Tuesday 20 October 2009
Front cover essay
Kerrang Magazine analysis
I am going to analyse the Kerrang! Legends special edition magazine. The front cover of this magazine is based on just Metallica.
Kerrang! Is a weekly music magazine, published by Bauer Consumer Media in the United Kingdom it was first published on 6 June 1981. During the 1980’s and 1990’s the magazine placed many thrash metal and glam metal acts on the front cover. Although nowadays it has headed more towards emo and metal core music genres. This magazine is designed to appeal to a certain audience, firstly the most noticeable and memorable feature of the front cover is the title “Kerrang” the name refers to the sound made when smashing an electric guitar. The type face is suitable for genre, the connotations of shattered glass fit well with the magazine title. Metallica have been used on the front cover as they are referred to as the number 1 thrash metal act and musical legends. They have had 9 very successful albums including the self titled album and the Master of Puppets album. The band line-up consist of James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Robert Trujillo and Kirk Hammet, they are known as rock gods and have been placed into the Rock n Roll hall of fame.
There is a good display of the principle of thirds, head and shoulders of the band members are in the top third. Each one of them is making strong eye contact to give the reader the illusion that they are being stared at and this entices them. The main cover line is located in the bottom part of the middle section, the model credit and additional images are found in the bottom third of the diagram. The two founding members of the band are positioned in the middle third and all members appear to be equal in. Another diagram which is used for the front cover is the Guttenberg diagram it starts at “special edition” and finishes at the classic Metallica images in the bottom right of the cover. This diagram allows the cover to flow and draw attention to specific aspects of the front cover.
The bottom third of the page focuses on the content of the magazine, it shows images that are included in the magazine “All new interviews” underneath the model credit and an additional banner at the bottom including text such as “Unseen photos” and “ Untold stories”. These help to grab the reader attention and interest. The main image matches the house style of the magazine which is black and white, this demonstrates consistency and helps existing readers to recognise the magazine. The left third is very heavy in comparison to the left side, this is because when magazine are on the shelves in shops you only tend to see the left side. Items which are included in the left third are; the selling line “Special edition”, the album names “From Kill Em’ All to Death Magnetic” which will be recognised by most metal and rock fans, the cover line “It’s Been Insane!”, model credit and “All new interviews”. This is good as it is informative and allows the reader to know what the magazine is including without actually reading it. The buzz word “Legends” has been included over the top of the Kerrang title, I believe this is good as many people will buy it just because if this.
Overall the magazine fits the purpose and is very consistent in house style and formality. The background colour is white which allows the content to stand out on the page such as the main Metallica image of the band members. One feature which isn’t concentrated on heavily is the price; this is because it isn’t of a high importance. The editors have done this as they want people to pick the magazine up and take an interest without first noticing the price.
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