Target Audience: The target audience is clearly for adults aged around 15+ as it contains information about Noel Gallagher, who was a member of Oasis which was a well-known band formed around the 1990’s. The genre is alternative rock as main image uses direct address and the colours used are grey which is synonymous to the alternative rock genre and also has red which contrasts with the grey.

House Style: The general house style is that red is commonly used in all NME magazines with the masthead being red and NME magazines tend to have the coverlines down both sides of the front cover. NME also has a banner on the top of the front page which is also an example of the house style for this magazine. On the first page, the same theme runs throughout all NME magazines with a main image on the left hand side and ‘Inside this week’ contents page on the right, followed by a main image in the middle with images around it. The next page is also similar as the same technique is used but with ‘On Repeat’ on the left hand side and a main image on the right.

Design principles issued: The magazine uses the Gutenberg design principle by using the masthead in the primary optical area and then putting ‘NOEL’ in red, bold writing in the weak fallow area to bring the readers eye towards it. The magazine cover also uses badges in the strong fallow area and contains some cover lines in the terminal area and on the right hand side to attract the reader’s attention to the whole of the magazine.

Main Images/Image: The main image features Noel Gallagher dominating the whole magazine cover wearing a white shirt against a similar colour background, however the shadows within the image gives the magazine a more grey colour scheme. Noel is giving direct address with a serious facial expression which is quite formal, attracting the target audience, but his facial expression is also quite careless but aggressive which may be synonymous to the ‘rock’ part of the alternative rock genre.

Masthead: The masthead ‘NME’ is in large, red, bold, writing in the primary optical area and that is where the reader’s eye will automatically be drawn towards. The colour red is used throughout the magazine, but also it helps to make the masthead bolder and capture the reader’s attention. ‘NME’ is an abbreviation for ‘New Musical Express,’ however the name has been abbreviated for the masthead to show the popularity of the magazine. Noel Gallagher’s head is also covering part of the letter ‘E’ for the masthead to show how the reader will automatically recognise the magazine when it’s covered up.

Lead Article/Model Credit/Coverlines: The lead article begins with ‘Noel’ in large, red capital letters which shows that the main article of the magazine will be about Noel Gallagher, which will attract the target audience attention as Noel Gallagher is popular and has been hugely successful for the past 20 years, making people over the age of 15, predominantly male, be interested in what information the magazine contains about Noel Gallagher. ‘Noel starts over’ also reminds the reader of the history of Noel Gallagher and the band, Oasis, which will make Oasis fans more interested in what the magazine has to say. The quotation “It’s like when ‘Definitely Maybe’ came out. Everything feels out of control” makes people be intrigued as it suggests that there is an interview with Noel Gallagher, giving personal feelings about his new life, which may not be able to be read anywhere else.

Genre: The genre is alternative/indie for people that are beginning to start becoming more interested in music, aged/indie for people that are beginning to start becoming more interested in music, aged 15+. The magazine cover suggests that the genre is indie/alternative rock as it has Noel Gallagher at the front, who is a member of Oasis and uses the colour scheme of red and grey.

Target Audience: The target audience of this magazine is for people, mainly male, aged 16-35 maybe older as The Smiths are the main image, which were more popular in the 1980’s. The masthead also uses serif writing which may make the target audience be aimed at adults rather than 16 year olds as the writing is more formal.

House Style: The house style of the magazine makes the magazine memorable to the audience as they use similar techniques throughout the whole of their magazines. The masthead ‘Q’ is in the primary optical area on every magazine using the same colours and the same font, as well as the cover lines being on the left hand side; which is a technique used to help people looking for the magazine to find it easier on the shop shelf. The cover lines also use the same serif font with each magazine, creating a more organised and memorable technique. The page layout such as the content page is also similar with every magazine by having a variety of images in the middle with page numbers at the bottom to show where everything is.

Masthead: The masthead uses a serif font which attracts the target audience. It is also in the primary optical area, which the reader will instantly look at so the name of the magazine will be memorable and noticeable. The colours that the masthead has are bright and bold such as red and white, which will attract the reader’s attention alone.

Design principles issued: The magazine uses the Gutenberg principle by putting the masthead in the primary optical area in a red background with white writing, making it so that the reader will notice the name of the magazine straight away. The magazine cover also uses cover lines within the weak fallow area to make the readers eyes draw towards it. ‘The Smiths’ cover line is in the terminal area which the reader will automatically be drawn to, which will advertise the magazine well as fans of The Smiths will be able to find out that there is information of the band as there is an image and a main cover line. Inserts such as ‘The 1975’ is in the strong fallow area also to help fans know that they will be in the magazine.

Main Images/Image: The main image features The Smiths bands containing only 2 of the members. This is because the 2 members are the main band members, Johnny Marr and Morrissey, which the target audience will be more interested in reading about. Both members are wearing black clothing like a leather jacket which is synonymous to the alternative rock genre which the magazine is part of. The main image is in black and white white is also quite iconic to the genre and they are close together in terms of proxemics.

Lead Article/Model Credit/Cover lines: The lead article begins with ‘the SMITHS’ in bright, bold pink writing which will attract the target audience and fans of the Smiths. The lead article is also in the terminal area which people will automatically go to read first, which is a unique selling point as it will attract the target audience to buying the magazine. The model credit accompanies the lead article as the lead article is about the Smiths, and the model credit cover line explains how the Smiths have been around for a long time but still bringing new things out. This will make people buy it as they are interested in the new things that the Smiths are up to, and the cliff hanger ‘… a murder’ is synonymous to the Smiths making people want to read about the Smiths in the magazine as the cliff hanger seems interesting, but also people will understand the pun. The cover lines also shows the reader than there is information inside the magazine, not only about the Smiths, but also about artists such as Lily Allen and the 1975 who are more modernised artists and may have a different target audience, making the target audience wider.

Genre: The genre of this magazine is alternative rock for people interested in older bands such as The Smiths, but also newer bands within this genre such as the 1975, who are mentioned on a cover line. The magazine suggests how the genre is alternative rock as it has the main members of The Smiths as the front cover and uses the colour scheme of black and white.

House Style: The house style of the magazine is that red is generally used for important information such as the masthead and lead article. VIBE magazines usually have a solid colour as the background, such as grey or white, with an artist of the same genre showing direct eye address and attitude to the audience. The cover lines tend to be either white or black, depending on the colour of background; for example, this magazine shows a grey background with white cover lines. Throughout the magazine, a wide variety of adverts are shown, especially on the first few pages; which may attract the target audience’s attention. Looking through the magazines, many of the models used tend to be mixed race or black, which may be seen as stereotypical to the genre of magazine.

Target Audience: The target audience for ‘VIBE’ magazine is 25+ as looking through the advertisement the magazine contains adverts for cars and makeup which older people will be able to buy. However, the font, being bold and sans serif may make the target audience also aimed at younger people as it is more informal.

Design principles issued: The magazine uses the Gutenberg design principle as the masthead starts in the primary optical area, however it takes over both the primary optical area and the strong fallow area, and is covered by the main image’s head to show that the magazine is popular and memorable. The magazine also has leading cover lines for the weak fallow area and has a barcode and cover lines in the terminal area.

Masthead: The masthead uses sans serif font which shows it may be a more informal magazine. The colours are red, bold and capital letters which makes the masthead stand out and more memorable, although the main image is covering the letters. The main image covering the letters shows that the magazine is memorable and popular therefore the whole of the masthead does not need to be seen for people to recognise it. Another reason may also be because the main image, being Eminem, may be important, so the magazine is showing how important that this artist is as a form of a marketing technique of how to sell the magazine. Above the masthead is a banner saying ‘Obama: are you still down?’ in the same font as the masthead and rest of the magazine. This helps to sell the magazine as people may find it interesting to see what the magazine says about Obama.

Genre: The genre of the magazine is Hip Hop/RnB as we can tell by the main image being Eminem who is a common code for this genre. Even if the reader did not know who Eminem was, you can still tell that the artist belongs to this genre as his clothing is showing him wearing a beanie hat and a chain type necklace. The name of the magazine also shows this as ‘Vibe’ is quite a slang word used in this genre of music.

Lead Article/Model Credit/Coverlines: The lead article shows how there is a section of the magazine about the famous and popular artist ‘Eminem’ to attract the target audience’s attention. The writing of ‘Eminem’ is in the same font and colours as the title, suggesting that the lead article is just as important as the magazine itself. The model credit accompanies the lead article as it is still speaking about Eminem. The model credit speaks about a film which Eminem was in being reunited, which widens the target audience as Eminem fans will be interested but also the fans of the movie. The lead article and model credit both have a badge above saying ‘EXCLUSIVE’ which attracts the audience as it shows how the information can’t be read anywhere else. The coverlines which are used are still in sans serif font but in white writing to make them stand out more. They contain information about other artists such as ‘KESHA’ which makes the target audience wider as people who may not be fans of Eminem will still want to read what’s inside.

Main Images/Image: The main image shows the artist, Eminem, wearing a beanie hat and a chain necklace. This shows how he belongs to the Hip Hop genre as he is dressed informal and shows a common code to this genre. The main image also shows Eminem giving direct eye contact to show intimidation or strength which shows he has an attitude to convey the genre. The main cover shows Eminem as he is an extremely popular rap artist and will be a huge USP for the readers to buy as there are a wide range of Eminem fans.