Magazine Front cover

Comparison:Rolling Stone

and NME

Clear cover line - Font is the same as the explanatory text

Exclusive stands out as it is in a bright colour (yellow).

Formal language is used in both the explanatory and the cover line text

Bold colours – typical for a music magazine – black and white photo and red masthead

Eye contact is met by the person the exclusive is on (Keith Richards)

Photo is taken in a studio – still looks natural and relaxed though – lighting is quite soft – plain background

the price of the magazine is £3.95

The strapline on the cover is clear.

There is a natural eye flow, and backward S shape. Making it easy to see everything

Rolling Stone:

Mast Head

Main cover line

Strapline

Cover lines

Main Image

Sticker

Cover Lines with explanatory text

NME:

Rolling Stone Masthead and Strapline:

The Mast head that ROLLING STONE use is called Royal Acid Outline, and we can see that this magazine is a well known one because the

model on the front cover is covering the Masthead, which shows that it’s audience is already familiar with the magazine. The colour of the

Masthead is Red, which is commonly used in music magazines because it is bold and stands out against the black and white colours that are also

used on the covers. The strapline font that is used

NME Masthead and strapline:

The Masthead of this magazine is quite bold and short and

therefore has a direct impact on the reader as it is easier to

remember. There are sans serif fonts used on the cover of this

magazine, which makes is easier to read for the reader as they do not have to struggle to see the explanatory texts and

cover lines.

The Strapline on NME is on the bottom of the issue. It is also in

the same colour font as the mast head and the main cover line,

showing that it still has information of importance.

Rolling Stone Image and Main Cover Lines:

Eye contact is made by the model (Keith Richards) who is also the person that the exclusive is on. This draws in the reader as they may feel that the

interview within the magazine would be a personal one.

NME Image and Main Cover Line:

The magazine has used the Arctic Monkeys as endorsement, in order to

have more consumers of their product. This means that the

magazine will get new readers who are fans of Arctic Monkeys and

haven’t bought the magazine before, and those who are regular buyers of

the magazine. All of the band members are looking at the camera

lens, giving the reader a feel that they are looking right at them.

Rolling Stone Cover Lines and Kickers:

The font and colours that are used for the cover lines shows that this magazine is quite sophisticated and doesn’t really break many

boundaries of magazines, which is something that music magazines tend to do.

NME Cover Lines:The Sticker that is used on the front

cover, gives the magazine an informal feel because the font used

on the sticker is like handwriting. The editors of the magazine have also used a shadow on the cover lines,

used to make the text stand out against the colour of one of the band members t-shirt which is white. The

use of exclamation marks also makes the magazine feel that

everything is last minute, as it allows the reader to feel that they may miss

something of importance in this issue.

Rolling Stone Eye Flow:

The eye flow of the magazine cover subverts the conventions of a

magazine as it is the opposite to our natural eye flow, going from right to

left.

NME Eye Flow:

The Eye flow of the magazine cover is from left to right which

is natural for someone reading a magazine. Their main cover line is near the bottom of the

page which shows that they are breaking the conventions by not having the cover line in one of

the corners.