4. KERRANG- Issues No 1491, November the 9th 2013
TARGET AUDIENCE
The design and layout of the magazine as well as the
figures that appear on the front cover, allow us to assume
that the magazine will predominantly appeal to those
interested in heavy metal/indie rock, therefore making it
attractive to a very niche group of people.
Conventionally this type of music appeals to males thus
the ‘dark’ colouring which is stereotypically both
associated with men and the musical genre, therefore
making them the core target audience. The comic book
style cover makes me believe that they’re aiming to
attract those between the ages of 13-24; their friend,
hobbies and attitudes will all be reflected within the
magazine- this is done through the articles that appear in
the magazine as well as the advertisements. Having flicked
through it , the advertisements that appear within it are a
reflection of our audiences income as well as their
‘personality’ and ‘interests’- we see festivals, hair spray,
offers and predominantly male fashion. All things that
lead me back to believing that 13-24 year olds are the
core demographic.
Having a price of only £1.89 further determines the target
market as they wont have access to a lot of money,
therefore placing them within the C1-E band on the social
scale.
5. Like most print media layouts, the Guttenburg design
theory has been applied- this is a general pattern that our
eyes use when looking at a piece of print media such as a
movie poster or the magazine on the left hand side. The
theory divides our page into four parts, the primary
optical area, the strong fallow area, the weak fallow area
and terminal area- as well as this, we have the axis of
orientation.
The theory suggest that our eyes will sweep across the
page in horizontal movements in a path referred to as the
reading gravity. Important elements- such as the kerrang
logo and artists face- are placed within this path and are
visually emphasized with bright colouring. The less
important it is the lower down it will appear.
GUTTENBURG DESIGN THEORY
7. The masthead is typically one of the most
prominent aspects of a magazine and the first
thing our eyes are drawn too since it features the
companies logo and name; hence why it’s placed
in the primary optical area and continues over to
the strong fallow area- by using up two key points
of the page, they’re making a statement and
emphasizing it’s importance.
However this particular magazine issue of Kerrang
has placed the articles leading person of interest
right in the centre of the Masthead. They’re the
anchor point of the page and the probable factor
that will cause readers to buy the magazine. The
axis of orientation leads us to the lead story as
well as a competition, both key factors on the
cover, hence why they take up such a large space.
A bold font and bright colouring is used, making
the text very confrontational in order to attract
the eye. Keeping within the theme of it being
aimed at 13-24 year olds, the cover has a very
comical feel to it, somewhat similar to that of a
beano magazine.
8. The most prominent aspect of the masthead is the
actual name of the magazine- kerrang. An
onomatophia has been used in order to represent
the sound of an electric guitar which reinforces the
idea that it’s of the rock genre, this same idea can
also be applied to the fact the lettering has a
‘cracked’ effect. The masthead is acting as a
reflection of the music by conveying it as loud and
grungy genre- which is a typical convention and
stereotype.
Although on certain issues of the magazine the
masthead is fully visible- such as the example
below- this particular issue allows the typography
to fully blend in with rest of the front cover.
Conventionally the genre is viewed as very ‘out
there’, ‘loud’ and ‘crowded’ which is what the cover
is representing. Kerrang can afford to do this since
they’re an established magazine within this genre
and well known to audiences.
The colour red of the masthead typography is a very
emotionally intense colour which is conventionally
how rock music lyrics are viewed as by society; it’s
also a very extreme colour making it very
confrontational and again ‘loud’.
9. The weak fallow area and terminal are the
least prominent and aesthetically pleasing
aspect of the page, hence why they’re the
last part we’re drawn too. This typically
means that the ‘unimportant’ secondary
aspects will be place here. This includes
cover lines as well as the barcode, issue
number and date.
10. As expected by the title of the magazine,
‘Teen Vogue’ is aimed at those between the
ages of 13-17. It’s a typical girl’s magazine
that showcases stereotypical feminine
elements from the use of the colouring right
through to the article topics. On a social
scale I’d say it’s aimed at those between C2
to E due to the fact that the target audience
will not have a steady income, hence the
cheap price of 2.99 in dollars.
The use of a beautiful young model further
determines this as her purpose is to anchor
in girls- they’re made to feel as if they’ll be
like her if they read the magazine.
11. Within the primary
optical area we see the
masthead. Bright,
feminine colouring has
been used in order to
both catch our eyes and
showcase the intended
audience. The
masthead is a way for
readers to familiarise
themselves with
magazine as well as
provide an indication as
to what’s it about; in
the case of this product
it also determines who
it’s aimed at.
The weak fallow area is the last place
our eyes are drawn too and typically
the space of the page which will either
be blank, or in the case of this
particular magazine, contain cover
lines
The masthead continues
over to the strong fallow
area in order to showcase
it’s prominence. As well as
this we see a reference to
social media- this is a
marketing strategy in
order to build the
magazines popularity
amongst other teens by
using them.
The terminal area, although
it typically showcases cover
lines in order to appeal to a
multitude of teens in terms
of their interests, this
particular magazine has
placed the aspect you’d
expect to fin in the weak
fallow are within this space-
barcode, date, and issue
number.
