Kerrang Magazine research: Front cover

1: The title “Kerrang” is onomatopoeic and is in reference to the sound in which an electric guitar is playing a power-chord, and is appropriate as power chords are commonly used in the style of music the magazine focuses on.
2: The title contrasts with the background colour of the photo featured so it is very visible, the typeface of the title is a stamp-like design with lines going through it, to imply that it is cracked to emphasise the fact that its name could be related to a loud noise, and the title being cracked is a result of the “Kerrang” going off. The title itself is behind the main picture, and parts are blocked by those who feature in the picture, so as to add emphasis to the picture, but still making the logo easily seen and recognised.
3: There is no strapline accompanying the title of the front cover.
4: The main image is of a popular band that is liked by many of the target audience because of their style of music, their clothing is that of current fashion, and is somewhat stereotypical and expected. Their body language is casual, and cool (although it’s obviously staged and fabricated just to appeal to the audience) they are all also looking towards the camera, and thus, the audience, which may attract some readers who are in adoration of the band, and helps catch their eyes and draw their attention.
5: There is another image of a boxing match involving one of the artists in the magazine which is an action shot, this action helps make the magazine seem more exciting or interesting, and helps promote the content of the magazine in a positive way.
6: The cover lines promote the content of the magazine and all of the varied amounts of articles and such which feature within it; there is a list of bands which feature within the magazine at the bottom, all of which popular and well known, there are quizzes and downloadable features promoted to the left side of the cover, and a competition at the top which could be appealing to many. Artist-based content is also promoted to the right hand side, and the main article is shown and advertised emphatically at the front.
7: The fonts used to advertise the features are bold and colourful, the general typeface of the magazine is bold and somewhat emphatic of itself, the colours help its own emphasis also. The general colour scheme of the text in the cover is blue and yellow, which do not clash with the photo, but aren’t the same colours as featured in the front cover’s main photo. Some texts are written at different angles even though they are in the same sentence, and these words have different font from the rest of the sentence they are in, as their typeface is that of a stamp (in a connection to festivals or performances, where stamps are put on the walls, and on people’s hands).
8: The language used is somewhat primitive, which is fine for the target audience, there are words used to emphasise and glamorise the magazine’s contents, and wordplay (although admittedly quite bad) is used in a humourous sense. The magazine is common to talk of band culture and is in constant reference to the kind of things that would be heard during live performances.
9: There are little unique features of the magazine cover, but its unique selling point is less about the layout of its cover and more about the kind of content that it promotes. The magazine uses similar language and presentation to other magazines, and the layout and pictures used are not unique in the sense of their placement and style, yet, this is what their audience is perceived to enjoy, so it is clearly a marketing aspect used throughout many magazines for a reason.
10: The cover is of a normal magazine size, and there aren’t any other particularly noticeable aspects of it that make it unique.