Front cover magazine analysis.

NME MAGAZINE

Coverlines are at the bottom of the page and have a red title with white writing underneath to fit with colour scheme.

Masthead is the NME logo in capital red contrasting with the photo background

Headline is the title of arctic monkeys, this is lower down on the page so you can see the faces of the arctic monkeys

Splash is the information about Arctic Monkeys that introduces what the article on them will be about. It is in a different font and is lower case when the headline and pull quote.

Pull quote is used here to pull in the audience in, as it is a quote from the arctic monkeys and so people will read the magazine in order to read more of what they said

Exclusive is the box on the top right here which follows the line of sight of the reader, and also follows the colour scheme apart from the yellow line at the bottom. The box has also been manipulated to go behind the Arctic Monkey’s head therefore making them look like they walk out the page.

There is also a Button on this page, which also fits with the colour scheme of red white and black. I think this is a good convention I could include in my magazine as it is simple but pulls the whole magazine together as more professional

Rolling stone magazine

The Masthead is the title ‘Rolling stone’, the name of the magazine, which is in the iconic red curling font, which hasn’t changed since its production in 1967

The headline is the interview with Jay z which –although is at the bottom of the page- follows our natural line of sight, and so draws the reader in. The red and the white colour of this headline stand out against the background the photo, and combined with the capital letters and big font create the effect that this is the most important story in the magazine.

These are both cover lines for the magazine, because they summarise the most enticing features and articles in the newspaper, in order to lure the reader in. They include the authors of these stories, suggesting that they are established well known writers and their name makes the magazine more appealing

Rolling has created a direct mode of address by having a squared on photo of Jay Zee, which fits perfectly with the rule of thirds grid which I have included layered on top of the photo. This creates structure and almost makes JayZee seem larger than life. This might seem out of place in my magazine as I think the character I will portray on my front cover wont have the same powerful persona as JayZee.

Billboard magazineThe colour scheme of this magazine is grey and black, with the title having two circles of blue and yellow. This is quite plain, but it allows for great contrast with Lady Gaga’s hair, making her stand out against the dull background. And then in the magazine font there is hints of purple to match her hair, pulling the whole magazine together.

The puff is here, cleverly positioned to fit in with the lower case letters of the masthead ‘Billboard’. The whole magazine is well spaced as the writing fits around the photo of Lady Gaga, as if she is closer to the reader than the writing is; i.e she becomes the main focus. I like this convention and I think it would be good to use in my magazine as it is simple but effective.

Billboard have used a direct address like rolling stone by having her photographed in a direct squared on pose. This makes it seem as though she is looking at the reader directly which creates a powerful image

There is a wide variety of fonts on this front cover; the splash of Lady Gaga from I can see is different to many other texts, and all the fonts are varying sizes. This might be impractical and arduous to use in my magazine