Aaron Bradley 12T

2008- NME Music Magazine

There is a masthead at the top of the magazine cover which straight away catches your eye due to the impact of house colour, font and size. The colour is red which is an on-going colour throughout this front cover and connotes a theme of warmly, love and passion during the customers into wanting to read more. The font is bold, stretched and big, making it stand out increasingly more than the other writing on this page, they want this to happen because it’s their brand name therefore they want people to remember it and this will help to do so. The differences in colours are ‘NME’ helps it to appear even bolder due to the clash of white, black and red.

The Central Image is known to be one of the most important parts of the front cover; this is what’s seen first out of everything. This image has a sense of symmetry towards it, again making the more attractive to look and enticing for the readers to buy the magazine. This image is also a key purpose into why customers will buy the magazine and will often be related to the feature article. From this image it connotes a sense of determination and passion due to the look on their faces and the black clothes clashes against the pale faces showing a sense of purity within them. This picture denotes rock and indie due to the two men being from Arctic monkeys and one supporting Arctic Monkeys in a gig. These are both known as the Cover Models, they are celebrities (Rock stars) therefore when customers look at the front cover of the magazine, they have the power of bringing the customers in, they both have a casual appearance about them which may help entice another section of customers. They blatantly helps the magazines selling power due to them being well known and having a large chance of appearing in the feature article which some people will buy for that only. They also use a direct mode of address as they are looking directly at you, straight away making a connection with the reader.

Their tagline states ‘new musical express’ this has been kept like this since early editions in 1993 and was even the original name before it was abbreviated. This then still stands out to customers who bought the magazine before it changed and is still keeping the core of the magazine alive. The tagline is hardly readable as the image has been sent to the front, overlapping the tagline but this is something which regular ‘NME’ readers will already know what it says. They have chosen a block capital font with jagged line underneath to help bring some emphasise towards the tagline. The situation of the tagline is a common one and tends to sit just below the masthead.

There is also Anchorage which helps the customers understand what the Central Image is about. Referring to this magazine, it has anchoring underneath, ‘First major interview as...’ this therefore gives the customers a hint into what the feature article could be about. It directly explains what the picture is depicting. In this magazine it has been placed over the torso and above of there body, making good use of the space and still allowing the readers to see who they are talking about. They use a variation within colours but keep all the house colours the same, white and red. They keep a difference in fonts to help signify which words are more important than others.

Within the front cover they also have a ‘Puff’ which is a device which helps to draw attention into certain elements within the magazine. They are often there to advertise a ‘freebie’ or promotion of a special feature. For example, regarding this it states ‘Jack Whites shock new album, out this week’, this then promotes Jack White and will entice customers by being intrigued into the new album. The colours which they have used are yellow and black which work great together as they are polar opposite colours in terms of what they connote and the brightness of them, making it easier to read the writing.

This magazine is an ‘NME’ - ‘New musical express’ and was one of the many front covers I found on the internet via Google search. This is one which I have picked out from 2008.

Within this magazine front cover there is a ‘Puff’ again like the magazine from 2008, this is there again to promote something which is inside the magazine but something that they don't want to give away too much about, otherwise they will read that and know all they want to about that article, so they say a few words to entice in the potential customers, hoping that they will buy it due to the puff, and any of the promotional or freebies that they state. They have made it very easy on the eye, using two contrasting colours: red and blue so that the text stands out prominently. They also use a ‘!’ for emphasis and ‘?’ for audience involvement.

Aaron Bradley 12T

2013 ‘NME’ Music Magazine

Again, this magazine is ‘NME’ and was found on Google search although this one was from 2013, therefore one of their newest editions.

The masthead for this specific magazine still keeps in touch with the house colours of ‘NME, keeping the red firmly dominant within the masthead. This is different from the magazine in 2008, the reason for this is because they have to understand that they will be attracting new audiences and this colour of red connotes: liveliness, upbeat, happiness and is sincerely vibrant, reflecting the readers. From the difference in colour you can see that the designers have taken into consideration their audience as it will have changed since the magazine from 2008. Although they have still kept the positioning of the masthead in the same positioning making it more recognisable and obvious to what magazine it is, which explains how they can afford to ‘send the text to the back’ and miss part of the masthead because regular readers know the magazine extremely well.

The Central Image is a collection of models, all with very pale faces; fitting the house colour, white. They have also covered from there neck below in an American flag, still keeping the house colours within the magazine. The image also manages to entice the younger audience into reading it due to them looking ‘indie’ with fashionable hair style. This automatically intrigues youngsters into reading it because the feature article is most likely to be about the central image. The way the people within the central image are positioned in a symmetric way with them appearing like a pyramid of people. With the image people so big it shouts out at the readers straight away and again is the first thing the customers are going to see.

The Anchorage with this picture explains and fits the image exactly. The anchorage states ‘The kids are alright’ this is written in free flowing handwriting, fairly casual which interlinks into the picture in the background, as they are looking casual and relaxed. They have also placed the writing directly over a darker surface which helps to bring out the writing and make it more prominent and visible. It then also makes it easier for the audience to understand what the central image will be about; as if it interests them they are most likely going to purchase it, especially with their being a big chance that the feature article is about it as well.

There are many different Coverlines throughout this front cover. One which states ‘Exclusive Jarvis Cocker Interview P4’ and another ‘Britain’s Palma Violets...’ these all signify different attempts of attracting different audiences into reading the magazine. They tell the audience specifically the various articles which are featured inside the magazine. These are clever attractive on the eye, so you notice all the coverlines on the front cover for different reasons, mainly being the font and colour of the text. On all the coverlines, they have cleverly used an alternation in opposite colours (red and blue, yellow and white and blue and yellow) these are all colours which stand out a lot when put together.

They also commonly have on the front of this magazine is the: Barcode, Price and Edition. These all have to be strategically placed on the magazine so that they are obvious to the customers on how much it is going to cost and whether they are buying the correct edition of NME. On this particular magazine, the barcode is placed in the bottom left and the price and edition is placed in the top right of the front cover. It says: 5 January £2.40, so from this you can tell that it is a weekly edition otherwise it would normally just state the month and as well you can clearly see the price.

Aaron Bradley 12T

1993‘NME’ Music Magazine

This is a ‘NME’ magazine, one of its earlier editions in 1993. I found this out from the internet, by searching for its earlier editions of NME.

The masthead of even the earlier editions of the ‘NME’ magazine was still leading with the prominent, distinctive house colours, which are: red, black and white. The masthead is big and bold, and the text is stretched out to make it more appealing on the eye. They have cleverly spelt out the unabbreviated spellings of the words which are normally abbreviated in the masthead. ‘New, musical, express’ this is spelt in yellow letters inside the ‘NME’ which again is attractive on the eye and makes it look more interesting. They have an outline of black around the red text which also makes it easier to see and read which fits into the house colours which are used so commonly throughout the front cover.

The Central Image is two massive singers: one from Oasis and the other from Blur, these are both very famous singers and have been for a massive amount of time, so straight away this is going to entice the majority of people into buying this magazine, simply for the fact that they want to know what the feature article is going to say about them. This image is in black and white, and then it was more traditional to use that sort of imaging, it also fits into the house colours so when people see a glimpse of this it is more obvious that it is a NME magazine. The image on the left is a personal mode of address as he is looking directly at you, making you feel involved into the magazine already, this is another sales technique.

The Anchorage in this picture states: ‘Blur vs. Oasis’ therefore immediately you can recognise that the caption is relevant to the picture and it therefore gives you a few words of what the feature article could possibly be about. The colour used for the anchorage is a white, again one of their house colours, reflecting against the red background making it easier to read as it is more visible. The ‘vs.’ had serrated edges which makes it more eye catching, bringing the focus of the customer on to that to attempt to make them buy the magazine. They have made very good use of the space by putting the anchoring below the image and using up some of the space as without this the front cover would look and disinteresting.

They have the Barcode, Price and edition all positioned in slightly different places, the barcode is placed in the top right of the magazine and the edition and price is in the top left of the magazine. These are both in recognisable places but are not taking up to much room so there is enough space to fill with coverlines etc., they have decreased the size of the writing but have still made sure that the flow of house colours is the same.

Through this specific magazine from the early 1990s’ it is evident they have progressed to what they now have in the twenty-first century. This is obvious as in this there are no: pugs, pufs, secondary images, limited coverlines whereas other have 6-10 on average. So this expresses how far ‘NME’ has progressed and how better their chances of attracting customers have increased massively.

They have made good use of fonts and colours throughout the magazine, and still stick to this exactly 20 years from when this was published. The colours red, black and white are strongly used throughout making it more evident that this is a NME magazine. They also use big and bold text throughout and smaller on the information they want you to see but not necessarily the most important.

Aaron Bradley 12T

1993‘NME’ Music Magazine

This is a ‘NME’ magazine, one of its earlier editions in 1993. I found this out from the internet, by searching for its earlier editions of NME.

The masthead of even the earlier editions of the ‘NME’ magazine was still leading with the prominent, distinctive house colours, which are: red, black and white. The masthead is big and bold, and the text is stretched out to make it more appealing on the eye. They have cleverly spelt out the unabbreviated spellings of the words which are normally abbreviated in the masthead. ‘New, musical, express’ this is spelt in yellow letters inside the ‘NME’ which again is attractive on the eye and makes it look more interesting. They have an outline of black around the red text which also makes it easier to see and read which fits into the house colours which are used so commonly throughout the front cover.

The Central Image is two massive singers: one from Oasis and the other from Blur, these are both very famous singers and have been for a massive amount of time, so straight away this is going to entice the majority of people into buying this magazine, simply for the fact that they want to know what the feature article is going to say about them. This image is in black and white, and then it was more traditional to use that sort of imaging, it also fits into the house colours so when people see a glimpse of this it is more obvious that it is a NME magazine. The image on the left is a personal mode of address as he is looking directly at you, making you feel involved into the magazine already, this is another sales technique.

The Anchorage in this picture states: ‘Blur vs. Oasis’ therefore immediately you can recognise that the caption is relevant to the picture and it therefore gives you a few words of what the feature article could possibly be about. The colour used for the anchorage is a white, again one of their house colours, reflecting against the red background making it easier to read as it is more visible. The ‘vs.’ had serrated edges which makes it more eye catching, bringing the focus of the customer on to that to attempt to make them buy the magazine. They have made very good use of the space by putting the anchoring below the image and using up some of the space as without this the front cover would look and disinteresting.

They have the Barcode, Price and edition all positioned in slightly different places, the barcode is placed in the top right of the magazine and the edition and price is in the top left of the magazine. These are both in recognisable places but are not taking up to much room so there is enough space to fill with coverlines etc., they have decreased the size of the writing but have still made sure that the flow of house colours is the same.

Through this specific magazine from the early 1990s’ it is evident they have progressed to what they now have in the twenty-first century. This is obvious as in this there are no: pugs, pufs, secondary images, limited coverlines whereas other have 6-10 on average. So this expresses how far ‘NME’ has progressed and how better their chances of attracting customers have increased massively.

They have made good use of fonts and colours throughout the magazine, and still stick to this exactly 20 years from when this was published. The colours red, black and white are strongly used throughout making it more evident that this is a NME magazine. They also use big and bold text throughout and smaller on the information they want you to see but not necessarily the most important.

Aaron Bradley 12T

1993‘NME’ Music Magazine

This is a ‘NME’ magazine, one of its earlier editions in 1993. I found this out from the internet, by searching for its earlier editions of NME.

The masthead of even the earlier editions of the ‘NME’ magazine was still leading with the prominent, distinctive house colours, which are: red, black and white. The masthead is big and bold, and the text is stretched out to make it more appealing on the eye. They have cleverly spelt out the unabbreviated spellings of the words which are normally abbreviated in the masthead. ‘New, musical, express’ this is spelt in yellow letters inside the ‘NME’ which again is attractive on the eye and makes it look more interesting. They have an outline of black around the red text which also makes it easier to see and read which fits into the house colours which are used so commonly throughout the front cover.

The Central Image is two massive singers: one from Oasis and the other from Blur, these are both very famous singers and have been for a massive amount of time, so straight away this is going to entice the majority of people into buying this magazine, simply for the fact that they want to know what the feature article is going to say about them. This image is in black and white, and then it was more traditional to use that sort of imaging, it also fits into the house colours so when people see a glimpse of this it is more obvious that it is a NME magazine. The image on the left is a personal mode of address as he is looking directly at you, making you feel involved into the magazine already, this is another sales technique.

The Anchorage in this picture states: ‘Blur vs. Oasis’ therefore immediately you can recognise that the caption is relevant to the picture and it therefore gives you a few words of what the feature article could possibly be about. The colour used for the anchorage is a white, again one of their house colours, reflecting against the red background making it easier to read as it is more visible. The ‘vs.’ had serrated edges which makes it more eye catching, bringing the focus of the customer on to that to attempt to make them buy the magazine. They have made very good use of the space by putting the anchoring below the image and using up some of the space as without this the front cover would look and disinteresting.

They have the Barcode, Price and edition all positioned in slightly different places, the barcode is placed in the top right of the magazine and the edition and price is in the top left of the magazine. These are both in recognisable places but are not taking up to much room so there is enough space to fill with coverlines etc., they have decreased the size of the writing but have still made sure that the flow of house colours is the same.

Through this specific magazine from the early 1990s’ it is evident they have progressed to what they now have in the twenty-first century. This is obvious as in this there are no: pugs, pufs, secondary images, limited coverlines whereas other have 6-10 on average. So this expresses how far ‘NME’ has progressed and how better their chances of attracting customers have increased massively.

They have made good use of fonts and colours throughout the magazine, and still stick to this exactly 20 years from when this was published. The colours red, black and white are strongly used throughout making it more evident that this is a NME magazine. They also use big and bold text throughout and smaller on the information they want you to see but not necessarily the most important.

Aaron Bradley 12T

1993‘NME’ Music Magazine

This is a ‘NME’ magazine, one of its earlier editions in 1993. I found this out from the internet, by searching for its earlier editions of NME.

The masthead of even the earlier editions of the ‘NME’ magazine was still leading with the prominent, distinctive house colours, which are: red, black and white. The masthead is big and bold, and the text is stretched out to make it more appealing on the eye. They have cleverly spelt out the unabbreviated spellings of the words which are normally abbreviated in the masthead. ‘New, musical, express’ this is spelt in yellow letters inside the ‘NME’ which again is attractive on the eye and makes it look more interesting. They have an outline of black around the red text which also makes it easier to see and read which fits into the house colours which are used so commonly throughout the front cover.

The Central Image is two massive singers: one from Oasis and the other from Blur, these are both very famous singers and have been for a massive amount of time, so straight away this is going to entice the majority of people into buying this magazine, simply for the fact that they want to know what the feature article is going to say about them. This image is in black and white, and then it was more traditional to use that sort of imaging, it also fits into the house colours so when people see a glimpse of this it is more obvious that it is a NME magazine. The image on the left is a personal mode of address as he is looking directly at you, making you feel involved into the magazine already, this is another sales technique.

The Anchorage in this picture states: ‘Blur vs. Oasis’ therefore immediately you can recognise that the caption is relevant to the picture and it therefore gives you a few words of what the feature article could possibly be about. The colour used for the anchorage is a white, again one of their house colours, reflecting against the red background making it easier to read as it is more visible. The ‘vs.’ had serrated edges which makes it more eye catching, bringing the focus of the customer on to that to attempt to make them buy the magazine. They have made very good use of the space by putting the anchoring below the image and using up some of the space as without this the front cover would look and disinteresting.

They have the Barcode, Price and edition all positioned in slightly different places, the barcode is placed in the top right of the magazine and the edition and price is in the top left of the magazine. These are both in recognisable places but are not taking up to much room so there is enough space to fill with coverlines etc., they have decreased the size of the writing but have still made sure that the flow of house colours is the same.

Through this specific magazine from the early 1990s’ it is evident they have progressed to what they now have in the twenty-first century. This is obvious as in this there are no: pugs, pufs, secondary images, limited coverlines whereas other have 6-10 on average. So this expresses how far ‘NME’ has progressed and how better their chances of attracting customers have increased massively.

They have made good use of fonts and colours throughout the magazine, and still stick to this exactly 20 years from when this was published. The colours red, black and white are strongly used throughout making it more evident that this is a NME magazine. They also use big and bold text throughout and smaller on the information they want you to see but not necessarily the most important.