1. As this is a rock-based
magazine, a guitar-pick
shaped offer is a a subtle
touch to establish a rock-
theme of the magazine, an
artificial prop to attract the
target audience of rock fans
A large focus one of
the most influential
rock bands of the
modern age, with a
large mid shot.
Zoomed out mid shot of a
prominent musician to draw
attention of audienc who would
recognise the musician
Mention of many popular bands in
order to attract an audience across
a wide spectrum and sell more
Washed out metal/bronze colours to create
a classic colour scheme which would appeal
to classic rock fans, as it creates a sense of
age which fits with old music.
Vague teaser of
article to intrigue
reader into buying
the magazine
Musician holding a
guitar in order to
improve to appeal
to fans of guitar-
based music
2. Magazine masthead is different than you
would normally expect; the masthead is on
the right and vertical. It is still on the left
1/3, so it obeys the left side rule. There are
also less advertisements so this may
connote that it is a special edition magazine
Currently popular and featured in
magazine prominently advertised on
the front cover to attrac an audience
interested in Alternative music
Mid shot of the band together
on a set to establish a mise en
scene of the band with a classy
look
Other magazine features subtly advertised
at the top for audiences who are not
interested in Imagine Dragons but may
still buy the magazine
Strong blue theme throughout with the
suits, lighting and glass blocks, which is
effective in combination with the strapline
which includes “depressed as hell”
3. The “sex, drugs and violence” strapline attracts a
target audience interested in heavy rock/metal
culture. The use of a distressed, dirty typeface
also connotes an ‘underground’ mise en scene.
This in combination with the chain a member of
the band is using and the secondary strapline
“world’s most dangerous band” appeals to a
target audience that considers themselves to be
rockers. Title of the story is also offset to the left
slightly, putting it in the left 1/3rd of the cover.
The from-above mid-shot allows 5 people, the
entire band to be fit into the single mid-shot.
In the left 1/3rd there is a smaller advertisement
for a free poster from another band which will
appeal to a larger target audience upon the first
glance. There is also the “PLUS” sign on the left,
which advertise the small text on the bottom’s
existence
Small teaser of stories all over the front cover
of the magazine, which advertise a wide variety
of bands, hopefully attracting as large of a
target audience as is possible through variety.
4. Even though this is not a front cover, it is still
likely to be looked at in-store, meaning that the
contents page must continue to appeal to the
target audience, which is why the magazine is
still designed like an advertisements with
pictures of bands and their names in large a
fontsize .
The fonts have a dirt-splattered look in order to
establish the mise-en-scene of a grunge type
theme, which is effective for Kerrang as it is a
rock magazine, often associated with that sort
look.
Almost all pages are simply advertised with band
names, as there is an extremely limited amount
of space available to work with, and the
magazine must appeal to as many people as
possible.
5. The use of a mid shot of a recognisable
musician is similar in effect to the use in a
front shot, allowing the immediate
recognition of an artist.
The most successful band ever gets the top
spot of the a contents page, has a larger
font and a brighter colour scheme as they
need some fanfare, and as they still more
fans than other bands so some people will
Similar to previously, the use of a simple
band name, or a two word phrase of the
titles of articles to attract a reader who may
not have yet bought the magazine, and has
a short attention span. There is also a wide
variety of artists, as previously, because as
large of an audience as possible must be
attracted
6. As this magazine is published by Billboard, who
also maintain official US chart rankings, on the
contents page is also the mainstream chart listings
on the left.
Again, there are close ups of many artists that
were trending when this magazine was released.
The colour scheme is less aggressive than previous,
with soft blues rather than harsh reds and yellows,
as pop music is not attempting to appeal to the
demographic of rock music fans.
The use of a long shot (although the image is
shrunk) of the artist on the mid-right with nothing
more than a page number indicates that this artist
is so popular or influential that you are expected to
know who they are anyway
Billboard is an American organisation, so the
“homefront” section is exclusively American-made
music, which would appeal to the nationalistic side
of the audience, or just the audience which are
only interested in English-language music.
7. First of all, an extremely large mid-shot taking up ½ of the page
achieves 2 things: allowing the reader to immediately recognise a
member of the band if they already know them, and also meaning the
article can be smaller. The large headline of ‘do I ever have a casual
Friday? Absolutely’ indicates two things; that this is an interview-
format article with an artist, and also it is not necessarily to do with the
music-side of things, more the celebrity lifestyle.
Around the entire
edge of the page there
are white circles,
which imitate stage
bulbs to a certain
degree, this in
combination with the
strapline indicates that
this has something to
do with their tour.
The colour scheme of
white & dark purple is
an effective colour
scheme when used in
combination with the
bright lights and mid-
shot establishes a
somewhat camp
theme.
8. For this doublepage spread, again a whole half is devoted to a
mid shot of the artist subject. Lady Gaga is extremely
recognisable, so a large picture of her would mean that someone
flicking through the magazine would likely spot this picture and
immediately recognise her, which would mean they are likely to
stop and read the magazine.
This feature is much simpler in terms of unique design aspects
than the previous, so there is much less to write about.
This article is extremely
sexualized, with the artist in
the mid-shot wearing little
more than some ring-mail
clothing covering the most
lewd parts of the body,
along with the only colour
on the page being a large,
red L. This helps establish
the theme of sexuality as
red is a colour often
associated with passion.
9. On this doublepage spread, there is much less content and is closer to an advertisement than
anything, the use of a pink ‘girl’, followed by black text of you’ll be a woman soon creates a them
of growing up within the first seconds of opening the page. The article has a sort sub-headline in
the top right that will likely be the second thing that is noticed as a person reads from left to
right.
The use of dark clothes and a pose cornered in a dark room also symbolises growing up, with a
stark contrast to previous images of Miley Cyrus in Disney children’s shows
The white on grey text
only takes a small
portion of the entire
spread, meaning a
large portion of the
image can be devoted
to the large, empty
expanse of the grey
room. This symbolises
that growing up can
cause someone to
become lonely.