Convent i ons of Convent i ons of Ker r ang! Magazi neKer r ang! Magazi ne

Kerrang magazine is ‘the worlds biggest selling weekly magazine’ that would therefore have unique conventions to other music magazines. For example the masthead at the top of the magazine is normally white which stands out on the darker background, the fact the letters are in capitols and have a smashed effect back up the onomatopoeia of the masthead as ‘Kerrang’ sounds like a symbol crashing or something being smashed. The masthead takes up the whole of the top of the page which will catch the readers eye when they look for the magazine on the shelf. Kerrang always has a banner at the top and bottom of the magazine, these banners normally contain a kicker line for a specific band, for

example, ‘All Time Low Want You: Be Their Roadie For The Day’. The bottom banners normally have the names of the other bands that are included in the magazine, the banners are always a different colour to the background which helps them stand out. Kerrang magazine always has box outs on the front page this could be to promote exclusive posters included in the magazine as well as various kickers for small articles included inside the magazine. The main cover line is always in big bold capitol letters towards the middle of the page that has letters kerning to one side slightly. This cover line is normally the same colour as the masthead. The subheadings for the cover lines are also normally in capitol letters in bold writing, but are smaller than the cover line writing and are a different colour to the cover line, giving the cover line and subheading a bit of distinction from each other. Another convention of Kerrang magazines front cover is their sell line, which is ‘music is loud’, therefore every time a reader reads or hears this line, they will associate it with Kerrang magazine. Box outs are also sometimes used on the front cover for promotions, such as ‘plus free stickers!’ The general house style of this magazine is a masthead saying ‘Kerrang’ in bold white smashed –effect capitols, kickers that stand out along the side and edges of the magazine, the bar code always in the bottom right corner, also the main cover line and the sub headings use different coloured writing. Every element of the house style has been well thought about to ensure each convention stands out in its own way, but also to ensure the conventions portray the right image the magazine is trying to give the audience.

The masthead of Kerrang magazine is in bold capital letters that stand out from the background. The word Kerrang is actually onomatopoeia as it sounds like something smashing. The fact that the text has a cracked effect on it, supports the idea of something being smashed. Also the exclamation mark on the end of the masthead is emphasis on the fact the music Kerrang magazine is based on rock music and also supports the fact that Kerrang’s sell line is ‘live life loud’. The main image of Kerrang magazine is always a picture of the band member or singer they are doing their main article on. In the pictures the singers or band members are always doing poses that best reflect them. In this case, the main image on this front cover is Hayley Williams, who with her bright coloured fiery hair and the only girl in Paramore, is known to be quite feisty which reflects in her punch pose. This is one of several kickers that Kerrang have on their front cover, as Kerrang always put several kickers on the front page of every issue. In this case this kicker is in the form of a box out as it stands out from the background magazine as the box out / kicker has been shaded a different colour. It is used to promote this issue of Kerrang with the fact that this issue of Kerrang is a poster special. Smaller images are used in the kicker to show examples of the posters inside and the text describing other posters that are included is anchorage to the images.

This is one of the banners that Kerrang have because Kerrang magazine always have a banner at the top and bottom of the magazine. This bottom banner is used almost as a kicker as it gives information on other bands that are included in the magazine.

This is Kerrang's top banner, as Kerrang always has a top and bottom banner, the banners are normally used as kickers. This particular banner is a kicker about poll results that have been in previous issues of Kerrang, the whole point of kickers is to catch the readers attention and make them want to read the magazine because the kickers have interested them. This is a box out as this is a small box that stands

out from the background. Box outs for Kerrang are another place to promote what also is inside the magazine. This is a perfect example of a kicker. This is just a simple line that gives the reader information on another article that is included inside the magazine. Kickers are kind of a promotion technique as they’re job is to interest the reader into buying the magazine with the extra articles included in the magazine.

This is the main cover line of the magazine cover, apart from the masthead, the main cover line is in the biggest writing on the page. Also on this front cover, an exclusive is included. Exclusives are used by magazines to single themselves out from other magazines, in this case Kerrang's exclusive interview is with Hayley Williams, by Kerrang saying this interview is exclusive, they are saying that no other music magazine have interviewed her recently.

This kicker again is to give readers more information of what is inside and included in the magazine. However, the kicker is anchoring the smaller image of Marilyn Manson, as the kicker is informing the readers that he is included inside the magazine. This kicker could also be called a box out because the colour of the background of the kicker is different to the colour of the magazine background and therefore stands out.

The barcode is a legal convention that will be on every magazine. Without a barcode readers won’t be able to pay for the magazine!

The masthead that was on the front cover is also placed on the contents page to keep consistency of house style through out the magazine, this makes the magazine look professional.

This is the main image of the contents page, the main image on the contents page is normally an image of the main article of that issue of Kerrang. The fact this picture is bigger than the rest of the images on the page shows importance.

The smaller images are placed inside the main image, again giving the sense of importance to the main image. However these images are anchored by the contents page as the images are displaying some of the images that are in the actual magazine.

The numbers on inside the images are the number of the pages that the readers will find these images on with the article that comes with it. This is a good tactic to use as if an image catches the readers eye on the contents page then the reader will be persuaded to go to that page and find out more.

This is a picture of the editor of Kerrang magazine. Putting a picture on of someone so important to Kerrang magazine gives the magazine a personal touch and gives readers a chance to link to Kerrang better.

This is a short letter written by the editor of Kerrang magazine, just like the photo of the editor, the letter from the editor gives Kerrang a personal touch and so does the fact that the editor signed his letter afterwards. By doing this the editor has singled each reader out like he is directly talking to each reader.

The headline of this page is ‘contents’ to ensure there is distinction between the headline of the page and the masthead the headline has been written in a different colour, however that colour still stands out and will therefore catch the readers eye. The subheading of the contents page

is there to support the headline and persuade the readers to read on.

These are headings of the different sections that Kerrang cover. Having these sections will make it easy for readers to find what they are looking for in the magazine quickly.

These are the titles of the articles and extras that are covered in the magazine. Next to the titles are the page numbers which will ensure readers can go to the right page to read the articles they are interested in.

This is an advertisement in a box out as Kerrang are persuading their readers to subscribe to them. By adding this advertisement on the contents page, this could be one of the first things the readers see when they open the magazine.

This is one of Kerrang’s double page spread of one of their main articles in one of their issues.

This is the headline of the double page spread, as you can see it is the largest text on the page and is written in brighter colours in order to stand out from the background. The colours used on these double page spread follow a colour scheme of white, red and black, this colour scheme is consistent throughout the magazine, giving the magazine a professional looking house style.

This is an exclusive, the fact it says that this article is a world exclusive exaggerates on the fact that Kerrang are the only magazine that have covered this story. This particular exclusive is on My Chemical Romance, therefore anyone who is a fan of My Chemical Romance will be persuaded to buy Kerrang because of this one article.

This is the main image of the double page spread, as you have probably noticed all of the pictures are in black and white, this sets the background for the whole page. Also black and white pictures for this type of music genre magazine gives the images more of a rocky edge. The person in the main image is the singer of the band and could therefore show his popularity compared to the other band members and could also mean that the actual article is based on him. The smaller images shows pictures of the

other band members, which could be suggesting that the other band members are less involved in the article.

This is the main article, as you can see the article is written in small writing and is in white to standout from the black background, the beginning letter of the article is bigger then the rest of the writing possibly to show the readers that this is where the article starts, also the first letter is in red which also makes it stand out from the rest of the article

This is a box out as it is a box that is designed to stand out from the background as it is a different colour. This box out is put in place in this specific place as it is promoting My Chemical Romance’s new songs by writing mini reviews on them. Again the writing stands out from the background because the writing is black and red on a white background.