Contents Analysis #3

Analysis of KERRANG Contents Page

Though Kerrang is not solely considered to be an Indie magazine, it does feature this genre of music through articles and features more than often as Indie stemmed from rock, the genre of Kerrang itself. Heavy metal and other closely related genres are also featured in the magazine, which shows that it is able to appeal to a wide range of people. It is clear to see that this particular issue has the purpose of attracting an audience who are interested in Indie music, due to the fact that the feature is an Indie band. Usually, rock magazines would not be inclined towards the inclusion of pop-like bold colours which are used in mainstream magazines such as 'Top of the Pops' and 'Billboard', but in this case, on the incorporation of Indie bands, there is a somewhat colourful palette concerning the imagery and typography. Indie is not considered to be as dark in emotions and general appearance as the rock genre, as there are different representations. The producers of Kerrang, upon deciding to base the issue on Indie bands, must have deciphered the difference in representations of the genres concerning colour palette, and through my previous analysis' I discovered that Indie magazines are relatively colourful in comparison to the other genres of which are considered to be 'dark'. In terms of audience demographic, it is blindingly obvious from the first glance that this is targeted predominantly towards males, due to the thumbnail of a gaming platform, which males are stereotypically better at than females, the use of capitalisation, and the various band pictures in which most members have a tough exterior and an appearance that is rebel-like. 

The heading 'Contents' has been produced with a yellow font and placed in a black box. This  follows the colour palette of black, yellow and white concerning the typography. The subheadings are exactly the same as this, only smaller and in capital letters to ignite excitement within the readers, but also to ensure each the articles are separated into different sections, such as 'news' and 'features', to make it easier on the reader to find which article they desire to read, or to find a specific area of the magazine which has drawn them in or enjoy reading every week if they are regular customers. The reasoning for the heading not being typed using capital letters is because it is more casual than the previous contents pages, more relaxed and casual, rather than shouting out at the customers. They feel less obliged to actually purchase the magazine, which draws them in even more because the audience will feel comfortable enough with it. Rather than being relatively long and tall, the font of the headline is quite wide and curvy, again, portraying the magazine as relaxed and nonobligatory. Both the heading and subheadings stand out, but the contents title is much more prominent, drawing the eye in before any other lexis, due to the size difference between the two features. It is also easy to identify the heading to subheadings, as the heading will always, in any successful case, differ from the subheadings. For example, underneath the lexis 'Contents', but still in the black box, is the issue number and date, portraying the heading as an aspect of the contents page which is of more importance than subheadings, conveying a certain sense of responsibility. 

  

In terms of graphological imagery, star vehicles have been used in almost every photograph to attract each of their fan bases and because people recognise them, which makes the reader understand that the magazine is popular and is able to acquire interviews with famous bands and solo artists prestigiously. The featured star vehicles of this contents page is ‘The All American Rejects’, an Indie rock  band which will therefore attract both their fan base and people who enjoy Indie music. The medium long shot of the members is typical  through its camera shot type, and in the way that four members of a band have been captured with a canted angle and the lead man has been purposely placed in front of the others to connote his dominance of the group. This is the same case with the image of ‘Enter Shikari’, though this is not canted. An obvious representation of the genre itself is the images of front men holding in their hands microphones pulling expressions which would not be associated with lighter genres. Again, the same concept, the front man Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, a well known rock band rather than Indie, poses with a guitar and shows it off, a connotation that he is proud and confident, something which is necessary in the music industry to be successful. Images of previous Kerrang magazines have been included to persuade the reader to purchase future magazines, as they get a taste of what they are like, and to subscribe to receive each issue in the post before it is released, a seemingly good deal. It also pushes these in their faces and shows them what they are missing out on, what they could have if they just subscribe. As people who are interested in indie music are stereotyped to love gaming, as I mentioned in the introduction, an image of an xbox and games is present to convey an obvious giveaway, igniting excitement within the reader and making ten want to purchase the magazine to find out more about how they could enter the competition for a chance to win. The image next to the number 14 has a band which are using fun postures. One member is lying on the floor whilst the his band mates surrounding him in a victory-like pose. This connotes to the reader that they have fun personalities which the audience is be to be attracted to and get along with. A colour palette consisting of dark colours and high contrast, with hints of colour concerning the mise-en-scene, for has been used 

In terms of the colour palette of which has been chosen, the contents page is rather dark, but in a colourful way. For instance, a lot of black has been used concerning the background of the masthead and general mise en scene (the costume). Though some costume is bright and colourful, as the man wearing the red hat and bold trousers, and the guitar one of the star vehicles is holding up is bright yellow. Stylistically, typical band pictures have been imitated in order to complete the photography for this page. Four men are together with one man, the lead singer, standing in front of the rest. This is incredibly typical, and on any rock magazine these types of images will be seen. The fact that the lead of the band always stands slightly in front of the other members is a portrayal of how he has dominance over the band, as though he owns it and makes all of the decisions. It also shows how the audience favour lead singers the majority of the time; therefore they are the ones who achieve the most attention, and if any other member is presented as the lead should be, then the audience will be disappointed and potentially move onto other bands which cater to their needs. The sleeve tattoos which are on one of the men portray how the member is a rebel, as tattoos are seen as a way of rebellion and being tough. The spotlight makes each of the stars' lifestyles look somewhat glamorous, though not in the way that they own lots of pink items and diamonds, but in the way that they are successful, therefore they own a lot of money. The album cover for the band 'Madina Lake', is a promotion for the bands new album, which will sell to the particular audience of which the magazine targets and successfully sells to.

In terms of typography, the key pages have been highlighted in yellow to stand out to the reader, so they are aware that these particular articles are the most important and that they have been made specifically for that issue. This differs from the other contents pages, and is unique. The subheadings are in yellow, and boxed in black, to ensure they stand out against the white and because the yellow draws in the eye. These are all capitalised, as to shout out at the readers, igniting again a sense of rebellion. It's not soft and feminine, rather hard and tough to portray the ideology that a man expects of himself, and the stereotype that males are  supposedly tough and strong. The editors not has not been capitalised, and this is the only thing of which has not been. This is due to the fact that there is an abundance of text within this particular box, and if the producers had decided to put this selection of text in capital letters, every other part of the contents page would not stand out; the specifically capitalised features to catch the eye would not stand out as much. In consideration of the fact that there is a lot of text, I feel as though it would be a very bad idea to capitalise it all, and the producers obviously did too, as a huge chunk of text capitalised would be daunting. 

To conclude, this rock/indie magazine is not something of which I would particularly like to use as a style model for my own magazine, due to the fact that it is not solely based on and indie audience. I don't feel as though the features used are actually appropriate when it comes to making my own magazine, as the magazine is targeted towards men, so the features have been portrayed in a masculine manner.