Analysis of magazine front coversCover 1.NME Sept 2009

Dizzee Rascal Edition

THE MASTHEAD – The name of the magazine ‘NME’ could allude to the fact it sounds like ‘Enemy’ in order to provide an ambiguous rebel characteristic to the magazine and stating what the contents of the magazine.

THE HEADER – The header contains information upon what the magazine features and also what's special about this edition.

THE SELL LINES/COVER LINES – The sell lines state features and the most appealing articles within the magazine in order to attract the audience

THE MAIN IMAGE – The main image is of Dizzee Rascal; a famous hip hop artists whom the target audience can aspire to as well as enjoy the information provided inside about his progressive career which is what they are interested in.

THE MAIN COVER LINE with this magazine is just the name of the featured artist ‘DIZZEE RASCAL’. The fact that they magazine just needs to leave it as simple as that, expresses the time period that they have been up and ruining for and since they are swell known they can challenge the normal convention of a main cover line.

Barcode-date/issue/price – This is used for the acknowledgment of the sale of them magazine which helps keep track of the amount sold. All this tally’s up and adds to the collection of the quantitative date to produce the statistical date which I used in the media packs for when other business’s want to invest in the magazine.

THE FOOTER contains the names of other famous artists within this genre who feature in this editions magazine. This helps attracts the audience as these names will appeal to their better nature which in turn helps persuade them to buy the magazine.

USE OF A PULL QUOTE – This provides an insight as to what the main article is about and the terminology that is used in the pull quote ‘man!’ at the end of the sentence is part of the colloquial terms the target audience can relate to.

BACKGROUND – The background includes graffiti which is part of the sub culture the magazines genre is based on . Furthermore this is can be associated with the name of them magazine as the background to the name is along the lines of enemy and graffiti is seen as an outlaw practice.

USE OF A FLASH- The flash provides a striking piece of news which is supposed to appeal to the reader straight away as the information is about a ‘reunion’ involving content which the target audience is interested in.

RULE OF THIRDS/THE LEFT THIRD – The text is positioned according to the rule of thirds, so its more likely the human eye will catch this text because they usually read from left to right and its been some what ergonomically positioned on the left to increase the chance of getting someone's attention.

Further Information…

The magazine use different celebrities each week to attract the target audience both old and new artists and bands so they are constantly engaged and it provides them with the most up to date information seeing as their interviews with the stars are face to face because they can secure them as they are so well known.

They also use discounts and offers as well as competitions in order to attract the target audience because they are all to see the celebrities that they are interested as readers of the NME magazine.

LAUNCH DATE: 1952

FREQUENCY: Weekly

COVER PRICE: £2.40

AUDIENCE:66% male,34% female

TARGET AGE: 16-24ACTUAL AGES:15-34MEDIAN AGE: 24

CIRCULATION DATA: ABC: 23,924 (Jan-Jun 12)

NRS: 289,000 (Jul11-Jun12)

UNIQUE USERS: 7.7m

NME has branched out into all sorts of media including the internet, video, radio and live events and awards which reaches over 12.1 million music fans every week.

It is the longest publishing music magazine and hand's out an issue every week. NME have received awards for their content and features and provide consistent coverage upon all aspects of upcoming bands an solo artists.

Analysis of magazine Cover 2 CLASH Feb 2011

James Blake Edition

THE MASTHEAD – The name of the magazine ‘CLASH’ suggests the type of music that the magazine is about due to the sound representation when you say the name of the magazine.

THE HEADER – The header contains information upon what the magazine features and also what's special about this edition to appeal to the audience.

THE SELL LINES/COVER LINES – The sell lines state features and the most appealing articles within the magazine in order to attract the audience. Furthermore on this magazine it has information which goes on about the title a bit but in contrasting colours in order to make them stand out on the shelf, these colours go with the colour scheme which helps maintain the overall aesthetic look.

THE MAIN IMAGE – The main image is of James Blake; a famous artists whom the target audience can aspire to as well as enjoy the information provided inside about his progressive career which is what they are interested in.

THE MAIN COVER LINE on this magazine supports the main image in order to give a bit of information away to the reader to make them want to read more about the artists via the key cliché's such as ‘THE CROWN PRINCE OF THE QUIET REVOLUTION’. Even though his name ‘JAMES BLAKE’ is them main cover line the text around it is seen as one whole thing due to them being upon the same topic

Barcode-date/issue/price – This is used for the acknowledgment of the sale of them magazine which helps keep track of the amount sold. All this tally’s up and adds to the collection of the quantitative date to produce the statistical date which I used in the media packs for when other business’s want to invest in the magazine.

THE FOOTER contains the names of other famous artists within this genre who feature in this editions magazine. This helps attracts the audience as these names will appeal to their better nature which in turn helps persuade them to buy the magazine.

The BACKGROUND one simple block colour which as been co-ordinated wit the colour scheme of the front page but made more interesting by using a fade to attracts the readers eye to the main colour line.

RULE OF THIRDS/THE LEFT THIRD – The image has been positioned according to the rule of thirds in order to make the magazine as appealing as possible. This has been done by taking this medium shot and positioning the eyes between the first and second imaginary partitions which makes the magazine look more conventional and aesthetically pleasing.

This could be said to be A FLASH as it provides a striking piece of news which is supposed to appeal to the reader straight away as the information is supported by a symbol, reinforced of its importance by the use of ‘EXCLUSIVE’ and also has contrasting colours to make it stand out to attract the reader.

Further Information…FREQUENCY: MONTHLY

COVER PRICE: £2.33 – £3.80

CIRCULATION DATA: 47,235

NRS: 188,940

The clash reader is almost equally male or female and 71% are aged 21-31. They are in employment and follow music, films, books, gadgets and clothes.

They are gig-going, fashion conscious, tech hungry and consider the Noughties the decade of cheap money, and ‘nothing’ politics. The 30+ are settling down to laugh at the days of Acid House with the 18+ creating what’s new

Over the last 10 years, Clash has become the leading independent UK media brand representing Music, Fashion and Film. Clash now runs on all forms of media and now run a hugely effective creative projects division. These media platforms deliver powerful messaging and audience engagement for some of the world’s most renowned brands to a global audience of dedicated readers and followers.

Audience…

Analysis of magazine Cover 3 Q -306 - 2011

Coldplay Edition

THE MASTHEAD – The name of the magazine ‘Q’ is evident with their logo and slogan as a conventional approach to laying out this particular magazine so it can be easily recognised on the shelf when being sold.

THE HEADER – The header contains information upon what the magazine features and also what's special about this edition.

THE SELL LINES/COVER LINES – The sell lines state features and the most appealing articles within the magazine in order to attract the audience

THE MAIN IMAGE – The main image is of Dizzee Rascal; a famous hip hop artists whom the target audience can aspire to as well as enjoy the information provided inside about his progressive career which is what they are interested in.

THE MAIN COVER LINE, ‘THE SECRETS OF COLDPLAY’ reveals what is so special about this edition of the magazine due to the celebrity feature that is upon the cover this week. The typography used also links with the background which furthermore links with the image so as a whole it is all made sense of by the main cover line talking a bit about what its about which should attract the reader as they would want to know what is this cover all about.

Barcode-date/issue/price – This is used for the acknowledgment of the sale of them magazine which helps keep track of the amount sold. All this tally’s up and adds to the collection of the quantitative date to produce the statistical date which I used in the media packs for when other business’s want to invest in the magazine.

THE FOOTER contains the names of other famous artists within this genre who feature in this editions magazine. This helps attracts the audience as these names will appeal to their better nature which in turn helps persuade them to buy the magazine.

BACKGROUND – The background includes art, graffiti and many other bold and striking texts and images; this can be representative of the ‘secrets’ the band Coldplay have in this particular edition of them magazine seeing as one of the members is surrounded b y the background literally.

RULE OF THIRDS/THE LEFT THIRD – The image has been positioned according to the rule of thirds in order to make the magazine as appealing as possible. This is evident where the longshot image of the artist is clearly shows the whole of the body in an aesthetically pleasing way by ensuring his head is in the top third conventionally so everything looks in proportion to the background and text.

Q is the legendary monthly magazine which celebrates everything that’s great in rock and roll. Since its launch in 1986 it has a painstakingly built an international reputation for quality amongst fans, stars and the music industry.

Q has featured the world’s biggest artists – from U2 to Adele, Oasis to Rihanna, Radiohead to Lady Gaga and more – on its landmark covers. Every month the magazine creates new stars and identifies what’s coming next. Q is the UK’s number one actively-purchased music magazine.

Q is about quality and character. Q’s readers prize its lavish photography, in-depth reporting and sense of humour. Q is trusted and influential. A positive review in Q can make a band’s career

Q’s audience is younger and more affluent than any other music monthly. 97% of readers rate Q as a quality magazine. In research it outperforms competitors on measures such as best interviews, writing and awards winning photography.

Further Information…

THE Q READER.GENDER RATIO32.8%67.2%ABC1 PROFILE73%% of ABC1 ProfileAGE RANGE15-24 38.3% 25-34 23.8%35-44 19.5%45-54 13.6%55-64 3.1%65+ 1.8%

• Q’s solus readership is an impressive 69% – this means you can only reach these 378,000 people through using Q.• Q readers are affluent – 68% are ABC1 and have high disposable income.• Q is a truly multi-media platform with no less than 10 brand extensions for advertisers to engage with Q’s many audiences.• 25 years of heritage – this offers advertisers the opportunity to associate themselves with a credible and trusted brand.• Q has a extremely high brand influence score of 73%, greater than both GQ and Esquire. This means that Q influences the

people that have strongest influence in their social groups – a real multiplier effect for advertisers to cash in on.

Analysis of magazine Contents pagesContents 1.NME Sept 2009

Dizzee Rascal Edition

As a background for the main piece of information presented upon the contents page, a black speaker box has been used to add to the design of the page and make it more appealing since it goes beyond utilising basic shapes to provide an interesting design which in itself challenges the convention of a ‘normal’ contents page.

SUB HEADING’S have been blocked out into black sections in order to break down the magazine into more specific sections to help the reader navigate the magazine.

The content pages uses brief headings to tell the reader about the pages and furthermore uses a short summary to try and lock onto the audiences attention if they are browsing at the magazine in order to get straight to the point. Contrasting colours are also used between the text and page numbers so its clearly defined as to the whereabouts of the information which reinforces the reader supposed to be having a relaxing easy time reading as its easier on they eye to locate.

NME MASTEHEAD is the same colour scheme as front cover to keep the magazine consistent and professional so the brand can be recognised anywhere and everywhere its logo were to be presented on different forms of media

CONTRASTING COLOURS are used between the band names and page numbers so it can be clearly defined as to where each band can be located in the magazine and also adds to the aesthetically pleasing look of the contents as it goes with the colour scheme. THE IMAGE has been edited so it looks

like a printed out photograph in order to add the scrapbook effect to make the magazine more personal to the reader.

Previous editions of the magazine are used to help sell the SUBSCRIPTION ADVERT to the reader and different methods of contact are made available to make it easier for the reader to contact them which opens up to a wider target audience.

Analysis of magazine Contents pagesContents 2.Q - 28

The Sub Heading Sections have been edited so they stand out and contrast against the information which goes on to tell the reader a little bit more about that page. A partition between the page number and title of each page has been used to get straight to the point regarding the whereabouts of the content. A secondary red partition has been used to separate the writing from the brief basic information about the page so the reader can get a better insight of the content. Also the significance of the second partition being red is so the magazine colour scheme stays consistent and looks neat stereotypically with this particular magazine.

The Q Masthead ensures the purpose of the following contents pages is clearly outlined as well as defining which issue this magazine is so the regular readers can keep track of the latest news and check if they have read this issue or not. The same colour scheme as the logo has been used to keep the magazine consistent to maintain its professional profile and it is also known for its conventional layout of its pages apart from when they make exclusive issue's but even if they change they way the design is upon one page, the new layout rather than being a controversial topic, will be seen as challenging convention with their knowledge of the industry to back them up; therefore the competition magazines with act on this by doing something similar to gain market share and this may end up making a new convention regarding the magazine design of certain pages.

The Main Image relates to one of the features this issue offers which is one of the Gorillaz members in the ‘20 US BANDS YOU MUST HEAR’. This helps provide an insight as to exclusive content the magazine has to offer on them compared to other magazines for example the image itself is unique because its never been seen before so its exclusive to this magazine. The other images have been placed to attract the readers attention especially so they can check out the different types of content the magazine offers to open up their eyes and hopefully help them gain new interests to buy complimentary goods the magazine also sponsor or offer.

Traditionally the Background of Q magazines is white to keep to the simplistic look, as well ensuring the colours contrast with each other for example the text and the background in order to make the text easier to read for the sole purpose of keeping the reader happy. For special or exclusive editions of the magazines it also makes the main image for the contents page easier to blend in to make the page more attractive with editing. Furthermore images put upon the contents page stand out more against the plain background so they can catch the readers attention therefore they are more likely to notice the page number on each image and seek interest in that image and turn to the page accordingly.

The Enlarged Page Number besides each image reinforces how good the article must be because they don’t usually use this method of advertising the articles so it shows the importance of this issues articles.

A Review is there to overview the main non-advertised contents of the magazine in order to let the reader know almost everything that the magazine includes so they aren't missing out. Unlike the other texts on the contents’ pages, this piece is in red writing so the reader can acknowledge that this review information is just as important as the other information upon the age because the reader tends to avoid the boring things which can be associated with the word ‘review’ so it increases the chances of them stumbling upon it as it stands out as well as keeping to the colour scheme to keep the magazine consistent.

The Layout of the contents has been kept neat via sticking to margins and straightening everything up with each other for example the text and images on the right page whereby they are lined up straight against each other but with a conventional blank line space in between to distinguish the two separate items but keeping it presentable and professional at the same time as keeping tidy easy to read page.

ANALYSIS OF ARTICLES- DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD 1 NME

The Main Image is of Dizzee Rascal himself spraying graffiti on a wall. This relates to his social background and provides a further visual insight regarding the story behind his career and also helping convey the story on him on the following page. The fact Dizzee is doing graffiti in itself is considered outlaw behaviour and can be classed as stereotypical behaviour to youths who have been brought up in rough areas or have been deemed to have ASBO behaviour. The way they have portrayed him in the image where he is looking behind him, allows the reader to know that he knows what he is doing is lawfully wrong yet he’s still doing it on the sly with that look on his face to ensure he wont get caught which allows the reader to perceive him in a stereotypical way and helps put emphasis on the following article when they find out his story and then hopefully their perception changes after having read the article about him.

The Mise en scene created by the graffiti background helps reinforce the context to which Dizzee is coming from and also acts as an additional anchor for the main image of Dizzee. As well as this is also sets the mood for the two page spread so as soon as the reader turns the age they are instantly hit with this ‘modern art’/ ‘youth culture’ to help them get in the mood so they can get more out of the read. Dizzees’ clothes are also representative of both his new and previous status as the shiny jacket contains the retro upcoming look as well as a ‘swaggy’ youth look and the jean have a design on which can be seen as expensive and often can only be afforded by high earning people which can be seen as showing his progress.

The Page Number is conventionally in the corner of the page to not take up most space but big enough to be noticed and keep track of the order of the pages; the colour of the text is in white in order to contrast with the background of the page and make it clearer to see for the reader. The NME Title is on this page in order to stamp its authority on this story as its their exclusive article on Dizzee Rascal whom is well known to the reader and NME wants to state the fact that they were able to get hold of this famous celebrity and provide them with a special insight on his life. The Date has been put on this page to keep track of when the article was written so the content of the article can be referred to and kept track of in case information is updated or changed so its of use to both the writer if they do another story they can use the same information again and also the reader who can refer to these statements within their own work if they are a fan of Dizzee.

The Caption is in the top right hand corner of the article so the audience can quickly recognise what the article is about just in case then name of the celebrity is forgotten it can also act as a retrieval cue for them as well as adding to the overall aesthetic look of the page since the text is in a graffiti shaped leaking spot to fit in with the page.

The Main Text uses a large letter ‘Y’ to start off the paragraph in an attempt to attract the audience into reading the article since the ‘Y’ can immediately attract their attention in case they are put off by anything on the page. The text is also Columned as a conventional way of presenting text to read upon an article because it makes it easier to read as well as breaking the information down into manageable chunks to make the page look all the more professional and neat. The text Wraps around the secondary image to add to the aesthetic look of the page so it can cut away from the conventional columns and do something different which is also representative of the context of the article seeing as the text wrapping around the image is challenging convention compared to Dizzee obtaining his fame with his unorthodox background. Also because the text is black to contrast with the white background to make it easier on the eye to read, if the text went over the image it would have poor visibility therefore that text would not be read and another picture would have to be taken into consideration which is time consuming.

The Main Heading ‘FROM TAGS TO RICHES’ has been organised in such a way that it makes the two words ‘TAGS’ and ‘RICHES’ stand out the most as they would be the most appealing to the reader especially in the same sentence as the target audience are at the age whereby they use these terms and can relate to them. By making these two words bigger than the other two words in the sentence as well as the rest of the text on the page the reader knows instantly what the text is regarding and already have an interest in them which provides an aspirational effect which may can make an impact upon their decision to look further into the story and read about it and or visit the magazines website to seek further information whilst viewing other information the magazine wishes the reader to see to gain interest.

The By-line is used for the sole purpose of crediting the author and photographer in producing the exclusive article. If the reader seems interested in either the photography or the literature they can visit the web and take the names from this article to do further research into these employees to view more of their work so in a way it helps advertise their work to hopefully gain a fan base.

The Sub-Heading is to go into further detail regarding the article more so than the main heading but less than the main text as its an overview of what the article is about. Conventionally it is placed in this particular order to break down the information slowly from the main article to the sub heading to the main heading so the reader can decide whether or not they are going to take an interest in the article by regarding that bit more about it or just turn over to the next page.

The Secondary Image is used to provide a different background to the first page to keep the reader interested with as change of scenery. This particular background includes empty bottles of beer, tilted over cups and a big radio which again supports the article as a visual aid to the context of Dizzees’ background. The background also fades out where the text is in order to make the text more visible to read.

The article itself is basically about NME magazine interviewing Dizzee and describing how he was seeing as he was a different kind of celebrity considering his background hence him acting the way he does which people found interesting in both the studio and when reading it because the reader knows what he is like and they would like to hear about how the employees reacted with his youth-like behaviour.

The article is written in first person to convey a sense of personal experience from the author and to tell the readers what the celebrity was like face to face seeing as he had the opportunity and was allowed to give them an insight via the article.

It is written in 4 short columns each of approximately 75-100 words to make it easier for the reader to keep track of the story and able to take pauses where necessary giving the scenario they are reading the magazine because the audience tends to read the magazine when they are relaxing.

The main headline is quite dramatic due to the simple fact that it needs to attract the attention of the reader instantly when they are flicking through the page of them magazine and quickly state what the pages is about seeing as they need such a big heading which is why careful consideration was taken into the choice of words.

ANALYSIS OF ARTICLES- DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD 2 - Q

The Main Image covers both pages and acts as a background to both pages which includes the person to which the article is about; Florence. She has been positioned in a seductive way to increase the sex appeal to attract more readers into looking at the page and then going onto reading about it since it got their attention in the first place. Despite the image is a long shot all initial attention is put upon the left hand side page due to the use of the rule of thirds. Despite her position, her head and body have been placed in a way that enables the reader to get the most out of it as her head is in the top third fro recognition and then she has placed her legs which would usually would be in the bottom third; into the second by bringing them up which instantly grabs the readers attention.

The use of Mise en Scene is another reason as to why the left hand side page draws so much attention. Her costume has been deliberately made to show off her ladylike figure so it can appeal to both genders one to admire and the other to aspire to. The fact it’s a dress allows her to show off the legs and increase the appeal and the costume itself is quite perky so the lady like figure comes out naturally when she turns herself to face the camera. Her shoes completely contrast with the image she is trying to portray as they are lady shoes but quite big heels which can allude to the fact the article may be about her standing out in the crowd and taking a more dominant role despite her gender which can be seen as admirable and appealing to the target audience. She also sits on a on abject covered in a cloak consisting of red and white stripes; this links with the background text ‘USA’ and suggest she is quite country proud as well as the sticking to the colour scheme of the magazine itself.

The Main Heading is left ambiguous as to whether not is says ‘USA got the love’ or jus ‘got the love’ in order to add a sense of mystery to the whole story. It can also be said that the title consists of a pull quote ‘got the love’ which is a line on one of her well known songs to which any fan can recognise which means they will instantly stop at that page if they see it because the know that line and face.

The Page Number is conventionally in the corner of the page to not take up most space but big enough to be noticed and keep track of the order of the pages; the colour of the text is in black in order to contrast with the background of the page and make it clearer to see for the reader. The NME Title is on this page in order to stamp its authority on this story as its their exclusive article on Florence Welch whom is well known to the reader and NME wants to state the fact that they were able to get hold of this famous celebrity and provide them with a special insight on her life. The Date has been put on this page to keep track of when the article was written so the content of the article can be referred to and kept track of in case information is updated or changed so its of use to both the writer if they do another story they can use the same information again and also the reader who can refer to these statements within their own work if they are a fan of Florence.

The Caption is in the top right hand corner of the article so the audience can quickly recognise what the article is about just in case then name of the celebrity is forgotten it can also act as a retrieval cue for them as well as adding to the overall aesthetic look of the page since the text is in a graffiti shaped leaking spot to fit in with the page.

The Main Heading is in a classy font to add to the ambiguity of the article but leaves the reader with a series of questions as to what the article is actually about which engages them instantly. The fact the fans will recognise the quote will attract them into wanting to read on but the proportions of the text sizes suggest significance and importance of this heading and so the reader will want to read on because it has been left so ambiguous yet its in a much bigger size to the main text.

The Main Text uses a large letter ‘D’ to start off the paragraph in an attempt to attract the audience into reading the article since the ‘D’ can immediately attract their attention in case they are put off by anything on the page. The text is also Columned as a conventional way of presenting text to read upon an article because it makes it easier to read as well as breaking the information down into manageable chunks to make the page look all the more professional and neat. It can be said that the text has been laid out in accordance to the background so it doesn’t cover up the USA text in the background which suggest it plays an important part in visually aiding the story so as the reader reads on the ambiguity decreases and the heading becomes more clear.

The Sub-Heading is to go into further detail regarding the article more so than the main heading but less than the main text as its an overview of what the article is about. Within this sub heading Florence's’ name has been put in a completely contrasting colour in order to stand out against the text on the right page because if you look at the left page and then straight onto the right page your eyes get drawn to the out of colour text which is her name and so this is used to attract the readers attention instantly. Conventionally it is placed in this particular order to break down the information slowly from the main article to the sub heading to the main heading so the reader can decide whether or not they are going to take an interest in the article by regarding that bit more about it or just turn over to the next page.

The By-line is used for the sole purpose of crediting the author and photographer in producing the exclusive article. If the reader seems interested in either the photography or the literature they can visit the web and take the names from this article to do further research into these employees to view more of their work so in a way it helps advertise their work to hopefully gain a fan base.

The article is about the progress made by Florence and also a recent event that occurred with her and one of her idols after a previous interview with NME so its kind of like a review about her time since then and consists of loads of quotes to make it seem like Florence was comfortable giving away information to NME magazine seeing as they are friends that have been acquainted before.

It is written in first person by the author with snappy sentencing meaning the author jumps quickly into another aspect of Florence's life very quickly in order to get all her progress onto the word restriction.

It is written in 3 columns enabling the reader to stop to take breaks at certain places where the article breaks off into each column.

The main heading is significantly larger than the article text but not bigger than the background text and so a link can be made between the tow to make more sense of the article when initially opening up the page. Its in a classy font which completely contrasts with the story being told about her adventures and perky actions and so the surprise of the content compared with the classy title will want to make the reader read on as now they are interested.