Case Study 1 - Kerrang! Magazine Analysis

The colour scheme of this issue of Kerrang! magazine is a typical colour scheme consisting of 3 colours, which are yellow, blue and red. These colours are very bright and vibrant colours, which would attract the audience, as well as that, it also goes well with the theme and genre of the magazine; which is pop rock. The masthead is placed behind the cover star photo, which in this issue is Gerard Way. The font style of the masthead is quite edgy as it has a shattered and broken kind of look to it with the various lines on the letters. The photo taken of the cover star is a long/medium shot and the pose Gerard is doing is an unusual type of pose that a man would do but it does suit the magazine theme as it is bold and has an edge to it. A skyline is also inserted, which shows the other articles that are featured in the magazine. Besides the cover star photo, other photos are also presented on the magazine cover as they are related to the other articles listed. The genre of rock is presented greatly through this feature of the Kerrang! magazine as the colours, bold writing and the composition of the cover lines, which seems to be spread out everywhere, shows the essence of pop rock. As pop rock music is loud and chaotic, similarly this magazine cover portrays that and is also loud and chaotic, which would encourage the audience to purchase it as it may feature everything they like and prefer about pop rock.

This is the contents page of the magazine and it is divided into sections. These section headings are the following, News, Feedback, Features, Shots, Lives, Albums, Gig Guide and lastly, The Ultimate Rockstar Test. Below these headings, the articles that fit into that specific section, are listed along with the page number. This structure makes it easier for the readers to read whatever article they want first as the page numbers are clearly highlighted in red and the article names highlighted in black. The colour scheme remains however, the only change which occurs is that the blue has been replaced with black. As well as the names of the articles listed, just like the cover page, photos from various articles are also presented on the contents page along with the page number written slightly bigger on the side and in white.
The shots of these pictures are mostly medium/close up shots. An editor's letter by James is also featured on the contents page on the side, which simply gives a summary of what to expect from the magazine along with some rhetorical questions for humorous purposes. The issue number is also shown at the top of the page alongside the cover date. In addition, the contents page concludes with the recognition of the people who have contributed their help to create the magazine issue.

This is the main double page spread (DPS) from the Kerrang! magazine. It features the cover star, Gerard Way and the article includes facts about Gerard as well as questions he has answered for the magazine. Many quotes are included in this article but the main pull quote is in the middle of the first page of the DPS in red, which instantly grabs the attention of readers as it is a bold colour. An image of Gerard in a live concert is placed at the bottom of the article and is a landscape shot whereas, the second page of the DPS is a medium/long shot portrait photo of Gerard. In this photo, he is wearing the same costume as he was on the cover of the magazine, however this time he has a prop. His facial expression remains with a serious and straight face kind of look, which perhaps implies that he is serious about his music. On the side of page two of the DPS, there is a list of photos as well as subheadings and quotes from Gerard himself about his several records. The colour scheme stays consistent through out the magazine as it focuses on particularly 3/4 main colours. In terms of journalistic features, the article is a sort of question and answer type of article but is laid out differently compared to other kinds of question and answer and articles. Usually these types of articles simply list all the questions along with their answers however, this particular article has taken a different approach. Instead of that, this article consists of Gerard's background story and new album release throughout the article alongside quotes embeded from a recent interview he did with Kerrang!, which are the answers to the questions he was asked.

The photos on the side are print screens of the audience rates for Kerrang! magazine and also the magazine schedule that they follow. The first print screen shows that in terms of gender, men tend to read Kerrang! magazine rather than women. It also provides information on the percentages of different age groups that read Kerrang! magazine and the highest percentage score is 56.1% which is under the age of group of 15-24 year olds. This clearly indicates that Kerrang! magazine's target audience, are teenagers and young adults. The ad schedule shows the cover date, which is on every issue, when the magazine goes on sale, which is every Wednesday and when the copy deadline is; which is on Thursday prior, 4pm. The print screen below is the press pack of the magazine and includes a mission statement, who publishes the magazine and reasons on the side as to why people should advertise with Kerrang!. The company which publishes the magazine is Bauer Media Group.