Kerrang! Is a rock music magazine published by Bauer Consumer Media (since 2008) in the United Kingdom. During the 1980s and early 1990s, it featured mainly glam-metal acts such as Slayer, Bon Jovi, Poison and Venom, but then during the later 1990s ventured out to feature the newly-popular Grunge metal acts such as Nirvana. This method of transition that the magazine has apparently adopted, (adapting its features to the current trends) has been slated by many people, especially as the current trend is known as “emo” and can be a very controversial musical opinion. Kerrang! (So called for its onomatopoeic reference to the sound of a guitar chord being strummed) is not the only music magazine to focus on rock / indie bands of today. Q is a popular rival magazine, and the two are often competing to gain readers.
On first appearances the magazine appears to be relatively normal – particularly as it is A4 in size and shape and therefore similar to many other magazines in the rack. However it is on closer inspection that the finer unique selling points of Kerrang! become apparent. For instance, immediately our eyes are drawn to the large, empowering masthead that spans across the width of the page. It uses a unique sans-serif font that contains all capital letters, so Kerrang! really jumps out of the page, as if it is a loud sound (like its music). Moreover, the font has uneven edges and cracks running through the main body, making it appear rough and quirky. AS well as this, as the main background of the magazine front cover is dark, the font of the masthead really stands out as it is white.
Another feature of the magazine that really makes it stand out from the others is the vast variety of models on the front cover. There are four main models that are all very iconic in the rock music world – these are anchored by captions in the same unique font as the masthead. The central cover lines lure the readers by using a small text box with a red background and white border that says “AND MORE...”, so if you like what you read on the front page, such as “MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE” and “BLINK 182” you can find out more about them inside the actual magazine. All of the cover lines can be recognized by their black background and sans-serif font. The designers of the magazine have varied the colours of the font, using a pattern of white and yellow. This adds a splash of colour to the magazine and also ties in with the triangle of yellow block colour in the bottom left corner of the front page.
Another significant feature of the magazine is the use of circular text boxes. There are four badge-like text boxes spread throughout the front page, all containing interesting and exciting information. For instance, the largest and most imposing circular text box contains the number 50 and is anchored to a large headline stating; “50 ALBUMS YOU MUST HEAR IN 2010!” The text box is a bright red colour and therefore stands out against the dark background. As well as this, a red spattering of paint / blood effect has been added behind the text box to make the image more interesting, and perhaps more appropriate for the “rock world”. This also has the effect of filling in any gaps that may have been left on the front cover.
At the top of the page, there is a large strapline with a bright yellow background that complements the yellow used in the cover lines and in the bottom left corner of the page. This contains information that will encourage readers to buy the magazine, for instance, this strapline suggests that you can “Win tickets to every show!” As well as this, there are a number of smaller images of models in the bottom left hand corner. One in particular, a photograph of Oli Sykes, has been cropped and outlined to stand out against the yellow background. This makes it appear more important, and cuts out any of the background that may have distracted from the man himself. The other images are placed within white borders, with a shadow beneath them. This effect makes them appear 3D and on top of the page, especially as they are tilted at a slight angle.
As I said before, the main models used on the front page are all very famous in the rock music industry. The four have obviously been photographed separately and then cropped and arranged in a montage suitable for a front page. The lighting here varies between each photo, but on some it is overhead which casts soft, complementary shadows onto the faces of the musicians.
As is standard with all magazine front covers, a small bar code and issue number is included in the bottom right corner of the magazine, above the small text box with more cover lines. Overall, I believe that this is a very effective front cover that is directly targeting those who are passionate about metal and rock music. This magazine has successfully filled a niche in the market, and the front cover clearly indicates this.
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