My Media Coursework

Kerrang! magazine
Genre – Rock/Punk/Heavy Metal
Target Audience – Goth/Emo/Heavy
metal fans
Content – All about the different musical
people out there under the genre
“Rock”, “Punk” or “Metal” etc. (EG:
Green Day; Paramore; Bullet For My
Valentine; Foo Fighters etc.)
Publishers – Bauer Media Group
I intend to produce a
music magazine much
like Kerrang!
Kira Gibson09/10/2014 3

Vibe magazine
Genre – Pop
Content – All about the relevant music and
artists coming under the pop category (EG:
Nicki Minaj; Drake; Kanye; Beyoncé etc.)
Target Audience – Teen/Chav/Gangster
Publishers – Quincy Jones

Top Of The Pops
Genre – Teen/Pop/R&B
Content – Full of information about people
and their life – much like US Weekly or OK!
but about musical people instead.
Target Audience – Teen
Publishers – Immediate Media Company

There aren’t many images on the cover as it is mainly
of one girl (Hayley Williams; lead singer of Paramore)
and how she answers your questions. This appeals to
the target audience by giving off the same yellow and
black colours again in the top that she is wearing and
showing her hair colour to be a similar colour. There is
also an image of the band “Bullet For My Valentine” to
attract the audience again to show what they look like.
There is again, more images of people from different
bands as you look to the bottom left corner; there are
posters of them now.
The majority of the typography is in “Franklin Gothic
Heavy” because it is big, bold and eye catching. The bold
text in the title draws you in to look at what the magazine
is about. As your eyes flicker over the cover, you see that
there are bold band names such as “Bullet For My
Valentine” and “Foo Fighters” which draws you in further
if you are a big fan of those bands.
The main colours are black and white; the colours usually used
for a dark, miserable gothic scene in a movie. However there is
also a lot of yellow in this issue’s cover and it connotes danger
with the black as in many of the “DANGER” signs around,
there are the colours black and yellow. The colours black,
yellow and white are more likely to attract the target audience
of the metal-heads; the Goths and the emos.
The language of the cover is very acceptable and formal due to
wanting to attract more older people to read the magazine. The
only slang people of language is “ON YER BIKE!”. It then clarifies
underneath it by saying “Foo Fighters Taylor rides solo…”

The typography of the contents is in “Franklin Gothic Heavy” to
attract the target audience. The normal typography is quite small so
you would need the big bold writing in capitals to see what the
articles are about.
The layout is very cluttered as there are a lot of pages to go through
and in this particular issue; there is a competition on so they would
want to make that bigger than the rest of the adverts or the letter
from the editor. The letter from the editor is quite small compared to
what it would usually be because of the competition.
The colours are quite dark and dangerous again, just like the cover.
It has yellow, black, white and this time; some red. The red is to
attract the Metallica fans as it is a Metallica competition. Each
subheading is in yellow with black surrounding it, again giving off
the danger tape effect. There is a patch of slightly different colours
in the bottom right hand corner of the page advertising a
subscription to Kerrang! for £15. The colours are blue, yellow and a
small amount of black.
There is only 5 images on this page due to it being the contents: the
vans on the competition part (both pairs); the picture of Metallica;
the picture of the magazines in the advert and the messed up image
of the editor. The images of the vans shoes are only there to show
people what they would want.
The language is quite brief and like taking notes with a small
explanation underneath. However it is formal with there being no
slang and “teenage talk”.

The typography is quite small for an interview on a
double page spread. However the title is very big to
attract the audience and draw them into reading the
article.
The layout is not like you would expect as it has 2
columns of writing and over one page is a picture or
Taylor Momsen. It has a insert over the image of
something she said.
The colours aren’t as dangerous looking as before.
These colours are black, grey and purple. The give
the effect of looking funky and “cool” to attract the
audience to the page.
The only image on the double page spread is of the
lead singer of the band “The Pretty Reckless”. It is a
big one, again to attract the audience and people
just randomly flicking through the page. It is bigger
than you would expect as if you are going to have a
picture over a page it would not overlap unless it is a
poster.
You can’t really tell what the language is as the
writing is very small. However there is a rhetorical
question “Is The Pretty Reckless 17-year-old
frontwoman as crazy as she seems?” in the
description under the title “wild child”.

Analysing the latest issue of Kerrang! magazine the cover is completely different. It has more variety of colours and fonts; it isn’t all
in capital letters.
Brand Identity
It has more colour: black; blue; grey; yellow; red and orange. Kerrang! obviously wants the image on each issue to cover half
of the title. This issue has got the someone from the band “Weezer” and his head covers the letters “rra” from Kerrang!. It also
has red eyes signalling that the man is evil and dangerous. Kerrang! clearly wants the non readers to think that it is a
dangerous and scary magazine.
House Style
Kerrang!’s preferred way of presenting their written material is to practically
shout it at people by putting it all in capital letters. However this issue is
different by having less capitals. Kerrang! prefers to have their issue covers
cluttered with writing and images; all to attract the target audience.
Mode of Address
The way that this text speaks to the audience is that it is often eye
catching with the capital letters and colours. The language is very abrupt
but formal as if you were briefing a search and rescue team. The
rhetorical questions keep you thinking so on this issue the question is “A
Day To Remember; Will you forgive them?” and it makes you think ‘Why,
what have they done wrong?’.

Analysing the contents of an issue of Kerrang! magazine. This issue is quite different as it is mainly images and the letter from the
editor is at the side of the page and not at the bottom.
Brand Identity
It has more colour and Kerrang! magazine wants people to think that
there are a lot of bands that they cover and they show this by giving
us lots of images to look at of these bands. In this issue it shows us
Blink 182 and Paramore.
House Style
Kerrang!’s way of presenting this written material is to have it in
capital letters and in colours. It can be shouted at you in capitals
like the cover or it can be written nicely AND shouted at you like it
is here.
Mode of Address
The way that this text speaks to the audience is that it is quite big
and colourful so that the reader can see what they want to see or
read the letter from the editor.

Analysing this double page spread is
quite different in some ways to the first
one and similar in others.
Brand Identity
These two pages are hugely
different with there being way less
written text than the previous
double page spread. This one has
a small interview, 2 reviews of
different bands and a “what did you
think?” box with 3 peoples different
opinions of the bands. In a way,
there is more written text than
before. Also there are images and I
mean that there are loads! There
are 8 photos of the bands whilst
performing in Cardiff. Kerrang! is
probably trying to clutter the page
with more information to try and get
more people reading the page.
House Style
The house style is quite different to other pages and
the cover. Its design is not to shout at you but to draw
you in with the tonnes of information about A Day To
Remember’s latest gig and the latest gig from Emily’s
Army. The images also draw you in as there are not 5,
6, 7, 8 but 9 photos!
Mode of Address
The way that this text speaks to the audience is that it is small,
readable from the paper (not the computer) and it is still making
you think about what A Day To Remember might have done
“ADTR come back to torch Cardiff, apology accepted!” if you are
not that interested in band gossip and mainly just enjoy the music.

The language of these 3
images are all different.
This appeals the target
audience by having the
name of the band in big
red letters and the
caption underneath
saying “ADTR COME
BACK TO TORCH CARDIFF,
APOLOGY ACCEPTED!”.
This banner has alliteration of the words “Pop-Punk
Picnic” and then draws the audience in by saying that
our invite to the picnic is inside the issue.
This piece has a rhetorical
question on it making the
reader want to know more
about her and if the
prediction about Taylor
Momsen is true or false.

This image appeals to the
specific audience by
having the red eyes so it
says to any non-readers
that it is dangerous and
scary yet those who read
it know it is just
something to do with the
band and will draw the
reader in.
This image draws the audience in by showing you what
Metallica look like and then causing them to look
over the page as there isn’t usually a band picture on
the contents unless there is a competition.
This image doesn’t
really do so much for
drawing the reader in;
it only really shows
you what the lead
singer looks like.

The colours are very different to other issues and
are more to do with the band this time; none of the
usual colours of yellow, black and red but mainly
green. This draws the reader in by it showing that
the magazine is taking an interest in this band and
what colours represent them.
The colours of this cover are much like the usual
covers with there being colours of yellow and black,
representing danger to other non-readers but normal
readers know that this is normal and is just a way of
showing that Hayley Williams is wearing a yellow t-
shirt so they should have yellow to translate that. Also
it has that sense of safety coming from the magazine and
Hayley’s top saying “security”.
This issue is yet again different. There is lots of blue and red
this time because Hayley’s hair is red and blue. There is the
main colour of yellow again and again to any non-readers this
connotes danger and to stay away from the magazine but to those
readers; there is that image of those people you love and listen
to on the top so it means safety to them.

The magazine has represented Taylor Momsen as dark and mysterious.
Her dark eyes connote danger and connect to the rock genre. Her hair
related to the title “wild child” with the fact that it is messy and looks
like she has been head-banging to some rock music. It represents the
stereotype of Goth and Emo with what she is wearing and what she is
part of. The stereotype is that most Goths and Emos wear black and
dark clothing and they listen to heavy metal music.
This cover of Green Day has represented them as crazy and psychotic with their poses
but with Billy-Joe Armstrong’s make-up (the middle one), it makes him look even
more crazy than he would have looked without. Mike Dirnt’s (the one on the right)
pose makes him look deranged yet Billy-Joe and Tre Cool (the one with the hat) look
bored in this shot. The dark colours of their clothing suggest that they are gothic and
scary. This all connects to the rock and metal genre that they come from with the dark
colours and gothic style. However the colour green throws us off but if you are a reader
you would know what it is just a pun for their name “Green Day”. This also represents
the stereotype of Goth, Emo and Metalhead. Male Goths, Emos and Metalheads often
wear similar things to what Billie-Joe is wearing and what he does with his make-up. It
shows that most people that do things like this will most likely be in a rock band or
listen to music like Green Day.

Front Cover
On the front cover of a Kerrang! magazine, it is typical to have colours of
yellow, black and red; sometimes with blue on it. It is also typical to
stereotype the different “categories” for people (Goth, Emo, Metalhead
etc). The writing is all in capitals and the title is often half covered by an
image of a band member. It often has one main image and then some
advert on there with a competition. Most of the writing is on the left
hand side of the cover and the band name is nearly always next to the
picture with the exception of this issue… The band name is in the middle.
It also nearly always has the competition on the top of the cover or in
the corner.
Double Page Spread
On a double page spread in Kerrang! there will be at least one
image and a lot of writing because the magazine will need to get
across what the people are really like if it is an interview or if it is
a review, they will need to get across what the reviewer thought
of the band. The stereotyping is kept to a minimum, even though
the images look like they are trying to get people to look like
Goths, Emos or Metalheads. They aren’t. Kerrang! is trying to get
people to like the magazine and by putting up stereotypical photos,
it gets the people to wonder if that is really what they are like.

Contents Pages
The contents will nearly always have an image on there of the editor and it will
have a couple of photos of a band too. Depending on the issue will depend on
whether the contents bit is down the bottom of the page or at the side or even
smack-bang in the middle. There is always a letter from the editor and an advert
for a subscription of Kerrang!
Sometimes there is a competition on the contents but sometimes it is on a
different page so the contents has a different layout. There is a different
layout every issue.

This is my questionnaire and I asked
people to answer it as it is very
general and I wanted to know what
sort of things people liked in the
magazines. Most of the people
(there was only 11 answers)
answered about the rock magazines.

Alex Knoll – What is your favourite genre? What is it about (insert genre)
that makes it your favourite? My favourite music magazine is Kerrang!.
What is yours? What artists would you like to be in this magazine and why?
Why do you think that this magazine would be a good idea? What should it
be called? What would you usually expect in a music magazine? What do
you like and dislike about this magazine cover and contents?

Matthew Hewitt - What is your favourite genre? What is it about (insert genre) that
makes it your favourite? My favourite music magazine is Kerrang!. What is yours?
What artists would you like to be in this magazine and why? Why do you think that
this magazine would be a good idea? What should it be called? What would you
usually expect in a music magazine? What do you like and dislike about this
magazine cover and contents?

Corinna Gibson - What is your favourite genre? What is it about (insert genre)
that makes it your favourite? My favourite music magazine is Kerrang!. What is
yours? What artists would you like to be in this magazine and why? Why do you
think that this magazine would be a good idea? What should it be called? What
would you usually expect in a music magazine? What do you like and dislike
about this magazine cover and contents?

09/10/2014 Kira Gibson 35
This layout if the
first one I
created, the blue
bit along the top
is the title and
then you have
images across the
cover in red. The
green is the
editors column
and the light blue
is the advert for a
subscription.
Purple is the
“what’s
happening” part.
This layout is
slightly different to
the other in which
the title is slanted
across the top and
the image (yellow)
is across the entire
page. The circle is
how it advertises
the competition
and the parts at the
side are the “what’s
happening”
columns.

These are the polls I sent out for
my magazine. I have had 1/2
replies so far but I am hoping to
get more. So far, people think I
should use red and either it
should be called black heart or
rock smash. Also the fonts used
should be either Goudy Stout or
Kremlin.

This is the latest layout, I will be doing
more to it, the more results I get the
more will be done. The images aren’t
the ones I will be doing but they are of
the same band. My dad took these
photos on the layout and to be honest,
they are the only rock band I know of
locally haha :)

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