House Style How House Style Is

Established In Magazines.

Kerrang!Kerrang! is a rock magazines based on a niche audience. It has a consistent house style throughout the whole magazine and I am going to analyse how this has been done. First of all, I will be examining the front page of a Kerrang! Magazine, and then move onto the contents page and

lastly the double page spread.

The Front CoverThere is a clear mode of address in both magazines, firstly, the masthead of the magazine has been allocated right at the top of the magazine. The colour that has been used is white and has a black background beneath it in both magazines. These contrasting colours allows the masthead to look striking. Notice how the graphical elements of the lines going through the titles and crackles in the texts convey a rough violent vibe which is also iconography for the genre of rock. The exclamation mark continues the theme of loudness and adds energy to the pronunciation of the onomatopoeic title. The colour scheme has been made to fit in with the main image of the magazine. On the left hand side, the colours used are mainly, yellow, white and black. The main image is also wearing a yellow top with black writing on it. On the right side, the colours consist of black, yellow, white and red. The main image’s hair is also a vibrant red and his attire is dark too.

At the bottom of the front covers, there is a ‘PLUS!’ written at the bottom in a bright yellow. This includes the features of the magazine. There is circulation used in both magazines to anchor the image and also entice the reader. The language used in the magazines is colloquial and personal, ‘Hayley answers your questions!’ allowing the reader to share a closer bond with the magazine.

The ContentsThe contents page continues the house style theme from the front cover. The colours consisting of black, red, yellow and white are used in both Kerrang! magazine contents page. The particular graphical elements of crackles and smudges in the text is also noticeably continued. Both magazines have used one big main image that takes up less than half the top page and the rest are quite smaller allocated in relevant sections. There is a clear subheading that is bright yellow with a black background beneath it. The page numbers have been issued in red where as the text remains in black due to the white overall background. The title ‘Contents’ has been placed either in the top left or right hand corner. This draws attention to the title and ensures that it is clearly visible for the reader. The layout of the contents page is very easy to read which is good as the reader should not feel confused. The image on the top has 4 small columns of features whereas the image on the bottom has only 2 although this is more widely spread.

The Double Page Spreads.

The double page spreads of Kerrang! Magazine venture on the violent rock theme. Notice in the double page spreads that the main colour used is red. This colour has been used throughout the front cover and contents as well. Red is an ambiguous colour, yet as well as standing out, the reader can tell from this genre that the red portrayed connotes a violent theme. There are particular graphical and design elements issued in both of these double page spreads. First of all, the graphical elements that has been used through is the crackles in the text titles. Furthermore, the double page spread on right hand side portrays a murderous theme where a rabbit costume is lying lifelessly on the floor and the band members’ pose, expression and body language have been fixated around this. The title then has blood splurts and smears across and onto the other page. The splurts and ‘blood splatter’ is continued throughout the double page spread. The double page article on the

left hand side also has design elements that usually go unnoticed. Since the theme is based on school and education ‘I wanted to be a history teacher!’ The ‘history teacher’ has been written in a an almost school type font. There are doodles of stars and skull & cross bones allocated over the whole page. The theme still relates to the genre of rock music as well as the double page spread article.

The House Style is evident in the following magazine front cover, contents and double

page spread.

White on red text

background.

+ sign in the corner with

black on yellow.

The splash of yellow highlights the key words.

Disjointed text for the anchoring text of the

main image.

A black background with a large white circle

is the magazine’s background.

Main image is wearing a combination of white, red

and blue.

White on red text

background is continued

on.

Contents background is in white

which provides a

stark contrast with the

black text.

White text has a black

text background

beneath.

Disjointed red heading.

Colour scheme of red, white and black.

He’s wearing the

same clothes as in

the front cover.

Black drop caps and

text with a red pull quote.