Kerrang! Contents Page Analysis

By Meghan Moore

ImagesThere is a large variety of images on the page (including posters and the subscriptions, there are 14 images) although there are three main ones. We can tell that these are the main images due to the size of them and they are found at the top of the page. Due to their size they are the first thing we can see. Due to the size of the Marilyn Manson picture we can assume that he was the cover image, however it doesn’t tell us. The Marilyn Manson shot is an on location shot, taken in a mid-long shot. We can see the iconic mismatched eyes that were his signature for many years. He is holding tarot cards, as if to suggest he is some kind of psychic or magician- this aids the idea of rock music being dark and scary. This is also emphasized by the dirty walls. Marilyn Manson stands out against the red of the sofa. This image is accompanied by text inside the contents itself, in the Features section. The article is called Marilyn Manson and the subheading reads: “Ten years on, how Holy Wood took on the world…” Holy Wood was an album from Marilyn Manson and this demonstrates that they will be talking about it ten years on, to commemorate it. Due to the albums dark influences, it makes sense for Manson to be holding tarot cards. The two other main pictures are shots of the articles themselves, one for The Damned Things and the other one for Anberlin. We can assume these are particularly important articles considering they are boxed and at the top. The Damned Things article is accompanied in the Features section. The article is called The Damned Things and the subheading reads: “Rock’s newest supergroup get ready to prove their worth!”

This demonstrates that the article is going to be about their rise to fame. Anberlin does not have any subheading but it featured in the Features section.The next biggest image is a boxed mid-shot picture of the editor Nichola Browne and is above her editor’s piece describing the magazine.Further on, there is a picture of the lead singer of the band Skunk Anansie, Skin, doing an excited face. We can assume Skin is going to take on the K! Quiz as it is in that section. This also shown by the subheading of “Beauty and brains? We put Skin to the test!” This highlights she’ll be taking the quiz. We can assume the mid-shot picture was taken in a studio on a green screen as she has been placed among the text.The pictures of the posters do draw the eye due to the use of the red “paint mark” underneath it, which explains the bands who will be on the posters (Stone Sour, Avenged Sevenfold, Rammstein, Every Time I Die AND MORE!). Each of the poster is boxed. In a very similar way, the pictures that advertise the subscription are also eye-grabbing.Finally, the smallest image on the contents page is the picture of the album cover for My Chemical Romance’s album “Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys”. The article’s headline is labeled as “My Chemical Romance” and the subheading reads: “Prepare yourselves, Danger Days… is here!” This demonstrates that they will be reviewing the album, as does the fact that it is in the section Album Reviews.

Layout

Our attention is directed towards Marilyn Manson as he has the largest image which takes up about a quarter of the page. However, when looking at “Kerrang! This Week” our eyes are drawn to the posters and the subscription box due to their different colours.The contents page is very neatly presented, with everything having it’s own place, which makes it very uniform. All the articles are put into neat columns which makes it easier to read and there is a mix and match concerning which articles have subheadings and which don’t. The headings are differentiated from the subheadings by the use of bold capitals on the headlines, and normal grammatically correct sentences underneath. This makes it easier to read the titles and scan through to find what you need. This also true by the idea of putting pictures at the top of the page rather than among the writing, as this makes everything much simpler and less distracting from the text. The use of numbers by the pictures helps the reader to quickly go to the right page depending on picture.The use of the sans-serif house style also makes everything more unformed and easier to read, and the use of black and yellow makes the section titles stand out a lot more.

SectionsThere are 8 sections used to categorize the magazine. The section that has the most articles in it is News with 5 articles and the one with the least is Win and The K! Quiz. This makes sense, as there would be lots of news to talk about, whereas you can only have one K! Quiz.

For each article the page number will be in red to distinguish it from the text. The section titles themselves will be in yellow with a black background, in all capitals in a sans-serif font. The titles/headings of the article (which are usually band names) are in a bold, black sans-serif font. The descriptions/ subheadings are in the same black sans-serif font as the headings. However, they are not in bold so that there is a noticeable difference between the two which makes it easier to read. They are also in a smaller font size.

The cover stories are identified by a black star with a red circular background and white font that goes across the star. The font says “cover story” which makes it very obvious.

There is a small section advertising subscriptions so that Kerrang will be delivered for £6 a month if you quote a specific code, which would mean a discount in the long run. However, there is a small footnote explaining that this only applies to direct debit. There is also a small footnote on the page which shows who took the pictures.