nothing looks out of place or too big or small for the area which its in.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

The colours used have been carried through from the front cover, red, blue and black. The red and blue is only used on the titles and the two drop caps. The band name is also in blue and red. There isnt a large use of colour as the background is an image from a concert. The little use of colour means that the attention is immediately drawn to the title as this is the only noticeable use of colour. Black is used on the font so its readable. There is only two uses of images. One they have used as the background and the other is a medium sized image of the whole band. The background image is from a different point of view to most common photographs as this is one is taken from behind the band (on stage), looking out to the crowd whereas most images are taken with the band or main focus in front of the camera. This connotes that the article is about the backstage elements of a tour or concert. Taking a photo this way means that the readers can see what the band sees when they perform, almost giving us a taste. The article itself has been placed on top of the image apart from where the singer is stood (Oli Skyes) Doing this has meant that he stands out and becomes the main focus of the page. The background image is also blurred the further away from the camera it becomes, even though this is natural I think they have added a blur up to where they want it, as everything the past the first 3 lines of people (roughly) becomes blurred.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD PART 2

There is four fonts used, one for the main text, one for the title, one for the sub heading and one for the little blurb of the article. This has been done so the article has been separated as much as possible. The font used on the title is the biggest and is block, san serif letters. They have also put the American flag colours inside the lettering, they have done this to establish the theme. They have purposely mis-spelt America, they have written as AMERIKKKKKA this has been done for effect. Spelling it this way is spelling it the way it sounds but with added ks, this could have been done to make it seem like someone is screaming it, which is what Oli does. The subheading is a black stamp type font, again running along with the theme as they are interviewing a band at a festival and often at festivals you get a stamp on your hand. The other two fonts have previously been used on the front cover and the contents page, so this provides consistency. The layout of the pages is simple, there is only a small section which has been divided up into columns. This is where the article has been started and it has been divided into 3. Where the font and the subheading is could be classed as a masthead as it takes up just under half the page and runs across both pages but a masthead is consistent in each issue and this article title and style will not be in every issue. The blurb has been placed where the best available space is. This allows the layout to balanced but not hectic as the font is still smaller than the headings but bigger than the main text.