1. Jack round

2. What you get on front covers

3. 1. Masthead
8. Selling Line
or Banner
Web-links?
Ears?
9. Tagline
2. Kicker
3. Cover Line
10. Feature
Article Photo
11. Headline
4. Secondary Lead
12. Anchorage
13. Flash
5. Plug
6. Graphic
Feature or
Puff
7. Caption
14. Menu Strip
15. Bar Code
16. Date Line

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The masthead of kerrang symbolises the volume of the music in the genre smashing the masthead, this is
further supported by the magazines tagline life is loud, which reinforces the loud chaotic lifestyle many artists
in the rock genre live.
The headline in kerrang is always the name of the band, this is done to show that the band is the most important
part of that issue, as the letters are not only bigger than the rest of the kickers, it is also in a different colour than
the others.
The kickers although not the main story are still not simply camouflaging into the background, kerrang has still
made sure that they stand out, this is to show that even though they’re not the head story they are still
interesting to read.
Kerrang has continued to put the banner right above the masthead, they have done this as the readers eyes are
instantly brought to the masthead when skimming through the magazines, so they are more likely to spot a
story that seems appealing to them.
Kerrang regularly offers free posters to their readers, they do this in an attempt to bring them something their
competitors do not, specifically rock orientated posters of past legends.
Kerrang also makes sure that the leader of the band is looking straight at the camera, even though the other
band members, if they are even on the cover, normally look in other directions, not at the camera. That could
be used to show that even though the other guys in the band may come and go the main performer, the one
most people are interested in, will always be looking out for their fans.
The colours used in kerrang are loud, in your face colours that grab your attention whether you want them to or
not. They have done this to keep in tone with rock as in spirit that is what rock is, a loud new way of getting the
peoples attention.
The anchorage frequently tries to keep the readers attention as it offers an enigma to one of their favourite
bands, this encourages people to find out what the section of the artist is it examining, their personal life or the
bands future plans.

5. How front covers are conceived and laid out

13. Indirect mode of
address can be
mysterious, lively,
sombre…
Direct mode of
address can appear
‘in yer face’, serious,
warm…
Creates a wacky, fun
image, sharing an
identity with the
reader that offers the
‘independence’ of
indie music.
Enigma – what are
they getting up to
now?

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The colour scheme that kerrang has incorporated is one were every kicker has the same colour, and every cover line
shares the same colour, this could be used to clearly make a difference between the two, they also continually change
the colours used in every issue. For example one day it is a combination of red and white, next week it could be black
and yellow.
The fonts used in kerrang are quite simple, they do not use the very fancy fonts as they would believe that it would not
go in tone with a rock magazine. They do however sometimes change the type of font depending on the artist.
Depending on the artist many techniques could be used, for instance in a big rock band each members mode of address
could be different for each band member, normally the lead singer is looking at the camera while the other band
members are looking either just slightly away from the camera or completely in the staring at another band member.
This creates a distance effect, as if the band does not really care if you’re there or not. Kerrang frequently uses an
enigma as their anchorage, tis is to keep the attention of people who are considering buying the magazine.
The use of space varies from each issue, however you can see a certain pattern emerge. For kerrang the masthead is
always at the top left going across to the right covering the entirety of the top of the page , even in the 90s this is how
they have done it. They typically do not leave much dead space, only if the magazine is paying tribute to someone is
there really a lot of dead space. The look that the magazine aims to create differs between issues, for instance green day
is normally show as quite wacky, especially when compared to artists like slipknot, who go for a very intimidating style.
The theme used in most of kerrangs magazine is intrigue, each issue gives the reader just enough information that they
want to read more.
In conclusion I believe that kerrang has decided to go with these design styles to really emulate the feeling of the rock
genre, as the magazine can have may different forms each week, such as subtle differences in fonts, colours and articles.
This is very similar to the genre of rock, it has many different styles and quirks, but when you get down to the core it is
all the same, it is a way of expressing yourself, I think the magazine does a great job of making each sub genre of rock
accessible, by showing that really they are just slight differences.