The first front cover I’m analysing is an NME issue, which was published on the 7th of November 2009 at the price of £2.30. This front cover has the same masthead style every time they issue the magazine, so the readers have some familiarity and instantly recognise the magazine. They also use the same colours for this reason. NME normally has one image of the band that they have featuring in the magazine. The image has been placed in the centre of the page, and fitted around the cover lines. NME magazines usually have one main image of who is featuring in the magazine and littler images scattered around the cover lines; but this issue in particular doesn’t have any other little images and just focuses on the band. Because there are a lot of cover lines having pictures would dominate the page and overcrowd the front cover. There are many cover lines on the front cover, one been a quote from the band ‘Arctic Monkeys’. The cover lines are short and get straight to the point. The bar code is on the bottom right hand side, so people can see the price clearly. The magazine comes out comes out weekly and charges £2.30 every issue; on the bar code it also states the dateline it came out so readers can see. The colours scheme for the NME is always white, orange and red so there is some familiarity for the readers. The colours used match and blend well together so they don’t clash and stand out and become very eye catching especially for men as the colours are aggressive and appealing to their eyes. There are only three colours because if they used too many it would look unprofessional and be over shadowed with colour. The graphics used on this front cover help sell the biggest stories in the magazine. In this particular magazine they use bubbles to use make their biggest stories stand out. The editors of the magazine have place the image in the centre and shaped the cover lines around it. They have spaced the cover lines around to the writings not all on one side. They have pushed the mast head to the background but because it’s red it’s still dominating. They have pulled out of the bested quote from there interview and placed it under the headline ‘Arctic Monkeys’ drawing in the readers. They have used colour and font to emphasize the best’s parts for the magazine. The have put the ‘Arctic Monkeys ‘to the left of the page and enlarged it so it’s the main focal point; they have also used the same colour and font for the ‘new bands’ logo, so It stands out at the top of the page. Most reader of this magazine likes to listen to new bands, to draw in these readers they have put in at the top and in the boldest colour. The editors have also used orange, black and white for the bubbles and the text inside, to make these to match they have used the same font and a colour, which makes them, fit and blends together. At the bottom of the page there is also Information about musical artists and where they have been in there week. They have used a bold font for the name of the band as that is the main focus and then in a italic front put where they have been. The language used is very informal but attracts the readers.
This content magazine is an issue from NME. They have brought the masthead style into the content page so both front cover and content page match. The content page is spilt up into squares and rectangular sections, making it easier to read. They have spilt the articles into sections which are in bold the sections are ‘news’ ‘radar’ ‘reviews’ and ‘features’. This makes it easier for the reader to see where things are in the magazine. On the left hand side there is a band index which is in a black bold font with red writing which fits in with the colour scheme. The band index is good as most of the NME readers like to hear about new upcoming bands. The content page is titled ‘NME this week’ this makes it more informal and nicer for the reader to read. They have again incorporated the colour scheme into the tile of the contents page. The colour scheme of this issue is red, black, white and yellow; using only the four colours makes it less confusing for the human eye and using these four colours all the time creates a familiarisation so the reader is automatically draw in. The subscription information is in yellow making it stand out on the bottom of the page and drawing people to it, and because it is advertising for the NME it’s the most important part of the contents page. The main head line takes up most of the page with a large picture showing what the article is about. The head line also has a bold big font making it the main focal point to the page, using a red colour for the page number shows the reader where the article is so they can flick to it straight away. At the bottom of the page there is also an arrow encouraging the reader to turn over the page and read the rest of the magazine.
The first feature article I am analysing is from an issue of NME. This article is about Tom Clark’s opinion on Alex Turner. The lay out of this article is very simple and easy to read, they have one main image and then two text boxes with question and answer articles in it. These two text boxes are on either side of the page with the image central. There headline is above the text boxes and above the main part of the picture, which makes it stand out as it is the first thing they readers will read. Above the headline is a red box which fits in with the colour scheme of the whole magazine. The layout of this page is set up into rectangles and all the text boxes and image are fit around each other and the text box aren’t over lapping the image it all fits together nicely.
The image used for the background is of Tom Clark standing with a wide stance and arms behind his back. He has eye contact with the camera which makes a connection between the reader and himself, it also engages the reader. The location of the shot is in a white modern building with plenty of windows which makes the image very light and because Tom is wearing black and blue he stands out but still looks casual. The angle of the shot is taken from a worms eye view making him appeal bigger and more powerful, which goes with the headline of ‘Alex Tuner? The dullest man in the world.’
The text is in black and red which matches the magazines colour scheme. The questions that the journalists have asked him are in red standing our form the reply that he answered with, this makes it easier for the reader to see which is the question and which is the answer. They have also pulled a quote from the text and made it into the headline title; this gives the reader an idea of what the article is about, also is connects the headline with the text. They have used a drop cap for the B and used serif which makes the text look formal and ordered. They have back the text with white so it pops out from the background image but it doesn’t look odd as the image is mostly light colours.
As you can see from all four picture the colour scheme is running throw out, and is very consent. The style layout and text font is the same or similar throw out the magazine, piecing it together. Throw out NME there is a consent use of text boxes been square so they can fit a lot of information into one magazine but make it easy to read and look like there’s not a lot of text. The pictures are very simpler running throw the magazine and are mostly male orientated, as it is based for males. The use of yellow is also used on several pages throw out the magazine and is normally used for advertising in the magazine. This makes it clear for the reader that if the text is in yellow it is advertising something for their benefit.