Deconstruction of Kerrang! Front Cover

Kerrang! Is an onomatopoeic title, in that it is the sound that an electric guitar makes if you drop it whilst it is still plugged in. This creates enigma, as not everybody will know the reason behind the name.
The colour scheme of black, white, red and gold is kept the same throughout the magazine in order to create a sense of continuity and in keeping with the house style. The colour black creates enigma and has connotations of being masculine, dark, dangerous, mysterious, morbid, dishonest, clouded, secretive and unpredictable. In contrast, the colour white carries connotations that it hides nothing, tells you everything, is honest, open, innocent, new and fresh. The colour red connotes heat, passion and danger. The colour gold is metallic, which connotes glamour, enigma, special and expensive, as well as catching the eye, and highlighting information that will be important for the audience to look at and take in.
The tag line is in a stamp font and lists of bands and poster style, which helps to create enigma and makes the magazine look more modern, and more like an underground music magazine that should be kept quiet. The front cover loosely follows the rule of thirds and is split into two across the middle. The main image is bled off of the page, which creates enigma, as the audience cannot see what is off the page. The bar code has been placed in the bottom left corner, which is also known as dead space because this is where the audience member places their thumb when they turn the page.
The main image is in full colour, and shows a man singing into a microphone. He looks relaxed, and his eyes are shut, so he is obviously very passionate about his music, and lost in the song in the picture. He is holding a metallic red microphone, which has both musical connotations and links back to the colour scheme. The fact that the microphone is metallic also adds enigma and glamour to the image. The artist featured also looks as though he’s having a good time and putting on a show by entertaining a crowd, which gives the impression that he is on stage, and must be famous. His face is partially obscured by a pair of sunglasses which reflect the flash of camera and the image of crowd. He is not engaging audience, but is living in his own little world which makes him seem arrogant and gives the impression that he thinks that he’s better than everyone else. The sunglasses also create a sense of enigma, as the audience wants to know who he is. this also means that those members of the audience who do recognize the artist will feel privileged by this knowledge.
Two bordered images are also featured on the front cover, the occupants of which look at the audience and draw the audience’s gaze. This helps to create enigma, as the audience want to know what the images relate to, and the audience want to pick up the magazine and read what the images are about. One of the images is in black and white which connotes age and the artists featured are wearing sunglasses which partially obscure their faces and they are smiling mischievously, which creates a sense of enigma, because the audience wants to know why they are smiling and who they are. The second image is in full colour, though the dominant colour is blue. The subject of the image’s face is partially obscured by the fact that he is half underwater. Despite the fact that it looks like he is standing in a swimming pool, he is still engaging the audience with his gaze. This image creates enigma as, firstly, he is still breathing and is not panicking that his mouth is underwater. Secondly, the audience wants to know why he is underwater and if he is hiding and, if so, what from. Finally, the audience wants to know where he is, and whether their immediate assumptions of a swimming pool were correct or if he was elsewhere. The page is split in two across the middle length ways by a tag line and image proclaiming that an album that everyone’s waiting for ‘is here’ and has been now been released. This connotes to the audience that the magazine contains information that they should read in order to keep up to date with modern music, and that only this magazine has that information.