ANALYSIS OF FRONT ANALYSIS OF FRONT COVERCOVER

PLANNING

GRACE WILLIAMS

Analysis of magazine front coversCover 1.NME Sept 2009

Dizzee Rascal Edition

THE MASTHEAD: ‘New Musical Energy’ or ‘enemy 'it's a play on words, its modern, rebellious and urban.

THE HEADER gives the reader more information. It is very common in magazines.

THE SELL LINES/COVER LINES tells the audience what will be in the magazine briefly, usually use exciting fonts to grab attention.THE MAIN IMAGE shows that

the magazine is hip hop and covers the inside features. The canted angle conveys his bright and welcoming side. His eyes are looking straight at the audience as if intriguing you to be happy.THE MAIN COVER LINE it tells

you about the main article in the magazine. The thick font goes well with his character and stands out. Even the detail of the ‘z’ being wonky

BARCODE: the barcode is in the right hand side and I the issue date is in 2009, and it is £2.80, suggesting

THE FOOTER: is symmetrical to the header, it talks about other bands, the font is clear and the colour is simple as to not detract from the main image.

USE OF A PULL QUOTE: works well with the pose of Dizzee Rascal, friendly and welcoming. The colloquial use of the word ‘man’ suggests his culture.

BACKGROUND: graffiti in bright colours, suggesting urban, illegal, anti-establishment. The black and white floor suggesting a dance floor, the black and white colours eludes the audience. The clashing of the colours give are effective, coveys his own style.

USE OF A FLASH- It adds something extra to the magazine, it is for the target audience.

RULE OF THIRDS/The eye level of Dizzee is in the first third which is level to the readers natural focus. The main cover line is in the middle third anchoring the image of Dizzee.

TARGET AUDIENCE OF THIS MAGAZINE

METHODS USED TO ATTRACT THIS TARGET AUDIENCE ARE: The title NME is large and bold, the theme of red and black throughout attracts people the colour connotes with energy.

Target audience Profile (possibly add image)

Musical interests/favourite artists etc : Hip-hop and R&B, home-grown music. Artists such as Dizzee Rascal, Jay-Z both American and British acts.

Gender: Both male and female suggested by the unisex colours used in the font.

Age : 15 - 25

Social class (how much money do they have available?

How much does magazine cost? Usually lower in social class as it is home-grown more cultural and relatable music, the higher in class tend to be more stereotypically sophisticated in interest.

ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS PAGEPAGE

PLANNING

GRACE WILLIAMS

Analyse of Contents NME (SEPT 2009) ANALYSIS

Banner at top

Date

Brief heading +summary

NME MASTHEAD

Main image

Features

Image is edited so it looks like a photograph.

Previous/future editions of nme are shown with details of website/phone number etc

Analysis of ContentsNME Sept 2009 This contents page looks conventionally

correct due to the font size, amount and layout as well as the images. The main image is a girl pointing to a coach and so the genre is identified by stereotypically associating a coach with band members, road tours, drum kits, guitars and so the ‘Rock’ genre appears to the audience mind. The image has been edited: its slanted and in a border that has been deigned to look like a suitcase, this further suggests that they are fun and wild band members who tour and enjoy making music. The bands are in red with a black page numbers to distinguish what the features are, and breaks up the bulk of colour on the left hand side of the page. The flash in the bottom left stands out due to the use of yellow in it, if without it may look very simple and unconventional as magazines put each feature in for a reason. The banner at he op of the page highlights the mast head which states: ‘ NME CONTENTS’ there is not much text in capitals letter in this page to symbolise what s important read and what is not.

Main Image

Contents List

Issue DateMastHead

Flashes

Banner at the top

Brief description under each feature in ‘gossipy’ format

The categorised features in bold font clear colour.

ANAYLSIS OF CONTENTS PAGE (NME/1ST November)

NME has used its logo of red throughout the whole of the page displaying a mellow ambience, this is portrayed by the main image: the projecting spotlights bring a subtle evening smooth tone to it instead of heavy, energetic connotations. The main image is eye catching because it is a longshot of a band possibly and what they are doing clearly suggests hat it is a music magazine. The index is a list of all that will be featured. The use of red makes it stand out as the font is in fact quite small. The page numbers are in black with the knowledge that the reader may see the page number and then focus will move to another part of the page that is in black for instance the features on the right hand side. Likewise is done as on the right hand side the features in black and the page numbers ain red, however you read from left to right and so it is done logistically.

The bold subtitles ‘NEWS/RADAR/REVEIWS…’ are intresting because the thickness keeps in theme with the banner at he top of the page. The flashes at the bottom of the page stand out because it is In yellow consrating with he red, black and white. It gives a little more information and fills out the space as a magzine usually has no clear bits.

‘CONTENTS’ Cover LineLogo

‘Features’

Title of feature

Description of feature

Page of feature

Flash

Main Image

The logo looks professional as it is very small but stand out as a masthead. The border at he top is conventional and is used a lot in NME magazine, separating it from the rest of the text on the page.

The colour scheme looks professional as it is consistent and is typical of NME therefore consistent for regular NME readers.

There are many images on the page not just one suggests there a lot of features and so catches the audience attention.

The title of the feature is in bold and in a larger font size to separate it from he description which is a good feature.

The flash is not extremely bold and so does not detract from the main image, the purpose of the flash is to attract attention through offering the audience something, in this case it is discounted tickets.

ANALYSIS OF DOUBLE PAGE SPREADS AND

ARTICLESPLANNING

GRACE WILLIAMS

Masthead

Text

Main Image

Issue Date

‘UPFRONT’ specific section of the magazine, perhaps a weekly feature attracts viewers.

Images

ANALYSIS OF LAYOUT ARTICLE (NME/30th November)

MASTHEAD is in a black colour plain and simple. The main image of Annie Mac consists of only two colours which aren't particularly bold and so if the mast head was bright and eccentric it would detract from the image therefor unbalanced or unconventional. The use of font is interesting because ‘PIECES OF ME’ is in a sophisticated and classical font while ‘ANNIE MAC’ although in capitals also is more standard showing that her character is a mix of both typical and refreshing, modern expression. It also breaks up the motif of classical hand writing because the text in the article in written in the same font. The use of black and white is cleverly picked because of the white backdrop in the image and shadow. The text is split into subtitles so that if a reader scans through the article they can pick out the most eye-catching part instead of losing interest.

There are other pictures In the article that relate to the main article so this grouping method wont confuse the audience. The page number is at the bottom of the page and also provides clarity and direction. The NME sign and the due date is at the bottom also. Here it is out the way but looks professional as well. There is a caption underneath the third picture on he right hand side which introduces the images. There is a theme of strangeness in this article as the people in the images are all looking away and not directly towards you. This indicates that it is not the main cover as they would most likely be looking toward you to grab attention, the use of avoidable eye content suggests that it’s a thought provoking piece.

ANALYSIS OF LAYOUT ARTICLE (NME/30th November)

MastHead

Main Image Article

Editorfdfcsv

Page no. Issue Date

Main Image is dominant taking up two thirds of the double page spread. It is powerful because of the colours used. The strong red suggests power and strength , desire and love further portrayed in her hair colour that is fiery and bold. Her leather black dress with tall heels stand outs strongly which shows mysterious and also power. The table on the has red and blue lines on them which show national heraldry and so power once again. The text on the right hand side is small but looks classy as the ‘D’ stand out and looks very professional as the theme runs throughout. There is no white space on the double page spread as a giant watermark of ‘USA’ runs behind. The page number is in bottom right hand side of the page and the editor name is underneath ‘got the love’, which realliterates what Florence and the Machine is known for.

Main Image

Cover Line

Text ArticlePage NumberIssue DateEditor Name

Strap line

Another Florence and the Machine article, where the main image takes up two thirds of the page spread. It is in black and white and so shows class and elegance. There is no splurge of colour on the page and so looks simple but sophisticated.

The mast head is simple and bold, the letters are tall and so lengthen the image giving her same effect as if she wore heels in a long shot therefore the font size gives Florence a strong tall women image.

This sophisticated and glamorous look is shown in the font style, the description under he Mast Head is in italics, and the font is in a ‘fancy font’.