Kerrang! Magazine: 27th November 2009
Kerrang! Magazine is a weekly magazine devoted to rock music, it is designed to appeal to teenagers and young adults. They also have a radio station, a TV channel and their own tour which they invite rock bands to participate in.
The cover image features Jared Leto of the band '30 Seconds To Mars' adopting a tough, offensive stance with his side facing the camera and holding his hands up in an action that looks as though he's punched his hand to threaten the reader. Half of his face has been lit noticeably darker than the other to fit the subheadings of the main cover line which say, "I could be your worst enemy!" and "Jared Leto's dark side exposed!" He is also dressed in black which further connotates that he's dangerous. There are five other, smaller images on the page including two images relating to posters that the magazine is giving away and three images relating to artist interviews. One of these images is of a girl, Hayley Williams of 'Paramore,' which lets you know that this magazine isn't just for boys.
The largest cover line is the one regarding '30 Seconds To Mars' which is presented as the two quotes I've previously mentioned and the band's name slanted across the image with the 'A' of 'MARS' being stylized into the band's logo. The band name is in bright red and sets the magazine cover's colour scheme of red, white and black. The masthead includes the magazine title and a cover line and small picture outlining an exclusive interview with 'Him.' The title, KERRANG!, is in block capitals and uses an exclamation mark for emphasis. The title is onomatopoeic and is meant to imitate the sound of a power chord when played on an electric guitar. which connotates what genre of music the magazine focuses on. The title is also partially shattered which is meant to resemble glass being shattered by loud music, another signifier of the type of music they feature.
There is also a tag on the right side of the magazine with another coverline concerning Zakk Wylde's health scare and a star shaped sticker, commonly associated with competitions, informing us that we can "meet Alice in Chains!" The bar code and issue information is at the bottom right of the magazine as not to disrupt the look of the cover.
The main colour scheme is red, white and black, like NME and proves to be a popular colour theme within music magazines in general. Red connotates passion which can be interpreted as the magazine's passion for music.