Kerrang Contents analysis

Colours

The colours used in this contents page and the layout is incredibly different in comparison to the NME magazine. It uses yellows to draw the eye to subheading of the stories in the magazines. The yellow is also used to attention to a particular section on someone called 'The Rev' who appears to have passed away recently. The rest of the colours used are black tones, with black and red used for giving titles of stories within the magazines and the page number in red, the black and red working together contrast well with each other, red is used to advertise their magazine delivery option at what appears to be a reasonable rate per month. This stands out more than other writing on the page as it is white writing on a red background different to all the rest of the writing on the page. The colours used on this page are typical of Kerrang.

Design

The layout of this contents page works well.. the top 3rd of the page is of pictures of bands or pages within the magazine with a caption and page number attached to them these are presumably bands which the audience may well be more interested din than others so are promoted by a large picture. The bottom 2 3rds of the magazine are more stories and articles within the magazine, some with a brief description and then all having their page number. Down the left hand side of the bottom 2 3rds is a brief part from the editor of Kerrang, acknowledging people involved within the making of the magazine combined with a picture allows the audience to see real people are involved in it, the girl just looks like an ordinary person which appeal to the audience as she could be just like them picking up the magazine to read it. The layout is set out in a very easy to read way, the magazine does not feel cramped and it feels like all information is easily accessible. The font style follow typical conventions of Kerrangs lettering choices and flow through well from front cover to contents page giving the reader a feel of ease through the transitions within the magazine.

Images

There is a fair few images used on this magazine page, however compared to NME its alot different, there is one more dominant image of a band called 'sound garden', this is a meduim shot of the band in a black and white format. However it doesn't take up the whole page and along side this image is two of 2 double page spreads within the magazine, these are all grouped together, this suggests they are a focus point within the magazine so they want to promote them a bit further. There is also several other pictures used in the bottom 2 3rd's of the magazine, on of these is a close up of the editor of the magazine, this is a very bland picture, the woman appears to be wearing no make up and looks very ordinary suggesting that she is indeed a very ordinary person. The lack of creativity with the picture suggest they don't want the audience to be focused on it, more just acknowledge it. There are 3 further pictures on this section, one of a bang with a medium long shot used. This is the same picture as on the front of the magazine showing reference to the story on the front and it within the magazine, the other picture of 'The Rev' is the same image as used in the front cover as well providing a feeling of flowing through convince to the audience. The other is of 2 men, this have been photo shopped and cut out of an existing image and arranged together on the page it appeals, a medium shot of both, two fairly ordinary looking people again.

How are the words used

The title of this page is very simple, contents, which indeed is the name of the page, this is in a reasonably large font at the top left corner of the page in yellow in a black background and overlapping the picture, this can suggest that the title of the content is more important than they image itself, the bight yellow is used to attract attention. However further down the page we see that the strapline of the magazine consists of a similar style white and yellow broken like effect writing on a black background, this is slightly larger than the title of the page itself suggesting they are more interested in the audiences attention being here as opposed to the top of the page. The rest of the words on the page are used in a similar fashion however with smaller font, bolding of words is used to emphasize some of the stories. the content of the magazine is clear to see to the reader and successful in promoting the stories.

Language

The language used within the magazine is simplistic and common, this is because its targeting a lower end of the social class in the social ladder therefore is using easy to read and understand words so as to engage its audience.

Overall impression

Overall this contents page is a very successful one and much more appealing than NME's contents page. It is clearly laid out, this bolding of text and different colours to draw the customers eyes to the important parts of the magazine. The stories are publicized well so the audience feels like browsing all of them rather than one in particular, and it would easily stand out against other magazine contents pages and defiantly be one of the most appealing ones.