My Kerrang House Styles analysis

1. Kerrang House Styles
By Tim McMorrow

2. What is a House Style?
• A house style refers to when a magazine uses a similar layout and structure
throughout all of its magazines regardless of the main story and the contents
inside the magazine itself. A good example of house styles in any types of
magazine would be; the masthead, font, colour, main logo, the overall style of the
magazine and the location of the barcode.
• House style is used by all magazines that are in the market currently and are what
draws the audience towards the magazine as it gives the magazine a unique look
and feel compared to their competitors.
• House styles are also in place for the more loyal audience as they can tell just by
looking at the house styles what magazine it is and the familiarity of the magazine
helps to draw the audience towards it.
• In my personal opinion, I believe house styles are very effective in captivating the
audience however, a good house style can only be achieved with a great
reputation as without a loyal audience base, they will have no idea what to expect
from the magazine as there is no familiarity with it, the audience can only go from
the artists on the front cover and the genre which it represents.

3. Kerrang Cover Page House Styles
Masthead: As you can see from all three of these cover
pages, the masthead is always the same font, colour
(although it may be flipped) and finally the design of the
masthead is always the same.
The masthead design is simple yet effective and has
become a house style due to it being nationally
recognizable among even the most die hard rock fans.
The masthead is meant to symbolise the sound of a
guitar being smashed and the design of the masthead
also helps to symbolise this as it looks like cracks are
going through each letter, helping to create that
symbolism.
Layout: At first glance, not all cover pages look similar in terms of the layout, however
when you compare them to other magazine companies such as Q and Rolling Stones, you
begin to see that the layout is more similar than you think. For example, the name of the
band is displayed clearly along with a quote from the main lead of the band. The name of
the band is also slanted a little bit and runs across the main image to help emphasize
that the main image does in fact relate to the main story.
Main Image: Comparing all three cover pages, you can see a clear similarity when
looking at each main image and that is the fact that each cover page has the main image
staring at the reader helps in captivating them into wanting to read what Kerrang has to
say about said band/ singer. This is a very effective tool and is used in all different types
of magazines not just in the music industry but I believe that with the accompaniment of
the mes-en-scene which Kerrang provide, it allows for a more impactful main image.

4. Kerrang House Styles Continued
Main image: the main image in each issue all use direct
address which is effective in drawing the audience in and
making them gain an interest in the story related to the main
image. The main images almost always cover the Kerrang logo
symbolizing how popular Kerrang is as a magazine. Each
artists is presented in a intimidating and in a sort of bad boy
look. Typical genre conventions when it comes to rock
include; leather jackets, tattoos, bandanas etc. each cover
page has at least one of these features and has become a
staple point in Kerrang’s cover pages.
Mes-en-scene: The body Language of each artists is striking and use and don’t
challenge the rock genre in any way. Each main image isn’t a head on shot as each main
artist has one shoulder in front of their whole body to make them seem more
intimidating as they have a foot forward ready to start a fight, and their costumes help
to give that image in the audiences mind as their costumes seem very tough and usually
associated with the rock genre as a whole.
Looking at all three contents pages, I can see many similarities in many different forms.
The strapline is always at a slanted angle and is always positioned over the center of the
main image. Smaller images are also positioned around the main image with little
references beneath them. the background of each cover magazine is plain making the
main image stand out more as there is less things to look at on the cover page as having
too much on a cover pages will confuse the audience and make it difficult for them to
know where to start.