Front Cover: AO2 - AO4

APPENDIX 1 - RESEARCH INTO SIMILAR MEDIA PRODUCTS
I am required to investigate similar Media products as part of my initial planning.
Analysis of the Front cover:

-Target Audience: The target audience of this magazine is male teenagers and young adults.

- Masthead and Sell Line: The Masthead "Kerrang!" connotes the opening of a power chord on a guitar, which is appropriate for a metal magazine. The Masthead has been designed to look as if it cracked, with the words "life is loud" printed across it, connoting that the contents of the magazine are very loud, yet again appropriate for a heavy metal magazine, the font is bold and in full capitals, yet again connoting that it contains loud music magazine, this is emphasised furthermore by the usage of colours black and white to create a striking Masthead yet again emphasising the contents of the magazine.

- Main cover image: The main cover image is of Matthew Bellamy from MUSE playing a guitar, the angle of the shot is a low angle shot, connoting power and authority, this is used to create the image of an ideal self and/or ideal partner as he is being portrayed as a "rock god". Matthew’s face is concentrating, showing that at that moment the image was taken he is playing very well.

- Main cover line for splash article: The main cover line for the splash article’s mode of address is peer-to-peer, it is coming across very informal, and in a "friendly" style as if it directed at the reader him/herself. The font is bold and in capital’s which has been put over a faint grey strip, giving it more of a striking presence, this contrasts with the rest of the cover, which is mainly composed of bright red and yellow, this connotes that the feature splash page is important and must be read.

- Cover lines: The words chosen for the cover lines are short, and to the point, usually consisting of just the band names. All the font is bold and black in full capitals, connoting furthermore that Kerrang! Is a "loud" magazine, at the top the band’s that are featured are separated by stars to help differentiate which band is which.. A single quote is used "We’re going to crush the UK!" This is the only quote on the cover, emphasising the context of the quote, yet again this connotes power and energy of the magazine.

- Other images: The other images are of various bands playing live, this ties in with the main feature of this edition of Kerrang! Which is the "100 greatest gigs ever". These are used as a ‘sneak-peak’ into who are in the list, each one is a close up of the singers face, which show many different emotions, this helps connote the genre of music that each band plays, for example, Bullet for my Valentine play heavy metal as the picture is of a band member’s face sticking his tongue out. Each of these images create an image of the ideal self and/or partner, as the pictuers are taken from a low angle, connoting power and authority.