front cover analysis 1

On the top of the magazine there is a short piece of text which tells the audience what is going to be in this weeks issue of the magazine. This is not the main article however it will catch the attention of some readers that are interested in Iron Maiden and Sharon Osborne.

The title block of the magazine is coloured in black and the words have black lines on them. This makes the audience think that the words have been smashed by an object, probably by an electric guitar. The word Kerrang is an onomatopoeic word. It is the noise that an electric guitar makes when it is smashed. This tells us that the readers like to listen to loud rock/gothic music. This links in with the music genre the magazine is based on. With the features of the magazine I assume that the magazine is a rock/gothic magazine.

‘Life is loud’ is the slogan of the magazine. It tells the audience that the magazine is going to be about rock music since it is generally loud. The slogan is in red which connotes danger and adrenaline.

The majority of the colour used on the front cover of the magazine is black. This gives the magazine a dark image which is what the target audience is interested in. the white, orange and red colours used stand out against the black and catch the attention of the audience.

One example of a buzz word used by this magazine is ‘Free’. This emphasis’s the free posters that this issue of the magazine has on offer. By doing this the magazine is persuading the audience to buy the magazine.

The central image is of My Chemical Romance. This group is on the front cover of the magazine because they are a rock group and this magazine is based on this genre of music. The anchorage text says ‘death, drugs, revenge. My chemical romance they’re not okay’. The ‘they’re not okay’ part of the anchorage text is taken from a song from My Chemical Romance. The editor of this magazine assumes that the audience will understand what this means. This image has a direct mode of address since the group are looking directly at the reader. The message that the group is giving is that they have a bit of attitude and are slightly dangerous. However this is something that this particular audience will be interested in.

In this image the 5 men are standing and looking up at the audience. Their facial expressions are not very friendly and do not make me feel as if I am welcome. However since the image was taken high angle it makes the audience seem as if they are in control and looking down on the group. This allows the image to not feel as intimidating. This tells me that the relationship the magazine wants to have with the reader is a friendly one but at the same time there is a little bit of attitude mixed in it. The magazine always wants the target audience to have a friendly relationship with the magazine.