Deconstructions

DECONSTRUCTIONSSam Walker

KERRANG!

The text used is mainly quite large and bold which appeals to the teenage audience. The colours used are red, yellow, white and black which make it seem like a dark magazine with bright parts intended to stand out. This could be seen as aiming more towards males than females however with this genre of magazine, the colour scheme seems quite unisex. The main image is of Frank Iero and he

is using a direct mode of address which appeals to the audience as it gives the idea he is looking at them and involving them. He is placed in the centre of the page showing he is the most important item on the front cover as your eyes immediately look to him. This image would appeal to the target audience as he was in the band My Chemical Romance which is a very well known rock band and therefore he is very well known.The layout of this magazine is very cluttered which appeals more to the younger audience than the older. The strip of cover lines at the top include things which would appeal to the younger audience members. The images of other bands on the left hand side are quite small indicating the target audience already know them well.

The masthead is towards the top of the page, under the strip of cover lines and it is one of the first things your eyes are drawn to, including the main image. The masthead is partially covered by the main image indicating that the celebrity in the photo is more important than what the magazine is called and that the target audience will already know the magazine very well. The reference to festivals in the top corner shows that they believe the target audience know that its a festival and that they already know something about it. The collectors special of posters of the bands shows that the magazine is aimed more towards the teenagers as they are generally the type of people that collect posters. The fact in the bottom right corner it has a competition which could allow you to win ‘a £250 Guitar’ also shows that its aimed more towards teenagers as not many adults would be interested in trying to win a guitar.

This double page spread has an image covering over half the page, indicating that the target audience like the celebrity. The title covers over one quarter of the double page showing that they want the readers to read this article as it is one of the most important ones, in this case it is the main article in the magazine. There is not much writing on these pages because the article continues onto the next couple of pages. The bit of writing on this is the beginning of the article and will give the important information, helping the reader to realise if they want to read more. This appeals to the target audience because most younger people prefer not to read a lot unless it interests them. The main image is of Frank Iero as the article is all about him. He is looking straight at the camera making it a direct mode of address. It appeals to the audience as it seems like hes wanting them to read the article. The font of the title is big, bold and bright so it stands out, making it one of the first things you look at. It also makes a pun by changing the words from ‘Holding out for a hero’ to ‘Holding out for an Iero’. As it is a pun, it will appeal more to to the younger audience

members than the older ones. It also appeals a bit more to the females than males as it is playing on his male persona and charm.

Q

The red and white used on the background makes it gender neutral. It is one of the first things you look at including the main image, the title and the pull quote. Its one of the first things you see because it is in the top left third and that is generally the first place you look on a page.The buzzword ‘World Exclusive’ makes it sound intriguing and exciting. The puff is in the top right third and it is about Fleetwood Mac which helps to identify the audience as the older generations. The puff is in yellow which makes it stand out from the red, white and black on

the rest of the page. However yellow is still a gender neutral colour. The main sell line is Kings of Leon and its black text on a white background making it stand out. As the main story is about Kings of Leon it helps to identify the audience as the older people. The pull quote is placed in the centre of the image. It helps to pull the audience in and give a hint as to the target audience because it uses the word ‘comeback’ hinting that the audience will already know of them therefore they wouldn’t be the younger generations. The cover lines on the bottom of the page are like a second thought, you don’t notice them until you’ve looked and read through the main things so this shows that they are not too important. The fact this front cover is not cluttered shows its for a mature older audience

The image is both direct and indirect as it gives a casual, friendly atmosphere. Some of the band members are looking directly at the camera as if they are inviting you to join them and be part of the group. The other members are laughing as if they are having a good time. It also shows that the band has a dedicated fan base as the image is covering some of the sell line and the sell line is covering part of the mast head. The red text at the bottom implies danger and when you read it, it says ‘From rock star to murderer’. It seems like the red is used to highlight the main parts like ‘World Exclusive’, ‘From rock star to murderer’, the background for the masthead and a border around the pull quote. The magazine itself uses professional, glossy paper which aims at a more mature audience. Finally the price is a fair bit more than other magazines aimed at kids, like Kerrang, which indicates that its for an older audience

The masthead is placed in the top left third again as this is the place where people usually start reading. The Q is white and it stands out from the red background and the black background next to it. Its quite small indicating that its well established. The necessary information is found in the same row that the mast head and title is in. It is white on a black background to it stands out. The text is indirect as it has a lot of information and it is only there to inform the reader of what is going on in the magazine. Each title is white text, in capital letters, on a red background. Then underneath that is the page numbers which link in with the colour scheme by being red. The actual text is black and the main sub titles are bigger than the text underneath them which gives added information. This appeals more to the older audience as the younger generations like the writing to be big, colourful and bold.

The font is very simple and easy to read. This is because adults prefer to read normal text than elegant and fancy writing. There are two images on the contents page. One is the main image and the other is a smaller image relating to the ‘review’ part of the page. The main image is of a band and they are using both a direct and indirect mode of address. The casual pose indicates they are aiming at a more mature audience rather than young teenagers. The writing over the main image is the biggest piece of writing that stands out, showing this is the main article. Its also a bit bigger than all the other page numbers and names. This page is not cluttered at all and is very sophisticated in its layout. The big image makes up for how much writing there is giving the page an even ratio of images to text. This would appeal to the older audience of adults rather than kids who would prefer more images than writing. There are three main colours on this page which are red, black and white. They are all neutral colours and fit in with the magazines colour scheme as a whole.

The main image is of Lady Gaga and is on the whole left hand side of this double page spread. This may be because people usually read from the left to right so the image of her would be the first thing the reader notices on the double page spread.

She is using a direct mode of address to connect with her audience and fans.

There is no actual title on this page however the name of the singer is, placed in the top corner, in a different font to the rest. The size and colour of the font makes it stand out on the white background to make it more noticeable.

There is a large red ‘L’ covering quite a bit of the text to represent the singers name and, in this case, her personality. The text underneath of it is easy to read. The red gives colour to this two page spread and it also connects with the colour scheme of the magazine.

The singer has very little clothing which indicates she is very daring and that she wants to attract the male audiences attention. The plain white background behind her enhances the focus on her and helping to prove even more that she is the main feature. The dark shadows on her hair, arms and shoulders helps to contrast her from the background.

The large capital letters help to separate out the text to make it look less than there actually is. It makes the text seem less overwhelming. The large capital letters have been made black so it fits in with the writing however it contrasts with the large ‘L’ and makes them easy to see. This simplistic layout makes the target audience adults and more mature people.

The layout of this double page spread is quite conventional. It used three columns to help people read it easier. It has also been separated into lots of paragraphs.

The page number, logo and date can all be found in the bottom right corner of the double page spread.